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The Sipping Point
The wine scene in the Washington area is vast and varied. It'd be almost impossible to give an exhaustive account of all the wine-related events happening regularly around the Beltway. What we can do is offer snapshots of the types of activities and excursions that are tempting palates at all levels of sophistication. Some, like wine-themed house parties, are great for beginners. Others, like "offlines," where Internet wine chums gather in person, are likely to attract more advanced enthusiasts.
The goal for each is the same: good times.
  Kathy Fisher (in green), Cathy Kilcoyne (in pink) and Penny Price (in black) channel their inner Lucy at Oasis Vineyards in Hume, Va. (Mark Finkenstaedt Ftwp - Mark Finkenstaedt Ftwp) |
So, who's thirsty?
Join the Club
Let's be honest: Most book clubs are simply a front for wine-inspired gossip fests.
It might be time to ditch the books.
"We're usually here with a rowdier crowd that doesn't listen at all. This is a quiet night," Lynn Dillon, 52, said almost apologetically as her trio pealed into laughter over the last of their Rieslings at a recent meeting of the Women's Wine Tasting Club in McLean. "This is ladies' night out. It's just fun."
Theirs is an organization of generalists. Clubs like the French Wine Society and the German Wine Society, on the other hand, provide fellowship for folks with more specific tastes.
But even at ladies' night, there is lots to learn. As dim sum is served and seven wine samples are poured, the evening's special guest discusses the impact of German wine laws and the lineage of the country's great vineyards.
It's kind of a tough crowd for that type of talk. But no matter, the group's leader, Cecile Giannangeli, who owns wine shops in McLean and Gaithersburg, knows how to keep her congregation laughing.
"When you have a glass of wine and a taste of food, one should make you want to go back to the other," she said, quickly putting alternate hands to her mouth. "Thus, overeating and overdrinking."
Giannangeli is all class and sparkle and vibrancy. She's the older sorority sister who knows how to score fake IDs and apply the perfect amount of eyeliner.
The club's monthly meetings attract women on their own, as well as in pairs and groups. By the end of the evening, it doesn't make much difference anyway -- they all wind up mingling and chatting and promising they'll see one another at the next session.
