The best way for anyone to learn more about wine is to sample as many different wines as possible. However, tasting a lot of wines at one time can be expensive — and lead to one serious hangover next day. So what’s the answer? Start your own wine group. Starting a wine tasting group with friends will not only provide exposure to a wide variety of wines while sharing the financial burden, it could also lead to friendships. Personally, I have learned more about wine from the two wine tasting groups I belong to than anything else.
The first thing to remember when beginning your own wine group is that wine should be fun. Develop a group, either old friends or new, that is interested in learning more about wine in a relaxed way and is dedicated to attending each gathering. Keep your group small. Eight people is ideal, since this insures that the group remains intimate, easy to manage, and, most importantly, everyone gets a decent pour of each sample.
There are a couple of ways to find people to join your group. Of course, the easiest is to ask friends. But if you’re looking to broaden both your social circles and your wine knowledge, ask your local wine shop for help. They may be able to put you in touch with other like-minded consumers. Another option is to attend wine tastings and ask people if they are interested in joining a regular group.
Once you get your group together, spend a few minutes establishing some guidelines. For example, the group should agree on a meeting time, frequency of meetings and a location rotation. Plan the first year’s calendar up front in order to get a commitment from everyone in the group. Lastly, set a bottle budget. Early on you’ll want to keep it in the $15 to $20 range and work up from there as the group’s tastes evolves.
A couple other ideas to consider in order to make your group a little more cohesive is to nominate a note taker for each meeting and then have the notes posted online or shared via email so that members can develop their own logbook. Also, start a club library where everyone agrees to read a book and then exchange it with other members of the club. Lastly, it is important to keep the wine theme focused and compact. In the beginning, do not choose more than seven wines — the person hosting gets a pass — to taste per meeting. Base the selections on a particular varietal and limit the selection to one or two growing regions. For example, if you pick sauvignon blanc, try three from New Zealand and four from Napa Valley. That gives your members enough wine to compare within each region as well as versus another appellation. And remember to try all of the wines without food first, take notes and then try the wines again with a little cheese or other snack.
After your group has been up and running for a few months, invite a guest speaker to address the group. It might be someone from another group with more knowledge on a particular topic or a local wine authority. Wine shops are always happy to send one of their representatives to speak to a group, particularly if the wine for that night’s theme is purchased from that shop.
Over time, you’ll develop both a better palate and make good friends. And consider this; if your group only meets once a month, with six bottles per meeting, you will have sampled over sixty wines in one year with members who might become some of your closest friends. Not a bad way to learn a lot more about wine.
