NW Winos..

January 11, 2012 10:37 AM

What wine should I bring to a dinner meeting hosted by my local vineyard association?

I been asked to present at the meeting and was told folks bring wine. I was also told not to worry about bringing a bottle but this seems lame. Maybe I should just bring some great craft beer?

posted by jeffmac to Food & Drink (12 answers total)

I'm going to tell you a dirty secret of mind. I was invited to a party some years ago that was centered around blind wine tasting. I interpreted this to mean "drink wine until you go blind" and brought a bottle of Night Train, carefully anonymized. It tickled me to no end to hear comments like this, "I've had this before. I know I've had it but I can't pin it down." I'm not saying you should do this, but if you have an inner Loki, it might appease him.
posted by plinth at 11:05 AM on January 11, 2012 [3 favorites]

Best answer: You should go buy the cheapest most awful wine you can think of, and bring that.... with no label. Tell everyone it's something new they should try and you'll reveal the name once they're all tried it. Make up some stupid story sure to excite Oenophiles. Watch as they taste it and say how great it is... then watch them react in horror when you tell them what it really is.
posted by Blake at 11:06 AM on January 11, 2012

I'd also like to add if you follow the great advice provided here by plinth and me, be sure to let us know how it turns out!
posted by Blake at 11:09 AM on January 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

I'd be intimidated to bring wine. And the Two Buck Chuck idea is funny, but I wonder if anyone else might have thought of it before :)

How about going rogue and bringing cheese, or some other shareable thing that closely complements wine? Maybe you can shape it as a way to tie in to other local producers, etc. (For all I know you're an IT guy, but I still think it could work either way.)
posted by Madamina at 11:24 AM on January 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

While my inner snob-basher loves the advice thus far I would caution that you'll forever be known as "that jerk who thought he was so funny when..."

In other words, if you want to make friends/contacts out of these people... don't. If you wish to show them up, by all means, go ahead.

If you can lay your hands on a bottle of K. Furtado Mile Marker 171 it is the best red I've had in the last six months. It's not easy to find and the winemaker has since closed up shop/sold out of all of his wine.

If you have the good fortune to have local access to Kosta Browne's Sonoma Coast 2009 Pinot Noir and it's in your budget I would go for that. Chances are slim though since it topped Wine Spectator's best of 2011 list. Prices more than doubled online after that list came out.

While I love a good Chardonnay lots of wine folks still look down their noses. If you think it'd be welcome the 2009 Beringer Reserve is excellent and can often be found for around $20, but more regularly around $30 a bottle.

Also in white... I've been exploring some Grenache Blanc recently and thoroughly enjoying it. It's not easy to find on it's own, but if you can find it - check it out.
posted by FlamingBore at 11:26 AM on January 11, 2012

Instead of the usual red or white wines, how about an icewine? Specifically, Jackson-Triggs Vidal Icewine.

As a dessert wine, it is served cold in small glasses. It smells like apples and peaches, but tastes like a sweet grape (but not too sweet!). It's very viscous. And interesting. And delicious.

The bottle comes in a nice box. I don't know what prices are like in your area, but here I can buy it for $21.88.

Icewines have been in the news very recently because the weather isn't cooperating, so that can give you something to talk about.

(This is from Ontario, so not local to you. Not sure if that's against the rules?)
posted by Houstonian at 12:10 PM on January 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Bringing a bad wine that mocks the interest of these wine lovers, mocks something they're passionate about, would be shameful and unfunny. Whether the intent is to pull the whole "ha ha, you couldn't even tell it was Night Train" thing, or just to be a wise-ass, just don't do it. You'd look like a huge ass.
posted by jayder at 12:24 PM on January 11, 2012 [2 favorites]

I'm not sure why you would bring something from California (Kosta Browne/K. Furtado) or Canada (Jackson-Triggs) to an Oregon vineyard association. If I were in the association, I would almost be offended by that selection - it suggests that Oregon couldn't match areas like California or Canada, which is, at the very least, a controversial statement. If you want something from outside Oregon, a lesser known origin would be more appropriate. Even Washington wines (which, interestingly enough, are often grown in Oregon) seem like a better choice to me than California wines.

If you know more about beer than wine - which it sounds like you do - I think that makes a much better choice than wine you don't know about to an audience you don't know about.
posted by saeculorum at 12:32 PM on January 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

I'll second that if you know more about beer than wine -- perhaps bring beer.

And I'll throw in -- how about a cider or fruit wine? Something non-grape might be and interesting change particularly if local.
posted by countrymod at 12:50 PM on January 11, 2012

When I take wine to a dinner I try to take a bottle of something that I have some story to share with it. The wine: my family always serves at holiday meals, served at my wedding, of my friend the winemaker, from the winery I had so much fun visiting, etc. I choose a bottle this way because I don't drink wine myself so I have no other opinion. I also am from a big wine producing area so people think it is weird I don't like wine. A little story distracts from my lack of knowledge.
posted by Swisstine at 3:11 PM on January 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

I've worked at wineries, and in my experience people bring wine to these things because they make wine. By that I mean it's right there at hand, they're proud of it/want your opinion on it, and it's not costing them any more than they've already spent.

There will be a lot of wine there, and the attendees are mostly interested in how theirs stacks up against the others. It's a friendly competition of sorts, like a cookie swap. Since it sounds like you aren't in the game, you really don't need to bring anything. If you feel strongly that you want to, I'd suggest bringing something you have made/are proud of too. Do you have a famous 7 layer dip or brownie recipe, that sort of thing? Something personal, with a story, would let you share in the spirit of the thing.
posted by cali at 9:58 PM on January 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thank you, cali. Went that route and it was great. There were so many bottles up on the bar that if I had brought one it would have gone unnoticed. I must admit, I really wanted to bring a no label bottle of $9 wine, but alas, I was trying to network with these folks and agreed with jayder's advice. As always, thanks for the suggestions.
posted by jeffmac at 6:43 PM on January 12, 2012