It’s not often you get to attend the kind of wine-tastings held for only industry insiders.

But for the third year in a row, Roy’s Hawaii Kai, along with JMD Beverages, the only locally owned fine wine distributor, opened up this special brand of wine-tasting to the public last night.

About 250 people attended the sold-out event, which boasted more than 100 wines from 21 wineries, including Amuse Bouche Wine, Handley Cellars, Au Sommet, Rombauer and Duckhorn Vineyards. Wines with a Hawaii connection — Lanai Tabura’s Look Me in the Eye label and Kaena Wine — were also pouring.

The coolest part about last night’s event was the opportunity to meet the various winemakers and experts. We chatted with Milla Handley of Handley Cellars, who told how to pair her 2009 Gewurtztraminer “Anderson Valley.” And we also met the uber-cool Heidi Peterson Barrett, who has been responsible for some of California’s most notable cult wines and runs her own winery, La Sirena Winery. (She’s a member of the Barrett family who owns Chateau Montelena, famous for winning the white wine section of the historic Judgement of Paris wine competition and fodder for the 2008 film “Bottle Shock.”)

But wait — there was food, too.

And Roy’s was smart: not only was there a food counter — featuring nosh such as ahi tartare, Szechuan baby back ribs, sous vide lamb leg parmigiano, Thai pesto shrimp — but there were food stations in every nook and corner at the event. It wasn’t one of those wine-tastings where people go hungry. There was a lot of food — and a lot of opportunity to eat it.

Here’s what last night’s event looked like:

Look Me in the Eye

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