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Over 150 vintners are expected to participate in the 11th annual Nantucket Wine Festival scheduled for May 16 to 20. The highlight of the event will be the Grand Tastings, during which all 150-plus wineries will be uncorking their bottles. At first glance, the $100 admission fee ($75 if purchased before May 1, multi-session packages also available) might sound a bit steep, but there will be hundreds of wines to sample (as well as food samplings from some of the island's premier eateries, cooking demonstrations from noted chefs, book-signings by food authors, and other presentations).

Then again, how much wine could a person drink? Sure, the tastings will only last 2 hours (although for another few dollars, guests could attend 2 back-to-back sessions), and each wine sample will be relatively small. But after imbibing the first 15-or-so glasses, I wonder whether guests will be shedding their madras garments and doing the Macarena on the otherwise hushed streets of the tony island--or passing out. Since Nantucket has held 10 previous wine festivals, I guess the organizers will have everything under control. In addition to the Grand Tastings, a film about California wineries will hold its premiere, and there will be winemaker symposia, wine and food seminars, a gala party, a celebrity chef and wine auction dinner, and, for those still able to hold their liquor after all that wine, prix fixe winery lunches and dinners. My advice to those planning to attend the festival: Leave your car on the mainland and use taxis. For a modest tip, island cabbies will indulge nude fares singing and dancing the Macarena.

Nantucket Wine Festival
May 16 to 20
Grand Tastings to be held at the Nantucket Yacht Club