Wine Clubs
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Wine Clubs
I was just wondering what wine clubs (Port or non-Port / Winery or Commercial) that people belonged to...
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Andy Velebil
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Seavey Vineyards and Outpost (well sorta 
)
)Andy Velebil Good wine is a good familiar creature if it be well used. William Shakespeare http://www.fortheloveofport.com
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Todd Pettinger
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Andy Velebil
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tpettinger wrote:FTLOP Port Club
Waitaminute...
No no... I meant "signing up for the FTLOP PP Program"
Todd
Andy Velebil Good wine is a good familiar creature if it be well used. William Shakespeare http://www.fortheloveofport.com
I used to belong to a wine club around 15 years ago and was a member for maybe 5 years. Then I spent a couple of years working outside the UK and when I came back I had lost touch with the members of the club (all the members I had known had moved on) so I never rejoined.
I still sometimes think about joining one of the 2-3 local wine clubs, but never quite make the effort as I seem to have enough going on in my life without new commitments.
Alex
I still sometimes think about joining one of the 2-3 local wine clubs, but never quite make the effort as I seem to have enough going on in my life without new commitments.
Alex
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Luc Gauthier
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Todd Pettinger
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- Location: Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada
Stewart actually brings up a good point... ARE there a lot of wine clubs out there that focus around port? Or are you talking general clubs (all types of wine?) Stewart?
I'm trying to get a bunch of folks at my work and friends of mine interested in port, especially Vintage Port so we can start doing "regular" type tastings where we all contribute a bottle or two - allows everyone to try a few VPs and not have to put out a tonne of money to buy ALL the bottles!
(Let's say you have 4 of you and each buy 2 bottles a month and meet every 2 months... you can easily open and try 16 VPs every 2nd month and only have to invest in 4 of them yourself... pretty good way to expand your tasting horizons - especially if you are a newbie!!)
Todd
I'm trying to get a bunch of folks at my work and friends of mine interested in port, especially Vintage Port so we can start doing "regular" type tastings where we all contribute a bottle or two - allows everyone to try a few VPs and not have to put out a tonne of money to buy ALL the bottles!
(Let's say you have 4 of you and each buy 2 bottles a month and meet every 2 months... you can easily open and try 16 VPs every 2nd month and only have to invest in 4 of them yourself... pretty good way to expand your tasting horizons - especially if you are a newbie!!)
Todd
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Jay Powers
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I think that if you want a club for Port (or oteher sweet wines), you need to start one for your self, or subvert a dry wine club to satisfy your desire for Port. Work is the obvious place to start.
I am in a group at work that has a tasting around every one month. The way we do it is the host for the night gets to pick the topic, and "hosts" the tasting (in their house, at a resturant, or in a conference room at work after hours....their choice). Topics in the past have been widely varied: for example Bordeaux; St. Julian or tastes like St. Julian (to include the cheaper cotes), Merlot and Merlot based wines (>60% Merlot), "your favorite style" which was all over the place, and coming up next, Northern Rhone.
The host for the next tasting is picked at the end of the evening at the current tasting. People are free to try and influence the host as to their "topic", but the final choice is the hosts.
This is a great format because you get introduced to wines you would have never bought on your own. The Merlot theme was a great example of this for me, when I was introduced to a variety of CA and WA Merlots that were fantastic and would have never tried on my own.
The format is kept open enough that people need not have an extensive cellar or need to go spend a huge amount to bring a bottle (i.e. St. Julian and the surrounding Cotes de Bordeaux)
Due to my evil influence, it has now become standard to have dessert wine after the regular festivities.
Not quite a Port club, but I'm working on it
I am in a group at work that has a tasting around every one month. The way we do it is the host for the night gets to pick the topic, and "hosts" the tasting (in their house, at a resturant, or in a conference room at work after hours....their choice). Topics in the past have been widely varied: for example Bordeaux; St. Julian or tastes like St. Julian (to include the cheaper cotes), Merlot and Merlot based wines (>60% Merlot), "your favorite style" which was all over the place, and coming up next, Northern Rhone.
The host for the next tasting is picked at the end of the evening at the current tasting. People are free to try and influence the host as to their "topic", but the final choice is the hosts.
This is a great format because you get introduced to wines you would have never bought on your own. The Merlot theme was a great example of this for me, when I was introduced to a variety of CA and WA Merlots that were fantastic and would have never tried on my own.
The format is kept open enough that people need not have an extensive cellar or need to go spend a huge amount to bring a bottle (i.e. St. Julian and the surrounding Cotes de Bordeaux)
Due to my evil influence, it has now become standard to have dessert wine after the regular festivities.
Not quite a Port club, but I'm working on it
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Todd Pettinger
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- Location: Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada
Jay, sounds like a smashing idea! :) And you are correct on the point of being "forced" to try wines that you would not have tried on your own... I typically dislike dry reds, but recently hosted a party at my house where some folks brought a few bottles of reds. Being forced to open these right then and there, I tried all of them and found two that I absolutely did not like and one I didn't mind. I am actually looking to buy more of these to keep around for the occasional time I want a semi-dry red without having to go to a port for a main course.
As an aside, but along the same lines, I recently attended a Port and Douro red tasting hosted at a local wine shop where Cristiano van Zellar was pouring and chatting. In order to give the ports the due time in the decanter he poured two of his Douro Reds as a 'warm up.' I fell in love with one, I believe it was the 2002 Crasto as it was not as dry as most reds are and extremely tasty! I ended up buying a bottle of it and one of the '87 Port (Quinta do Vale de Maria) that we tasted that evening.
Goes to show that it is good to keep an open mind to trying all kinds of new things! :)
Todd
As an aside, but along the same lines, I recently attended a Port and Douro red tasting hosted at a local wine shop where Cristiano van Zellar was pouring and chatting. In order to give the ports the due time in the decanter he poured two of his Douro Reds as a 'warm up.' I fell in love with one, I believe it was the 2002 Crasto as it was not as dry as most reds are and extremely tasty! I ended up buying a bottle of it and one of the '87 Port (Quinta do Vale de Maria) that we tasted that evening.
Goes to show that it is good to keep an open mind to trying all kinds of new things! :)
Todd