The Auswine Forum

Polymer wrote:Adam,

I know you haven't been on the forum that long but people aren't going to bring junk...If you look at the offlines we've had so far, people are going to try to find something pretty good...sometimes there are a few ok wines but there as just as many fantastic overly generous people as well that bring absolutely fantastic stuff. This isn't some normal "wine dinner" this is a wine enthusiasts forum...

I've seen some people express concern on here before about what people will bring...but having gone to a number of these, I don't think anyone tries to get out on the cheap.....If anything, you see what others are bringing and start feeling pressure on what to bring...People will bring extras, options, backups, whatever...These are wine people, they want to SHARE what they have.

If it ever becomes a problem, I suppose the people involved can either start making rules or not allow people to go...but there doesn't seem to be any indication that will become an issue...

I agree 100%

Sometimes wines are underwhelming but it's not because the person bringing it intended it to be so. It's the effort and intention behind the wine that matters. I think the less pressure on people on what to bring within the theme the better.

catchnrelease wrote:I think the less pressure on people on what to bring within the theme the better.

Couldn't agree more. After a couple years of offline experience (Auswine and others), I've found that the more open the theme, the better the wines have been.

My theory is that most people (including myself) don't have a cellar full of all the different wine styles of the world, or may not have a bottle in the right drinking window for a particular offline theme. So when someone has to procure something specifically for an offline, the additional flexibility of leaving the theme as open as possible offers more choices and seems to result in better wines being purchased.

It is the organisers call on the theme/wine level/type/restaurant/date etc.

I don't disagree with the rationale behind it. We've probably become accustomed to relatively casual tastings here on Auswine so if someone wants to up the ante (in both price and specifying the type of wine) then there will be those that can play and those that can't. Just like Shannon's dinners, I've been to most when they were about the $400-$500 mark but once it got north of $1200 I dropped out of them, plenty of people still go to the more expensive ones and I don't begrudge that. Or a Wendouree dinner, if you don't have any, well there is always other dinners you will have wines for, or you hit the secondary market and buy something.

If someone does a Premium US Wine Dinner I know that is not something I have in my cellar so I'd most likely give it a miss, I am not going to try and dilute the theme by suggesting other wines. If the organiser finds they are struggling for numbers they may wish to relax the rules a bit, once again totally their call.

I can see where Polymer is coming from as well (and totally agree with him) although I feel he basing it more on a casual/free for all type tasting (Cabernet Blends for example) as opposed to a structured, narrowly defined one.

Well I'm not so much talking about theme's (that was other people's comments)..I should've been more clear. Whatever someone wants to do as a theme is up to them...

I just want to make it clear to people that you're not going to get burned by people showing up with the equivalent of yellow tail and so that shouldn't be the rationale behind setting a price which is how it was written.

Agreed, could have been worded a bit more diplomatically

I think I agree with Dave which is if we are going with an Italian theme then its best to keep to that theme if that is how we set it up from the outset. I think that is particularly important with a grape such as nebbiolo where I really have had no joy finding anything vaguely comparable produced in Australia to teh style produced in Barolo or Barbaresco. Personally I am more than happy to keep to a single country and a theme - its more of a learning experience. Vintage can be harder but again Barolo really needs time in the bottle to develop into something superb, or not, depending on the bottle. Whilst I have a 97 in mind to bring I am keen to see what the 2004 and 2010 are like that other people are looking to bring.

Mark

Fair enough. Let me sort out a couple of things and I'll get back with a time and place.

adam

One thing to consider, is if someone is struggling to find something, whilst someone else has a cellar full of candidates, then it can be sensible to agree a 'buy-in' with that person. IME people are happy to sell something from their cellar if they still get to taste it themselves (at the tasting).

Just a thought.

Ian,

Great point. We have a friend that does that at sometimes rather crazy discounted amounts....really just his way of sharing even more....

Looking from afar, it seemed to me that Adam was looking to get a group together that were interested in regular Piedmont dinners and importantly had the wines, more than a normal Offline per se. Happy to be told to bugger off if I am the one who missed the point

Chris H wrote:Looking from afar, it seemed to me that Adam was looking to get a group together that were interested in regular Piedmont dinners and importantly had the wines, more than a normal Offline per se. Happy to be told to bugger off if I am the one who missed the point

You're exactly right... if the organiser wants to drink Barolo with a small, regular number of likeminded people, and not drink new world Nebbiolo then it's his right... hey it's a free world/forum (thanks Gavin! ). I also don't think his intention is to arrange large-numbered offline dinners with tables of 16. As a aside, I like the idea of focusing on a specific single region and getting to know it well. You would never think of going to a La Paulee Burgundy dinner and bringing an NZ Pinot.

Re. his posting about setting price brackets, may not be to everyone's taste but look at it from his point of view - imagine posting to complete strangers on some random site on the internet (say, meetup.com) looking to open a bottle of Grange and wanting to locate a few people who also want to have a dinner full of wines at the same calibre... Without knowing the likelihood that random internet viewers who hit "reply" would know that the intention was to bring the same quality wines rather than, say Costco (or Aldi ), I don't begrudge him from being explicit about his intentions.

Guys there was no intention to cause controversy.

I was hoping to get a dinner going with a couple of like minded people. I'm not interested in fuss. Just drinking good wine. With good people. Any mention of prices was to give an idea of what I intended. I wouldn't like someone to bring their $50000 bottle and someone else to bring the 20c bargain they found. No slight to anyone was intended. Just trying to give a clear idea. I think Odyssey makes the best observation. I haven't met, talked to anyone other than Dennis. We met once and I don't know that he's met you guys either.

Anyways like I mentioned I am sorry to upset people.

Adam,

Sorry if it came across as if I was upset...not upset in the least. I totally get where you're coming from. I'm just letting you know (or anyone else that has the same concerns) that this is a pretty good wine community from what I've seen..and most people are very generous with what they have and that is really the great thing I love about the Sydney crew (I'm sure it is the same in other regions). You really don't have to worry about people bringing cheap wine (Unless it is as a joke) or trying to get the most of out some meeting while contributing the least...If you want to set a price range to set the theme then that's a great idea...I just wanted it to be clear that you didn't need to do that if your concern was people bringing cheap wines to try to game the system...If/when it does happen, I'm sure the community will police itself...

Don't get the price sensitivity here. You are in the domain of fine wine with about 55% of additional tax on a quest to drink great wines of Piedmont. Which incidentally, is still a lot more affordable to do than the other B's ( including the Barossa from where I sit )

Good luck! If I were retired in Australia I'd love to be involved with a group of Piedmont fanatics. Meet up every few months and I'd suggest a theme of the ten communes individually to explore the terroir- one month say La Morra the next Neive etc.

Ian S wrote:One thing to consider, is if someone is struggling to find something, whilst someone else has a cellar full of candidates, then it can be sensible to agree a 'buy-in' with that person. IME people are happy to sell something from their cellar if they still get to taste it themselves (at the tasting).

Just a thought.

Yes, this is right. I had no aged Rockford for a Rockford Dinner and swapped a couple of older Marius wines for some Rockford with one of the other foumites (the host) in order to attend.

I can't think of any offline I have attended where someone has brought something totally inappropriate (though there was that one time gpk snuck a 1996 Grange into an otherwise quality lineup.... )

Cheers

Michael

AdamR wrote:Fair enough. Let me sort out a couple of things and I'll get back with a time and place.
adam

So Adam, we need to put some definitive substance around this event. Have you thought about the date and place? Hope we can all make it. I would like to be further educated about Barolo.

Whatever happened with this?

Dave

I'm happy organising this one unless anyone else stakes claim. I would suggest first week of May as Piedmontese wines seem to go best with wintry comfort food, ie risottos and heavy sauces. April is no good for many as its school holidays so people will be travelling. Given the length of this one I will start a new thread.

Mark

Just kidding, it's a busy time for people, it happens. But any excuse for a Star Wars meme!