It's the most wonderful month of the year for wine-tasting aficionados, even though these three swell events fall in separate months.

First off, a longtime favorite that pretty much disappeared in recent years is back: Hennepin Lake's fall tasting at Calhoun Square on Oct. 30. The community fundraiser, in which all proceeds go to neighborhood organizations, is a serious steal at $25 in advance, $30 at the door (available at Hennepin Lake Liquor, 1200 W. Lake St., or at CARAG.Org).

"All" you get for that is access to more than 400 wines (please don't try them all) and snacks made by the likes of Tim McKee and Tyge Nelson.

About 20 years ago at this tasting, then at the Calhoun Beach Club, proprietor Phil Colich was walking around discretely providing a small pour of "La Tache" for certain customers, and I was fortunate enough to get in on that. Now that that wine costs about 2 gramd, I'm guessing Phil will not be toting it around on Wednesday.

The next night, the estimable importer Terry Theise will hold court at the Dining Studio at Create Catering, 1121 Jackson Street NE. Theise's spiels are almost worth the price of admission themselves, and along with his wit and wisdom you'll get to sample some German rieslings from the fabulous 2012 vintage and some fantastic cheese, among other noshes.

And attendees will get a chance to buy wines at a nice discount, to be picked up later at Surdyk's. Tickets for the Oct. 31 gathering are $50 and can be purchased here or by calling 612-379-3232.

Finally, the year's best Italian wine tasting rolls around on Nov. 17 at I Nonni restaurant in Lilydale. The tickets are $60, and a whole slew of the wines being proferred cost more than that per bottle between 3 and 6 p.m.

Local distributors always step up to the plate big-time at this event – think Oddero, Gaja, Moroder, Quintarelli, etc. -- and the antipasto table is spectacular. Reservations can be made at 651-905-1081, ext. 7.