EOI- Wine tasting night - Shelved for now

[gwagensteve]

This is a tentative expression of interest- I'm very keen to run this but it needs enough people to make it work.

Where: we are housesitting my folks place in Warrandyte through July, so it would be then.

Format: $50* per head and some nibbles. I'll supply the wine and investigate glassware. How we arrange food would be TBC but at cost. We might roast some lamb, or buy in.

This would be a bit of a beginners tasting night. We'd be aiming to taste about 8 different reds with champagne to start. I'm developing my palette and we can't do everything on one night.

My tastes tend towards the red end of the spectrum. I know pretty much nothing about Pinot/Burgundy so I'd give that a miss, but we'd be looking at the following styles/areas where I am familiar and choose to give some contrast:

Champagne vs Australian Sparkling

Bordeaux vs Australian cabernet from, say Margaret River vs Coonawarra vs Yarra Valley, Maybe Margaux v Puillac

Rhone vs Australian Shiraz - So Chateau Neuf de Papes vs Hermitage Vs Barossa vs Rutherglen

The key to these nights is attendance. The wine is equally shared across everyone so more people = more budget for interesting wine. It's a good opportunity if you don't drink much (or any) French wine to dip the toes in, and it should be an opportunity to taste some premium wine if attendance is good. It's an awesome way to learn more about wine as you get to taste rather than commit to a whole bottle yourself.

Logistics:

I wouldn't recommend driving but it's about enjoying the tasting not getting munted, so if you were careful its quite possible to drive home. You could bring a swag/sleeping bag or get a taxi. Non-drinkers wouldn't have a great time IMHO so it might not be best to rely on a non-drinking driver.

Some background- I've been attending a small wine tasting group or 18 months or so now. The format is as above (except we hire a restaurant out for the night and the wine budget is $100-$110 per head) and it's run by an absolute guru of wine. I've been getting absolutely truckloads out of it - my wine appreciation has gone through the roof because you get to taste wines "in context" meaning with other wines of their type/year/style. Generally we concentrate on Bordeaux but we have tasted all sorts of things - a whole raft of 1978 Bordeaux - a 1964 Chapoutier Hermitage - premium Nappa Valley 200 cabernets... all sorts of stuff. The next hight will be a bring a bottle night and we'll be tasting a $1500 Burgundy and a $600 dessert wine - so these things can gain all the legs they want if they are popular.

*$50 is a suggested starting point. That allows a reasonable spread of quality. There's no point tasting wines under $20 per bottle as there's not going to be enough varietal characteristics at below that price to really make a good show of it.

What's the interest level. This will be a pay up front deal by bank transfer. I can't afford pullouts and need a budget to go shopping with.


Steve.

[andrew_wale]

This sounds great.
I am sure I can easily convinse the boss to come along.
It all depends on the dates.

[greyghost]

i'm a definitely up for this,

my issue will be work related, when were you planing to have this?

[gwagensteve]

I reckon it would have to be a friday or saturday night for those that want to stay.

If nobody wants to stay it could be a weeknight- The other nights I go to are on a Monday night as it's easiest to get availability.

Steve.

[Mock]

Caitlin and I will be there

Now i will just have to learn how to drink wine Caitlin has no trouble drinking it

Mock

[greyghost]

i'm a definite if its a Friday. i'd have to decline if its any other day, due to work.

[gwagensteve]

Sounds like it will be a Friday then

Steve.

[gwagensteve]

Grrr - just typed a reply and lost it...

OK - I guess I'd like to see 10 people to make this work really well.

We're looking at
Mock/Caitlin
Steve/Seonaid
Andrew/Karen(?)
Mitch/Kirsty

So that's seven/eight

I'm not willing to commit a date until I know I have the numbers to give me the budget to make the tasting worthwhile. If we work on an average of $50 a bottle including champagne (which is important to cleanse the palette ) we're tasting 6 Reds at these numbers, I'd be looking for 8 reds to make it a nice broad tasting.

Here's a loose guide. The wines with Asterisks are locked in. Question marks are a maybe. I've just bought the Chapoutier and Jaboulet and I know that the Chapoutier is just stunning.

Bubbles:

Blue Pyrenees Sparkling*
Moet et Chandon NV*

Red:

1991 Chapoutier Hermitage*
1989 Jaboulet Chateau neuf du pape?
Chris Ringland Shiraz (Barossa)*
Charles Melton "Nine Popes" Barossa* (subject to availability)
Wynns Cabernet (Coonawarra) 2004 I think
Mt Langi Ghiran Shiraz* (I'll see what year I can get)

These wines would work with seven - just -

Obviously, with more, I can add more wine. I'd like to add a Margaret River cabernet - Cullen or Cape Mentelle are the obvious choices but I don't have the budget at the moment. It might be interesting to throw a $10-$15 wine in the mix for contrast's sake because that's what most people drink most of the time.

Additionally, if anyone has anything in a dusty corner at home wondering if it's any good, bring it along and we'll open it and see if it's any good - it's the best chance to do it amongst so many other wines.

We're really close to me locking this in - I'd just love to see a few more people.

Steve.

[greyghost]

you could add Kirsty as she's keen on a little wine

[gwagensteve]

Yay! seven/eight and counting.....

anyone else?

Steve.