Version 1.0 of "Wine Night"
As I mentioned before, I was craving something to do, a way to make some friends and really more of a purpose and connection to Charlotte, which I felt I was severely lacking.
Also aforementioned, I don’t really like anything.
So, I revisit the thought: “what do I even like?” and “why do I like it?”
Like most other living and breathing white women, I love food and I love wine. I also love to host.
I mentioned that I question my worth in group settings. But, over the years I’ve found a way around this. If I host, I can be 100% sure that I have a purpose and I’m ALMOST 100% sure my invited guests want to be there (unhealthy).
All of these seemingly disconnected thoughts and points all contribute to the first Wine Night. So, here we go:
I found an affordable subscription based wine club from an instagram ad and smashed that subscribe button. (targeted advertising, you win again)
The wine club sent me my first shipment, which was 4 bottles of wine: a champagne, a rose, a white and a red. I mentioned I like to drink, but ya girl doesn’t need to be drinking all 4 bottles… but I certainly was eager to taste all 4.
I had a thought to invite my childhood friend over for a wine tasting “party” and asked her to invite a friend.
But, being the unhealthy host that I am, I knew I needed to provide something extra af to guarantee everyone would have a nice time.
The progression from Champagne to Red lent itself to a tasting menu… so, I quickly took to google to find a dish that paired with each bottle (psychotic) and went on my merry way to prepare FOUR full-ass dishes for THREE people. None of whom were expecting it.
As if that wasn’t enough, I returned my ass to google and researched the tasting notes (or characteristics, I’ll use them interchangeably) to create a game of sorts (insane).
No one’s not enjoying themselves on my watch, I thought (mental).
The game I thought of was pretty simple, it was a bit of a satirical take on wine tastings. Let’s see if we, as wine novices, can guess what’s in the wine.
How this game came to fruition was: my manic-ass started hand-writing tasting notes on note cards. I wrote down all of the real characteristics (the actual tasting notes from google associated with the wine) and an equal number of fake characteristics (so that I could participate without knowing the right answers). There were 3 copies of each of the tasting notes.
We’d enjoy the wine and the dish, and then we’d race to grab a card. Each correct guess was a point. At the end of each wine and dish, we’d tally up the points. The most points at the end is crowned the winner of Wine Night.
I didn’t know if this was going to work, but I knew that at least we would have a good laugh if it didn’t. And, worst case scenario, we’d be buzzed and full.
Turns out, the ladies LOVED it. I think, at that time, we may have collectively scored all of 6 points… but that wasn’t the fun.
The real draw was the discussion of the wine, the recipes, and the silliness of it all. We formed an inclusive and open environment to get to know one another.
Which, if you recall, is what I like and why I like it.
The three of us thought: we really have something special here.