What are we all about?
The Chalfont and Amersham Wine Club (formerly the Amersham Wine Appreciation Society) has been running since 1992. The club meets on the first Tuesday of every month in Little Chalfont Village Hall, Cokes Lane, Little Chalfont, Buckinghamshire, HP7 9QA. click here for a map The meetings now start at 8pm prompt, aiming to finish around 10.30pm.
Each month a presenter, often a wine merchant, is invited to host a tasting of wines
selected by them,
usually on a specific theme. The Club tries to cover all areas of the
wine-making world as it is geared towards "appreciation" of wine rather than
only being interested in fine wine.
After a period of sustained growth, the Club now has a membership of about eighty and an average attendance of around fifty. It is large enough to flourish, but small enough to maintain a friendly and informal atmosphere. It typically uses small independent merchants as their wines are considered more interesting and the merchants have often visited the vineyards themselves and have amusing stories to tell.
No prior knowledge or experience of wine is needed to come along to the club. If you enjoy drinking wine and want to meet like-minded people then this is the club for you.
The club plans well ahead and will typically have tastings planned for the forthcoming six months at least.
The evenings as a rule cost between £11
and £15 per head
for a tasting of nine wines plus a light buffet served half way through.
After one or
two meetings, new members are charged a one-off membership fee of £10.
At each tasting members vote for their favourite wine of the evening - the Wine of the Month. At the April meeting, which is also the Club's AGM, the previous year's Wines of the Month are tasted against each other. The winning wine is then the Club's Wine of the Year.
The Club occasionally organises "special" tastings held outside normal club hours where a speaker presents wines on a particular subject. These usually involve wines of a superior quality/price and the charge is usually around £25 per head for these evenings.
The Club also organises events of a more social nature. There is an annual Summer Party with quizzes, raffles, etc. For several years, this was held at the home of Julia and Andy Belton in Little Chalfont. When they moved out of the area in 2009, Elizabeth and Alistair Elliott, who live in the same street in Little Chalfont as Julia and Andy used to, offered their home as the location for the Summer Party. It was a great success and they have generously carried on and hosted the Summer Party in 2010, which was even better.
The Club has also organised several wine-tasting trips abroad. So far these have been to Tuscany in Italy, Ribera del Duero in Spain, the Languedoc in France and Piemonte in Italy. These have proved to be great fun and very educational. Lasting three days over the May Day bank holiday weekend, they are quite hard work but well worth the effort to enjoy a wide range of wines, presented at the vineyards with meals and a real taste of the region from where the wines originate. Further trips will be organised if there is sufficient support from Club members.
Club constitution
To see a copy of the Club's constitution, please click here.