I’m not sure if any of you have had this experience, but on Saturday, we’re going to a wine tasting that friends of ours (who enjoy wine and have good taste but are civilians) purchased at a charity auction event. I don’t think they have any idea what the tasting is, and I definitely don’t. I don’t expect it is likely to be the kinds of wines we talk about here, but hopefully it isn’t like the one other event like this I attended a few years ago.
Another friend of mine had purchased a wine tasting at a charity auction, we went to his house, and it turned out to be this marketing effort for these no-name wines that her company sells. The wines were really bad, it was a constant pressured sales pitch from this really pinched and unpleasant woman, and she was constantly scolding everyone about nursing small pours of these wines (a few others at it just wanted to drink), yet these wines were not even remotely worth that kind of attention and care. That friend was a collector of good wines, and we found ourselves trying, without being obvious or gauche about it, to sneak off and drink some better wines of his without this overbearing woman noticing.
I hope that’s not what tomorrow is; the host and the other couples attending are pretty hard partying folks, and I doubt they’d try as hard to be courteous to someone like that woman I experienced the first time. I’d be perfectly fine if these were modest or everyday wines and I’m definitely not expecting to taste a vertical of classified growth Bordeaux or anything, but I hope it is at least something earnest and not some timeshare-esque marketing effort for off-label plonk.
Anyone ever found themselves in something like that?
We are part of a tasting group where we alternate between each couples houses, once per month. The group is split half and half into those who are really into wine and those who are just ther for the social aspect. The host decides on a food and wine theme and everyone brings a bottle they like. Pretty standard.
One couple has had a few extra events at their house where they have invited a distributor in to taste his wares. There has not been a strong sales pitch but it is obvious that is what is is trying to do. He hands out the order forms and talks about each wine, overstating some of the aspects about them. The wines have not been anything I was interested in.
There is a couple that is new to the group recently and they are hosting an event next month. He works for a distributor and is going to provide all of the wine. I fear it is going to turn into a sales event and since he is a part of the group, he will probably expect everyone to buy something. We will see how it goes.
I can’t imagine buying a wine tasting event without specifying the types of wine I would want served. What if they serve good wine, but not the style and varieties you prefer. Sneak a bottle or two in and hide them in the bathroom. Just keep excusing yourself.
We received an invitation to a wine dinner/tasting purchased at auction by close friends of ours a few years ago. The format was tasting high end cult wines, and then a formal dinner served in the Chicago condo of the hosts. They were billed as knowledgeable enthusiasts, “just like you are Jim.” I was urged to bring a couple of bottles of something very good to contribute to the dinner.
We arrived at the appointed hour, myself with a bottle of 2002 Colgin Cariad and a 2002 Harlan Estate in hand. The host took them without looking at them, said we love it when people bring wine to our dinners, and proceeded to set them off to the side and commenced on his love for the wines they were serving. I honestly can’t remember the winery, but the wines were plonk. The dinner consisted of the couple serving us a dinner they made, but not joining us. They insisted that their job was to serve. That said, they proceeded to stand over us throughout the dinner, interjecting themselves into the conversation at every turn. It was one of the more weird evenings I can remember. Never once was there mention of opening the wines that Sheila and I brought. We all beat a hasty exit as soon as it was possible to do so without being rude.
The postscript to this is that over a year later, the husband of the host couple called our friends who purchased the dinner/tasting, and said that he had just looked up the wines that I brought, and that they were supposed to be “fairly good.” Would the two of them enjoy coming over to open one of the two bottles? They declined.
Filed under the heading “No good deed goes unpunished.”
On the flipside, my wife and I donated a wine tasting for our Catholic school’s auction dinner. It wasn’t the kind of thing where you would open bottles of Colgin, but we did nice flights of $25-50 type wines like Turley, Ridge Geyserville, Anthill Farms, Ketcham, Sanford, etc. And it went over very well, everyone had fun and seemed to learn a few things.
But it only got like $180 or something at the auction, so between the wines we opened and the time and effort, it doesn’t make sense to do again. I guess it’s hard to communicate in something like that that the tasting is going to be worth more; it’s just a mismatched thing.
What a weird coincidence. I hadn’t even seen that thread, and here it is on the board the same day. I’ll have to commisserate with Brig next time we talk.
These threads give me a great idea! Offer a free wine tasting to folks and all they have to do is sit through a 90 minute presentation on why they should join the wine club!
omg, you know somebody will try it.
I got pulled into one of these sales pitches disguised as a wine tasting bought at an auction. All I remember is (i) the wines all sucked, (ii) they were all poured into tiny cups the size of a shotglass, and (iii) the salesman kept comparing all of them to Silver Oak.
Chris- for years my wife has been asking me to put a wine tasting together for our children’s school (also Catholic) auction and I have resisted thinking it might be fun but not raise the value of the donation. Instead, we have just given wine, mostly Cali pinot, and that has done well.
Then there was this one time several years ago that someone donated a case of the 2002 Napa Valley Reserve - we bought it all. I still have one bottle left - fun surprise to see and buy as there usually is never anything interesting to bid on in the wine category.
sounds like a Pieroth tasting. Was dragged to one once. Horrid wines. About one of them, the expert said, “wonderful, tastes just like water with no aftertaste.” He was right–no finish at all on the tasteless wine.
We have a yearly online charity auction at my fairly large company. It is somewhat typical for folks to auction off wine dinners for charity. Year before last, one went for $800 dollars and I new I could put together a better one. The next year, I described mine as a French pairing dinner for 6 plus my wife and I, with the expectations I would serve food and wine pairings for about 5 different regions in France, expecting to spend about 16 hours on the menu and about $500 on the wine. My wife’s friends bid on it at $200 and then asked if they could bring 2-3 extra people! In the end, it got up to about $275 at which point I had my wife purchase it. We donated the money and saved about $300 and the headache of creating the pairing dinner. I guess I could have served Mer Soleil and Aubert and told them they were French burgundies.
I’ve never been in a position to be at or purchase a wine tasting anywhere other than at “the winery,” so this is kinda new and unique to me. The closest thing I’ve had to it was an invite to a BBQ and bring an appropriate wine. Half way through dinner, the Tupper Ware sales started. Haven’t spoken to the hosting couple much since.
As far as having a “distributor” hosting a party, I’d go to that. He and his company can’t sell directly to you, (in CA), just promote wines and direct you to retailers if you are interested.
To offer a wine tasting for a school auction or police function? No WAY? Those two groups attending the dinner where the auction will be held all have alligator arms and no appreciation for fine wine or food. A T-rex can’t reach a wallet below his waist line.
Bring two bottles wrapped in aluminum foil and when they introduce the tasting, decide whether it is going to be a catastrophe. If yes, then pull out your two bottles, say it would be fund to add two blind bottles to the tasting, and offer them up. One should be Charles Shaw and the other should be something you like. Just for fun, of course.
I create about one to two of these events annually. That is, where I am the one conducting the tasting. I am not ITB. These are usually silent auction items (rather than live auction). Sometimes they go to the highest bidder, but the last one (sparkling wine tasting with small plates) had ten slots priced at $50/slot. All ten slots got filled.
In all the events I’ve hosted (either in my home, or bringing wines to another’s home), I’ve never had anyone in the crowd that would be on a board like this. Occasionally, there will be one or two people with a little wine knowledge. Most are there for the social/party aspect. Even so, I go all out for them. I don’t want anyone to be disappointed. I want them to like the wine and to like learning about it. I want them to feel like they got a value for their donation to the charitable cause. I introduce them to wines they probably have not had, and I pour wines at a variety of price points. For the sparkling wine even coming up, where I’m also cooking, I will probably pour 6-8 wines, with each person getting a 2.5 ounce pour.
Brad, I like your approach. We do something very similar where we contribute “gourmet dinner for 6 with wine” events at charity auctions where we host at our home, and they go over very well year after year. We usually garner $100 per diner on average. Given the pricing paid, we tend to put a lot of thought into the pairings and usually end up doing six bottles total - two with apps, four with mains and two during dessert. Most of the time, none are knowledgeable about wine at all, but they all enjoy asking about the wines, the pairing decision, etc. and we usually pour $30-40 bottles. Our hope is someone there has an aha moment and will perhaps get the wine bug, but we know that would never happen if we stuck with the mass market retail wines in the $15 range (not to mention we want to make sure we provide value to the bidders). Last event we hosted like this was themed as Mad Men, so we even added Martinis, Scotch, music and candy cigarettes to the mix. It was a blast to do.
Hopefully OP attends a more thoughtful event, and not one of these Tupperware-esque events.
I do a few of these a year, usually for churches or charities, and usually just let whomever is putting up the money choose the wines from whatever retailer is also participating. When I was younger, I used to love doing these, and usually had a lot more patience for those 2-3 people that just won’t shut up throughout the whole thing. I usually walk over and stand next to the talkers, hoping to drown them out or shut them up, and that usually works. Only once did I have a guy that would not shut up (in North Oaks of all places - very ritzy Twin Cities neighborhood) and as I talked louder and louder, so did he, to the point where he was literally yelling over me. And I usually give everyone a break after 2-3 wines are poured and talked about - but I have to keep remembering that most of these people haven’t seen each other in a while, and it is a social gathering.
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