I think the first time I ever signed up for an offline on ebob, I volunteered to bring a 375 to a Vosne-Romanée dinner Peter C was organizing (hey, at least it fit the theme).
That was around the time of the mass exodus to WB. When I signed up over here, I saw Peter had a thread going making fun of me. At which point I reminded him that bottle size is inversely proportionate to you know what size.
He sold off all his magnums after that.
As a somewhat nervous newbie this thread is really helpful, thanks!
Lots of fine advice here. Won’t pile on overmuch.
OLs organized–try to get people to commit, as much as you are able to do so, as early as possible. Remind them to check the OL thread and at least email you their wine choices unless blind.
If you choose a theme, of course do well to stick with it, but I’m not a zealot in saying every OL must have a theme. I like the smorgasbord every once in a while too.
Our group is religious about sending pours back to the staff and chefs, in addition to tipping generously. We may scale the tipping back a bit if corkage is $35-50 a bottle or such, but that doesn’t happen often.
DO HAVE FUN. Do gently emphasize that to everyone else—it’s not a beauty pageant. I try my best to bring stuff I genuinely want to share with others. That is more often than not less expensive than someone else’s bottle, but it may be rarer or something I know they haven’t tried…or even thought of. Again, avoid having this become about the wines—it really should be about the people and the conversations.
Own stems always good choice.
You are stretching a 750 if you go over 12 people. Also, anything over ten people and I, at least, will enforce “musical chairs” with one other person where I switch seats in the middle of the meal so that I do get to talk to everyone. I have a much better time at OLs this way because I don’t miss a participant at the other end of the table, e.g.
Lastly, my own preference is to be, within reason, allowed to taste at my own pace. Thus, if the first-flight wine is one I may want to check on 2 hours later, it is always better to have an extra glass in front of you to make this possible.
I can’t help much with “home event” OLs. I have dinner parties for friends. Those are not OLs because I serve all the food, pour all the wine and make all the rules ![[grin.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/5/53ba06e9b6e4b370ae7e3d7b3702ad1bda0a2d8e.gif "grin"){kind=small}
—mostly that first-timers are not permitted to bring anything.
WineFest is a different story. It’s again all my cellar’s stock but I have very occasionally allowed someone to contribute a bottle to augment a particular table’s theme. OTOH, there’s a reason I do it only once every 4 years 
I think you’ll do just fine, Barry (and Bryan). The first step is actually being brave enough to organize one!
A bientot
Mike
ideas to add to all the above recs.
Encourage attendees to open, and decant if necessary, their bottles early.
I like to serve the wines flighted by a theme (vintage, soil, producer, region, etc) Then you can decide if you want to do that single or double blind. It’s a bit of extra work on the front end but it prevents the mess of everyone opening random things and bottles not getting passed around or poured equitably.
make sure there’s a bit left in the bottle after everyone has their first pour so that someone can revisit the wine later, should they choose. (this rule almost necessitates 12 or less people per bottle).
People always talk about how magnums would be a great idea, but it seems they’re usually more than half full at the end of the night. Too many other good wines for the number of people can do that.
Wines that drink well rather than tasting well is an issue. It can be fun to check in on certain wines, but this is a dinner, rather than a tasting. I’ve seen expensive young culty wines barely touched, where everyone took a tiny pour, got the point, and mostly didn’t revisit.
This reminded me a little of the famous Annie Hall joke–terrible food, and such small portions!
If you’re nervous you’re inviting the wrong people!
^ Especually This ^
If anyone starts organizing wines by soil type at my offlines I may have to check that they haven’t gone off their meds.
Oooh, that sounds like fun!
The best advice above is to relax and have a good time. 99% of wine geeks are really nice, generous people. If you happen to hit a problem then the solution is to not worry about it at the dinner and just not invite them back next time.
I more meant as an attendee who hasn’t been collecting wine for 25+ years!
OK, I’ll rephrase it. If you’re nervous you’re hooking up with the wrong people.
Be yourself, bring what you bring. If they can’t accept you and your wine it’s their loss.
Cheers
disagree. As a newbie it’s perfectly fine to be nervous. You’re going into a situation you’ve never been in with people you don’t know. How do you pour? how much do you pour? is what you’re bringing ok? do i sound like I know anything about wine? etc. I felt these things at the first event i went to. People couldn’t be nicer, they completely put me at ease.
My first offline was a lot of fun and the crowd was great, quite welcoming and generous, very similar to your experience. Afterward however I did do a bit of mental re-calibration as to what types of things to bring. I’ve started to kind of selectively purchase stuff with a mind for offlines to have in my back pocket going forward since I want to make sure I’m pulling my weight and can bring fun and interesting things for people to share. I think someone’s suggestion of vintage bubbles is a good one, as you can get cool stuff for not an insane amount of $$ and they fit most themes as an aperitif, same goes with interesting or well-aged sweet stuff for the end of the night.
My first one I was excited to meet people and try some new interesting wines. But I’m in NoCal so what people think is irrelevant. You guys have to worry about how you dress, what kind of car you arrive in, what income bracket you represent, etc…
What airline you fly. What hotel you stay at. What credit card you use. 
…the price of the bottle you’re bringing