Left Trevor Sharot, member of the Wine Writers |Association. Right Thibault Lavergne, of The Wine Story Club based in Little Hadham, Hertfordshire.
During the meal you are entertained by a talk about the wines. The cost of a meal with a chance to taste half a dozen or more old wines which have had time to intensify their flavours, wines at prices which some of the people attending would only pay for wines for special occasions.
My husband is a wine educator and a member of the circle of wine writers. I have only level one of the WSET but he has level four, the diploma, the highest level you can take unless you are in the trade such as a sommelier, wine shop worker. We drive out of London to Welwyn Wine Society, St Albans' Verulam club, and events at the Wine |Society's huge shop with an upstairs restaurant in Stevenage, as well as the Civil Service Wine Club meeting in London and other events such as the London Wine Fair.
On Saturday Feb 2026 we met for the Verulam Wine Club's monthly meeting and looked forward to a seated meal, tasting ten wines, along with cheeses, salads, olices, bread and pate, all for only £18 per person. Plus an entertaining talk about each of the wines.
How do you manage to stay awake and sober enough to drive home? You can appoint one of your group as a designated driver, and he can just sip the wine and spit it out into a spittoon. Usually spittoons are provided, for you to tip out leftover wine after sipping it, and the water used to wash out the glass.
In theory the organizers could ask the speaker to supply a couple of low alcohol or no alcohol wines among the selection but this is rarely done, except at huge wine fairs and conferences where those items are promoted by the manufacturers and distributors and advertising agencies and supermarkets.
Alternatives are to take a taxi home, call a family member to pick you up, or stay at a budget hotel overnight, booking early to allow time to shop around for a good rate.
On February 7th 2026 the guest speaker was UK based Frenchman Thibault Lavergne, of The Wine Story Club based in Little Hadham, Hertfordshire.
I like sparkling and sweet wines. and as usual, we started with a sparkling wine which as usual was my favourite until the last wine, a sweet wine, which took top place in my list.
We were supplied with a sheet about the wines, with space to write comments on the colour, aroma, flavour, and finish (whether it left a lip-smacking after-taste in the mouth).
I also enjoyed all the cheeses including French brie. And chutney dark red like strawberry jam but slightly savoury. The large olives were unusual. I should have asked the club's volunteer organizers where the olives were bought.
The Evening's Entertainment
Each table of the three long tables was given a laminated map of the Loire valley in northern France where all the wines came from.
Chinon is associated with author Rabelais, who lived about a century before Shakespeare and his name in French equivalent of Rabelasian, means epicurian, a lover of wine and food, French food and wine of course.
The local stone is carved out into caves which are cool for storing wine.
You can stay in an underground cave, an A and B.
My wine of the night was Coteaux du Layon.
As usual the prices were only revealed at the end. That way you have an unbiased view of the wines. (we'd previously at another recent event had a comparison of Lidl and Waitrose wines, where about half the room preferred (voted for by a show of hands) the Lidl wine at under ten pounds.) However, tonight we had an opportunity to taste more expensive wine and most of the wines were about £29.
As usual the speaker offered a discount of ten percent off the wines he had displayed to those attending the event.
Budget Events For the Public
If you want to attend a wine club event, or start one, you can link up with events in your area through Meetup and Eventbrite. Social clubs sometimes hold evenings of affordable wines.
If you are organizing a special event such as a birthday, wedding, anniversary, Christmas or summer party, you might be interested in going to a dinner as a guest or member, or starting your own club.
Clubs for financiers and investors, bankers, lawyers, university alumni, and trade associations, and wine educators and students, offer a chance to watch slide shows and enjoy tutored tastings of more expensive wines at more expensive events, which are free to wine suppliers, distributors, sommeliers, and those big buyers from supermarkets and others with big budgets working in the trade.
Raffles For Wine Bottles
At the Verulam Wine club at the door on entry you can buy raffle tickets for one pound. Half a dozen bottles were raffled, some being leftovers from the club[s previous events, Mostly it's a bit of fun and we don't win. But this time we won a bottle, which added to the jollity of the occasion.
Prize Bottles And Gifts
You can also ask the organizer or speaker to arrange for the supply of bottles for the raffle. Or present a bottle as a gift to an organizer, speaker, or somebody celebrating a birthday.
The Wine Story Club. 2 Hadham Hall, Little Hadham SG11 2AU, Hertford.
Wine Tasting Clubs & Wine (Buying) Clubs
Wine Tasting Clubs enable you to meet others to enjoy educational tastings.
Wine Sellers have wine clubs which offer subscriptions services delivering cases of wine each month. Some of them also organize wine tastings in shops.
The club cannot order wine at wholesale prices and sell them on to members at retail prices without getting a trading license. However they could buy a case at wholesale prices to serve at events such as a Christmas party. And they can serve tiny tasting measures without the license needed for selling or serving full size bottles. If you need or want to know, check the latest regulations in your building, area and country.
Event Alcohol Bans And Permission
In addition to legal requirements, some premises such a churches, temples, and schools, may forbid the serving of alcohol on their main premises and hired rooms, annexes and outbuildings. This could prohibit serving wine at a Christmas party, wedding reception, or a visiting speaker offering the audience glasses of wine. Check alcohol permission to be sure the fun and informative event you envisage will be allowed.
Useful Websites On Wine Clubs
The Wine Story Club
Cave Hotels
Verulam Wine Tasting Club
Organizing Wine Tasting Wine & Food Quantity Versus Networking/Dating Meetup
Legal Wine Measures
Wine Measures
British Heart Foundation & Bottle and Glass and Measure Sizes
Wine Selling Clubs
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Angela Lansbury is the author of twenty books and ebooks on weddings, toasts, quotations, poetry and writing poetry. The latest book about travel and teaching and public speaking problems is called
Embarrassing Moments.
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