http://online.wsj.com/article/on_wine.html
Good read but I’d rather pull corks with fellow WineBerserkers.
Tom
I’m sure the clubs provide a lot of opportunity to drink great, delicious, and rare wine, but man the admissions process sounds showy and expensive.
Isn’t this what many of us have been trying to change about the image of wine? taking an oral or a written test to be admitted? really? I have been a member of a couple of groups, with members of varying degrees of seriousness. sometimes the fun is trying to persuade the less educated and motivated in the group to try different things. I just can’t imagine these groups having much “fun”. Sounds more like an exclusive club for celebrities or the financially focused, rather than wine lovers. I can just picture the one-upmanship going on as they try to bring the most expensive rare bottles and 'win" the tasting.
Come to think of it, wasn’t there a group including the likes of “Dr Conti”, that used to meet regularly to drink rare and unobtainable bottles? That turned into a whole lot of fun.
Too bad Lettie didn’t tell us who gets to be the Corkmaster in the groups… 
I think some of you might not understand the mission of the two groups that she outlined. It is not about just hanging out and drinking wine. (Although that is part of it)
Definitely not about being a member of an exclusive secret club. Many times, the dinners have a significant educational slant.
If you are going to be a member of an organization which promotes Burgundy or Bordeaux, you should know quite a bit about the geography, history and viticulture.
I think that is the reason for several requirements Lettie states. Also to show some seriousness so that the organization isn’t just a country club.
Very few of the groups that exist drink extremely rare wines. New York might be the one place where people have the
ability to drink rare wines on occasion. It is EXTRAORDINARLY rare in most of the other groups in the USA.
My take. I know quite a few folks in that article that Lettie quotes. It is a nice piece but I think she missed the essence of the organizations she was covering.
Just my $0.02
BTW, if good wine with a few buddies is your final destination, a good weekend with your buddies and a nice source of pocket change at Bern’s in Tampa is more likely to be satisfying tha either of these organizations if you are looking for old and rare.
FWIW.
I am not a member of either but participate actively in both as “fill in” when some of the members can’t make it. In my experience the focus of the activities is educational and they provide great value in regards to pooling resources and hosting verticals and horizontals that would be hard to stage otherwise. Of course, once in while magnificent bottles do make the rounds, but it is more the exception than the rule.
When I was working at Antoine’s in NOLA I once proposed pouring a Pernand Vergelesses Blanc for a La Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin dinner and the octogenarian head of the committee repremanded me with “Young man, this is a BURGUNDY organization!”.
Where do all the fees for membership and to attend these events go? I have seen tasting notes for some of these events and the quality of Bordeaux was marginal.
http://www.commanderie.org/showHistory.action
Some sweet looking outfits you get to wear.
Yeah guys, these outfits totally look like the clubs are all about the wine education and not showy or exclusionary at all.
(Those are sweet robes, by the way. If that’s where the money goes, it may be worth it.)
I was at some induction ceremony by a similar Champagne organization honoring those of us in the trade who do the most to promote Champagne about 20 years ago and, in the middle of the ceremony and with half of the inductees being female, they spelled out the rules that only men could have full membership and the ladies were part of an honorary auxiliary with no privileges. I and several other male inductees joined the group of women who walked out at that point, leaving our medals on a table.
I need to make a thread of “stories from robert’s life”
Charlie, go out, live a little and create your own stories.
The article says exclusive world, not secret world. I am a member of both organizations, and there are very few secrets in my experience. Both organizations have provided me with great experiences and education. The New York groups are not typical. Most other chapters are less expensive to join and less exclusive.
This spring my Commanderie chapter is doing a deep vertical of Chateau Palmer with representatives of the Chateau flying in to participate. That event will cost under $200 for me to attend, including a multi-course dinner.
The “initiation fee” probably seems odd to many people. In my chapters of both organizations, this is a “lifetime” fee you pay on joining that is effectively a cellar buy in (it is calculated by dividing the value of the groups cellar by the number of members - that is what you pay to become a new member). Pretty fair deal I’d say.
If anyone has any questions about either organization, I will try to answer them if you like.
Cheers,
Blair
I am a member of the Commanderie de Bordeaux Manila and the International Wine & Food Society Philippines Branch. They may be called “exclusive” in terms of price of the dinners, I readily admit, especially in the Philippine context - only a small percentage of Filipinos could afford these dinners on a regular basis, and, of that percentage, not all are into the wine & dine scene.
There will always be people who can spend more than others - in any country. Just as there are those who are willing to spend more on good wine and food (or anything else, for that matter) than others. That’s the way it is.
As to the singing of the French song at Commanderie affairs, that’s not done in the Manila Chapter, and, in all the Commanderie du Bontemps de Médoc, Graves, Sauternes and Barsac events I have attended in Bordeaux and Hong Kong, I’ve never heard that song sung (not that I can recall, anyway).