Attention new folks on the board. For the price of a bottle of wine, I got to drink...

WINE TALK
1

When I was new to the online wine world back in 2003, I went to my very first offline in New York City. The theme was California cabs. Back then, I had a total of 6 bottles in my cellar. one of them, the most expensive at the time, was a 1999 Anderson Conn Valley (ACV) Reserve cabernet. I picked this up at K&L on a business trip to San Francisco. I heard about them from one of my travel friends on Flyertalk, and when I saw the bottle, I purchased it. It sat in my cellar for a few years, as I watched the bottle gather dust. The cost was $39.00.

When the offline was posted, I signed on. Six people attended the event at Fairway. The ACV was clearly outclassed by the other wines. I felt really good when someone said that they liked the wine. It was then that I realized that for the price of a bottle of wine, I’d be able to taste lots of great wine. It was something that I wanted to be a part of. I knew that I could never cheap out if I wanted to attend another event.

I’m still new to this hobby, vs others here on Wine Berserkers. When I go out with friends and business associates, they think I’m the go to guy. [whistle.gif]

My cellar has come a long way since the days of 6 bottles.

Last week I attended an offline at North Square in NYC. It was a high end Napa cab dinner. A few cult wines + other top notch wines were there for the tasting. The cost of admission to further enhance my wine education… a good bottle of wine. Link >> T/N: CLONYC 38a - Big Boys Napa high end cab - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers

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Cool post, seriously. Many of us started like that, I’m guessing.

3

You can say that again. My early offline days (1998-1999) were filled with amazing wines that I had no way to live up to. German Riesling was dirt cheap then as opposed to relatively inexpensive now. But everyone was happy to taste and happy to share. I met some great folks back then. Some have become among my closest friends, and that’s priceless.

4

nice post. I still remember my first OL extremely fondly. I’ve made some great friends and tasted some great wines along the way. Plus, it’s pretty entertaining telling the story of how weird my wife thought it was the first time I went to go drink wine with random people I met on the internet, and how much we both love doing that now.

5

The best thing I’ve learned is with a few bottles of wine and a few dinners you could form great friendships. some of my closest friends are people I met at wine dinners. It’s really something to cherish. At some point it no longer is an offline but just a bunch of good friends hanging out.

6

That sums up why we are here and then the ability to trade, barter, or tag along with others on this wine journey.

7

Ditto to the above post. No matter what level someone is on consumption wise or knowledge, I find myself sitting back, enjoying a good read, laugh, and living vicariously through what experiences others have generously shared.