The Wine Century Club from De Long
De Long’s Wine Info has started a rather interesting club called the Wine Century Club. Admittance to the club is rather simple — all you have to do is fill out a form attesting to the fact that you have tasted 100 different wine grapes.
I have been tasting and drinking wine for almost 30 years, so I thought this should be easy. I planned to look over the form, select the grapes I have tasted, and send the form back to De Long.
Well, not so fast! On my first pass through, I was barely able to reach the 70 mark. I realized at this point that this was going to be much more of an effort than I had thought.
I went through the list again and found that I could get closer to 80, but I was still almost 20 varietals short of making the club. Fortunately, all I need to do to make the club is drink more wine. Unfortunately, most of the remaining grape varietals are not so easy to find in the wines in Austin, Texas.
Armed with the application, an additional list of varietals, and a wireless internet connection, I am scouring Austin’s wine shops looking for “untasted varietals”. So far, I have identified a couple of varietals that I will taste and add to my “tasted grape” list.
The first wine on my list is JP Azeitao’s NV Vinho Tinto made from 85% Castelao, 7.5% Tempranillo, and 7.5% Syrah. I do not recall have tasted the Castelao grape before, so this $7 everyday wine that Michael recommends goes on my to-taste list. Also on the list is the 2006 Vermentino Guado al Tasso from Antinori. This wine is made from the Vermentino grape, another untried varietal.
It is not often that I taste a “new” grape type and now thanks to the Century club challenge, I am going to taste about 20. Thanks, De Long.
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Too funny - great minds think alike! I also found 80 pretty easy, but the last 20 looks like work! (good work) Fortunately I should be able to finish those off at the shops here in Montreal. Good luck, and thanks for the link - I have reciprocated!
Man, you guys are all slackers
I hit 120 on first pass. But then, I’ve been drinking wines from off the beaten track for far longer than I’ve been blogging.
As Joe said, thanks for the link. I too have reciprocated.
cheers,
McDuff
I joined this club two years ago. Best advice: grab as many Italian and Eastern European wines as you can find. They’ll accept grapes that aren’t on the spreadsheet application as long as they’re legitimate wine grapes–remember that Italy has over a thousand unique grapes alone.
I stopped counting around 150 or so, but I’m always willing to try a new grape. My most recent ones were Rkatsiteli and Mtsvane from the Republic of Georgia.
[…] for wine education. A recent post of Neil’s talks about his efforts to become a member of the wine century club, which promotes tasting of at least 100 grape varietals. In the past, I’ve been impressed by […]
[…] Bobal, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon, and Bobal is yet another grape in my quest for membership in De Long’s Wine Century Club. Second, the wine was recommended by my good friend Michael (not the Michael of this website) at […]
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