SEPTEMBER 2009

Contents:

• Welcome
• Arrangements for 2009 - 2010
• Future club events
• September booking form (separate attachment)

Welcome

The Oxford Wine Club Committee would like to welcome all members, both new and not so new, to the 2009 - 2010 Club year. We believe we have an exciting and diverse programme of tastings lined up for the coming year, which we very much hope you will enjoy. The Club would not exist without the support of you, its members, and we would like to thank everyone who has participated in organising and running events over the past year.

As you may have noted from the AGM minutes, the committee structure has changed slightly from May. We look forward to seeing you all at the forthcoming tastings.

Arrangements for 2009-2010 season

Mailings

Mailings to members are whenever possible done by email. For members not on email, or who cannot open Club documents sent by email, mailings will be sent by post. Please advise the Club secretary of any specific requirements.

Venue and time of events

All tastings will be in The Buttery at Wolfson College, starting at 7.45 pm, unless alternative arrangements are notified in the booking form.

Tastings

We are essentially a Club which holds tastings – wine samples are therefore of a size appropriate to a tasting. If you are bringing guests, it would be helpful to make them aware of this so that the amount of wine given is not considered to be inadequate! Please also be mindful that the pourers are fellow members of the Club.

A basic courtesy is not to wear perfumes, deodorants, etc. which will interfere with other people’s enjoyment of, or the ability to smell, the wines. We would appreciate it if guests are also made aware of this.

Event bookings

Booking forms for tastings will be distributed via email (or post) approximately four weeks prior to the event. Currently this is in the form of a reply slip attached to the event information, which members are required to print off and return with a cheque(s) to the bookings co-ordinator. It is anticipated that bookings may be done on line in the near future, but watch this space!

Please note that the closing date for each tasting is now set at 2 weeks ahead of the event date. This is to allow sufficient time for the tastings organiser to liaise with the presenter and establish the appropriate number of bottles required for the tasting. We therefore cannot guarantee that late bookings will be accommodated if the number of bottles has already been determined.

Guest places

If you wish to bring a guest(s), you are asked to send a separate cheque at the outset for any guest places. These will then be banked after the notified closing date, if that guest has been allocated a place.

Allocation of places at tastings

Once the closing date for bookings is reached, places will be allocated first to members and then to guests. We normally have 71 places available at a tasting, based on 4 bottles of each wine x 18 tasting samples with allowance for the presenter. Where numbers for a tasting are relatively low, we may reduce the number of places available, based on 3 bottles of each wine, to keep the cost to members down. If we are operating on a different number of places, this will be mentioned in the booking form.

Places not taken up by members will be allocated to guests, in the order in which applications are received. Early booking is therefore advised for guest places, particularly where an event is likely to be popular.

Following the closing date, the bookings organiser will email members (or telephone postal members) to confirm place availability for them and guests as appropriate. Any places not taken up by the closing dates will then be available to anyone on a first come, first served basis.

Late bookings

We will obviously do what we can to meet late requests for bookings. Unfortunately there is no guarantee that places will be available once the initial allocation has been made following the closing date. Please email or ring the bookings organiser for the tasting in the first instance to check availability.

Refunds

Cheques for places for members will be banked on receipt.

Once the closing date has been reached, refunds will only be given to members in exceptional circumstances, at the discretion of the Club Secretary, unless it is possible to re-sell the place. This also applies for guests whose places have already been confirmed.

Of course, we realise that circumstances of both members and guests can change unexpectedly. Please try to keep us informed of any changes, even if there is a last minute withdrawal, as this avoids unnecessary waiting for individuals to arrive and allows us to adjust pouring arrangements. The bookings organiser, or if necessary the Club Secretary, can be notified of any changes.

Tasting glasses

Our tastings are organised on the basis that those attending will come with a set of 6 standard ISO tasting glasses - this makes it much easier for the pourers and gives the presenter the flexibility to taste a range of wines in combination. If you regularly bring guests, please consider obtaining a second set of glasses (the Club Chairperson, Karen Hyde, can help with this), otherwise the Club does have some spare glasses which guests may use.

Help with tastings

The Club only works because of your commitment to it and we are especially grateful to those of you who help out at tastings. We need up to eight pourers at each tasting and we anticipate that experienced members will be willing to assist on one or two occasions in the year's programme. We will try to avoid asking you if you are bringing a guest. The bookings organiser for the event will contact you in the days leading up to a tasting to request you to kindly act as a pourer.

Event register

An attendance register is now in routine use at each tasting. A member of the committee or front of house organiser will ask members and guests attending the tasting to sign against their name, similar to the AGM. This facilitates a record of individuals present (should there be a fire alarm etc.), and allows committee members to become more familiar with, and identifiable to, other Club members. Please contact a member of the committee if you have any comments or queries regarding this.

Buying wine through the Club

Whenever possible, we arrange for the wines at a tasting to be available for you and your guests to buy. This may be done at the event or subsequent to it. As far as possible, bottles are offered in whatever quantity you choose from one bottle upwards and usually with a significant discount. If we are required to make up full cases, we may ask you to be flexible with the number of bottles you require. It may be helpful if you bring a cheque book to the event and pay on the night.

Occasionally we may make an offer unconnected with a Club tasting.

Our arrangements with suppliers normally involve a single delivery point. Some of our past orders have been large - 12 dozen or more - and it is impossible for us to commit to undertake individual deliveries.

The arrangements are that if you order wine, you must be willing to collect it from the delivery point. With small orders we will do our best to get this to you at the next tasting or in other ways, but we cannot guarantee this. Beware leaving wine too long uncollected – uncollected stock may be sold off to the benefit of Club funds!

A reminder

Membership carries with it a guarantee of priority over guests when booking places and it is reasonable to expect that in return full members will support the Club by attending its events. Members should note that the Club membership rules allow the Committee, when it comes to membership renewal, to give priority to new members on the waiting list (which will start when we reach a membership of 150), over existing members who have not attended at least two Club events in the previous season.

Feedback

Please contact myself, Annie Payne, Club Secretary for general queries or use the Club email account or feedback forms at tastings for any comments on arrangements, the tastings - (topics / presenters / styles etc.).

Future Club Events for 2009/2010

Programme 2009/10	Speaker
Thursday 24th September 2009	Tim Atkin MW – Life as a Wine Critic
Monday 12th October 2009	Ken Forester – South African wines
Tuesday 17th November 2009	Gerard Bassett MW

All tastings will take place in the Buttery at Wolfson College, Linton Road, Oxford, starting at 7.45 pm, unless otherwise advised.

Warm regards,

Annie Payne, Club Secretary.