Raising a toast to city’s wine enthusiasts

“The club was started in 2008 by four wine enthusiasts when they discovered that though many other cities, like Bengaluru and Mumbai, had wine clubs, there was no space for wine lovers to get together and learn more about their passion. We started as a small group of just 20, and then expanded to the current 40 members. We get together around six times a year — usually for dinners where we pair wines with exotic foods and discuss wine. The pairing is done by the President, Secretary and the Chef and Sommelier of the hotel we choose to host the event at. Apart from dinners, we also host movie wine nights. If we are screening Sideways , which is about Merlot, then we ask our members to bring a bottle of Merlot with them,” says Sabu, President of the club. 

Along with this, whenever a prominent wine taster or vineyard brand comes to India, the club brings them down to Chennai for special sessions. “One of the recent guests we had was Steven Spurrier, the champion wine taster and the final word on wines. If he says a wine tastes good, it becomes an undisputed global fact! That was a great session,” explains Sabu. The club is also organising a Vineyard and Winery visit this month to learn more about wine making.

However, unfortunately for nouveau wine enthusiasts, the club only takes members by invite. “Once the club invites someone, they attend two of our events so that our members can ensure that they are genuine wine enthusiasts. We did try opening the doors to the public a while ago, but our website was just flooded with thousands of requests for membership by people just looking for a club to hang out, eat and drink at. So, we stopped. I know there would be many genuine wine enthusiasts we are missing out because of this type of selection, but, unfortunately, that is a price we have to pay to maintain the quality of the club,” adds Sabu.