How It All Started

What you need to understand, is that when I was first introduced to the world of fine wine, (I have elected to forget about some youthful indiscretions involving Ripple, Boone's Farms Strawberry Hill and, God forgive me...Manichewitz Cream Concord), it was incredibly affordable. I'm talking first growth Bordeaux from a good year for $10 a bottle. I'm talking Batard-Montrachet from a Nevada discounter for $4. I'm talking CASES of 1954 Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Rioja for $24, (this was in 1978). So we all sat around drinking our Latour and Haut Brion and Gevrey-Chambertin smugly knowing that we had stepped in something really good.

But apparently, we weren't the only ones on this vinous journey of discovery, because before you could say "Trockenbeerenauslese", prices began to skyrocket, leaving ex-hippie student types like ourselves struggling to find something drinkable that we could still afford. Thus began my learning curve on great cheap wine.

After I moved to Southern California in 1980, it didn't take long to discover Trader Joe's Markets, a veritable wine Mecca awash in hundreds of obscure bottles from obscure producers and many better known wines from distributors and retailers who were having financial difficulties. This was a place where if you knew what to look for, there were great bargains to be found. The problem was, as much as I loved wine, I didn't really drink that much at home. My ex-wife (we'll call her Plaintiff), didn't drink at all, so the only time I was likely to pull some corks was when we were entertaining. When I finally got around to opening a bottle and confirming that I had made a good choice (maybe "guess" would be a better term), I'd rush back to the store to stock up and of course find that the wine had long since sold out.

One night years later, Plaintiff and I had a particularly fun dinner party where as it turned out, most of the guests were wine enthusiasts like myself. We went through a ton of bottles with many spirited discussions along the way. I realized that this was the answer to my bargain hunting strategy and a few days later sent all the attendees a modest proposal stating that "any idiot can waltz into a wine shop, plunk down $20 or so, and come home with a decent bottle," but that there were truly wonderful wines to be had for well under $10, sometimes as little as $3, and I was the guy who could find them. And so was born the "Monday Night Cheap Wine Club", which has been meeting on the first Monday of every month (for the most part), since October, 1997.

It's simple really, I generally go around to all the wine shops and discounters in the area and select about a dozen bottles or so, a couple of days before the tasting. Then we meet at someone's house and taste the wines blind, accompanied by some cheese and crackers and other basic snacks. Truthfully, it's really more of a wine drinking than a wine tasting, as very little spitting happens. Therefore, we keep notes of our impressions for each wine because our memories tend to be slightly fuzzy the next day. At the end of the night, we split the cost evenly amongst everyone who attended. Then with lists in hand, we're free to go and buy a few bottles of our newly found favorites while they're still available.

While my palate decidedly favors old world style wines, most of the upstarts in my group have shall we say, a more "Californian" perspective on the way a wine should taste. This means that it took them a while to really appreciate the qualities of the wines I was presenting. Happily, their palates have broadened considerably and are now firmly convinced that Rioja is better than Forest Glen. (Whew!) Conversely, I can now thoroughly enjoy a big, slurpy, new world "fruit bomb" without getting all huffy about it being "obvious" and "simplistic". Everybody learns, everybody wins.

Over the years, we've tried to add different formats. As people have become more adept at picking wines, we sometimes have a "BYOB", in which everyone contributes a bottle or two of something that they have found and want the rest of the group to try. A few times a year, some of the more "culinarily abled" members decide to build an entire dinner party around the tasting. It's also fun to be season and holiday specific. Looking for refreshing white wines for summertime drinking, great matches to accompany the turkey in November, and my personal favorite, the sparkling and dessert wines that are always featured at our December meeting.

I'm tellin ya, there's nothing like hanging out with good friends, laughing and telling stories, while learning, talking about and drinking good (cheap) wine. Try it.

Your Devoted Correspondent, Harry