This is our sixth annual event, and each year it’s sold out.

Each year, the event also continues to slowly grow, and has reached its evolutionary maximum size for all future events. Not only is this about the size that I’m comfortable with managing, but it’s also about responding to consumers’ resounding feedback each year. “It’s because of the moderate size that we’re interested in returning each year, ” I hear at each event. The people who attend Dark & Delicious are a cult following, enjoying the relative intimacy of this event, versus attending other major events that reach epic sizes of 8,000 to 10,000 people. Those events have their mission and serve their purpose, so I’m not knocking them… I just can’t manage something like that, and I do admire the people who can. I guess I’m as cult as the following we’ve gathered, all people who prefer what this event offers as it now stands.

It’s all about the size, and it’s also about the quality of the wine and food being presented,
along with having access to the owners.

There will now be more events within the event being offered in the future, like this year’s newly instituted private tour that the Petite Sirah advocates (called GrouPieS) will be having with Shauna Rosenblum, prior to the 6:00 p.m. entry. The maximum capacity of this Wine & Food extravaganza is 1,000 people in all. This includes all wine and food vendors, volunteers, staff, and consumers. We’ve reached that max again this year, growing it slightly, and now knowing what it will take each year to reach a maximum. I suspect the selling out aspect will come sooner, because there just isn’t any more room for anything from tables for vendors, to staff, and to the people attending.

• 60 wine companies (120 people)
• 36 food vendors (restaurants, caterers, specialist foods (72 people)
• staff (40 people)
• media and consumers (768 people)

I enjoy that I’ve figured out the ceiling of comfort, and am really looking forward to this Friday night.

As a footnote, we DON’T sell tickets at the door. We cannot accommodate anyone else, as we just don’t have the supplies or room to pull it off. So, PLEASE, don’t come to Alameda thinking that you can/will get in. Each year we regrettably have to turn people away. This year, I’m sure will be no different, just don’t make it you who has to turn around. please.