Good wine and good company

Gallery photos courtesy of Landie Koch

Written by Krystal Pugh/Contributing Writer

Students no longer have to wait until Friday night happy hour to have a nice glass of wine.

Friends of wine is a social club at the Biscayne Bay Campus and has been around since 1989. The club was originally a part of the Chaplin School of Hospitality and Management, but it has recently branched off on its own.

Friends of Wine meets every Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. on the campus at the Chaplin School’s Carnival Student Center.

Professor Patrick Cassidy a wine professor here at the University is the founder of the club. He initiated Friends of Wine as a wine sales job in which students began to take interest in.

The club immerses students into wine tasting to learn about where each drink comes from and its history.

Landie Koch, a graduate student and president of Friends of Wine encourages all students to come and join the club.

According to Koch, meetings are very relaxing and educational. She said she became passionate about wine when a wine steward has her try several kinds of wine.

“I fell in love with wine [even] before I came to FIU,” said Koch.

Koch said she particularly enjoys a red wine called Bordeaux.

“After tasting wine, I became so curious and kind of made wine tasting and educating myself about it my hobby,” she said.

The club hosts events throughout semesters and students are able to try anywhere between three to five wines paired with appetizers.

At each event, the club invites speakers and bring in all sorts of regional wine. However, only students 21 years of age or older are welcome to attend.

On Tuesday, April 7, Friends of Wine will invite Javier Fonseca, manager at the El Carajo International Tapas and Wine Spanish bar. Fonesca will talk about his restaurant and its wine selection.

Guest speaker Eric Lake will lecture members about dry wine on Tuesday, April 14 at the club’s following event on Tuesday, April 14. Their flier suggests the question: “Is this wine dry?”

“If anyone wants to join, just come check us out on a Tuesday of your choice,” Koch said.

bbc@fiusm.com

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