+1
I say lets focus on the pinots, throw in a few chards for good measure and leave the syrahs till next time
we have 12 ppl so maybe 3 years of alpine, horseshoe, skyline and home? I left out hillside and swan, while different bottlings, they are still part of alpine.
I would be happy bringing a pinot and a chard. I could bring an 09 Alpine Chard and a 07 Alpine Pinot. I also have a few 04 Sonoma Coasts that I could throw in if the group wants.
Also don’t really want to step on any toes in regards to planning wise as I know you guys do this often, I would think 12 pinots + a few chards would take a long long time to go through if we’re doing a sit down dinner. Frank, you brought up the possibility of bringing food in, what about bringing in food, we eat before/during the wine drinking, but gives us a little more freedom of enjoying and analyzing the wines without being within the construct of a multi course dinner and sitting around a table.
Easier to keep a bunch of glasses in front of you without silverware/plates 
Good discussion guys, let me insert some context around the “food” aspect. For dinner, think of it in these terms, as this would be close:
BRING IN–cost p/p would be around $50. It’d be more of a mix and match kind of buffet, where we could have a few different things, even finish some food in the oven, say like empanadas which we have done before. Or, salad, tandoori chicken and empanadas. On the con side, this format de-emphasizes the food and puts it behind the wine and we have to get food ready, although things become less structured, per se. Different feel.
CHEF–cost p/p about $80-100. Multiple courses that would be flighted and brought out, made to order via my kitchen. Downside is cost goes up. Upside is that you may increase the experience through pairing dynamics, plus you have additional conversation that includes what we’re eating. Also eliminates us having to fart with food. It becomes a focus on each course, the 2-3 wines in each.
I like the idea of keeping the focus on pinots with some chards thrown in for good measure - I’m happy to contribute one of each. For the pinots - I think it would be cool to try to limit the focus to two horizontals from two vintages or a horizontal and a vertical. But that is just a thought.
My vote is Chef.
Another idea on food, more along Charlies thoughts, is do a Chipotle taco/burrito bar. Did it recently and worked very well and cheap. Keep the food in the background per se.
I would like to see 3 or 4 verticals of the pinot to help get a general feel for each wine/vintage. 3 wines - 4 years or 4 wines - 3 years.
Couple chards to get started always works.
Im also ok with chef idea.
Also not a bad idea to go through tasting notes of wines and not even attempt to open bottles that have not shown well lately and need LOTS more time in cellar - cherry picking through the inventory and picking the ones showing best now. Maybe Kevin H/Jeff B could help us here.
I like the focus on the wine and less formal, more casual atmosphere. But I’m cool with whatever the majority decides. I like Tom’s idea of a taco bar or something similar to that.
I am OK with either food format. I think we will focus on the wine regardless of what we eat, especially since it will be a focused group.
One option might be to have a food truck cater, not actually come, but rather prepare the food and deliver it to us.
For example, the Lime Truck (where Jason Quinn got his start and used his Food Network competition winnings to start Playground) has a catering option where they prepare, deliver, and stage the food. If I recall they have a taco option and several other small plates. Their food is killer for a food truck (we all love Playground), and the total cost might be $30-$40. They usually cater to groups of 20 or more, but there minimum was about $300 to $350 if I recall. We could easily meet the minimum and simply have them bring less food (or we could take home the extra ourselves).
Just to think outside the box…
Love this idea.
Me too
Just wondering how well tacos will complement the Rhys Pinots and Chards?
Another simple, less costly option is simply grazing on cured meats cheeses and breads.
Do a few chards and then focus on pinot. Leave the syrah for another time. I was all about getting a chef, but that food truck sounds interesting and fun.
Me too.
I prefer a more casual setting so bringing food in or a food truck as Andrew suggested.
By the way, my vote is to concentrate on the Pinots but have a few chards.
Gang, I have reached out to The Lime Truck folks (https://www.thelimetruck.com/catering/) and will be hearing back from their catering mgr tomorrow, it seems. I’ll vet out all the details, the flow of how it would work against our theme and the costs/deposit details and then report back. Given the demand for their work as I understand it, we may be faced with a decision to commit to them in advance of our 10/11 dinner so if that becoms true, we’ll have to as a group make some decisions as to whether the idea is viable.
As to a ‘taco bar’ idea, we could do that very easily, as we have done it before for Offlines. We can quite easily bring in the basics–rice, beans, tortillas, sauces, seasoned meat–from El Campeon (http://www.elcampeon.com/restaurant.htm) here in DT San Juan, add some avocado, cheese and other things and we’re probably looking at $25 p/p max. If we added a fruit, cheese and sliced meats tray which we can do ourselves with some very high quality for the chardonnay, then another $15 p/p, so $40 all in. Cheap and very informal.
I’ll be back with info on The Lime Truck soon.
Bare with me as I’ll probably contradict myself numerous times throughout this post.
While I generally try to find a wine and food pairing that makes sense - I often find that people are way too uptight about matching wines and foods . My preference when given the choice is to drink the best wine available with the best food available (both of which are of course subjective). So yes I would rather drink an awesome cabernet with my fish than a mediocre white. I’ve been at wine dinners with others who can not seem to comprehend that I have moved on to a heavy red while the fish course is on the table, or that I continue to drink my white with my steak. That being said - if I were to start from scratch I’m not sure I would go with pinot and tacos.
I’m very appreciative of the work that Frank has and will put into organizing this event and would defer to whatever is easiest for him. I really don’t care if the food is $20/pp or $100/pp or if it is the best food I have ever eaten or merely mediocre. As long as the food does not take away from the wine (and I don’t think any of these options would) - I’ll be happy.
We all seem to agree that the focus is to taste a bunch of great wines from Rhys. As Frank mentioned a sit down, coursed out dinner is a very different feel from grabbing food out of serving dishes that was just brought in. Perhaps we need to figure out how we want to structure the tasting first and then find a food solution that is most compatible.
All that being said - I will be absolutely fine with whatever the group decides!!
How is that for a post that does not move the ball forward.
Brian raises some good thoughts about strategy, this is of course part of putting the event together, i.e. how we want to peel the onion.
OK, so I talked to the folks at The Lime Truck. Here are some details below. I told them to circle back with me end of next week so please post comments back if you want to have say in how the dinner is planned. I’d certainly encourage all 11 of you to do this, as this is a group dinner. As you read the two options below, assume the pairings/options are thought out in advance and make sense/align with the wines.
Truck Option–the truck rolls out, sits in front of the house and they serve food for 2.5 hours. For an event of our size, they can offer 8-10 options and you’d simply walk out of the house, up to the truck parked in front of my crib and tell them at the window what you want. They make it, you walk it back in. Conversely, they could walk in what we wanted and no one would have to get up. Cost would be about the same as a private chef, maybe a bit less. This is a fun option but it has inherent limits, given the limited time the truck is here, which impacts how we think about staging/timing the wines.
Chef Option–this would bring out the owner of The Lime Truck, Daniel Shemtob, who would cook the meal. Daniel Shemtob No truck used, he does the meal in my kitchen as would a private chef. Cost is the same as private chef. He’s experienced in these dinners and is comfortable with this format. Would work in a traditional, sequential format with timing to the flights.
In sum, these are the options via The Lime Truck. Look forward to your thoughts, please.
My vote is chef option, with food paired to the wine. (Whichever chef can do this best)