Wine Tasting Club
By Eric Bressler
Becky Fritz: “I hear you're starting a Wine Club. Count me in!”
Eric: “Huh?”
Steve Barberio was at a Bet Shalom Board meeting in October of 2020 where they were discussing Ron Wolfson's Relational Judaism and the importance of “small groups” as a way to be “relational” in a large synagogue. Steve mentioned an example that Eric had used in a discussion months earlier of a wine tasting club as an affinity-based small group. Becky was at that meeting, and that affinity resonated with her immediately!
Eric decided to put his money where his mouth was and start the group, but only if Becky helped. After a lot of brainstorming and planning that included Steve, we launched The Bet Shalom Wine Tasting Club in December.
Tastings were initially online events because of limitations to socializing in person due to COVID. We had about 45 people on Zoom, with some teaching and discussions about two wines at a time. We soon added going into breakout rooms for small group socializing. After five of these events there were usually about 24 people on the Zoom calls. In May, 2021 we tried a hybrid approach; it was awkward trying to blend in-person events with Zoom breakout rooms. In June the group started meeting in person, and we've had monthly in-person events since then.
Tastings are at member's homes with between 10 and 24 attendees; 44 different people have attended at least once in person. Everyone brings food to share, sometimes pairing with the wines that are announced in advance. We do Havdalah blessings on the Saturday nights, led by our clergy or by club members.
It feels natural to build relationships over wine! Becky says: “Through the wine club, we forged relationship with other members we would not have gotten to know otherwise. Finding something we had in common started with wine but grew through event attendance. It’s been a great way to meet and explore relationship with members, and I would highly recommend all members to join a small group. Today when we come to services or other events at the synagogue, it’s always nice to have friendly faces from past events to run into!”
Sue Elfenbein concurs. “Our experience in the wine tasting group has been very positive. We have gotten to know many others in our congregation and now have a new group of friends. The group is friendly to people who are not knowledgeable about wines and also stimulating for those who are experts. [The wine] gives us something to talk about with new people and makes getting to know each other easier.
“In the end, the group is not really about wines. It is all about building relationships within our congregation. It is about sharing Havdalah on a Saturday night. One special element is the opportunity to gather at a different host home each time. When you step into another person’s home, you learn so much about the people living there. You feel like a welcomed guest and friend. When we hosted, it was very meaningful to share Havdalah in our home with our friends.”
Eric organizes the tastings with help from the manager at the Haskell's in Minnetonka, who almost invariably gives us fine recommendations as well as discounts on some of the wines. Initially the themes covered the major grape varietals available in the US with “Old World” comparisons from France, Italy and Spain. Later we explored wines of various countries, emphasizing rosé and white wines in summer months. This May we had a “semi-blind” tasting, matching the wines to a list of five reds; nobody got them all right!
As a wine lover, Sue raves about the club events! “The selection of wines has been exceptional. We generally do tastings from a specific wine region. We start with whites and move into reds. We learn about the grapes, the regions, the winemakers and the processes. We compare great lower priced wines to similar more expensive wines. We have learned how to judge color, how to let the wines “open up,” how to pair wines with foods, etc. A fun part of the evening is that everyone brings an appetizer, entree or dessert to share. The host has little or no work to do! Everyone helps clean up.”
We're planning to hold some events that suit the needs of families with smaller children starting this fall. If you're interested in being on the email list for Wine Tasting Club events, contact Eric at winetasting@betshalom.org.
