Five months after the International Beer Festival, the Jungle Jim’s grocery and spirits superstore will be holding its International Wine Festival this weekend, and the clientele for the Wine Festival will be slightly different.

“We get a tremendous amount of couples,” said Jungle Jim’s beer and operations manager Ed Vinson. “People (for the wine festival) might be a little better dressed. At the beer fest, there’s a lot of shorts and T-shirts. At the wine festival, you could wear a nice jacket and not be out of place.”

Vinson said one of the reasons they hold the wine festival shortly before Thanksgiving is because this is the time of year when Americans are getting into a festive mood.

“This is the time of year when people have a lot of parties coming up and they’re expanding their wine drinking,” he said.

The event actually kicks off Thursday night with a special, VIP dinner. Guests will start with appetizers and champagne before moving on to the sit-down meal, consisting of a salad, a ribeye steak entree or vegetarian option, and dessert. There will be an appropriate wine pairing whichever option you choose. Vinson said he typically sees couples, singles and groups of friends at the dinner, several of whom are repeat attendees. He and a few wine experts will be on hand to answer any wine-related questions.

When the main festival begins Friday, guests will immediately receive a wine glass and a program guide to the 400 wines from 90 wineries, big and small, available. Parts of the globe represented will be Europe, South America, Japan, Australia and the U.S.

“The California wines are always very popular,” said Vinson. “We always try to do an international theme, and we always try to introduce new wines. I would say about 50-60 percent changes from year to year.”

Vinson said there was a specific purpose why the wines are sectioned off by nationality.

“If you’re tasting a Chardonnay from Italy, you’re not mixing right away with a Chardonnay from California,” he said. “It’s better for the learning curve that way, helps you compare better.”

This will also be the third year the Wine Festival has offered the purchase passport. This is a free service that guests can sign up for when they enter the festival. When you sample a wine you really like, you can order as many bottles as you like right there. The wines are typically available to be picked up by the following week.

“It has been a bit more successful each time, as people have grown used to using the passports,” Vinson said. “It’s also a good program for the small wineries (represented at the festival). They’re more anxious to come to our shows for that, because nobody does it but us.”