Tasting Room - Samples Your Wine Before Your Buy

Earlier this year, I was introduced to a very interesting new website called Tasting Room through a group buying deal on Living Social. Obviously it was about wine, of course, but the concept is something that I find unique, useful and enjoyable.

Tasting Room allows wine fans to sample each wine before they buy a whole bottle! In order to alleviate any frustration felt when purchasing a bottle that didn't live up to expectations, Tasting Room creates sampler packs so you can choose the best wine for you.

The process is simple: You buy a sampler pack for as low as $20. There are over 20 samplers to choose from, ranging from varietals samplers to winery samplers and everything in between. You may be thinking "Why do I have to buy my wine to sample it?" Well, don't worry, you get your money back, I promise.

Once the sampler is delivered to you, you will see 6 tiny little bottles of wine, complete with tasting notes and a ratings card. Each little bottle is made of glass, and includes a label that is the exact replica of the label used on the regular sized bottles. Go through your list, read the notes, taste the wines, and rate them. You can even include notes on how each wine tasted to help you make a decisions.

And here is where you get your money back: Inside each wine sampler is a coupon code for $25 off your purchase of 2 bottles of wine from the sample itself. So, once you've chosen the wines you want to buy, go back to TastingRoom.com, order them, input your coupon code and see the discount applied immediately. Your sampler is essentially free!

Plus, the experience of tasting the wines with your partner or by yourself is just fun. I was able to find some fantastic wines this way, with my favorite being the Christopher Creek Reserve Petitie Syrah.

I can't wait to buy my next sampler and enjoy some fabulous new wines!

Wine Tasting at Grizzly's

I just want to mention that our local Grizzly's Grill N' Saloon hosted a fabulous wine tasting on Monday February 21st. Sara and "wine guy" Jeremy Olson of Johnson Brothers Beverages Inc. presented the featured wines for the evening (about 23 of them)! They gave us the chance to sample wines already on the Grizzly's wine list as well as many others for our enjoyment, opinion and comparison. As is true for all wine tastings, what one discerning wine lover enjoys is not what all wine lovers enjoy. This is a very individual sport, but always fun to hear everyone's take on the wines offered. Along with great wines, Grizzly's also served up a wonderful variety of appetizers. Rick promises more events like this one and hopes for a few more wine tasters. This would be a great event to have a group of friends at a table for a very enjoyable evening of wine and friends.

4th of July Wine Style!

With no particular plan for 4th of July weekend, Scott and Pam set out for the Brainerd Lakes area in Minnesota. We had no destination or reservations on arguably the busiest weekend of the year in this beautiful resort area. As it happens, we stopped at a fabulous resort on Gull Lake, Grand View Lodge. Although there was no room at the inn, we did walk around the grounds and enjoyed this very large resort in a rustic setting, but with all modern amenities as well as 2 golf courses. Scott had heard about a possible wine tasting at the resort on July 3rd and sure enough-- it was true! We entered the Gull Lake Center and proceeded to a tastefully decorated meeting room on the lower level and were pleased to see tables set-up for the wine tasting. The event was hosted by the Lodge's own wine sommelier, Timothy Edmunds. For those who don't know, a sommelier is a trained and knowledgeable wine professional, commonly working in fine restaurants who specializes in all aspects of wine service including wine and food matching. The sommelier is often responsible to purchase the wine for the wine cellars at fine restaurants.
Mr. Edmunds treated us to 6 wines, chosen for the occasion-- all American, in honor of the holiday. The wines for the day were: Chateau St. Michelle Riesling, Bontera Viognier, Hamacher 2005 Pinot Noir, Michael David 2008 Petite-Petit, Kunde 2000 Zinfandel, and the bonus wine, Hahn Estates Meritage (rhymes with Heritage). With each wine presented, Mr. Edmunds provided background information as well as general wine information, no doubt gathered through his training. We also had a tour of the extensive wine cellar at Grand View and a generous spread of cheese, crackers, and fruit to enjoy with the wine.
An unusual 4th of July weekend to be sure, but definitely fun!

Upcoming Wine Tastings!

Just want to mention some upcoming wine tastings in our area. On Wednesday April 21st, the event is at the Depot in Duluth. All proceeds are to benefit the Minnesota Ballet. The sponsors include Keyport Liquor, CPL Imaging and Cheng-Khee Chee (local artist). This is a wonderful event we have attended many times in the past. Good wine, great food and of course, the silent auction!
The next wine tasting is on Thursday April 22nd. Titled, Wine in the Woods is the annual Hartley benefit auction now a spring event. Delectable treats, delicious wines, top-shelf items to bid on, it's all here. We have never attended this one, Fall or Spring, but it looks like another fun event to benefit a great cause.
Last and surely not least, An Evening of Wine and Jazz is again being sponsored by the UWS Alumni Association on Thursday April 29th. This has been a fabulous event over the years. We were concerned that they weren't going to have it this year with the transition from Rothwell to the new Yellowjacket Union, but are now excited to attend this great event, and also explore the new student union at UWS!
Check out the websites for further event details and ticket info. Be sure to add any other wine tasting events you're aware of. We just hate to see the "season" end:-(

WineTimers in-between

So, no new meeting to report on as the WineTimers are not officially meeting until April 9th when Anna and Blair host a night with Spanish flare. We're all looking forward to that, but in the meantime, what are WineTimers to do? Well, the answer is go to local wine tastings! Several of the group have attended various wine tasting functions over the past 2 months. The events are nicely done and provide opportunities to support local charities through ticket purchases as well as the quintessential silent auction, found at all such events. For those of us who attend, we can agree that Karen and Jeff are the big "winners" at all silent auctions. They have collected numerous great deals and look forward to many more as the wine tasting season starts to wind down in April.
On Thursday March 25th, a few WineTimers could be found at the Taste of the Vineyards, a wine tasting hosted by WITC to raise money for scholarships. The event was held at the Nemadji Golf Course Clubhouse. Wines were provided for tasting by the Belknap, and Saratoga Liquor. We had a great time and thanks to the organizers who made this a success.
As an aside, Scott and Pam visited with acquaintances, Marv and Barb. After catching up on our kid's activities, we found out that they belong to a group of friends that call themselves "The Winers", and they make all of their own wine! Very cool. After talking with them, I saw a tremendous opportunity to have the Winers join the WineTimers for a meeting and talk about their winemaking process and possibly taste some home brew? We are going to work at trying to set this up for one of our future meetings-- should be fun, and informative...
Another opportunity for the WineTimers will be a future event held at Fairlawn museum. Karen and Jeff were all over this at the silent auction and got it with the support of other WineTimers, Bobbie and Frank, and Scott and Pam. This promises to be a fun event coming up in our future.
Let us know about other wine tastings. We're always up for a night of good friends and fine wine!