Club Scouts

Dining Club Scouts

Take your pick from these Tucson wine clubs

BY VALERIE VINYARD

A festive, fun-loving crowd gathered at socially distanced tables outside of Owls Club Downtown on a mid-May Thursday evening.

The 35 or so people were there for a Sicilian wine tasting by Pearly Baker Fermentables, a new wine shop in Tucson that’s named after a St. Louis preacher/ Prohibitionist.

Shop owner Bryan Eichhorst discussed the ve wines as people sipped and nibbled on meats and cheeses.

“It’s great to be with a group and try di erent wines,” says Mark Langworthy, an agricultural economist who was enjoying the event with his wife.

Eichhorst recently started a monthly wine club. Membership costs $50 a month, which includes three bottles of wine — a red, white and something “interesting,” be it bubbles, rosé or dessert wine. Members pick up their wines at the Downtown shop the rst Thursday of the month.

“Everything is going to be interesting and sourced,” he says. “I’ll be reaching out to small independent producers and trying to get their wines into the shop.”

Pearly Baker Fermentables is one of a half-dozen wine clubs in Tucson that attract people who love wine and are interested in learning more.

Like most of the local wine clubs, Eichhorst is focusing on those that aren’t easily found.

“If anyone is interested in tasting new and esoteric, you’re not going to be getting any boring New Zealand sauvignon blanc,” he says.

The rst Sunday of the month is the pickup for Revel’s wine club. In May, owner Todd Getzelman worked the crowd, pouring tastes for each of the four wines featured that month. Revel has two club tiers — Grand Cru and Premier Cru — for customers.

Revel is a European-style bar on East Ninth Street, near Fourth Avenue. It features wines and beers from around the world, as well as meat and cheese boards.

According to Revel’s website, Premier Cru costs $35 monthly and is ideal for burgeoning palates interested in a selection of wines guaranteed to please novice wine drinkers and a cionados alike.

At $50 a month, Grand Cru is “curated for adventurous palates with the pursuit of expanding knowledge through atypical varietals and styles.”

Tucsonans Annie Witte and Robert Gillies stopped by Revel for the May pickup and tasting.

“If you’re going to partake in a wine club, why not support local businesses?” asks Witte, a production manager for a medical device company. “Plus, they have great wines here.”

“What’s nice about this wine club is you get to have some more esoteric wines,” says Gillies, a 42-year-old who works for a liquor distributor. “The wines are from smaller producers, and we get some unusual grape varieties.”

Jeanne Snell, who owns Arizona Wine Collective in St. Philip’s Plaza with her husband, Peter, says her club started in September 2018.

“What makes our wine club unique is that you will get all Arizona wines from di erent wineries,” says Snell, noting that they work with 15 to 20 Arizona wineries. “You’re supporting a local business that’s supporting local products.

“You’re going to get quite a variety — di erent techniques from di erent winemakers, including ones that are new, don’t have tasting rooms or where people don’t have easy access to them.”

George Bon, owner of George Wine Shop, started The Farmer Wine Club in September. The club features two bottles each month — usually one white and one red — for $38. Members can pick up their wines the 15th of every month, and there’s usually a free tasting for members from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. the rst Sunday of the month.

“I try to focus on regions of the world that people aren’t familiar with,” Bon says. “Like o -the-beaten-path varietals like Negrette, a full-bodied red wine from the Fronton region in France.”

Eric Hoglund, an account manager for Quail Distributing, says an advantage of wine clubs is that they’re hand-picked by professionals.

“You probably wouldn’t pick up these bottles, because you wouldn’t be familiar with them,” he says.

Luke Anable, who owns Natural Wine Co., was at the Sicilian tasting at Owls Club to discuss his wines that were being poured.

“I think we’re in a wine Renaissance right now,” Anable says. “And it’s being run by independent retailers, the stewards of wine culture. It’s a special moment. I think a wine club is a further distillation of that.”

Arizona Wine Collective

4280 N. Campbell Avenue, Suite 155 329-8595, azwinecollective.com

Each three-bottle mixed and white allocation costs about $85; each three-bottle red allocation costs about $95 every three months. The wine clubs consist of four allocations of three bottles per year from multiple wineries across the state. There is a one-year commitment, and all wine club allocations must be picked up at Arizona Wine Collective.

Flying Leap

George Bon, owner of George Wine Shop, started The Farmer Wine Club in September. George Wine Shop’s club is $38 per month, and that includes two bottles each month, usually one white and one red. (Photo courtesy of George Wine Shop) Prescott, Tubac and Elgin

The cost for the High Dive membership is $200 to $250, about double the cost for Full Cli Jump membership. Flying Leap a cionados nd this is the wine club to join.

There are two types of clubs, and members choose to receive red, white or assorted bottles. Both of these clubs o er members and either one or three guests, depending on the tier chosen, a free glass of wine or tasting ight every time they visit any Flying Leap location. That can add up to a lot of extra wine.

George Wine Shop

5350 E. Broadway Boulevard, Suite 134 526-2557, georgewineshop.com

The cost is $38 per month. The club features two bottles each month — usually one white and one red — for $38. The $38 price is discounted from the regular retail prices. Members can pick up the bottles the 15th of every month, and there’s usually a free tasting for members from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. the rst Sunday of the month.

Pearly Baker Fermentables

64 E. Broadway Boulevard, Suite 5 332-2387, pearlybakerfermentables.com

The cost is $50 per month; $45 per month for a six-month commitment; $40 a month for a 12-month commitment. The pickup is the rst Thursday of the month and includes three bottles. Each allocation will include one red, one white, and another style such as rosé, bubbles or dessert wine.

Revel

416 E. Ninth Street reveltucson.com, info@reveltucson.com

The cost is $30 to $50. Members have two choices — Premier Cru ($30) and Grand Cru ($45). Premier Cru is for novice wine drinkers and a cionados, while Grand Cru o ers atypical varietals and styles. Each membership includes two bottles a month, usually one white and one red. The wine pickup date is on the rst Sunday of every month. Wine ....continues on page 15