Sunday, February 24, 2008
Food, "Behind the Bar"
Members only
Atlanta Wine Club founder Steve Saenz on his social drinking group
CREDIT:Spark St. Jude
Steve Saenz, founder of Atlanta Wine Club
By Hope S. Philbrick
The Atlanta Wine Club is billed as “not your typical wine club.” Launched in September 2006, the organization already has 1,500 members. The Sunday Paper talked to Steve Saenz, who founded the social group, to find out more.
Q What inspired you to start Atlanta Wine Club?
A I spent 23 years in the financial services industry. I started out as a stockbroker at a big brokerage firm then went on to launch my own training and consulting business. At the end of 2005, I had the proverbial mid-life career change thing going on. I turned 50 and thought, what am I going to do the rest of my life? I took a year off, relaxed from the corporate world and decided it was time to do something interesting. In my travels in the financial industry, I’d spent a lot of time in Northern California and entertained like crazy. I developed a passion for food and wine. They say follow your passion. I decided to form a social club for people who love food and wine and meeting other people who share the same interest. Back in the 1970s, the Atlanta Ski Club had tens of thousands of members. I think of Atlanta Wine Club as a modern-day version of the Atlanta Ski Club: Baby boomers traded in their skis and picked up a glass of wine.
How does Atlanta Wine Club work?
We have different levels of membership. “Event Membership” is for people who just want to come to events; it’s $25 each quarter or $75 a year. “Connoisseur’s Club Membership” includes not only access to events but also reciprocal membership in our sister club which is the Gourmet Club of Atlanta for $120 a year—if you want perks and events, go for the Connoisseur’s Club.
We do three kinds of events. Social events are mix and mingle. We go to different restaurants and get together for social networking. It’s a chance to meet people, enjoy a glass of wine and some appetizers. Educational events are more structured. They’re a seated wine class—not hard core, but maybe a presenter talks about a certain grape varietal. You’re going to learn something. The third kind of event is culinary, which is basically a wine dinner. We rotate around to different restaurants, often it’s 12 to 24 people in the private dining room enjoying a five-course meal. The chef and sommelier will pair food and wine.
There’s a Web community at Atlwineclub.com and the events calendar is posted online. When somebody joins, they’re given a username and password, which gives them access to the members-only area of the Web site. They can register for events, access the member directory—which is like a mini Facebook for wine-club members.
Sounds like a great way to meet singles.
It’s not that much of a singles club. There are quite a few singles, but the demographics are interesting. The median age is 45. Fifteen percent of members are in their twenties; 29 percent are in their thirties; 29 percent are in their forties; 22 percent in their fifties; and five percent older than 60. Sixty percent of members are single but 40 percent are married. It’s couples wanting to meet other couples, make friends and all that.
What is the Gourmet Club of Atlanta?
It’s for people who want discounts at restaurants and gourmet shops—it’s a perks card. There are three levels: the silver card is $25 a year; gold is $50 a year and VIP is $100 a year.
What you get are different levels of discounts at restaurants, which are listed online at Gcatl.com., ranging from five to 20 percent off, typically Sunday through Thursday nights.
The motto of the club is “eat, drink and make a difference.” A percentage of every dollar we take in gets donated to local nonprofits. When someone joins they are asked to adopt a non-profit among the 30 to 40 different choices.
Online we’ll have an event calendar where the nonprofits can publicize their events, many of which are food and wine related. SP