WIC here, reliving the glory days–the heady early months of wine club heaven!

So, there I was, mid-nineties, a newly minted wine nut, enjoying my free wine club gift, and boom, I found out that Sterling Wine Cellars had a wine club! (www.SterlingVineyards.com) I didn’t really even know who Sterling was, but I didn’t care. Larry vouched for the quality, and so, with one phone call and a credit card number, I purchased my own wine club membership, bringing me up to two… one free, one I paid for.

Now, when I heard the monthly price, I was a bit aghast, as one month’s worth was more than I had probably spent on wine in my whole life… total. The money wasn’t a huge issue, as I was doing okay, but it did open my eyes a bit. I was up to a whopping $70/month or so… huge money that surely put me in the “Big Leagues” of wine collectors… Ha! Little did I know, but more about that in days to come.

Less than three weeks later, just as Santa was making his way through Napa Valley, my first Sterling shipment arrived, with a bottle of Diamond Mountain Ranch Cabernet, and a bottle of Three Palms Vineyard Cabernet (Yes, I remember these ones!).

Well, I got to taste some “real” wine, and, I have to say, I wasn’t fully prepared for the effects of a huge, new, tannic Napa Cab. I had never even heard of tannins, and there I was with a mouth full! Thank goodness I turned out to be a quick study, and after the initial shock wore off, I began to detect the fruit, and the underlying hint of plum and ginger…

Actually, that’s a complete lie, as I couldn’t taste anything but wine, but what I tasted, I liked, and the romance was on.

Over the next year, I developed a pretty nice collection of Sterling wines, started buying wine at Lorenzo’s, and drank my way through my six months free. When that expired, I somehow saw my way to re-upping my membership for not just six months, but four more years, and, as fate would have it, I found them some new friends…

Join me tomorrow as we continue tripping down the dusty wine roads!

Cheers!

WCI