One of the best ways to learn about wine and to discover new wines is to be a member of a wine tasting club. A wine tasting club functions somewhat like the popular book clubs held in homes all over the world today. In this case, the purpose is not to read and discuss books, but to taste and discuss different wines. Which one of these clubs do you think is more fun?
Here are some basic tips for how you can start a wine tasting club.
Enlist 6 to 10 people to become members of the wine tasting club. For the first meeting, you run the show. You select the six wines to be tasted (or whatever number fits with your club). At the first meeting decide on a club name, how much to spend, who hosts, and decide all the other organizational stuff that is necessary to make the group successful.
It’s helpful to select a regular meeting date, such as the first Wednesday of every month.
Each member should bring a set of wine glasses for the tasting. Our club tastes six wines so we each bring a set of six wine glasses. On occasion we sometimes taste eight to ten wines. In this case we taste the wines in two flights.
Each member uses a score sheet to score each wine and then the club tallies the scores for the overall ranking. Perhaps the most interesting activity is discussing each wine.
At the end of the meeting, select the wine varietal to taste for the next meeting. In our club, we go around the table and each member advocates for a particular varietal. Whoever hosts the next meeting also selects and buys each wine. The host does some research before going to wine shops to garner their selections. Check the pages at WineCountryGetaways to obtain scoring forms and more information about Hosting a Wine Tasting.
Let us know if you have started a wine club or already have an ongoing wine club. Post your results to Good Cheap Vino. We can all learn from each other about our top wines and the wines that disappoint.
