Format
In 2007 the E -Board appointed a wine judging committee to research and present recommendations for wine judge criteria for club members at wine competitions.
In the fall of 2008 the same committee recommended that the club modify their Taste to Learn events to be more educational. It was suggested that the educational Taste to Learn aspect should be conducted at the beginning of the event and that the food and social sharing of wine would be after the tasting.
The E-Board agreed to respond to the recommendations and to start a new format in January 2009.
The purpose of the meeting is to allow members the opportunity to learn more about wine and beer, and to discover the specific qualities and how to evaluate them. This a great opportunity to learn more about the characteristics, components, and styles of wine and beer to ultimately become a better wine and beer maker.
These events usually take place the 3rd weekend of the month on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. They start anywhere from 2:00 to 5:00 depending on the hosts’ desire. There is a specific wine variety, type or style that is chosen and announced ahead of time that will be evaluated.
People attending the event bring a bottle of the selected wine in a brown paper bag for the evaluation. They also bring a potluck item and another bottle of any wine to share during the potluck social which is after the Taste to Learn event.
The host/presenter presents a benchmark example wine to the participants that exhibits the typical characteristics of the wine being tasted for the event. The educational section typically lasts 1 hour followed by the potluck social time. The Taste to Learn event is limited to a maximum of 20 participants as that is all the 1 oz. pours that will go around from each bottle.
If anyone would like to host a Taste to Learn event but do not feel comfortable having it at their home, Jerome and Mary have offered their home to be used for the event as long as someone else handles the set-up, food, clean-up etc.
Click here for the PDF file of the UC Davis Judging Sheet used for the Taste to Learn events