A three-day event at Jungle Jim’s International Market offers wine, food and fun for both ardent aficionados and casual connoisseurs.

Thousands of people are expected to attend the grocer’s fifth annual International Wine Festival on Thursday, Friday and Saturday in The Oscar Event Center at Jungle Jim’s International Market.

The event has increased in attendance 30 percent each year, said Ed Vinson, the store’s festival director and beer and wine operations manager.

“Our wine festival is what Jungle’s is about,” Vinson said. “It’s an experience you have here shopping versus any other grocery store.

Robert Miller, general manager of Vinkolet Winery, Restaurant, & Vineyard, said being a part of the festival since 2010 has led to new exposure and an increase in sales.

“People are unaware that we have this winery in their own backyard,” Miller said of the Colerain business, which is less than 10 miles from Jungle Jim’s. “(The wine festival) lets them try our wines and see what they’ve been missing out on.”

“For us to educate people in wine (year-round) and have these wine tastings and have this festival every year, it’s all about education and just being more for the customer than just somewhere to come in and pick a couple of bottles of wine up off the shelf,” Vinson said.

Guests may order for their holiday wines during the event by giving the vendor their Purchase Passport number, which is available for free at the festival. Wines will be ready to purchase and pick-up by Nov. 26, at the latest, just in time for holiday parties.

“I don’t know of any other wine tasting that does that, at least in Cincinnati if not all of Ohio,” Vinson said. “It offers an opportunity for the customer to come in here, taste the wines with a specialist, usually someone from the winery, then (they) can purchase the wine.

In addition, there will be an opportunity to get a one-of-a-kind gift with a personalized wine bottle, plus a silent auction benefiting One Way Farm.

The VIP Dinner at 6:30 p.m. Thursday starts with appetizers and a champagne toast and culminates with an elegant, four-course, sit-down dinner at 7 p.m. Along the way, VIPs will be served a different wine complementing each course, including a dessert wine.

The Grand Tastings will be held from 7 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with guests able to select from local, national and international wines. Samples will feature 400 wines, including everything from sweet blackberry wine from Kentucky to dry red Bordeaux from France.

Jungle Jim’s wine experts David Schmerr, Ed Vinson and Todd Wiggs will host the event.

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.junglejims.com/winefest or call 513-674-6055.