Wa, wa, wine club!

I hosted our first wine club of the New Year this past week. And took no pictures. Grrr. I had planned to take pictures before everyone got here, but I ran out of time. (I was channeling my inner Reluctant Entertainer and wanted to include the pictures in this post.)

Anywho, it was red wine this go round. I didn't give a specific varietal, it just had to be red.  The girls must have been itching for a night out, cause there were 11 of us this go round. And that means a $55 pot! Woo hoo!

I had a pretty cheese board (wish I had a picture to show you) with brie, sharp cheddar, smoked gouda, havarti and goat cheese. Cheese can get spendy, but you really don't need a whole lot of it. Even with 11 people, I had TONS of cheese left. I also had crackers, and a sliced baguette. Along with the cheese and bread, I had apples (great with the havarti), Ikea Lingonberry preserves (great with the brie), nuts and mini-quiche. One of the girls also brought pita chips and a great parmeson artichoke jalepeno dip. And of course, no wine club is complete without dark chocolate.

The wine selection was all over the place.

Red Truck California Red
Old Vine Red
Infinitus Cabernet Sauvignon Temperanillo
Bogle Merlot
Apothic Red
Montevina Barbera
120 Carmenere
Makulu Iswithi Pinotage
Chateau Saint Antoine Bordeaux Superior
Menage a Trois California Red  
ConfectionsChocolate Red Wine
    
Our wine club is a mix of red and white wine drinkers so it's always fun to make them drink red wine get everyone together to try new things.  With that many people, there wasn't much left of a bottle once we all got a taste.  A couple of the girls, er, ladies were appalled at the amount of wine that got dumped. It's just part of the deal. Something you have to learn to live with, or if you really feel that bad about it, I guess you have a glass of the dumped wine. Not that anyone would ever do that.  (Not me, by the way, but it did happen. Blech.)

It was a close competition, but the Apothic red ended up winning.  Remember, it was one of my go to wines?  But, the Old Vine Red,  Menage a Trois and the Makulu Iswithi Pinotage were close behind tying for second. 

The bordeaux finished in last place.  This surprised many of us, because we thought for SURE the nasty chocolate one would've gotten that honor.  (The bordeaux was mine, but I'm not bitter. Not one bit.) To be honest, the chocolate one spelled AMAZING, but didn't live up to the smell.

And, it just so happened that my order of Wine Away came a couple of days before, so I gave away a bottle to one of the second place finishers. (We drew names.) This stuff is AMAZING. Get's red wine out of anything.

We all had a great time and it was great to catch up with everyone after the holidays. We are a diverse group (well, as diverse as you can be in North Dakota), which I love!  Some with kids, some without, and a couple of grandmas, all with one thing in common...a love of wine and good company. What's better than that?

Anyone else decide to start one? I'd love to hear how it went!

So, I lied about no pictures. I do have one crappy cell phone picture.  Those bottle are all empty.  (Oh, except the Rosenblum. I decided I needed to have a glass while doing dishes. Smartie. That's me.)