Wine tasting group?
Wine tasting group?
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Wine tasting group?
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Post #1 - April 14th, 2006, 10:43 amHi -
Do we have enough interest to do a wine tasting group on a regular basis?
LeeLeek
SAVING ONE DOG may not change the world,
but it CHANGES THE WORLD for that one dog.
American Brittany Rescue always needs foster homes. Please think about helping that one dog. http://www.americanbrittanyrescue.org
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Post #2 - April 14th, 2006, 10:57 amLee, I for one very much enjoyed the dinner you and David once hosted on wine...
(not that i'm implying anything here...)Think Yiddish, Dress British - Advice of Evil Ronnie to me.
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Post #3 - April 15th, 2006, 12:49 amI'd be interested, especially in something on the order of "Everybody bring a bottle of pinot noir" (or gewurztraminer or dessert wine or wine that cost less than $10 or whatever). I'm less interested in vino-tupperware parties.
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Post #4 - April 15th, 2006, 7:10 amLAZ wrote:I'd be interested, especially, in something on the order of "Everybody bring a bottle of pinot noir"
In particular, I'd be interested in having wines "assigned" either by vintage, producer, region, etc., and while I often drink wines in the $10 or $15 and under category, I think this would be a great opportunity to explore, for example, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, or something else that I like but can't really afford to learn about in as much detail as I'd like.
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Post #5 - April 15th, 2006, 7:58 amHi,
A few years ago, several of us met for a wine-pairing meal. Courses were assigned with the final recipes approved by Leek and her husband. Leek's husband made the wine-pairings, acquired the wine and we reimbursed him.
Hardly tupperware-wine dinner, it was really quite an education. If we did things like this or something close-to, then I am very interested.
Regards,Cathy2
"You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
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Post #6 - April 15th, 2006, 3:50 pmCathy2 wrote:A few years ago, several of us met for a wine-pairing meal. Courses were assigned with the final recipes approved by Leek and her husband. Leek's husband made the wine-pairings, acquired the wine and we reimbursed him.
Hardly tupperware-wine dinner, it was really quite an education. If we did things like this or something close-to, then I am very interested.
We could do this again. As I recall we voted on an upper limit on how much people were willing to spend on wine per person, and we had some sort of theme. We did it at my house.
An alternative would be to assign a region or a grape and tell people to bring bottles (have to coordinate so not everyone brings the same thing) - preferably in this scheme people drink wine relatively frequently and bring something they like or know or want to try.
The LA Times has a nice article on wine tasting groups, take a look at
http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la ... -home-foodLeek
SAVING ONE DOG may not change the world,
but it CHANGES THE WORLD for that one dog.
American Brittany Rescue always needs foster homes. Please think about helping that one dog. http://www.americanbrittanyrescue.org
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Post #7 - April 15th, 2006, 9:17 pmLAZ wrote:I'd be interested, especially in something on the order of "Everybody bring a bottle of pinot noir" (or gewurztraminer or dessert wine or wine that cost less than $10 or whatever). I'm less interested in vino-tupperware parties.
This is argue with LAZ week for me...
I have MUCH less interest in wines under $10 as a parameter. For one thing, there is very little good wine at that range. For another, I thnk I am doing a decent enough job finding what there is, and mostly getting by with wines in the $10-15 range, where you can see some decent wines, especially in items like Spainish or NZ wines. Still, what I be most interested, then is the wines I do not drink as often.
I'm not suggesting a Le Pin vertical or a Barolo tasting, but a few better wines split by the tasters makes more sense to me, i.e., 15 tasters spliting 4 $30 bottles of wine comes out to $8 bucks a head; double that and we can either have 4 $60 bottles of wine (some pretty hot stuff then, no?) or 8 $30 bottles. Either way, we have a chance to enjoy and try some things we would not ordinarily enjoy.
Oh, and make them local
Think Yiddish, Dress British - Advice of Evil Ronnie to me.
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Post #8 - April 15th, 2006, 10:49 pmVital Information wrote:I'm not suggesting a Le Pin vertical or a Barolo tasting, but a few better wines split by the tasters makes more sense to me, i.e., 15 tasters spliting 4 $30 bottles of wine comes out to $8 bucks a head; double that and we can either have 4 $60 bottles of wine (some pretty hot stuff then, no?) or 8 $30 bottles. Either way, we have a chance to enjoy and try some things we would not ordinarily enjoy.
I like the math.
Hammond"Don't you ever underestimate the power of a female." Bootsy Collins
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Post #9 - April 16th, 2006, 8:22 amOh, and make them local
Your dreams may come true. I heard yesterday claim they found a very good Illinois wine. I don't know yet the details but I will advise as I learn them myself.
I like the tasting as Rob outlined it. I like the wine-food pairing and such proposed by Leek. I think this could be an interesting exercise.
Regards,Cathy2
"You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways, Road Food 2012: Podcast
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Post #10 - April 16th, 2006, 3:57 pmYes, I meant earlier that I would be more interested in something similar to what Rob is saying. I remember the accounts of the wine tasting Cathy describes and while it sounds like a very enjoyable time, and I would be interested in that too, I would be interested more as an appealing social engagement, than as an educational wine tasting experience.
I think we could easily do more than 4, though. I'd like to do 8-10. For example, a couple burgundies, a couple New Zealand Pinot Noirs, a couple from California, a Spatburgunder, a Pacific Northwest. Or maybe a number of different vineyards/producers in a French or Italian appelation.
I recently visited a friend with several Allegrini wines...an Amarone, Palazzo della Torre, something similar, and a Valpolicella Classico. I like the idea of being able to do something like that, but more.
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Post #11 - April 17th, 2006, 10:15 amI would be interested more as an appealing social engagement, than as an educational wine tasting experience.
I didn't intend to make it sound like it was a dry event by interjecting educational. Each course was presented independently with an introduction of the wine by Leek's husband David. Additionally, the people who brought food also discussed their food choice and preparation. Beyond those two bits of business, which were interesting, it was a very social event.
The post which kicked off the idea by Leek. I found my original post reviewing the evening from January 20, 2003, which you may want to access for the follow-up discussion.Chow Wine Gathering January 18th - Initial Report
On such a chilly night, it was delightful to have a warm, friendly gathering to look forward to. David and Lee (chowhound name: leek) orchestrated this Chow exercise in matching food to appropriate wines. I will outline the meal and ask our hosts to later post the exact wines selected with additional commentary.
First course: Vitalinfo expertly smoked salmon served with a mustard dill sauce accompanied by champagne.
Second course: Janet Traub prepared Goat cheese Crottins (literal translation: turds) on lettuce tossed with a vinaigrette with toasted bread from Fox & Obel. White wine from QUINCY (France, not Illinois!) was served.
Third Course: Our hostess Lee grilled leg of lamb, which had been marinated in wine and herbs, and then charcoal grilled on her balcony. It was cooked as I like it: medium rare. Laura, sister of Cathy2, prepared a spinach gratin. Ourpalwill made potatoes gratin where the initial step was Yukon Gold potatoes cooked in cream. One never can go wrong when the first step involves cream. VIN ROUGE from Bordeaux, a CÔTES DE CASTILLON was served.
Fourth Course: A brave woman prepared her first ever Cassoulet for our discriminating crowd. We expressed our appreciation by eating it all up! I apologize for forgetting your name, but I remember the face and, more importantly, the dish! A Rhone wine from GIGONDAS was served.
Fifth Course: Cathy2 (c’est moi!) served a blue cheese cheesecake on a bed of Mesculin greens tossed with pear vinaigrette. Rhone wine from the fourth course accompanied this bookend salad course.
At this time, the hostess and a majority of the guests took a brief walk to revive their appetite. Three guests took this occasion to duck into an Irish bar. They claimed cold led them to it ... they did return with all their assorted pieces.
Sixth Course: Dessert was served with a nice port. Jane brought a homemade Dobish Torte. On prior occasions when Jane made this torte, winter storms cancelled the festivities and she was obliged to eat it by herself ... it could be a worse fate! Another guest brought a chocolate dessert with fruits.
We learned on this occasion Chowhounds not only seek and eat, they could cook. David was most gracious to share his wine knowledge that began when he was 8 years old. This is no typo, he began at 8 not 18! Clearly, David's knowledge of wine has quite some depth. Though, there was an amusing discussion of port wine origins, which Vitalinfo and Lee seemed to agree upon, did not agree with David. Are Vitalinfo and Lee delving into historical urban legends? Hmmmm. It remains somewhat an unresolved question from last evening but c’est la vie! I’d be quite happy to repeat the occasion to learn a bit more.
Again, thank you to Lee and David for such a delightful evening. And thanks to our fellow guests and cooks who contributed to a fine chow experience.
Best regards,
Cathy2Cathy2
"You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways, Road Food 2012: Podcast
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Post #12 - April 17th, 2006, 10:21 amI love the idea. For me personally, location will make a big difference. I am carless, so Chicago, Evanston, Oak Park would be my attendance boundaries.
Depending on the size of the group that forms I think that we might well be able to incorporate any number of approaches on an event-by-event basis. So, for example, if member X wants to try to find discernible variations among $9.99 California Merlots available at Jewel, then member X can host that event and whoever is interested can contribute and go. If member Y wants to leverage buying power to have a '00 Barolo tasting, so be it.
Some may want to line 'em up and score 'em. No food, just chunks of bread. Brown bags over the labels, etc. Others may want to experiment with all sorts of food matching: what the hell will really go best with take-out Thai? No blind scoring at all. Whatever. Again, why not rotate hosting duties and let the host decide?
This being a fairly research oriented group I offer the following: I had the priviledge of being a guest once at Chicago sommeliers group meeting. They assign a topic, and one of the group makes a presentation to the rest. The day I was there the topic was Graves, and it was fascinating. The presenter covered the history of the region, geology, cultivation methods, etc. before even getting to the stuff the rest of us normally start with -- producer, year, price, etc.
Anyway, I'm up for almost anything."Strange how potent cheap music is."
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Post #13 - April 17th, 2006, 11:39 amSorry, Cathy, re-reading my post above, I realize I was quite unclear. I didn't think the earlier event sounded dry or boring at all. Rather, I meant that while it sounds like a charming social occasion (and one I was loathe to have to miss), a wine pairing dinner is of somewhat less interest to me (though still of interest) than a more methodical wine tasting. I like mrbarolo's approach of mixing the two and having a variety of formats and themes over time.
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Post #14 - April 18th, 2006, 10:27 amVital Information is right in more ways than one:
It can be problematic for everyone to bring a bottle. I've been to events from the Wine Spectator Forum (plenty of CHicagoans there) where we had about 2 bottles of wine per person.
You can be certain some laws were broken that night.
Also, if a larger amount of wine is going to be available, at least meet at some BYOB restaurant so some kind of food is available.
Also, be flexible about prices. If one does their research, a $8 bottle might drink better than lots of $15's and for $25-$35 it coulda cost $50-$100....
Nancy
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Post #15 - April 18th, 2006, 2:40 pmI'd be interested, and I have several fairly old reds I could contribute (only one bottle per outing, though). I've been saving them to open for people who might appreciate them; this sounds like a perfect opportunity to see how they're doing.
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Post #16 - April 20th, 2006, 4:45 amLAZ wrote:I'd be interested, especially in something on the order of "Everybody bring a bottle of pinot noir" (or gewurztraminer or dessert wine or wine that cost less than $10 or whatever). I'm less interested in vino-tupperware parties.Vital Information wrote:This is argue with LAZ week for me...
I have MUCH less interest in wines under $10 as a parameter. For one thing, there is very little good wine at that range.
The under-$10 was only an example of something to go into the mix. If you're not interested in that one, you can skip it. (I'm always interested in finding drinkable bargains, but so many cheap wines are only good for pouring in stew, and I don't make that much stew, so I hate to take too many risks. A lot of $10 wines poured down the sink can add up.)
I like the idea of pooling resources to try more expensive wines too. Also, I didn't necessarily mean literally every person brings wine. One bottle per every two or three people will likely be more than enough. But I hope at least some of the events will be open to the concept of people bringing wine they own already rather than contributing cash for wine somebody goes out to buy. Like nr706, I have wines I've been saving; some may be good, some may be terrible, and it would be great to have others to share the delights and disappointments with.
My post was meant to encourage BYO, do-it-yourself tasting over the vino-tupperware party (Joe Wineseller comes to your house with his wines and pours tastes and you're pretty much expected to buy a case of something. I have been to a few like that. Every now and then, fine, but I wouldn't want to do it as a regular thing).
I am not well situated for hosting an event, so if that is a requirement of participation or influencing the choices, per mrbarolo's suggestion, I'm out. I do like Nancy Sexton's idea of BYOB restaurants as venues, at least some of the time.
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Post #17 - April 21st, 2006, 8:22 amI like the idea, and agree that location is an issue. If somebody wants to take the lead in the Streeterville/downtown area, I'm in.
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Post #18 - April 22nd, 2006, 11:00 pmWe (two of us) would be interested in a wine tasting group. Location might be an issue for us though. Our preference would be somewhere in the city, ideally not hard to get to by public transportation.
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Post #19 - April 24th, 2006, 5:29 pmWell, I'm happy to host if we want to do it at a person's house. I live in Bucktown, near Armitage and Damen.Leek
SAVING ONE DOG may not change the world,
but it CHANGES THE WORLD for that one dog.
American Brittany Rescue always needs foster homes. Please think about helping that one dog. http://www.americanbrittanyrescue.org
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Post #20 - April 27th, 2006, 3:29 pmI'd love to join in.
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Post #21 - April 27th, 2006, 5:21 pmI am most likely in one way or another.
I liked the Third Thirsty Thursday for its alliterative appeal, however it becomes difficult logistically when it falls the day before St. Patrick's day, etc.
Perhaps a gathering scheduled like my chums from law school...usually starts with an email: "its been a while..."
I also like the idea of pooling resources to try some higher end wines. However, there is some difficulty finding higher end BYOB places. Wine Meetup and a few others on the web list some popular places.
Above all, I like to keep wine tasting and social events apart. I have heard way too many people at a party discussing wines as though they were about to purchase a case. Perhaps that is true, but when I am at a party I drink wine and when I am at a store I taste wine. That said comparing a few varieties and styles over dinner is fine. Scoring, rating, etc. is too over the top for me.
pdUnchain your lunch money!
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Post #22 - April 28th, 2006, 5:27 pmpdaane wrote:when I am at a party I drink wine and when I am at a store I taste wine. That said comparing a few varieties and styles over dinner is fine. Scoring, rating, etc. is too over the top for me.
I like both formal wine tasting with notes and scoring and spit buckets and casual comparisons over a meal. There's nothing that says we can't do both, either separately or together -- say a vertical tasting followed by a more casual wine dinner, or a dinner followed by a tasting of dessert wines.
I'd also point out that when you BYOB, you don't necessarily have to have surroundings -- or food -- that match the level of the wine. (Foodies think that way. Wine people don't.) So it doesn't have to be a higher-end place. Though a private room might be optimal if there are more than a few of us.
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Post #23 - May 8th, 2006, 8:55 amNot that I have anything against wine and wine tasting, but if someone were to propose a beer tasting group.....
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Post #24 - May 8th, 2006, 4:27 pmLAZ wrote: I'd also point out that when you BYOB, you don't necessarily have to have surroundings -- or food -- that match the level of the wine. (Foodies think that way. Wine people don't.)
Do you know a lot of Wine people v. Foodies that are itching to open that '78 Pomerol over a plate of Thai curry?
Its merely a suggestion that posters here keep in mind what types of BYOB places are available v. home/pot luck dinners for sampling higher end wines.
BTW, I have no problem tasting all types of wine at Sam's with a cracker, but for informal tastings/wine dinners, I would want a nice meal with a nice wine...that's my preference, being neither a foodie or a wine guy or a guy who likes lables.
pdUnchain your lunch money!
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Post #25 - May 9th, 2006, 11:26 ampdaane wrote:LAZ wrote: I'd also point out that when you BYOB, you don't necessarily have to have surroundings -- or food -- that match the level of the wine. (Foodies think that way. Wine people don't.)
Do you know a lot of Wine people v. Foodies that are itching to open that '78 Pomerol over a plate of Thai curry?
I don't. Rigor mortis set in for most east bank wines (Pomerol, St. Emilion, etc) years ago.
Funny you should mention that; trix and I had a nice 2000 Pomerol last night over at Asian Avenue on Belmont.
Good thing we didn't order the Thai curry.
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Post #26 - May 10th, 2006, 1:02 pmFor wine people, it's all about the wine. They often don't eat much, so the food's almost irrelevant to them.
Anyway, some better restaurants will let you BYOB special wines. I haven't checked whether it's true, but someone on Chowhound claimed Vinci doesn't charge corkage if the wine is more than 10 years old.
There also nicer BYOBs. I haven't been to Terragusto, but people here seem to like it, and Speakeasy Supper Club is said to be nice enough, too.
That said, I wouldn't mind tasting a fine wine at somewhere like Tagine, though, where neither the food or surroundings are all that fancy. And I would definitely be interested in a tasting of Thai-curry-friendly wines!
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Post #27 - May 11th, 2006, 2:30 pmLAZ wrote:I haven't checked whether it's true, but someone on Chowhound claimed Vinci doesn't charge corkage if the wine is more than 10 years old.
It is true. We do it on a regular basis. We make sure to tip big and give the waiter a glass.Leek
SAVING ONE DOG may not change the world,
but it CHANGES THE WORLD for that one dog.
American Brittany Rescue always needs foster homes. Please think about helping that one dog. http://www.americanbrittanyrescue.org
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