My village has a book club. Sadly, it is so popular that it has a waiting list and the members are all too healthy, committed and young to give me any hope that a space may be imminently available. I think they meet every six weeks or so - not more regularly because they're all too busy to have any hope of finishing a book in less time.

It all sounds great fun; they meet, have a good old chat about the book and seemingly drink their way through a bottle of wine, or two, or three . . .

All of which makes me wonder why it is that wine tastings among friends isn't more common. I can't think of too many disadvantages.

A group of friends meet, open up a few bottles and then discuss the qualities, or indeed failings, of each of the wines. And, you don't have to worry about doing any homework!

It wouldn't take that much organisation now would it? Let's say that you agreed to meet once a month - all you'd need to agree on would be 12 different themes and how many bottles you'd open at each meeting.

Themes could be orientated around grape variety; wine style (sparkling, sweet, red blend and so on); country or region.

As for how many bottles, that rather depends on how many folk you have in your group. I always think that six in an evening is more than enough and would easily accommodate a group of 12 people.

People do seem to get worried when it comes to wine tastings. They seem to think that they're a lot more complicated than they actually are and that unless you have some expert in tow it'll all be a disaster.

There are a few basic essentials to running a fun tasting.

Start off by making sure that each person has access to at least two glasses. The ideal glass should have a stem (to hold the glass by) and be tulip-shaped'.

The idea of the tulip-shape is that it allows you to do the snazzy swirling thing (which helps release the wines' aromas) while not throwing it over your neighbour. It also enables you to register the wine's smells.

Pen and paper are handy too for keeping notes and a record of what you like and dislike. White paper is also a huge asset as a background to seeing the true colour of the wine, so it is helpfully dual-purpose.

Always, always have a bucket or a spittoon that driving guests can spit their samples into and, lastly, a few neutral nibbles like bread and water biscuits are remarkably useful at refreshing weary palates.

Don't worry either about not having the likes of wine experts Robert Parker or Jancis Robinson in your living room to guide you through each bottle.

There are a myriad of books and DVDs on the market to help you get started.

My personal favourite is Jancis Robinson's Wine Tasting Workbook (£16.99). It's informative, easy to read and full of lots of ideas as to what sort of wines to try and what to compare them with.

The book covers sherry, port and champagnes too, so you won't run out of ideas.

Of course, what you could do is get together with a group of friends and start your own mini wine club with a regular case from The Oxford Times Wine Club.

Why not begin with an exploration of wines from Spain? I seem to have spent a summer immersed in wines from Spain. Very pleasant it's been too.

The New Wave Spanish Wine Awards a couple of months ago were a revelation.

Spanish reds and the wines of Rioja continue to dominate Spain's top 100 but up-and-coming regions as well as white wines were equally exciting this year.

This week's club case includes four tasty offerings from a country whose wines seem to be getting better and better.

Click here for The Oxford Times wine club offers.