Hosted by David LeMire and guest co-host, Quizmaster Mark Kamleh, Mother Vine’s Wine Options night is the only place to win wine geek glory.

Sommeliers and members of the late night hospitality community might be familiar with the concept of a wine options night – a blind tasting quiz that asks participants to answer questions on a wine’s provenance, variety and style, all without the aid of the label.

Mother Vine has been hosting wine options nights for some time now, mostly populated by the industry crowd, but according to former optioner and now guest co-host, Mark Kamleh, there’s plenty to be gained for the general wine loving public.

“I remember my first time – I tasted the wine and then got asked the question: I had no idea,” Mark says.

“You start guessing, and then progressively your guesses start becoming more educated. You’re educated along the way as well.

“[It’s] pretty daunting, and you might not be very good at it, but that’s not the point. If you’re coming into it with no previous experience, the goal isn’t to win, it’s to see how these things work.”

Mark will co-host with David LeMire, one of the relatively few Australian Masters of Wine, and a co-owner of Mother Vine. Teams of four will be move through four blind tastings, while being quizzed on the wine my Mark and David, with a few general knowledge questions thrown into the mix by Quizmaster Kamleh.

For the uninitiated and inexperienced looking to level up their wine knowledge, David suggests, instead of focussing on your quiz performance, “go for glory in the best team name stakes, and then blame any lack of tasting performance on your teammates.”

“[It’s] just gratuitous wine geekery that appeals to my inner nerd,” David says. “And it’s a way to bring together wine lovers, winemakers, students, hospo trade, wine reps and give them an excuse to catch up.”

“it’s a really great way to learn and tune your palate. You can read a thousand books about one grape, but you’re not going to really know it until you taste it, and taste like a thousand versions of that grape expressed in different regions by different winemakers,” Mark says.

“There’s a lot of wines that I probably wouldn’t have picked off the shelf that I now would after doing options.

“I guess it’s a skill, but it’s not a very useful skill, unless you’re in trade. Tell about a wine without knowing the label. It’s so niche.”

Mother Vine’s Wine Options Night is happening on Wednesday, 26 September. To book a spot, get a team of four humans together and call 8227 2273. Entry is $100 per team.