Washington (The District)

Event Planner - Online or Offline
#1

OK - not sure if all of you on the Baltimore thread that Dave L started will find their way over here but it sounds as if there is enough of us interested in getting another off-line going. Dave White said he will help me with this one so it should be better than the last one I organized. We have a couple of downtown venues in mind such as Ruth’s Chris and Charlie Palmers and we can all give some thought to a theme. Should we limit this to an even dozen participants?

#2

Joe & julie = in. RC or CP’s is fine for venue, but I am open to other suggestions.

Where is the DC offline week thread???

#3

I’m in. We need to decide when DC offline week will be, Joe. If not us, who?

#4

In. Perhaps plus one, depending on date and theme. Once we have those, Matt should change the thread title, then we can start a separate thread for DC Offline Week. When is Shark Week? [drinkers.gif]

#5

Guys: really - a week!?! Not saying I would not participate but that would be tough…

Anyway - let’s start offering up dates and themes. How about the week of May 16th or 23rd?

Theme - how about CdP, Piedmont or BdM? (someone said Napa was getting worn out)

David (White) - do you want to look into venue once we get this can kicked down the road?

Also, happy to change focus on the “week thing” if you guys have a plan…

#6

Happy to look into a venue.

Re: Theme, CdP, Piedmont or BdM all sound good. Extreme Sonoma Coast (suggested by me, endorsed by Scott Claffee, on the Baltimore thread) could also be fun – especially with the wineries on the true coast launching their own association in the hopes of getting their own AVA (http://www.westsonomacoast.com/) and all the recent press coverage (Drawing new lines for wine on the Sonoma Coast; Redefining Sonoma - WSJ).

While it might be tough to limit ourselves to such a small number of producers and vineyards (http://www.westsonomacoast.com/wineries/ – also keep in mind all the places that make Peay and/or Hirsch pinots, like Williams-Selyem), we would get a diversity of wine - pinot, chard, viognier, roussanne/marsanne, lots of syrah.

If not for this offline, let’s do a sonoma coast night during offline week!

#7

In for w.Sonoma. David, I think I have some Failla sleeping right now…

#8

Joe,

Thanks for chiming in; I was afraid I’d turned into a thread killer! Don’t want to steal Matt’s thunder, so I’m happy to wait for our OFFLINE WEEK to do a West Sonoma Coast evening.

But regardless of when we do it, I’ll pull out something fun. West Sonoma Coast makes up the largest percentage of my cellar.

I’ve got a bottle of Failla’s first-ever release (the '98 Syrah Que Syrah) I’ve been itching to open, a couple bottles of Peay’s 2001 Estate Pinot (Peay’s first release was in 2002…), and a bunch of other fun bottles from the extreme Sonoma Coast.

#9

We need to be better friends! [cheers.gif] I am starting to really get into extreme Sonoma Coast Pinots and Chards, and while I don’t go crazy for Syrah, the cooler climate ones are definitely more my style.

However, I’m fine with doing this as a separate event if Matt O. wants to do something else like CdP (which would also be good)!

#10

Guys - I really am not that sensitive. West Sonoma Coast is great and it looks as if we are leaning that way. I may have to source something because until this string I wasn’t even aware of the appelation. That doesn’t mean I don’t have any just that if I do - I don’t know it. As you guys probably know - I do love syrah so there is no down side for me. Let’s try to nail down a date - how does the week of May 16th look? Once we have a date we can get David started on the venue.

Right now it looks like attendees are:
Matt O.
Scott C.
David W.
Joe D. (+1?)
Ian L.

Am I forgetting anyone?

#11

Hi everyone,

I’d love to join. I’m a big fan of Charlie Palmer’s and have never been to Ruth’s Chris. I’m game for any of those themes as well.

-Robby

#12

i am in - provided i go back and read through this thread.

#13

You can add a “(+1?)” to my name.

#14

Count looks like this now:

Matt O.
Scott C. (+1)
David W.
Joe D. (+1)
Ian L.
Robby S.
Blake J.

That’s 9 - we could probably take 1 or 2 more (in case Thomas, Gabe or Tooch weigh in) but this looks good for now. Need feedback on the date and if there is any interest in opening up to Sonoma County or Sonoma County Pinot, just seeing how focused you guys want to make this one…

David - how is the cellar working out?

#15

I would be in (likely plus one) depending on the date that is settled upon and my travel schedule.

#16

The week of May 16 looks good to me, save for Wednesday, May 18.

Matt: The cellar is working well. As you predicted, though, it’s filling up far faster than I expected…

#17

So are you considering Sonoma Coast wineries, or Sonoma Coast wines? Not a lot of wineries that are in that AVA, (but there are some very good ones like Peay and Falla) but lots of vineyards and Sonoma Coast wines made by wineries like Kosta Browne and Radio Coteau.

#18

Robert - nice distinction - it makes sense to open it up a little. Gabe and his +1 have brought our head count up to 11, if you are a single we can have you as the last attendee - interested?

#19

I’m not single, but I’m interested. (My wife refuses to come to these dinners because all we ever talk about is wine) It would depend on what day we actually do it. I could bring Something by Kosta Browne (funny, the last off-line I had at Charlie Palmer was with Mark Neal and Michael Browne) Radio-Coteau, or maybe A.P. Vin. I might even have a Falla Chard somewhere.

#20

I certainly don’t intend to hijack your offline, Matt, but my preference would be not to open the theme up that much. “Sonoma Coast wines” would be a pretty large pool to draw from – the AVA is huge and essentially meaningless when it comes to terroir/style. I think it would be more interesting to focus on the “true” Sonoma Coast (or “West” or “Extreme” or whatever), either wineries or vineyards within it. But maybe that’s just me and I should set up my own offline! [shrug.gif] Again, just my opinion (and, to be frank, driven by my palate), so don’t let me bully you into changing your theme.