Wine Dinner - Tuesday 22nd September

[gwagensteve]

Hi all -

I was away in Bright on the weekend with my wine guy (http://www.thewinedepository.com) and some friends, and in between drinking wine and playing cards against humanity, we discussed doing another club wine dinner. He (and I) really enjoyed the last one.

Armed with the feedback from the last dinner held some time ago, and from the meeting, I can offer the following info.

Venue would be a Scopri, 191 Nicholson Street Carlton. This is where we had the last one. Allison offers excellent wine service and great food.

Cost: Approximately $120/head. Phil confirmed we could do something pretty tidy for this price. This is for food and wine all inclusive.

Numbers: We really need 10-12 people to make this work. Partners are more than welcome - this is primarily a social dinner.

Theme: To be decided.* (see note below)

Format: A wine dinner is an opportunity to taste a range of interesting/premium wines chosen by a host who has plenty of knowledge. There's normally sparkling to start, a bracket of whites with the entree, and a bracket of reds with the mains. The wines are all identified - It's not a blind tasting or any such nonsense. The might be a mystery wine and/or port to finish. You're normally provided with around the equivalent of a bottle per head - so you'll taste 10-12 wines.

This isn't a sales event - there's no pressure to buy. The wines can be purchased however, if you are interested.


Theme: We can take this anywhere you like. Old world V New world, Classic Australians, Old wine V New wine, Cabernet V shiraz around the world, really anything. All you need to do is bring an open mind - You'll be surprised - The objective is to have a fun social night and learn some things about wine you didn't know. Hopefully, it might make you feel more confident buying and ordering wine. Personally, I'd want to taste wine I really didn't think I liked. What does your partner drink that you can't stand? Hopelessly prejudiced against Granache or Pinot? That's what I'd be looking to taste. I you like Barossa Shiraz, there's no point trying 10 different ones - push the envelope.

I need to know interest levels for a Friday or Saturday in September. If we get to (at least) 10, we can start working on specifics.

Steve.

[neofitou]

We are interested at the $120.

[Gallagags]

Hi Steve,

Amy and I would like to attend this dinner.

Thanks

[lbzook]

Hey Steve,

Liz and I would be keen.

[gwagensteve]

Excellent, we're at at least eight... however....

Phil has confirmed that the restaurant won't be interested in doing it Friday or Saturday, and broadly the earlier in the week the better.

As much as anything, this is due to service and glassware - we will have somewhere like 150 glasses on the go - they all need to be poured etc. Traditionally, wine dinners are held on Monday or Tuesday nights.

Can people deal with a Wednesday night? I'm aware that might be an issue for those commuting further.

Steve.

[gwagensteve]

interestingly, I just checked the details of the last one we held which was Jan 19th 2013.
Price was $130 a head, but we were able to get the restaurant on the Saturday night because it was a quiet period for the restaurant. However, those that were there might recall we didn't have the function room and this made for A) a smaller table and B)a noisier ambience which makes it harder to talk about the wine.

Here were my comments back then

Date: this is where it gets a bit complicated. Phil's comment was that Monday, Tuesday,or Wednesday nights are easy to get a booking for. Later in the week is much harder and implied that the restaurant is more reluctant to take a group booking where the food is discounted during the weekend. "

And we're in the same position now.

[Greg]

Greg + Fel

Pick a date and we will lock it in (avoiding exams and production code drops etc).

[gwagensteve]

I'm catching up with Phil socially on Tuesday evening. I'll have a chat with him.

Meanwhile, if those planning bout coming along can give some thought to wines they're interested in, or favourite wines, or wines they have previously disliked but think it might have been because of the specific wine, region or context.

My wine appreciation epiphany came when I discovered that Grenache can make wonderful supple red wines. Up until that point I HATED it. I now hate almost no wine.

Steve.

[gwagensteve]

OK, had a chat with Phil last night over wine and cheese.

He's going to investigate Tuesday nights in September with the restaurant and get back to me with some dates.

So I've given some thought to my "Challenge" wine.

We had a bottle of "natural*" Shiraz from the Yarra Valley last night, and I found it pretty confronting. It's certainly not like any Shiraz I've every had.

My palette was pretty messed up by the time I pulled it out though, so I'm happy to concede I wasn't in drinking it in the right context, so I'm interested to see what Phil can do to convince me natural wine is a viable drink.

* Natural wine involves doing nothing at all during wine making - the juice or whole fruit is just put in a barrel/amphora/vat and left completely alone.

Steve.

[lbzook]

Sounds interesting Steve. Is that the proposed theme for the night then? Or are you going to be a guinea pig a bit more before then?