By Lora Oehlberg

Town Crier Editorial Intern

Despite its name, vertical wine tasting has absolutely nothing to do with how you drink wine. It does not require standing or jumping up, nor does it involve a very tall glass. The key to vertical wine tasting is in the selection and order of wines to be tasted.

The Red Cross’ MacArthur Park Wine Fest, scheduled 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., Aug. 18, will feature a ‘vertical wine tasting’ in addition to the rest of the festival. For $120 each, 100 individuals can taste two premier selections from Beringer Winery.

“The name ‘vertical tasting’ comes from the fact that the wines are tasted in an unbroken succession of years,” said Elaine Ellis, vice president of operations at Beringer.

The private vertical tasting at the wine festival will feature two sets of cabernet sauvignons, one a Knights Valley Cabernet from 1994 to 1997 and the other a Private Reserve Cabernet, from 1994 to 1997.

“Vertical tastings are designed to showcase each vintage’s nuance and unique characteristics with a side-by-side taste comparison,” said Ellis. “It is always suggested to start with recent vintages and to move to older vintages.”

Kim Caffrey, Beringer Vineyards senior tasting coordinator, and Mitch Preston, California region sales manager, will lead the tasting at the festival and discuss the aroma and flavor attributes of each wine.

Proceeds from the MacArthur Park Wine Fest benefit the Palo Alto Area Red Cross, which provides emergency services to Palo Alto, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Mountain View, Stanford and Moffett Field.

Admission, restricted to those over 21, is $50 in advance or $60 at the door and includes complementary wine and food throughout the day. To order tickets, call 688-0438 or visit www.paarc.org.

MacArthur Park restaurant is located at 27 University Ave., Palo Alto.