Wine events in SF; wine restaurant in London

Yes, during my Internet browsing I found yet another reason I miss San Francisco. There is this great small company that puts on wine tastings called Hip Tastes. They have fun themes, and yet it's educational, not just hen party (or bachelorette party, if you will) wine events. If anyone has a chance to go to once of these events, please report back to me! I've joined their newsletter and I'm looking forward to their tips and articles.

On the London front, I have finally found a restaurant with a GREAT wine list at a reasonable price. It's appropriately called the Wine Gallery in Fulham. The restuarant decor is modern, the food is up-to-date European, and the wine list is an amazing value. They advertise wine at retail prices, and while it's not quite that low, I found the markup to be less than 50% over retail. Typically, restaurants charge 250-300%! For example, we got a bottle of Bollinger for £43. This retails for about £30, but when I've bought it in restaurants and bars before, it's usually £60-70. Incidentally, Bollinger is my favourite 'daily' champagne, if you can call it that!

We also had a half bottle of Chablis and a bottle of Barolo. If there's a main type of wine that you like and is well-known and respected in the wine world, it's here! The wine list was only one page long, and yet it included classics such as a Sancerre and White Burgundy and reds like a Chateauneuf du Pape, Cote du Rhone, Brunello, Barolo, Rioja, and even Le Cigare Volant from Bonny Doon in California! As you can tell, I'm very enthusiastic about my new find. It's up there with the Cork and Bottle, my favourite wine bar in Central London.