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Normally the wine lists for tastings are posted 7-10 days before the tasting. This allows those of us have signed up to check, and cancel the required 7 days in advance if they don’t look as good as expected. (I have only had to do this once.) But the list for the Spanish tasting (London 27 March, and also Leeds 28 March) is not yet posted, and member services can only suggest that it will be available ‘next week’. Unreasonably, they still plan to enforce the no refund without a week’s notice. (As the tasting is supposed to have suppliers present, it seems surprising that they still don’t have a provisional list, but that is what they claim.) Have there been other recent tastings which had to be taken on trust? The Burgundy tasting list in Feb. was out in good time, and had had more detail available when booking opened.
My recollection is that the publication of lists before the tasting is a fairly recent introduction, and certainly the notice of a week or more before the event is longer than it used to be.
The event is sold out so it’s likely you’d get a refund anyway, IIRC.
I asked about the waiting list, and they seemed so uncertain
that I don’t like to trust it. (The whole correspondence was surprisingly unhelpful.)
Depends what you mean by recent: certainly the last 5-6 years.
I can’t remember when lists were first made available in advance, but yes it would have been a few years ago. From the emails that I’ve been able to find, lists have normally been sent out within a week of the event. I can’t be certain about the timing of publication on the website, however.
Personally, though, I’ve never regretted going to a tasting even if the list didn’t look too exciting!
Most recent tasting I did (Leeds, Bordeaux… last autumn?) the list was e-mailed the day before !
Apparently some wines were held up in customs, or something like that, and quite rightly the list was somewhat unknown until the cases had arrived - these things happen.
To be honest the list doesnt matter. It’s talking to the folk on the tables which makes it - in my opinion. There are usually PLENTY of wines to go at.
Yes, but unlike the German tasting in May, the description doesn’t even mention any producers. I’ll go to the German, even if they don’t give the wines in advance, but not to an event when the only information is that there will be tempranillo and albarino.
So dont go, you do have a good 11 days to send in your cancellation. If you want to know the expected producers, phone members services?
It would be a shame though, because these things are always excellent and in my very limited experience the most interesting aspects are unexpected (The Bordeaux tasting had a dry white… matured in ex-Sauternes casks)
Most are good, but I had one poor experience, a lunch for which they didn’t give the wines in advance, and don’t want to repeat it.
It does not seem unreasonable to assume that an event involving a large number of producers and international travel is planned more than a week in advance.
I went to the Stannary winemakers evening at Brunswick house this week. I had no idea who was bringing what. I sat on the German/Italian/French winemakers’ table. It was a revelation. Mind you, I felt ashamed at my poor German.
But the surprises were wonderful.
My friend Ian was at that event, and due to a babysitting fail had a spare ticket, for which, with more notice, I would have bitten his arm off - it sounded great. He may have been at the same table as you, if the wines were whites.
Hi @SPmember, a combination of annual leave and illness within our team has caused some delays to additional information for tastings being confirmed and added to the event pages online, I am sorry for the inconvenience and frustration this has caused you. I can confirm that there will be growers in attendance and wine details will be online as soon as possible next week, as advised by Member Services. If you would prefer to cancel your ticket, or discuss this further please email us directly at tastings@thewinesociety.com and we’ll be happy to assist. Many thanks.
@Jimmybob there was a mixture of reds and whites in both rooms. Each guest was asked to take a magnum…I took a Hocher 2015. There were many excellent bottles including a Ghislaine Barthod 2002 Les Beaux Bruns. Still lots of life but oddly not a wow wine. Food was delicious. The upstairs room was a mixture of US and Italian growers. I was on ground floor with France, Germany, Austria, and a couple of Italian makers.
Thank you: I will email you. I wish Member services had replied as helpfully.