Raleigh Wine Tastings and Classes

[ditsydine]

I've been put to task by a friend to find some local wine tastings and/or wine classes in the Raleigh area. She and I both want to hone our novice palates. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

[Gifted Gourmet]

http://www.localwineevents.com/North-Carol...ts_10-2004.html

[KatieLoeb]

Melissa beat me to the punch. LocalWineEvents.com rocks no matter where you live. It's pretty comprehensive.

On a separate note, that Two Hands wine dinner this Thursday 9/30 in Raleigh looks great. I had dinner with Michael Twelftrees, the winemaker at Two Hands a few months ago. He's a really interesting fellow to chat with and their wines are delicious. I just finished my last bottle of the Yesterday's Hero Grenache recently and have a hankering to go pick up a bit more. All of the Shiraz of theirs I have tried has been spectacularly luscious and I'm particularly fond of the "Angel's Share" shiraz. The "Brave Faces" Shiraz/Grenache blend is a fine example of how well those varietals can thrive in Barossa and the resulting wine is a lovely balance of red fruits with background of spices and herbs. It's truly delicious. The menu for the dinner looks pretty good too!

[dlc]

The Carolin Wine Company has regular tastings and events at both the store and other venues. See Here for an eGullet event that they are sponsoring in conjunction with the sister restaurant. The CWC website.is here.

edited to add links

Edited September 29, 2004 by dlc (log)

[VaNC]

The Wine Merchant (stores in Raleigh and Cary, although I have never been to the Cary store) has tastings, but they also have an great introductory wine class. My husband took it back in his single days, for the same reason you give, and raves about it. It is a fairly serious committment of time and money, but I think you will come out knowing tons . Here is a link to the last one. http://www.thewinemerchantinc.com/courses/IntroCourse.html

Bud Saylor and his wife own Wine Merchant and he used to be a professor at State. Bud and Marilyn, as well as their son Kurt, are great people and I think, like the guys at Carolina Wine Company, would be good people to get to know if you want to learn about wine.

In addition to the class and tastings, they also offer monthly Advanced Tastings. They are held at the store, include food and are a great way to mingle with a bunch of winos (I know there is another more appropriate name, but the only one I can think of now is wine snobs and I certainly didn't want to use that!) and enjoy an evening. Luckily for us, we can walk home from the Raleigh store.

Good luck!

[ditsydine]

Everyone thank you for your wonderful links and resources!

Cheers!

The Wine Merchant (stores in Raleigh and Cary, although I have never been to the Cary store) has tastings, but they also have an great introductory wine class.  My husband took it back in his single days, for the same reason you give, and raves about it.  It is a fairly serious committment of time and money, but I think you will come out knowing tons .  Here is a link to the last one.  http://www.thewinemerchantinc.com/courses/IntroCourse.html

Bud Saylor and his wife own Wine Merchant and he used to be a professor at State.  Bud and Marilyn, as well as their son Kurt, are great people and I think, like the guys at Carolina Wine Company, would be good people to get to know if you want to learn about wine. 

In addition to the class and tastings, they also offer monthly Advanced Tastings.  They are held at the store, include food and are a great way to mingle with a bunch of winos (I know there is another more appropriate name, but the only one I can think of now is wine snobs and I certainly didn't want to use that!) and enjoy an evening.  Luckily for us, we can walk home from the Raleigh store.

Good luck!

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[Varmint]

The Saylors are wonderful people, and I've even played ping-pong against Kurt in Provence at 1:00 AM on an outside table using a car's headlights. As you might guess, we had a bit too much of some fine Rhone wine!

Although I've talked extensively about Carolina Wine Company, they are a completely different animal. Go to the Wine Merchant and take your time. It's more of a traditional shop, and you'll get lots of attention. The Saylors are family friends and I will always continue to go there.

[munchymom]

bunch of winos (I know there is another more appropriate name, but the only one I can think of now is wine snobs and I certainly didn't want to use that!)

I think the term you're looking for is "oenophile", although "wino" works just fine for me!

[VaNC]

Oenophile. Yeah, no really, I knew that........................................