Bubble Brothers start a wine club

We held a few wine tastings last year, and enjoyed ourselves no end in doing so. Some were for businesses, some for private individuals, and some were public events like the launch of our new Australian acquisitions at Cork's AGA showroom. We even joined in with a virtual wine tasting using Twitter. The success of all these undertakings, and also of the Good Wine Show in November, made us wonder if it would be a good idea to begin a wine club proper, with a subscription and regular meetings and so on. We decided to go ahead. Without further ado, here's what we propose for 2010:

The Blackrock Castle Wine Club

• WHERE will meet at the Castle Bar and Trattoria, Blackrock Castle, Cork (special circumstances may demand a different venue - for example, we're planning a midsummer-banquet-tasting-dinner on June 24th in the Castle's Observatory Restaurant.

• WHEN ten times a year, on the last Thursday of the month (not July and not December) 7.30-9.30ish pm.

• COST €200/year for all ten sessions, or €25/session for non-members, subject to availability.

Naturally, the cost covers all wines tasted (usually between six and ten per session), glasses and the washing thereof, a certain quantity of bread, olives and appetizers at each meeting, printed notes &c. as appropriate. Newsletter updates and information are free! We'll be letting our suppliers know what the club is up to, too - so members can look forward to guest speakers introducing their own wines from time to time. The inaugural meeting of the club will take place on Thursday, 28th January at 7.30 pm at Blackrock Castle. We're starting things off with a bang (probably more of a pop, really). If you'd like to know more about our sparkling beginning, or just want to keep an eye on what's coming up, subscribe to the club's newsletter, which we'll send out at least monthly. If you're interested in joining and making sure of a place, you can buy membership here or at any meeting.