Nice to know I’m not the only one who likes Malbec. The Hubby and I just discovered Malbecs last month, and we’re getting hooked.
I’ve got a date with Malbec Rosé scheduled to begin in about one hour.
I’m interested in it for educational reasons, but I’m way too lame at wines to suggest anything at all! Besides, I like sweet wines, which don’t seen proper nowadays and I’d hate to inflict on y’all. I’d even like a little of the snobbery, so maybe I can learn a little about these high-falutin’ terms actually mean. (“Oaky”? That means, “tastes like floor stripper,” right? I’ve not actually chewed on an oak tree, thanks.)
I could probably save a bit from my pin money for the cause. I’d start getting real nervous if prices went much above $25 a month on a regular basis, however.
I just cracked a bottle of 1998 Finca de la Montaña Malbec. We shall see if it has held up.
Yep. 
Count me in! I’d be pleased to try others’ recommendations and maybe make one or two of my own. How do we decide which wine to go with each month? Vote?
She said “sure, sounds interesting.”
Wheee!
Here’s our initial proposed group. I assume that anyone else who wants to join or participate will also be welcome.
Jodi
kurilla
Rick
Athena
Ass4aHat
Brainiac4
Dangerosa
longhair75
Zsofia
psycat90
Stranger on a Train
silenus
WhyNot
legalsnugs
Thudlow, I’m not sure from your post if you’re in or out.
A few people have suggested monthly virtual meetings. I’m just a little worried that if we only do it once a month interest will dry up and blow away. Do we think we could do it 2x a month, or is monthly the way to go? And what should the limit be? Please post again with your vote for 1/mo. or 2/mo, and your suggestion for , for both options (so we don’t have to talk about $ again once frequency is decided).
I vote for 2/mo, but I’m great with 1/mo if that’s the consensus preference. I think if we do it 1/mo, $30 would be a good limit, and if 2/mo, $20. I can move up on limits if others think this is too low; I just don’t want to price anyone out who wants to participate. I hope everyone knows they don’t have to spend the limit (whatever it is); there are some very drinkable wines for under $10, so I hope we can avoid fixating too much on price.
“Meetings”: I suggest the person choosing the wine post on a Thursday of a given week and we all post our comments on or by the following Monday. That way, we can drink Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday – or all of the above. 
What do you think?
Please also post your personal suggestions, like here are two from me:
I propose that we agree to try not to read what other people have said until we try the wine ourselves, so we’re not prejudiced beforehand.
I propose that we tell people why we chose the wine we did. I don’t mean some homework essay, just whatever prompted the choice, from “this is one of my personal favorites” to “I’ve heard about this but never tried it” to “I thought the label was pretty.”
Anything else? Does anybody want to go first? How about next week?
Shoot. Let me summarize the questions:
- Once or twice a month?
- Price per bottle for 1/mo & price per bottle for 2/mo?
- Okay to recommend on Thursday and discuss on Monday? Or do we all want to drink “together” (that might be fun, if less feasible)?
- Wanna go first/last/in the middle?
- Wanna start next week?
Yay!
- Twice a month
- Under $20 per bottle, and we may want to deal with types at first rather than specific wines. Or do a specific one time, and a varietal the next.
- I like the wide time frame, which works for me since I am usually at tournaments on weekends.
- Whenever.
- Yes.
- Twice
- Don’t let my answer skew overall preference, but I pretty much have no monthly limit. I spend a pretty penny every month on wine, whether it’s for 2 bottles or 20 doesn’t make much of a difference to me. Well, OK it makes *something *of a difference!
I think a cap on $25 a bottle is good for most.) - I like the Thurs-Mon idea, and since I normally write my notes in my wine journal as I taste, I wouldn’t have a problem with not reading other posts before posting my own.
- Doesn’t matter to me.
- Yes!
I’m a little leery of leaving the selection of a particular bottle simply to the first person to make a suggestion. Maybe we could get a few suggestions early in the week and then vote. That might give everyone a chance to figure out if they can lay their hands on any of the choices.
I like the idea of just selecting a varietal. BTW, silenus, if I promise to buy an Italian wine, will you promise to buy a French wine? Or maybe we should just stick to American wines for now?
I think under $20 is about right.
Ah, just saw this thread. I would be interested as well.
- Twice.
- $20-$25 is a good limit, maybe pairing expensive ones with cheaper ones each month. It’s also a lot harder to get more expensive wines around here. (Plenty of $7 Australian stuff though.)
- Fine.
- No.
- Start ASAP.
Well, I had more in mind that we would take turns being the sommelier, so to speak. Maybe a suggested particular bottle, with the varietal if we can’t find the bottle? But I think if we’re in “the 1998 cab, not the 1999” area, we may have gone too far. I have no problem with suggestions and voting, except that I foresee it being a bit of a PITA, with no consensus guaranteed. I guess I would prefer the sommelier to get to choose the varietal and the country of origin; part of the fun (at least IMO) will be tasting a wide variety of wines. But again I will defer to the group if you guys want to make the club more focused.
You’re asking one hell of a lot, you know.
But in the interests of global trade…I guess so.
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Twice is fine; I only suggested once for people who may have overly-packed schedules.
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$30 for once a month; $20 for twice a month.
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I like the pick on Thursday, drink on Monday idea. It solves a lot of scheduling problems.
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Whenever. I’ll go first if no one else volunteers.
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If you mean next week as in Jan 4, then no. If you mean Jan 11, then sure.
Agreed that some reasoning, however brief, should be included. I’d also agree that the sommelier of the week should choose. Voting is all well and good, but I think it will (a) take a lot of time and (b) dilute the pleasure, so to speak.
Are we limited to varietals, or can we suggest blends? I’m not clear from discussion to date.
1.Twice
2. $20/ for twice, $30/ bottle for once
3. No, let’s give ourselves a little more time. How about we post on Monday/early Tuesday what we want to taste, and a decision is made by late Tuesday early Wednesday. This would give us an extra day to source the wine. Which may be an issue for some people/ some places. I vote that either you are the sommelier, or that we rotate the duty. (somebody has to choose which wine)
4. Doesn’t matter
5. Sure, why not?
One other thought,
I think the wine selection should go something like this
Wine of the week Rancho Zabaco Zinfandel {Include a web link if possible}
If you can’t find this try to get Rancho Zabaco Dancing Bull Zinfandel
If you can’t find that look for a medium priced California Zinfandel.
This way we have a clue as what each other is tasting. For example I have had some Chardonnay that is light and fruity. Other Chards are so woody that they taste like a 2X4 in a glass. If 1/2 us have one chard and the rest have the other, we are going to think the other group is nuts.
1 - I vote for twice
2 - Whatever works for everyone. I’m with psycat90, I spend far too much on wine as it is, so anything is fine with me. I have found that in a lot of cases you get a HUGE jump in quality between a $10 bottle and a $20 bottle, so I like the $20-$25 price point.
3 - I agree with the other posters who said that the type should be posted by Mon/Tue. Those of us in the boonies may need a few extra days to find a wine.
4 - Whatever. I’ll go first or last or middle.
5 - Sure!
Other topics:
- I’d vote against voting on the type every week. Too complicated.
- I like Rick’s Zinfandel example. I think we need to specify a bottle, and a specific varietal if someone can’t find a bottle. “A French wine” is too vague. Bring it down to “A French Bordeaux” or “A French Cab Sav/Merlot”
I also think we should specify years, because it makes a difference and one of the most interesting things for novice wine drinkers to learn is how the same wine differs from year to year. We don’t need to get dogmatic about it - just “try to find the 1999 if you can.”
kurilla asked about varietals vs. blends. I sure hope we’re open to any wine out there! Limiting to one or the other type is booooring.
And overall, let’s not get too dogmatic about anything. If you can’t find the wine of the week or anything remotely like it, just open what you want and post the results! As long as the bulk of the group is on the same wine or type of wine, that’s no big deal. Wine drinking is supposed to be fun, let’s not get too crazy about it.
Okay! We’ll try to go in order of how people signed up (just for ease, since I’ve already typed up the list). BUT since I don’t want to go first, kurilla, YOU are our first sommelier. Rick’s hypo should be the sort of thing we shoot for:
You (general “you,” all of us) can be as specific as you want, even unto year, as long as you recognize the more specific you are, the harder it may be for people to find.
Twice a month. $20 limit a bottle.
kurilla you can post your choice anytime between now and next Thursday (1/11), or solicit suggestions/requests if you’d like. We’ll plan on “discussing” anytime after 1/11, with the time before being for “selecting” and “buying” and the time after for “drinking” and “discussing.” Then I’ll prod the next sommelier (Rick) to start thinking of his recommendation around 1/18, with a drink/discuss start date of 1/25. That way, we’ll be selecting and drinking on alternate weeks, with two buys a month.
Sound okay? Anyone who doesn’t want to be sommelier can pass at anytime. Anyone who really has a great idea and wants to be sommelier early can just check it with the person whose turn is next.
Anything else? kurilla, bring on the wine!
Just a quick post to acknowledge.
I’ll post by Friday 1/5, just to give people time to shop.
Happy drinking!
Just to be clear - we’re talking about every second and fourth weekend, right? Just for planning purposes. And looking forward to **kurilla’s ** choice!
P.S. **Jodi ** - don’t forget to add **SmackFu ** to the list!