First post on the forum - hi all!
I’m studying to take WSET 3 in the summer and wondering if anyone in the area would be interested in a tasting group to do surveys of a few regions. I’m particularly interested in Australia, Spain, Portugal, Chile, Argentina, and South Africa since those are the ones I’m least familiar with, but I’m open to anything. You certainly wouldn’t have to be taking the exam to join - it’s mostly an excuse to get some critical mass together so we can taste some good wines.
(I saw that folks were talking about a tasting group in this area last spring - is that still active?)
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Sounds fun. There are a few active groups so I expect you can find interest. Where are you located?
I’m in Palo Alto, but down to travel either up the peninsula or as far south as Los Gatos (bonus points for Los Gatos, actually).
Well, Los Gatos wins bonus points for me as I can walk home!
Re-upping this. To make things more concrete, I’d like to propose a tasting of 8 Chilean wines, chosen in an effort to cover the full spectrum of Chile’s geographic diversity. Here are some provisional picks (all from K&L):
2021 Morandé “Grand Reserve” Sauvignon Blanc Casablanca Valley $14.99
2022 Laberinto “Cenizas de Laberinto” Sauvignon Blanc Maule Valley $19.99
2022 Laberinto “Arcillas de Laberinto” Riesling Maule Valley $19.99
2022 Rogue Vine “Pipeno” Blanco Itata Valley $18.99 (Semillon, Chasselas, and Moscatel)
2020 Morandé “Vigno Old Vine” Maipo Valley $19.99 (Carignan)
2019 Viña Maquis “Lien” Red Blend Colchagua Valley $34.99 (Cab Franc, Cab Sauv, and Carmenere)
2021 Tayu 1865 Pinot Noir Malleco Valley $17.99
2021 Pedro Parra “Soulpit” Pais Itata $39.99
This gives us at least one white and red from three out of four of the main sub-regions, which - as you might infer from the grapes - includes a pretty neat range of climates. (Unfortunately, K&L didn’t have anything from Elqui or Limari Valley up north, but I’ll see if I can find something from somewhere else.)
I’d like to have at least eight people to do this, of which I can supply at least three and possibly four. If we get people beyond that, we can deepen the lineup. Thinking of Golden Triangle in Los Gatos for the location (egregious from a pairing perspective, great from a no corkage perspective).
@Craig_G, @ybarselah, @J.Lopera - are you interested? (I’m also planning to float this at the tasting group thing at Fey next weekend.)
I’m in provided the date works. I can probably get one or two more people.
Great meeting you yesterday, Jonathan. I am in depending on the date! Looking forward to it. I could rally a few troops based in San Jose as well.
Sorry for the slow response all. How does the weekend of May 3-5 look?
I can probably do 5/3. I can’t do 5/4 or 5/5