Kansas City Blog

By OWEN MORRIS

At wine tastings, I've generally encountered two types of people: wine snobs, who believe their noses and opinions are as important to humanity as, say, penicillin; and event snobs who could care less about what they're drinking as long as the people they're drinking around are the "right" people.

Last Friday night I found the much rarer and far more gratifying third type: wine lovers. People drinking wine just for the sake of drinking wine. Even more shocking was the event's location: the CVS Pharmacy on 75th and Wornall. Y

The tasting is the brainchild of CVS general manager Bob Ruthig, who is the consummate host. He replenishes bottles, listens intently to stories and gives tips, seemingly doing everything but tasting. He's also on a first-name basis with most of the people there. "We get regulars and we love throwing them a curve ball. They also know they can come here and find some wines that almost nobody else in the city carries," he said, taking a break to talk to me near the photo counter. Within a minute though, some one was calling his name and he was off again.

I decided to head for the whites. The tasting is set up with four tables, three wines at each. Torri O'Brien approached me and recommend I try the Geyser Peak Sauvignon Blanc. "I don't drink many whites but I like this one," she said. "It's got some great grapefruit and grassy notes... then you need to get to table four." She pointed to the table at the end with the most expensive bottles. O'Brien has been coming to this tasting for five years. "There are several of us that have been coming this long. It's is the only communal gathering you know is going to be here every single week. I see most of my next-door-neighbors here. It's a community event first, wine testing second."

Everyone I talked to had been coming for at least 18 months. Since the official name of the tasting is the 75th Street Wine Club, I was afraid there might be that club atmosphere -- but there wasn't. Everyone welcomed me into their conversations. The only thing you need to join the club is sign up for the e-mail newsletter.

Tastings are every Friday from 5 to 7 p.m. The CVS is on the southeast corner of the intersection (next to Aldi's) and is not to be confused with Walgreens on the southwest corner. Tonight, the focus is on Spanish varietals like tempranillo and wines by the producer Big House.