Welcome to Dead Grapes Society. Founded in February 2006 in Chicago, DGS initially consisted of a small group of 15 friends who not only wanted to drink more wine, but also learn more about it. Since then, the group has multiplied to over 70 people, and we are still going strong.
We take turns to host the monthly tasting events. The host will typically select the theme for the evening, buy the wines and food pairings for the event (the cost is shared amongst everyone, which usually amounts to $15 per head), and assign short research topics to members to share with everyone else at the tasting. We have also begun to hold alternate wine tastings at a boutique wine store in the Lakeview area, WineStyles Belmont, where the proprietors Denise and Martin Cody, along with sommelier Jenel, have helped us put together thoughtful tastings of wine regions. We believe both the home and store tasting formats have their merits: home tastings tend to offer more “bang for the buck” since we get to sample a greater variety of wines, both in terms in the number of bottles, and the differential in prices; on the other hand, we get to pick the brains and the considerable wealth of knowledge of the wine experts at the store.
Some of our tastings have included: New York wines; adventurous wines (featuring wines from far flung places like Moldova, China, and Peru); Champagne; South Africa; Bordeaux; Australia etc. We have also not limited ourselves to just grapes, some events have featured: whiskey; sake; and beer.
Hello!
I am in the process of forming a wine tasters group, and came across your Website, and just thought the story of your group was awesome!
I was wondering if you have formed other chapters in other parts of the U.S. or would be willing to allow my group to form a North Los Angeles County chapter of the Dead Grapes Society?
Thank you for your time,
Chantel
Hi Chantel, you’re more than welcome to start a chapter. We don’t have any other chapters in the US; we do, however, also have a chapter in Singapore. We’d love to hear stories about what you guys drink when you do get going!