The LA Wine Fest is upon us once again and this year's wines and special events make it somehow acceptable - even socially apropos - to sniff, swirl, drink and twirl your way through the weekend. The festival will be open and ready for sipping this Saturday and Sunday from 2pm - 6pm at the historic Raleigh Studios in Hollywood. There will be cheese pairings, olive oil offerings and blind tasting technique panels for those who wish to test their palates. And, of course, there will be wine!

While the panels and wine tastings sound divine, the main event is Saturday night's fancy Riedel tasting in which Georg (that's right, Georg without the "e") Riedel will conduct a comparative tasting in his famous (and famously easy to break) Riedel wineglasses. This tasting will be followed by the VIP Reserve Wine Dinner that includes catering from ROCQ and paired wine with each of the eight courses.

The downside to all this hedonistic hob-knobbing? The price. You'll need to fork over $45 for a one-day pass, $80 for a two-day pass and a whopping $90 for the Riedel tasting and dinner. Not exactly a budget-conscious outing, but when you factor in your special set of Riedel glasses, the charities that get a cut of your donations, and the fact that you'll be drinking wine for two days straight...it may well be worth it to snag your tickets today.

Photo by Christina Snyder via Flickr