The Wine Club of Greater Phoenix
Held the kickoff meeting for The Wine Club of Greater Phoenix last evening. While we didn’t have time to “officially” name the wine club this is a place holder. Everyone presented what they wanted to get out of the monthly meetings and came up with the following format.
Key items agreed to were that the Wine Club would be rotational (at different homes), have an educational component, host to determine scope/theme/topic for the evening, a blind tasting component and guests will bring besides a specific wine an appetizer to be paired with the wine selection/theme. Everyone wanted some additional time to socialize and discuss the wines of the evening.
We will meet on the first Thursday of each month at 7 pm. The meetings will be limited to twelve people with the host confirming the first twelve and putting others on a waitlist. The next meeting will be Thursday, September 3rd to kick off the Wine Club, Kelly’s will host the first event.
The monthly host will decide on the theme or topic for the evening. It is wide open and can be on a specific varietal, geographic location, comparison/contrast of a varietal from a warm climate verses cold climate, vertical tasting, country, AVA, etc. Hosts will rotate monthly.
Each session will be broken down into three sections. The first will be a “educational segment” with 3-4 pages of material handed out to attendees. The second segment will be the tasting and if desired a blind tasting portion based upon the hosts’ topic with each participant bringing a bottle to share. If it is a blind tasting, please bring your wine before arriving, covered in a brown bag. The host will notify you two weeks before the session to allow you to obtain (if not in your inventory) an appropriate wine for the evening. Suggestions were Trevor’s, Total Wine, etc. The third session will be discussing wines, enjoying the appetizers (to go with the theme) and meeting new folks, socializing, etc. The evening should end around 9 pm.
During the evening a couple of other matters were discussed and determined:
*Folks would like to have an opportunity to secure discounted wines.
*Two themed dinners will be held: one in May and one in November at a member’s house. More information to follow.
*Communications will be via email. Please make sure your email is provided.
*The Wine Club will not hold formal meetings during the summer months of June, July and August due to weather and travel vacations.
*Host will provide wine glasses and is not required to provide an appetizer.
We did not discuss organizational issues, but de facto I will act as Secretary for at least the first year.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Last evening we enjoy a wide range of wines, starting off with value packed 2024 Kirkland Chardonnay at $8 working our way to an Arizonia wine from Bodega Pierce Cabernet Franc from Willcox, AZ. Feedback was how this was different from a California Cabernet Franc. Opened a 2020 LXV Winery Cabernet Franc $100 from Paso Robles, CA (pic shows a 2021 as the bottle went home with a member). This 2020 won Best of Class and Best of Show at the International Cabernet Franc Wine Competition in 2023. FYI- this year it has moved from northern California to Mesa, AZ at the Arizona Commemorative Air Force Museum. It was a good discussion comparing the two Cab Franc wines. We finished off the evening with a 2013 Crocker & Starr Stone Place Cabernet Sauvignon, a limited and allocated wine (current vintage is $195). A fun and enjoyable evening for those attending.
If you have any questions, please contact Michael Kelly at mkellywine@gmail.com or mkellyaz26@gmail.com .
Sláinte,
Michael Kelly
https://californiawinesandwineries.com