Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

I keep hearing about Bordeaux, Burgundy Wine Fraternities. Wondering if any BWErs are members of such fraternities as Commanderie et Bordeaux or Confrerie des Chevaliers, etc. and what it's like to be a member of such groups...

Someday you will have to undergo the secret whoopee pie hazing ritual CV.
Marcs was the latest to enter into the brotherhood….

I have been a member of the Commenderie in the past and there are a lot of positives. Cellar was good and the early members didn't have to absorb the high costs of todays cellar restocking going forward passed on to the new members diproportionately. The main negative is the membership. You get a few arseholes that know everything and hi jack the dinners/tastings then they drive away some of the decent members. I got tired of the BS. My close buddy used to head up the Commenderie in Ottawa and left for those reasons. He now runs the Confrieries des Chevalier. I've been asked to join but the group are mostly novice rich folk that know nothing about wine and are there to network and be seen rather than being there for the wine. Both groups aren't cheap either to join or the annual dues. Restrictions on bringing your wife as a guest also became an issue. BWE offers way more than any of these local chapters but it all depends on who the members are in each chapter. Each chapter will be different I'm sure but....

dstgolf wrote: .
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. The main negative is the membership. You get a few arseholes that know everything and hi jack the dinners/tastings then they drive away some of the decent members.... the group are mostly novice rich folk that know nothing about wine and are there to network and be seen rather than being there for the wine. Both groups aren't cheap either to join or the annual dues. ....

Thanks doc. That's what I feared...Of course, I am not looking into any membership or anything, but I was just curious... I know I am way better off getting anointed with whoopee pies and learn a thing or two more about wine as a BWEr than getting elbowed by elitist attitude...

There are some great people in these fraternities but the problem always is the jerks that ruin it for the serious wine lover or just the person that wants to have a good time. Not that all wine geeks are saints but kinda like the old Squires or Parker boards and now wine berserkers to a lesser degree than this little BWE site. I've had more fun here and met more great people than any of these groups could offer. Closest thing we had here was the National Capital Sommelier guild which I belonged to for around a dozen years but got tired of the new graduate sommeliers or student members taking over that have no experience or little to know palate blind tasting taking over the show. Man the crap that we put with. Best is getting a local group hand picked to form your own wine tasting group. I've got a small group that the guys and wives are all on the same page with good-great cellars and get together 4-5 times a year. Now that beats the hell out of any of these groups. Aren't personalities great though for ruining a good time!

I was inducted into the Commanderie du Bontemps du Médoc, Graves & Sauternes, and am a Bailli de Lalande de Pomerol.

The events are great fun, but the induction cérémonies are long and boring.

Alex R.

I am a member of the BWE secret society.

I think we need to come up with a BWE secret handshake..

As long as it doesn't involve tickling the palm of the other fellow...

AR

I was in a frat for one semester in college.
I am like the anti-frat boy, and quickly removed myself from the situation.
We had this "secret" handshake where you were required to slip the other person's little finger between your fourth and fifth fingers while shaking their hand.
(I am now going to be killed for disclosing this.)
It was, um, a little weird.