This evening we tasted a selection of white wines in tall bottles, a.k. bottles that don’t fit on the shelves. This was the third meeting of the Blackrock Castle Wine Club. I had missed the second, being snowboarding in Austria at the time, and discovered that The system was modified slightly since the first one.
In response to patron feedback Julian was now speaking through a PA system, so as to reach even the most distant listener and the sequence of pouring and tailing had been refined. Tonight they poured, we tasted, we talked amongst ourselves and then Julian told us a little about the wine and we played guess the price. It’s a nice way to do it, I think everyone gets to enjoy the tasting and still hears the background information, which for me is a huge part of the experience.
The event went swimmingly – excellent organisation from Blackrock Castle and the Bubble Brothers team.
A brilliant addition to the system was the introduction of a “guess the mystery bottle” round. We were all poured a glass from a mystery bottle and wrote down our thoughts as to the provenance on a piece of paper. The first piece of paper incorporating a correct guess as to the country of origin drawn from the hat (cardboard box) would win a mysery prize! It took some persistance but eventually a winning answer was drawn and the mystery bottle identified. I’m quite proud to say I didn’t recognise the bottle of Blue Nun at all!
As always, I’ve attached my notes from the evening. I’m afraid they’re rather more sparse than usual. This is a reflection on my personal lack of affinity with Rieslings and no reflection on what was another splendid evening.
If you’re thinking of attending one of the next meetings – do. They’re great fun, you’ll learn a bit about wine, meet some nice people and best of all, taste some lovely wines.
You can sign up here.
Hey Brian, thanks for that on Blackrock wine club. Happened upon it via @celav on Twitter. Sounds great. Am nervous of ‘wine clubs’ but sounds inviting.
Hi Gina,
if you’re thinking of coming along please do! it’s really a friendly atmosphere, there’s no pressure or wine snobbery at all. You don’t need to know anything about the wines you’re trying. Julian (or whoever is running the show) will tell us all about it, and then you get a chance to chat to the people at the table next to you. It’s really just good fun, no pressure at all!
One thing though, it is a popular event with limited numbers, so booking ahead of time on the link in my post is definitely recommended
Sounds like my kind of wine club! Thanks Brian. Will definitely look out for next one. Might coax @CelaV into it too!
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