The Auswine Forum

It was only a couple of weeks ago that we said goodbye to SOHO, but in the first week of September Gustav and Tove will leave our shores and head back to their native Norway.

As suggested at the last offline, it's fitting that we have another one before the end of the month to send them off in style - the questions are the date, venue, and who's going?

Saturday the 23rd or 30th are looking good to me, and what about going back to one of the usual Chinese haunts around Gouger St - maybe the newly reopened Ky Chow? Any other suggestions, and anyone want to organize this one?

Cheers,
Ian

We will be away on the 23rd but can make the 30th.

Sue and I would love to come along, dates are very flexible, it would be a great pleasure to tribute Gustav.

I suggest a theme of mainly "Great Shiraz" (and useful whites).

John #11 wrote:Sue and I would love to come along, dates are very flexible, it would be a great pleasure to tribute Gustav.

I suggest a theme of mainly "Great Shiraz" (and useful whites).

Great theme. I will miss Gustav and Tove (and offspring). Hope it's a great night.

David wrote:We will be away on the 23rd but can make the 30th.

I forgot you'll be in Sydney for the Wine Expo on the 23rd.

Looks like we're aiming for Saturday the 30th then.

Cheers,
Ian

I'd like to help send Gustav off in style. A shiraz theme on the 30th. sounds appropriate. regards chris

Excellent initiative Ian . 30th is fine with us. I'll surely miss all the "wine friends" I've made here. And the offlines of course. BYO is by law not allowed in Norway , but I'll try to arrange the first "vinforum", our Norwegian wine forum, offline somehow anyway. The theme suits us perfectly. Shiraz is my and Toves favourite variety in Australia (Riesling for white). I think I might bring a 2006 Clarendon Hills Liandra Shiraz. It's one of the best I've had while living here.

cheers,

I am, of course, "in." I need to confirm some travel dates with work, but I expect to be around on the 30th. Chinese... sounds good!

Gustav wrote:BYO is by law not allowed in Norway , but I'll try to arrange the first "vinforum", our Norwegian wine forum, offline somehow anyway. The theme suits us perfectly. Shiraz is my and Toves favourite variety in Australia (Riesling for white). I think I might bring a 2006 Clarendon Hills Liandra Shiraz. It's one of the best I've had while living here.

cheers,

BYO... it can mean bring your own wine, or bring your own chef...! With the right location to have a bunch of wine nerds and a good chef to cook for them, that could be a great plan.

Shiraz and riesling... I can do that

Steve wrote:BYO... it can mean bring your own wine, or bring your own chef...! With the right location to have a bunch of wine nerds and a good chef to cook for them, that could be a great plan.

That's exactly what I have in mind

count me in!

Hope you can make it Adrian! You always bring excellent champers! Chinese sounds very good. I like the cuisine and also the continous flow of food. It suits the high wine tasting/drinking tempo of offlines

I guess I could organise this one although I haven't got any experience organising such an event. Is book a table for X people and haggle the corkage the only things there is too it?

cheers
Gustav

Gustav wrote:Hope you can make it Adrian! You always bring excellent champers! Chinese sounds very good. I like the cuisine and also the continous flow of food. It suits the high wine tasting/drinking tempo of offlines

I guess I could organise this one although I haven't got any experience organising such an event. Is book a table for X people and haggle the corkage the only things there is too it?

cheers
Gustav

I was thinking of one of the usual Chinese haunts around Gouger Street like T-Chow, Cafe Kowloon, Ky Chow, etc. The corkage there is usually so low there's nothing to haggle - it's just a case of finding out how many are likely to go, and book a table for X people from the Auswine forum.

Cheers,
Ian

No luck for us on the 30th; we'll be in sunny Siena working our way through a Chianti or two.
Have a great night all, sounds like a fitting farewell.
Cheers
Nick

Just when the stars aligned for me, I had my finger on the 'aye' button then I realised it was SATURDAY 30th. Friday would have worked (and still would ), but that Saturday is taken (at this stage). ...

So unless something drastic happens, I am a hopeful cert for the next and the offline cherry will be broken.

Wayno wrote:Just when the stars aligned for me, I had my finger on the 'aye' button then I realised it was SATURDAY 30th. Friday would have worked (and still would ), but that Saturday is taken (at this stage). ...

So unless something drastic happens, I am a hopeful cert for the next and the offline cherry will be broken.

Yep, the theme for the next offline will be "virgin sacrifice".

Sounds too enticing.

John #11 wrote:Yep, the theme for the next offline will be "virgin sacrifice".

So, what would it take to get some of Richard Branson's attractive "Trolley Dollys" to an offline? Maybe Jamie HK would have an idea!

What's the thoughts on a venue? It looks like we could get quite a few to this dinner, and I heard the new Ky Chow is a rather narrow place - still give it a try for a change, or stick with Cafe Kowloon or T-Chow who's catered for us before?

At the moment, there's a chance it could be 15 or more going, and that's without hearing anything from Gavin, Mark Wickman, or the other usual suspects:

Gustav & Tove
n4sir +2 (could be more)
David & Pam
John#11 & Sue
Scanlon (+1?)
Steve
ck
crusty2 (maybe)
rooview & Mark (maybe)

Cheers,
Ian

Ps. Have a great time overseas Nick & Cathy - I secretly wish I was over there (with a neighboring visit to Paris, Bordeaux & Burgundy too).

Hi

I'd love to come, if possible??

The new Ky Chow, the 'about town press' has only been so so.

Gavin Trott wrote:Hi

I'd love to come, if possible??

The new Ky Chow, the 'about town press' has only been so so.

You're more than welcome Gavin (and Robyn too, what about Chas?).

I've heard mixed things about Ky Chow as well. Kowloon & T-Chow are sounding like surer bets to me...

Cheers,
Ian

I'am in for the 30th, sounds good. T-Chow is always a winner !

rooview wrote:Unfortunately won't be able to make it. I'll be OS.

Sorry to hear that Adrian.

I've booked two tables at T-Chow for 6pm (Saturday 30th of course) seeing as there's a good chance we could get more than 15 people going to Gustav's farewell - that gives us room for up to about 26 people at most.

At the moment on the forum we have going:

Gustav & Tove
n4sir (+2, could me more)
David & Pam
John#11 & Sue
Scanlon (+1?)
Steve
ck
crusty2 (maybe)
Gavin Trott (& Robyn?)
markg

I'm sending out an email to a few interested parties from AFWAC & others who have met Gustav along the way, so there could be quite a few more from outside the forum for this one. Suggested themes are Shiraz & Riesling, although I'm sure we could come up with a number of styles of Shiraz for a bit of diversity (regions, sparkling, fortified, etc). At the moment I'm thinking of taking a magnum for everyone to try, probably either a 1990 Basedow Shiraz or 1996 Lindemans Limestone Ridge Shiraz Cabernet.

Cheers,
Ian

Unfortunately I don't have any suitable magnums, but I will bring :

1. A nice aged shiraz
2. A nice aged riesling
3. 2003 Cave Historique, Hospices de Strasbourg Alsace Grand Cru Riesling (Wiebelsberg, Eugene KLIPFEL)

4. A nice aged palate cleansing Cabernet!

Looking forward to a special evening.

Cheers all.
John

A quick list update, as a few outside the forum have got back to me:

Gustav & Tove
n4sir +5 or more (Garth, Robert & Janet, Eddie, Craig)
David & Pam
John#11 & Sue
Scanlon (+1?)
Steve
ck
crusty2 (maybe)
Gavin Trott (& Robyn?)
markg

i can confirm my +1

I'm new to the forum, and am unsure how these offlines work, but would be interested in finding out, and maybe even attending with my partner!

Can anyone fill me in?

n4sir wrote:A quick list update, as a few outside the forum have got back to me:

Gustav & Tove
n4sir +5 or more (Garth, Robert & Janet, Eddie, Craig)
David & Pam
John#11 & Sue
Scanlon (+1?)
Steve
ck
crusty2 (maybe)
Gavin Trott (& Robyn?)
markg

Gavin Trott yes, no Robyn unfortunately

PaulG wrote:I'm new to the forum, and am unsure how these offlines work, but would be interested in finding out, and maybe even attending with my partner!

Can anyone fill me in?

Hi Paul, welcome to the forum.

The offlines are just informal gatherings of fellow wine-minded people from the forum to enjoy good food, drinks and company.

They're quite a bit of fun, so come along and bring a good bottle of something to share - it doesn't have to be staggeringly expensive, but it should be interesting. If you want an idea of what sort of things people take, do a search and have a look at the previous offlines the last few years.

Cheers,
Ian

Thanks so much for the information, Ian. Unfortunately I'll have to come to the next one, I just realised I have opera tickets on the 30th, so I can't make this one

A quick update - a couple of people are still to get back to me, so there could be more:

Gustav & Tove
n4sir +5 or more (Garth, Robert & Janet, Eddie, Craig)
David & Pam
John#11 & Sue
Scanlon +1
Steve
ck
Gavin Trott
markg
crusty2 (maybe)


With a week to go it's time we started thinking about what we're taking. A Shiraz theme to fit in with Gutav's quest was mentioned earlier, so the focus will be on different expressions/regions of Shiraz, and preferably styles he hasn't tried yet - I've got a couple of magnums from various places to choose from which I'll decide closer to the day, and a bottle of 1972 Seaview vintage port (Shiraz of course) to finish with.

Cheers,
Ian

I will bring:

2000 Jeanneret Denis Shiraz
2000 Waninga Shiraz (I think their vines were bought out by Skillogalee in about 2001 - this was their last vintage)

And to break up the red
2000 Jansz Late Disgorged Sparkling
2007 Iron Pot Bay Gewurtztraminer