I have just come off an amazing few days in Napa and Sonoma. It wasn’t amazing just because these are beautiful places and there were great wines (all true). It was remarkable because over the past two years a group of people that were complete strangers to me are now a second family to me, a wine family.  There is so much love and care and fun in this group.

Through a series of complicated events I was referred to this wine group and they accepted me!  There weren’t initiation ceremonies or anything, but it wasn’t just open to the general public. By the time I came along  they’d been meeting for about 4 years.  They are seriously interested in wines and have been collecting and enjoying for decades.

So how does this work?  We meet every 4-6 weeks-ish.  The host (rotates) sets the theme and the main course for dinner and all the guests sign up (we use email…fancy) for what wines and foods we’ll bring. When we get together we start with “gathering wines,” typically a sparkling or two, some whites, and maybe a rose…wines we’ll sip with some appetizers.  We don’t get too in depth on the discussion but we do chat about what we taste, smell, like, don’t like and how they go with the food. Next it’s serious wine time. We sit with several glasses at each place setting and pour a half ounce or so of the first wine. Then whoever brought the wine tells a bit of a story about it and we have two minutes of quiet to taste. This might sound over the top, but trust me, when you’re wanting to learn about the wine, you need a couple minutes to taste, sniff, and consider it before everyone starts telling you what they think. It becomes especially valuable when you get to the 10th+ wine and no one can sit quietly for 2 minutes! We’ll move around the table in no particular order and talk about the look, smell, taste, alcohol, ratings from reviewers, etc. And we have tasting sheets (optional) for you to record your thoughts and notes from others. Once we’ve tasted then we’ll eat the amazing food we brought and enjoy more of the wine. And then of course dessert and dessert wines. It usually goes for 8-10 hours (yep, that’s right).

Over these two years I’ve tasted some well known and under the radar gems that I never would have had without the generosity and open cellars of these friends. And last weekend in NorCal I was able to identify some new sensations and flavors (malolactic fermentation?) because when I finally described what I was tasting, others in the group could say, “Hey that’s MLF!  And here’s how it happens and when and what it usually tastes like and where you taste it on your tongue.” I don’t think you can do that by yourself. You need people to share their knowledge and new experiences.

But to be honest, they weren’t my first wine group. 8 years ago, two of my girlfriends and I decided to start a group of our friends that would meet every 6-8 weeks and focus on a certain region, grape varietal, or other theme. Instead of each guest bringing food and wine, we would bring $20, and the host would pick up to 6 wines and provide small bites to pair. The kicker – wines were bagged so no one except the host knew which wines were in which bags. We also didn’t have any wine training, no sommeliers in the group, no clue what wine jargon was…just a whole bunch of curious wine loving novices to share their thoughts on what we were tasting. The first round was just a few sips of the wine and as soon as we would taste we would shout out our thoughts (Smelly socks! Dirt! Nail polish remover!”).  The designated note taker would frantically try to record our thoughts, which often contradicted each other. The second round was a few more sips but we’d load our plates and taste the food with the wine. We’d read the notes again and then vote (using plastic poker chips) for the winning wine.

After the end the poor note taker would then go onto our facebook page to post the notes with each event.  It’s amazing to go back now and see what we were drinking and what we said about it.  These were invaluable experiences that helped me learn what I liked and didn’t like, new regions and grapes, and what to serve with curry (lightly oaked Chardonnay!). It also started my love affair with Sherries and taught me that Alexander Valley Cabs were similar to but more affordable then Napa Cabs, and I might even have liked Alexander better…

It doesn’t matter if you have Somms in your group, you have no idea what you’re doing, or if you have been tasting for 50+ years.  Grab a few wine lovers and set a date. If you’d like some advice on more specifics (what to put on your tasting sheet, what food to pair, etc.) just ask.