As we all know the third annual Winter Wine Rodeo is coming up next week on Saturday, Dec. 1 from 3-7 p.m. Like the previous events this year's will have all of the same great wine, food and vendors we have come to expect. Nearly 100 wines being sampled by our great local distributors, food from our favorite area restaurants like Scratch, Seasons, Fire, Angelo's and more, some holiday shopping from local vendors and of course the chance to buy the wine that you sample and want to take home for your big holiday gatherings!

This annual happening that we put together in conjunction with the fairgrounds and which helps the North Idaho Fair Board raise money for all of its ventures has become one of the "must attend" events during the holiday season. We even time the Winter Wine Rodeo early enough so you can still make it to your holiday parties that may be scheduled the same night.

For the first time last year we added a pre-event called "Behind the Chutes," an educational pre-tasting hosted by a panel of wine professionals that allows consumers to see behind the scenes of a wine judging panel. This limited attendance event was so popular last year that we are including it again this year.

The title for this year's "Behind the Chutes" is "Our Own Bottle Shock!" $35 in advance or $40 at the door gets you a seat at the table for this special tasting that is limited to 40 folks. We are moving "Behind the Chutes" this year to a separate building so the noise from the main tasting will not impede our ability to hear what goes on during the tasting.

Many of us have seen the great wine movie "Bottle Shock," which is the inspiration for the session along with our own experience over the last three years of judging wine in a blind format. Each year as the four judges for the North Idaho Wine Rodeo sit down to start evaluating the more than 300 wines that are entered, we are always confronted with surprises. Each wine is placed in a brown paper bag designated with a letter, number, color or some other identifying word that then corresponds to our scoring sheet.

At every judging session and in the overall calculation of the scores there are always shockers. Even as wine professionals we all have our favorite wineries, but when judging is done blindly the surprise sets in when some of your favorites who you just know will win finish well back in the pack, and conversely when a wine you really don't care for too much ends up taking the blue ribbon.

So at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 1, if you join us behind the chutes for "Our Own Bottle Shock" you get to experience the same feeling that we have as judges and that was illustrated in the movie that stars Alan Rickman, Dennis Farina and Bill Pulman.

Together with a three-judge panel you will evaluate three white wines and three red wines in a blind format. One of each of the whites will come from the Northwest, California and France; same with the reds. You along with the panel will be scoring each of the wines on the same five categories we use in the Wine Rodeo, color and clarity, bouquet, palate, finish and varietal truth. Scores will be tabulated for individuals and the group, and at the end we will know who the winners are and the bottles will be removed from the bags. While it remains to be seen we are speculating that for each of us as individual wine consumers there will indeed be some "bottle shock."

This truly is an educational opportunity for wine consumers of all experience levels though as not only will it increase exposure to wines from different regions, but it will help you identify what you like from this set of six wines and allow you to find more that are similar going forward. We hope you can join us for the Winter Wine Rodeo, and the "Behind the Chutes" pre event, tickets are available both here at the dinner party and at the fairgrounds.

If there is a topic you would like to read about or questions on wine you can email George@thedinnerpartyshop.com or make suggestions by contacting the Healthy Community section at the Coeur d'Alene Press.

George Balling is co-owner with his wife Mary Lancaster of the dinner party - a wine and table top decor shop in Coeur d'Alene by Costco. George is also the managing judge of The North Idaho Wine Rodeo and writes frequently for the online version of Coeur d'Alene Magazine at www.cdamagazine.com. You can learn more about the dinner party at www.thedinnerpartyshop.com. You can get all of these articles as well as other great wine tips by friending us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/#!/dinnerpartyshop.