The Auswine Forum

Hi everyone,

Following on from another thread, thinking of doing an offline in Perth on 11 March 2017 at Valdarnos in Dalkeith.

Please let me know interest by reply, including number of spots at the table you want, suggestions for themes, etc...

I have not organised an offline before so any suggestions / tips generally from the forum would be fantastic.

Thanks and regards
Ben

I am been reading all about the NSW / Vic offlines for years so time to put up over west. I am keen Ben, thanks for promoting. At this stage will be myself +1 (Mrs)
Happy with any theme although my cellar is heavily weighted towards higher end MR cabs.

Cheers
Mark

Thanks Mark - you are on the list. Is your "Mrs" into wine - just checking as there may not be many other partners there and (hopefully) will be a "wine focussed" evening.

I have 5 spots already confirmed (myself, 2 wine friends who are not on this forum, Mark & Mrs Mark). I have also invited some other non-forum wine friends so I am concerned we are going to run out of spaces VERY quickly. First in first served in terms of places so suggest anyone interest let me know as soon as they can.

Does anyone have any insights / experience on what the limit should be for number of people at an offline in terms of how much of each wine you get to drink? My gut feel is about 10 but could you stretch it to 12?

Ben, 10-12 seems fair although from interpreting the NSW / Vic offlines there are always late withdrawals, so suggest you leave at 10-12 and start a reserve list if required.
'Mrs Mark' enjoys the wine (loved a Domaine Folin-Arbelet burgundy the other day!) however she is not a big drinker. With a minimal knowledge of wine her palate is excellent, always loving the expensive bottles I bring out. If all 'wine snob boys' then i suspect she will step out.

Cheers.

Hi Mark. Appreciate your advice re approach to #s.
I don't think anyone coming is a wine snob so hopefully not a problem. Was thinking she may find it a little boring if we are talking about the wine and she's not interested. Very welcome to join us and suspect there will be some other partners coming as well. Knowledge is not a requirement otherwise I wouldn't be able to go...

Update re #s: Now at 7 confirmed.
Ben (me)
Melvin
Patrick
Eduardo + Fiona
Mark + Mrs Mark

Will cap at 12 so 5 spots remaining.

Update: 10 confirmed.

Update: We have reached our cap of 12. If anyone wants to go on the wait list, reply or pm me. We will sort details by email so as to not clog up forum.

Wowza, that filled up quickly!

I guess I'll go on the wait list.

Cheers

Hi PDG,

Turns out wine events can sometimes be fluid (pun intended). We've just had 2 people withdraw so back to 10. There is a spot available if you are still interested - just PM your email address to me and I can loop you into the communication.

Kind regards
Ben

Hi everyone,

Notice to anyone in Perth. We have dropped down to 7 people for the offline on 11 March. Not a bad number really and very keen to still go ahead with this number of people, but thought I'd bump this thread and see if there is any further interest out there.

Venue is Valdarnos in Dalkeith with restaurant on board.
Arrive after 6pm for a 6.30pm tasting start.
All bottles $50+ current RRP price criteria. 2000-2009 vintage criteria for reds and unrestricted vintage / region on the sparkling & whites.
Current line up 2 x sparkling, 2 x whites, 5 x reds (and something for after). A few people planning to bring more than one bottle so will be plenty of vino to go around.

All welcome but you have to let me know in advance.

Cheers
Ben

How did this night end up going?

I'm back in Perth in August and would be keen toget an offline going. Happy to bring something Victorian to the table. (Will start a seperate thread)

Was a good night (seems a lifetime ago now). We've since had a baby (now 7 months old) and I haven't had the time to organise another offline. Happy to help make something happen though if you are keen, and the venue from last time (Valdarnos) we quite good if you are looking for somewhere to hold it. I think Mark (Rocky) was also interested and I'm sure we can get enough people together to share a few wines.
How long are you in Perth for?

Congratulations on the baby! Hopefully the offline wasn't a last hurrah?
I am over for a week, however going to MR for 3 days.

Thursday 9 August will likely be the best evening for me. Hoping for something central as I will be staying Northside to be close to the folks, however I'm sure I can make something work.

bdellabosca wrote:Was a good night (seems a lifetime ago now).

PS. Team Perth need to get better at posting notes after these offlines

Fair call re notes, well overdue.

Looking back at my records, the wines tasted that night were:
1999 Campogiovanni (San Felice) Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Vigna del Quercione (Tuscany)
2003 Two Hands Shiraz Deer in the Headlights (Barossa valley)
2003 Howard Park Shiraz Leston
2004 Penfolds Shiraz St. Henri (South Australia)
2004 Tintara Grenache (McLaren Value)
2004 House of Arras Grand Vintage (Tasmania)
2005 Warrenmang Shiraz (Pyrenees)
2006 Taylors Cabernet Sauvignon St Andrews (Claire Valley)
2006 Brokenwood Chardonnay Indigo Vineyard (Beechworth)
2007 House of Arras Grand Vintage (Tasmania)
2008 Happs Fortis (Margaret River)
2009 Clonakilla Shiraz - Viognier (Canberra)
2011 Vasse Felix Chardonnay Heytesbury (Margaret River)
2014 By Farr Pinot Noir Sangreal (Geelong)
2015 Mac Forbes Chardonnay Woori Yallock (Yarra Valley)

The theme was 2000-2009 but obviously a few curve balls thrown in with people's "second" wines where they brought two bottles.
All wines tasted blind in flights, with people asked to guess variety, vintage and region for each wine before revealing / the next flight.
I can't remember in too much detail but a couple of comments:
1. by chance the two Arras GV vintages were tasted side by side which was very interesting and confused the guessing. The 2004 showing much better but had the advantage of having had a few more years to add some complexity.
2. many great wines but WOTN votes winner was the 2005 Warrenmang Shiraz, with honourable mentions for WOTN votes going to the 2014 By Farr Pinot Noir Sangreal and the 1999 Campogiovanni (San Felice) Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Vigna del Quercione. We didn't do WOTN for the whites / sparkling as so few wines.
3. food was great with plenty of share platters, albeit restaurant was relatively noisy (I'm sure we were a big part of that problem) which made it a little difficult for the discussion with so many attendees. We were the first people in the restaurant and stayed to be the last to leave with no pressure by the staff who were great overall.
4. comedic moments include the majority confidently blind guessing that the Clonakilla SV was a pinot due to the sour note (in our defence, we had been drinking) and the sole decanter lost in the making of the wine night hitting the floor and smashing noisily 2 seconds after the request "please go quietly as it's very late".

I can do Thursday 9 August, I am happy to organise it at the Valdarnos restaurant again if you'd like as I know the owners. Do you mind picking the theme and starting a new thread?

No more double blind nights. Enjoyable as it was, I think the second half of the evening was lost on most.
Much prefer to know upfront what I am drinking.

i have often found Southern Highlands and ACT Shiraz is more like a full bodied pinot than Shiraz.
With the SV the Viognier added even more so.
Looks like a great night with a very interesting line up!