Since It Is the Harvest Season...

This week is National Wine Week. For those of us who refuse to heed the sage wisdom of George Thorogood and drink alone, here are some ways to enjoy a bottle of wine around town, guaranteed to fall within any budget and get you out exploring the city:

• In honor of National Wine Week, each day Smith & Wollensky is offering a tasting of ten wines for ten dollars, along with the price of lunch.
• Uptown's The Spot is offering a tasting on Tuesday. Sample from five fall and winter reds, and get a glass of your favorite for $10. The tasting starts at 7:30.
• UnCork It in River East/Streeterville is hosting a white wine seminar at 7 p.m. Wednesday. "The best BANG for your blanc" will help you find the perfect white wine, without taking out a personal loan. The cost of the seminar is $35, and reservations are required.
• Bucktown's Cafe Matou is hosting it's regular end-of-month "cellar raid" on Wednesday. Chef Charlie Socher and his staff have picked out twenty wines from Matou's extensive cellar and are selling them for $17 (with dinner).
• The Chopping Block's "Wine Goddess", Diana Hamann, will be teaching a red wine course Thursday at Merchandise Mart and Friday in Lincoln Square. The focus will be on six of the more popular red wine grapes: merlot, cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir, tempranillo, syrah, and sangiovese. The cost is $55.