Uncorked
In Sarasota, where a gallery opening can lead to dinner and a conversation about a painting can continue over a glass of something beautifully unexpected, wine has a natural place in the cultural land
By Edit Sarasota Staff
In Sarasota, where a gallery opening can lead to dinner and a conversation about a painting can continue over a glass of something beautifully unexpected, wine has a natural place in the cultural landscape. Uncorked, the Sarasota Art Museum’s monthly wine tasting series, treats that connection as an art form in its own right.
The evening brings together six wines selected for their character and sense of place, each paired with gourmet cheeses designed to sharpen, soften, or otherwise reveal what is in the glass. The format is convivial rather than intimidating: a chance for curious newcomers and experienced wine drinkers alike to taste thoughtfully, compare impressions, and discover how much a pairing can change the experience of both wine and food.
Leading the presentation is Mark Tuchman, owner of 99 Bottles, the downtown Sarasota wine shop and gathering place known for its broad selection and approachable expertise. Tuchman’s role gives Uncorked a distinctly local point of view. Rather than treating wine as a test of vocabulary or taste, he offers the kind of guidance that makes a bottle feel like an invitation—to travel, to linger, to ask better questions. His perspective also reflects Sarasota’s increasingly rich food culture, where independent restaurants, specialty purveyors, farmers markets, and creative home cooks have made the pleasures of the table part of the city’s everyday conversation.
Held at SAM, Uncorked also extends the museum’s mission beyond the walls of its exhibitions. The Sarasota Art Museum has become a lively setting for encounters across disciplines, bringing visual art into dialogue with design, music, education, and community life. Wine, with its traditions of craft, landscape, time, and presentation, makes an especially fitting companion. A tasting can be analytical, but it can also be sensory and social—the sort of experience in which a room full of strangers begins trading notes over a favorite cheese or a surprising finish.
For an early-fall evening, the series offers a graceful way to return to Sarasota’s cultural rhythm: six wines, carefully chosen cheeses, and a guided exploration led by one of the city’s most familiar wine voices. Uncorked takes place Tuesday, September 15, 2026, at the Sarasota Art Museum.