In 2001, Dave Minton created and organized the Suncoast Wine Festival. A year later, he was a founding member of the Lakewood Ranch Wine Club. Minton remained active in both until 2006, when he began to spend extended periods of time in California and Oregon, hanging out in places with names like Napa and Willamette Valley. Now a certified sommelier, Minton is back in Sarasota full-time and hosting the town’s latest wine-tasting venue, the Chianti Wine Club.

Headquartered at Chianti restaurant off Clark Road, the Chianti Wine Club will have its fourth meeting tonight, one a month since its inception last April. But Minton, who has played host to such tongue-in-cheek events as ‘How to Be a Wine Snob,’ isn’t trying to replicate the highbrow and oft-parodied events cloistered behind red ropes and drapes, but instead aiming for something more like a relaxed get-together among friends.

“I’m focusing on events that are affordable and that will bring people in to experience and taste wines in a way that they don’t have the opportunity anywhere else,” said Minton, who priced the event at $10 for club members and $20 for non-members.

Unlike full-scale wine dinners, Minton’s gatherings are a briefer and boisterous affair, with room to move around and themed bites to pair with the wine instead of full meals. Tonight’s theme will be chocolate, with truffles from Sirard’s Chocolate, and next month will be cheeses.

“It’s really relaxed and there’s room to move around,” said Minton. “So many wine tastings are elbow-to-elbow and you’re fighting to get to the table. Here, I walk around to the tables and talk to the members about their wine experiences.”

As a bit of added fun, each month’s guests will vote on their favorite wines and the selections with the most votes are added to the restaurant’s wine list.

For more information about the Chianti Wine Club, call 941-356-4841.