Totally Unpretentious

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When our friends Sam and Dave agreed to start a wine-tasting club with us, James and I were beyond thrilled. Me because wine+friends=par-tay, and James because, well, where there’s wine there’s cheese. And we all know how James feels about cheese. I had previously suggested the idea to another couple, but before I had even finished my sentence they wrinkled their noses like I’d just let a big one and said, “Sounds pretentious.”

My first thought was that they’d somehow contracted swine flu and the high fever was hampering their judgement, or else they’d finally just gone absolutely bonkers. But after further consideration, I started to see where they were coming from. It’s true that, in some circles, wine culture can tend toward the snooty side of things, intimidating the uninitiated with unpronounceable labels and a specialized vocabulary that could stump a spelling bee champ. But honest to goodness, that’s not what we had in mind. Because, frankly, we’re just not that highfalutin. So when the six founding members of La Cantina Sociale [every club needs a name, or else what do you put on the official membership cards?] clinked glasses during our inaugural champagne toast, we each made a solemn vow. We would eat a lot of good food, we would drink a lot of good wine, and above all we would remain perfectly, utterly, totally unpretentious.

In preparation for our first meeting, a bubbly and fondue party, James and I went searching for downloadable wine-tasting note sheets. Not because we have anything intelligent to say about wine in general, but because we wanted to remember the wines we liked most. And, you know, that gets tricky after you’ve been through a few bottles. But even after thoroughly wearing out The Google, we still hadn’t found exactly what we wanted. Some were too elaborate, others were too ugly, and most were, not surprisingly, way too snobby. So, in keeping with our typical DIY style, we decided to make one ourselves. Of course, what I really mean is that James sat at the computer doing all the hard work while I leaned over his shoulder and barked orders into his ear. Boy, we make a good team.

Anyhow, without further ado, I present to you our very own downloadable wine-tasting scorecards. [Click image below to download PDF.] Printed two to a page, these little beauties have everything you need and nothing you don’t. On the front you will find spaces to list key information about the wine you’re tasting and a section to record any thoughts you might have about it. There’s also a row of numbers across the top to be used in a blind tasting. On the back, you’ll find a list of some commonly and not-so-commonly used descriptive terms, for use in those situations when you just can’t decide whether that interesting background note is more gym shoes or cat urine. Of course, if you just want to use them as coasters, that’s okay with us too. Whatever you need to do to keep things — say it with me now — totally unpretentious.

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