Preferred Guests

An option to becoming a full member is a preferred guest.  Here’s the details about preferred guests:

• The benefits of being a preferred guest are: (1) you receive the Cellar Society newsletter, the Grapevine, by email at the same time as members, (2) you may RSVP directly to the host of a tasting, and (3) you have the opportunity to demonstrate your interest in the club, which is the first step to being invited to become a member.
• Dues: currently $50 per year (per couple). These payable in January or when preferred guest status begins.
• No minimum attendance requirements.
• The club normally has 12 events per year: 9 tastings, the January Planning Meeting, the picnic and the December Repast. However, the January Planning Meeting is NOT open to preferred guests.
• Preferred guests generally don’t host tastings. Some preferred guests choose to assist hosts, but others don’t.
• Preferred guests may RSVP starting 30 days before the scheduled tasting – for both themselves and guests they wish to bring. All guests (Preferred Guests and other guests) will be accepted at a tasting on a space-available, “first come/first served” basis as determined by the host, as of 14 full days before a tasting (with members having priority until then).  For normal Saturday tastings, this means the Friday two weeks before the tasting. You may also RSVP after that time if space is available.
• Most tastings are “single bottle,” meaning there is only one bottle of each of the 8 wine to be tasted.  Single bottle tastings are limited to 20-22 tasters at 1-ounce each (a 750 ml bottle is 25 ounces). A few tastings are “double bottle,” which means the host can accommodate up to twice as many people (also depending on the venue, of course).
• Bring two checks to a tasting. Cash is accepted; checks are preferred. One check is to reimburse the host for the food (whether at a home or a restaurant), the other is to reimburse the club for the wine. There is generally a slight markup on the wine for the benefit of the club’s treasury.
• Bring a bottle of wine for dinner. It may be anything you want … no relationship to the wine being tasted. Informal wine-sharing is optional but customary.
• Bring 9 glasses per person (8 for the tasting, 1 for the pre-tasting). If a couple is sharing glasses for the tasting, then bring 10.  Please do not use tasting glasses for the pre-tasting, because the tasting glasses need to be filled during the pre-tasting. If a couple is sharing tasting glasses, write “double pour” on a piece of paper (make it obvious), so you’ll be poured two ounces instead of one.