Where is the best place to find a wine tasting group/club?

I’m in NYC and I want to join a group or club that meets once a week for blind tastings or just a social wine club to hang out and drink wine with others who enjoy it as much as I do.

Where would be a good place to find a club?

This is a great question. I am also in NYC and would love to find a regular (maybe once a month) tasting group. I have found it difficult, however, as I am fairly young and only a few years into this hobby (or obsession!) and am fearful that I would be “that guy” in any NYC group who can’t contribute to the level of everyone else. It is exceedingly rare that I spend near three figures on a single bottle and do not have a small collection of well aged La Tache or Montrachet. Needless to say, a lot of the tasting group notes I see posted here, while extremely envious, are way out of my league.

If there isn’t one we can join, I’m up to start one with you.

We started one in our neighborhood just by asking around to see who else would want to join.
It ended up being so popular we now have 3 groups of 20+ people each. Winos are everywhere.

Go to the Offline Planner board. For example, New York, NY, August 8, 2015- CFischer meets Erez and Dan and drinks good juice :) - Event Planner - Online or Offline - WineBerserkers

Something similar is how I first met people who are now in my tasting group about a decade ago.

David and Sean,

In the same boat here, also in NYC. Looks like we have 3 of us already.

As you said before, I’m relatively young, and my wine spend is typically in the $30-65 range per bottle.

Maybe we should start an online planner night for rookies like us for late august? Meet up somewhere byob?

Sounds great. Count me in.

You don’t even know how excited I am right now. Starting this thread was the best idea I’ve ever had!

Not to worry. The first offline that I attended in Manhattan was at Fairway on Broadway. I brought what I thought was a good wine. Keep in mind that I owned 6 bottles at the time. The wine I brought was an Anderson Conn Valley (ACV) reeserve cab sauv. Clearly the weakest of the other wines, which included a Saxum. The ACV was still delicious, but it was a $45 bottle surround by others in the $60 - $100 range. Since I was allowed to attend future offlines, I figured that my wine was more than acceptable.

If you folks above are going to have this offline, post in the offline forum. Also, post a theme ie California syrah $30 - $50. This will keep it friendly and approachable. Who knows, I may even join you. Not everyone here is regularly attending $200 1990 French wine dinners. I know. Hard to believe right.

dlee, welcome to WineBerserkers.

this site has an offline forum. Welcome.

A new NYC tasting group was started on the Offline forum just last year (if memory serves). I’m sure there’s room for yet another.

There are quite a few off lines in and around NYC, just sign up and go.

The funnest part is the offlines don’t even have to be expensive as long as you can be creative, i.e. Blind tastings of one variety where you pick the one you like best, or blinds of different varieties where if you pick all varieties correctly you win a bottle or a kitty (not kitten). Your imagination and wine procurement are your limits! Have fun!

Lastly - don’t worry, be happy. If you start thinking you are a balla, someone else will ultimately spend more and be a bigga balla.

Aren’t they attending $2,000 DRC dinners instead?

Ha! I think I was the one who brought the Saxum. You think I cared about the cost of what other people brought? Not a sou, as the French would say. Although there are a few jerks who worry about that, I think most don’t care and you will soon learn who is who. I now have a second informal suburban group near home and I probably bring the most expensive bottle every time. I’m happy to share. Don’t fret it and when you get old and grey like me, just remember where you started.

That’s good advice.

In addition, there are other ways of approaching it. If people don’t have a lot of wine they’ve kept in a cellar for many years, you can always pools resources and buy something. Or have everyone kick into a kitty and buy from that. Say you want to try some CA wines, maybe get together and pick up a bottle from say, 1990 and the same producer from 2000 and 2010 or something like that.

Most of all keep in mind that price is only marginally related to quality and as the price goes up, the relationship gets farther apart.

Good luck!

I’m similarly situated, but (alas) in LA. You guys have inspired me and I’ll be posting to Offline Planner for a similar type of group. Thx!

I don’t worry about what bottle to bring but the idea of group tasting is intimidating to newcomers. I know I would be concerned that my comments would not be agreeable to a group

Why? Just be yourself and don’t try to BS.

Some people try to list a zillion flavors that they read they’re supposed to experience. Don’t do that. You’ll be OK. You’ve been tasting things your whole life. Bacon and eggs, fried chicken, etc. Tasting wine isn’t different from tasting anything else.

Bringing less expensive wine becomes an issue if you do it consistently and have got deep pockets and short arms.