Gen X Wine Tasting

This is no way to have a wine tasting! What, 700 people blind tasting about 500 brown-bagged wines. It was chaotic. People bumping into each other trying to get a few drops, talking with each other trying to figure which one they liked best, and least. After two plus hours all the wine was gone and most in attendence didn't seem to know or care what wine won.

Am I missing something here? Seven hundred 25 to 35 year-olds and a few old guys (wine experts) crawling over the tables having fun and talking about wine.

Here are the rules:

Each invitee, or team of up to 3, must bring 3 bottles of THE SAME WINE (the varietal -- i.e., cabernet, shiraz, pinot noir, etc. -- will be announced soon). For example, if the varietal were merlot, you or your team could bring 3 bottles of the 2001 Hess Merlot. Remember, it's 3 bottles total per team.

Upon arrival, all 3 bottles will be given to the Hosts, who will wrap 2 of the bottles to conceal the wine's identity. The 2 wrapped bottles will have a number randomly assigned to them and will then be set out for tasting. The third bottle will be left unopened and will not be tasted or displayed.

Each invitee will be given a card with a number for each wine. The wines will be rated on a taste scale of 1 to 5. At the end of the tasting period, each invitee must write down the number of his or her favorite wine and least favorite wine. Cards will be collected and selections tallied.

The invitees that brought the top 5 favorite wines will take home everyone's third unopened bottle of wine. The invitee that brought the least favorite bottle of wine will take back his or her unopened bottle of wine.

Are we missing something here?

Check out the photos of the last event (Pinot at the Phoenix in October). The bewildered old guys properly holding their stemware look very familar!