gambera rosso tre bicchieri tasting

anyone going to any of the big tre bicchieri tastings? i'm signed up for the one in chicago on feb. 11. went to the one last year - may have been the first - and it was one of the very best i've ever been to. i've counted 125 producers who will be there each with at least one tre bicchieri wine. if anyone is going to an earlier one and would care to share favs - or don't miss ideas, i'd be grateful. be glad to do the same if anyone if going to a later one.

I went to the one in NYC a few times more than 10 years back, when it was in the "Puck" Building downtown. Had some great experiences and discovered Avignonesi Vin Santo, which is a treasure. But it got more and more crowded and they kept raising the bar for interested people who aren't ITB. The last time I went you were just in a sea of people trying to move this way or that, and the finer wines had been exhausted by the biz folks who were allowed in earlier than us hoi polloi. It really wasn't fun any more and I quit bothering. It's probably all different now, but it was fun back in the early days. One way to get an invitation back then was to join the Slow Food movement -- I like those guys, didn't mind doing that.