COSTA BLANCA WINE SOCIETY
A.G.M. 24TH JANUARY 2008,, LAS BRISAS, JAVEA
The meeting opened at 6.45.
37 Members were in attendance.
Apologies were received from: M & S Baker: P & B Burnett; N & J Easter; A & K Johnson; C Harkness; G & L Marchant; A & J Dixon; P & A DeNys; C & L Svoboda; R Jovenen; H Duebelt; D & S Patterson.
1. Minutes of the previous AGM 2007, which had been distributed before the meeting, were accepted as correct. Proposed: Pat Stuart. Seconded: Derek Heslington
2. Matters Arising. There were none.
3. President's Report. G. Ferenczy reported that he had much enjoyed his year as President. There had been several changes to the format of the meetings during this year. Firstly there had been no blind tastings. Members had been given full information regarding the wines to be tasted, with the exception of the price. Secondly the tastings were usually conducted with food. Thirdly the tastings included fewer wines, enabling the tasting of higher priced/quality wines.
Thanks were given to R. Anderton for keeping the Web Page updated which was a very useful page for members.
There were a total of 105 members during 2007 down from a high of 150. Average attendance for tastings was 60 members with the maximum 76 for Julian Jeffs' tasting.
The annual wine trip to Somontano was very successful. Thanks were given to Tim Ladd for arranging this trip and for the excellent work he had done in arranging wine trips over the past eight years. The Society was much indebted to him. G. Ferenczy and T. Fawle had made the decision to arrange this year's trip which would take place from May 5 – 8. The number of places had been extended from 30 to 40 and there were still 3 places available for anyone interested.
The President reported that the Committee had been a great support to him throughout the year, and that they had all worked very hard. There would be a number of changes to the committee for the coming year. The Treasurer, Henri Versee, had already left. Jane Colebrook would be stepping down after two years in her role as Menus and Venues organiser. Thanks were offered to her for her work in this pivotal job which was often demanding and unrewarding. Margaret Ferenczy would be giving up her role at Front of House, a job that is most important to the smooth running of the tastings. Thanks were given to her for all her work and her support to the President during his year in office.
4.Treasurer's Report. Copies of the Financial Report prepared by T. Cabban were passed to those present. Membership for 2007 was confirmed at 105. Additional costs had been incurred for the re-vamping of the Web Page and for new batteries for the sound system. There had been an overall loss on the tastings, meaning that members were benefiting from their subscriptions, and a loss on the trip. The balance in the bank included advance membership fees for 2008 as well as deposits for the upcoming trip. The real working balance stands at €3,600.
M. Brand raised the question as to whether the expenditure was required for the Cashier. G. Ferenczy responded that the Cashier had undertaken this job for the past 3 years. It had been agreed with the Treasurer at that time that a cashier was needed as the Treasurer himself did not have time to deal with all the financial matters at the beginning of a wine tasting evening.
G. Ferenczy then went on to explain that although the Financial Report appeared straightforward there was considerable work involved in balancing an annual turnover of €35,000 to achieve an even balance. A visiting bodega would usually charge nothing for their wines; a speaker from the membership would incur costs of between €300 and €400, and an invited guest speaker could cost around €1,200.
Additionally, sometimes prizes would have to be doubled when there were two winners in any category and there may also be extraordinary gifts during the year such as for recuperating member, Allan Law.
The Financial Report was unanimously approved.
5.Election of President. There being no other candidates for the role of President, current Vice President, Tim Fawle, was unanimously voted into the office for 2008.
T. Fawle thanked G. Ferenczy for his professionalism during his year as President.
6. Election of Committee Members. T. Fawle handed out a list of proposed Committee Members for the coming year: Vice President – Tim Ladd; Secretary – Malcolm Baker; Treasurer – Tony Cabban; Menus & Venues – Ana & Fausto Vicente; Publicity & Web – Rod Anderton; Front of House – Carolynn & Paul Smithard; Scores & Bookings – Sandy Fawle.
T. Fawle made a brief introduction of the individual proposed Committee Members and stressed the need for a robust committee who would be multifunctional in that there would always be someone to stand in for absent members. He thanked T. Ladd for agreeing to stand as Vice President with his wealth of experience in the Society, and stressed that this appointment was on the basis of 'helping out' and not a natural succession to the role of President next year. He also thanked R. Anderton and M. Baker for agreeing to continue for another year in their posts. The proposed committee were then duly elected into their respective roles. Proposed: G. Ferenczy. Seconded: All those present.
7. Draft Programme 2008. T. Fawle circulated his proposed programme of tastings for 2008 with brief comments.
8. Draft Budget 2008. T. Cabban circulated his draft budget for 2008. The Budget anticipated a membership of 100. There would be a loss during the year on tastings, principally due to the inclusion of several outside speakers in the proposed programme. The working balance would be reduced by €400 thereby returning it to the membership through added value tastings.
9. Any Other Business. T. Fawle had been asked to raise the following topics by Norman Easter:
a) Membership Numbers- are we maintaining the same numbers?
T. Fawle commented that this year he hopes to progressively recruit new members with a genuine interest in wine and ideally people who are permanently based here, so that for the future we have a succession of members who hopefully will have an interest in participating on the Committee. With natural wastage it is probable that we will net out at a few more members than last year bringing the total membership to just over 100.
b) In publicity of future events we should be careful not to mention the venue as this could attract unwanted police attention.
T. Fawle mentioned that it is the responsibility of each member to take every care when attending our events and wherever possible car share. Future publicity would refer interested parties to the website and not give out details of venues in general advertisements.
There being no other business the meeting closed at 7.30 pm.