Publicity
Seniors Sip and Swirl in Martin Center Club
Group targets casual wine enthusiasts thirst for knowledge
Published by Williamson AM
March 7, 2007
BRENTWOOD — At one table, Vic and Alberta Tolbert are savoring a nice, dry shiraz.
A few feet away, the same wine makes George and Bettye Jackson pucker and long for another taste of the sweet, berried tarrango they enjoyed earlier.
Despite vastly different taste in grapes, both couples are friends and regulars at The Martin Center of Senior Citizens Inc.'s monthly Winesippers Club, where dry- and sweet-lovers alike find a way to coexist.
"This is really fun for us, because we're not connoisseurs," Alberta Tolbert said during February's club meeting, where the night's wine selections were from Australia. "We leave here with ideas of new wines to try — wines we wouldn't have known about otherwise."
The Tolberts and Jacksons — casual wine enthusiasts — were who club founder Vance Little had in mind when he started the group three years ago. Little says he saw an opportunity to educate people in an area where he saw a need.
"This is about getting people comfortable with ordering wine in a restaurant," Little said. "Americans don't have a long history of drinking wines like Europeans do. It's a complex field that most people don't know very much about."
That's why Frank Comito of Cool Springs Wines & Spirits offers his expertise at each month's club meeting. For Comito, a retired executive recruiter, wine is a little more than just an interest and certainly more than his part-time job as a store clerk.
Comito, who grew up in Rome, N.Y., recalls his father crafting his own wines with zinfandel and concord grapes. Comito's understanding of wine is the culmination of a life lived around it. He likes to encourage people to keep sampling new wines, even after discovering something they like. "A lot of people fall in love with one wine, and they drink and drink and drink it, and they don't ever try anything else," Comito said. "That's such a shame, because there are so many great wines out there — especially reds, so many reds."
While he insists his knowledge is limited, club members and Martin Center staffers disagree. "We're so lucky to have Frank," activities director Sherry Coss said. "He volunteers his time for these meetings. When he's giving a lecture, it's obvious he knows what he's talking about and enjoying it."
Each meeting begins with hors d'oeuvre of cheeses and fruits that will complement the evening's wine selections — typically four or five different varieties, which often are chosen in observance of a regional theme. The tasting is followed by a catered or potluck meal, which alternates monthly.
Comito makes his way around the horseshoe-shaped table arrangement and pours about an ounce of wine for each member — "Just a taste," Little said. "It's not meant to be a drunken brawl." Participants are instructed on how to fully taste each wine — by inhaling its aroma and examining its color and letting the flavor unfold before swallowing.
The wines selected for the club meetings usually range in price from $10 to $15. "For the average person, it's going to be really hard to tell the difference between a $10 wine and a $40 wine," Little said. "Price doesn't mean much nowadays."
For more information about the Winesippers Club, contact Sherry Coss at 376-0102 or scoss@scitn.org.
— HEATHER DONOHOE, STAFF WRITER, THE TENNESSEAN