Tonight was one of my favorite nights of the month.  Once a month, I gather a group of friends and wine lovers at our local wine bistro to taste wine.  You may be thinking, okay, what’s the big deal?  The big deal is that this group of friends is what I consider my “wine family.”  In some cases, wine is thicker than blood.  Our eclectic group of wine family all met at a great local wine shop named Vino 100.  The original shop was sold, and is now Vino’s etc, aka Tony’s place.  Most of us did not know each other before we met at this local wine shop/bar.  We are a diverse group – different ages, backgrounds, professions etc.  What do we have in common?  You guessed it – a love of wine!  This is now the “family” that I spend many weekends and holidays with, and always feel at home.

Once a month, we gather to select the wine club wines for the following month.  There are no formal invitations or guest list.  It is by word of mouth, and everyone is welcome.  Tonight we had a group of 14 wine lovers.  The perk that I am lucky enough to share with my friends is the gift of free wine.  I (well, my company) supply all the wines for this night, and the club members get to taste and select the wines for the next month’s wine club.   We tasted 5 different wines tonight and selected 2 for the associate’s wine club and 2 for the sommeliers wine club.  The voting tends to get a little crazy, but everyone always agrees in the end.  Tonight’s lineup consisted of the Bodegas Lan Rioja Riserva from Spain, the Argiano Non-Confunditor super Tuscan from Italy, Domaine du Cayron Gigondas from France, Owen Roe Sinister hand from Washington, and another special selection wine from Washington that cannot be revealed.  (This wine is so allocated that we can only reveal it’s identity to wine club members. Seriously!)  So, which wines made the cut?  What are the two wines that you would buy with your  $40 club membership, and which two qualify for the $60 club membership?  I’m not going to tell you.  Please send your comments.  Wine club members feel free to comment, but don’t reveal the winners!  If you are interested in joining the wine club, please call Tony at Vino’s etc.