Shaye Phillips, Features Editor–
Just two miles from Denison’s campus, juniors and seniors sat clustered around checkered tabletops, sniffing and sipping on glasses of wine at Palumbo’s Market. As they chatted, they explored the culture of wine, integrating the words soave and valpolicella into their vocabulary.
This event was put together in a push to reestablish Denison’s Wine Society, an endeavor led by Tatum McNally ‘25.
The Wine Society was first established as Denison’s official wine club in 2017 when McNally’s cousin Richie Lehman ‘17 and his friend, Brandon Place ‘17, founded the club in their senior year.
The two were inspired to create the organization after taking wine classes while studying abroad. Lehman went to South Africa and Place went to Italy. When they returned, they decided to share their newfound wine knowledge with the rest of the Denison community.
“They started the Wine Society so they could educate others about what they learned about wine and allow other students who studied abroad to kind of share their experiences to bring people together,” McNally said.
After Lehman and Place graduated, the club fizzled out.
“And then I came to Denison,” McNally said. “I’ve always wanted to resurrect [the club] because my cousin always talked really highly about it and how much fun he had just putting it together.”
When talking to Lehman, McNally said that she didn’t have any documentation left over from when her cousin was in the club, so she had to start everything over from scratch.
“Restarting the club was hard because there’s drinking involved,” McNally said. “We’re kind of crossing an interesting line, which I think was where the original hesitancy, not only on the school’s part but also on CLIC’s part, to figure out how we can do this and do it in a manner where it’s legal.”
Many faculty and staff members showed interest in the club’s re-establishment as well, including current advisor Susan Leithauser, who works as the Director of Development, Parent & Family Philanthropy at Denison.
“I think having a wine tasting club aligns well with Denison’s approach to creating lifelong learners. Wine is pretty present in our society and learning to appreciate it is a good option for our students,” Leithauser said.
McNally’s vision is to involve more students in the club.
“I want the Wine Society to have that community that fosters new relationships and friendships at school, because the club should be about meeting new people,” McNally said.
Off-campus trips are usually only available for students who are 21+ because IDs have to be shown at places where drinking occurs.
“I’m covered when it comes to liabilities; don’t worry,” McNally said.
The biggest obstacle the Wine Society has faced is funding. At Denison, club organizations typically receive $200 to $250 for funding. However, Denison can not legally pay for alcoholic substances, so money for wine has to be paid by the club on its own.
“The campus’s funds can go towards wine glasses, food, tours, and special guest speakers, which is great,” McNally said. “But since we have to pay for wine, we have to figure out a way to get more money.”
The best solution that McNally has at the moment is to create a GoFundMe campaign and raise the money through donations from students who are either interested in joining the club or are current members.
“All of these details are still a work in progress,” McNally said. “It’s a really new club but it’s here now and we’re just trying to figure things out now that the school is fully on board.”
The Wine Society has still had its share of successes. Last December, the club sponsored a trip to Palumbo’s Italian Market in Granville that sells Italian wines, groceries, and food. The 20 students who attended reported having a great time, with most of them expressing a desire to go again.
“It was awesome getting to try multiple different wines that Palumbo’s had on their shelves and it was a privilege to meet the other members,” Sean Carr ‘25 said.
Sophie Swift ‘25 also expresses fondness over her memory of the trip. “Palumbos was the most memorable night last semester for me. The food was delicious; getting to talk with so many new people really made it perfect. I hope we go again soon.”
Future plans for the Wine Society are already underway, with a visit from Flickinger’s Fine Wines from Chicago coming some time in March and more field trips to wine companies around Ohio for tastings.
“What’s funny is, a lot of other people are trying to start their own clubs now that the Wine Society is a thing,” McNally said.
Both ideas of a beer society and a cheese club have already been tossed around among the Denison senior community. The cheese club hopes to do future collaborations with the Wine Society.
“I think it’s awesome that people want to get involved. Just goes to show that the Wine Society’s got legs,” McNally said.