At Last - Wine Century Club Membership Confirmed

Regular readers will be aware that - ever since I discovered the Wine Century Club on the internet - I get a little thrill every time I have the opportunity to try a grape varietal that I haven't sipped before. It took awhile to compile a full 100 varietals during this Wine Odyssey; however, my official certificate of membership arrived in the mail today and, with it, the formal declaration that "By the power bestowed upon me by the great Bacchus, you are now a distinguished member of the Wine Century Club."

If you haven't previously run across this group yourself, the club's website states that it "is for all adventurous wine lovers. If you've tasted at least 100 different grape varieties, you're qualified to become a member." You can download a list of possible grapes at the website and amuse yourself with figuring out the different grapes that you've tried. Just be aware of the fact that, of the thousands of people that download the list, less than 3% of them actually apply for membership.

I don't know what current membership stands at; however, members now span the globe. I had a nice little back and forth e-mail chat with Steve De Long, one of the clever originators, and he advised me that there is a baker's dozen of members in British Columbia. I'll have to hope for a gathering of local members or a tasting of some sort down the road. After all, I still need a whack of varietals if I'm going to make it to 200.

Keeping track of my ongoing total is amusing in itself - and you can see the list featured as a side page to the blog - I'm currently at 117. Something tells me, locating those additional 83 varietals might be something of a chore. It's one thing to know that there's someone, somewhere, growing the likes of Schioppettino, Kadarka, Monica or other intriguing grapes and another thing altogether to actually find a bottle made with such varietals in a local market.

The plan is to keep on keeping on though. There's another 900+ bottles still to be added to The List before I've completed my Wine Odyssey task at hand. Surely I can fit in a few more grapes of a different colour.

Let me know if you see any bottles that might prove helpful. After all, the membership application warns that "Should you lie, may the watch of Bacchus curse your palate." I wouldn't want that now, would I?