Open BWE NYC Tasting: 12/19 at Allegretti's

Blanquito · Post by **Blanquito** » Fri Nov 13, 2009 1:50 am

Ramon, JimHow-the BD, and I are organizing a BWE tasting in NYC on Saturday 12/19. The tasting will be at Allegretti's, where we held a very nice tasting this past summer. It's a wonderful time to be in NYC.

The theme will be 1995 and 2000 Bordeaux. I would also like to start things off with a Riesling flight as well.

Please post here if you are interested. We have 4 open spots, and we'll operate first-come, first-served. If there's a strong interest, we may be able to add a few more.

I'll be bringing a 2001 Donnhoff spatlese, the 1995 Angelus and a 2000 TBD.

Thanks,
Patrick

Ramon_NYC · Post by **Ramon_NYC** » Sat Nov 14, 2009 1:48 pm

This has the making of an event that can upstage the memorable 2003/1996 Bordeaux tasting we had in July here in NYC.
My wines are all tbd at this point, but I will plan on bringing a 2000, a 1995 and a sticky (I don't know much about Donnhoffs, but I assume that the spatlese you're bringing will be a starter).

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Sat Nov 14, 2009 1:50 pm

I can bring a 1995 Grand Puy Lacoste and a 2000 Leoville Barton or Lynch Bages.

Blanquito · Post by **Blanquito** » Sun Nov 15, 2009 12:37 am

I agree, this is taking shape as a terrific event. Yes, the German wines will work well as starters, even though they're off-dry.

Here's the line-up so far:
JimHow -- 1995 Grand Puy Lacoste, and 2000 Leoville Barton or Lynch Bages
Ramon -- a 1995, 2000 and a sticky, TBD
Patrick -- Dönnhoff Norheimer Dellchen Riesling Spatlese 2001, Angelus 1995, and Pavie-Macquin or Gruaud Larose 2000
Brendan -- Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Auslese 2001, and Lagrange 2000

There's still room for 4 more BWEers, while space lasts.

jal · Post by **jal** » Sun Nov 15, 2009 3:03 am

Unfortunately, Jill and I are out of town that weekend, otherwise we would have loved to join you. Have an awesome time and we'll catch up next time.

Jay Winton · Post by **Jay Winton** » Mon Nov 16, 2009 2:28 pm

We're discussing this so tentative hold for 2 seats please

Ramon_NYC · Post by **Ramon_NYC** » Mon Nov 16, 2009 9:22 pm

Jay: Would love to meet up with you. I hope it works out.

Jacques: Sorry that we'll miss you and Jill this time. Looking forward to getting together sometime soon.

Blanquito · Post by **Blanquito** » Mon Nov 16, 2009 9:55 pm

Yes, what Ramon said.

Jay, you and your wife (?) are on the list. Hopefully, we'll see you in December.

Jacques, thanks for posting, and let's all get together at a future tasting soon.

Best,
Patrick

Ramon_NYC · Post by **Ramon_NYC** » Wed Dec 02, 2009 4:46 pm

Bumping up this thread.

I'll bring the following:
2000 Ch. Gazin, Pomerol
1995 Ch. Pavie-Decesse, Saint-Emilion
+ a sticky to-be-named-later

Jay Winton · Post by **Jay Winton** » Wed Dec 02, 2009 6:19 pm

We need to decide and we will, one possible conflict right now.

Blanquito · Post by **Blanquito** » Wed Dec 02, 2009 10:02 pm

Great stuff, Ramon! This is becoming a very impressive line-up.

Jay, we've got our fingers crossed that you can make it. There are a few other NYCers also on the fence, so hopefully we can get the attendance finalized soon.

Here's the line-up so far from the definitely attendees:
JimHow -- 1995 Grand Puy Lacoste, and 2000 Leoville Barton or Lynch Bages
Ramon -- 1995 Pavie-Decesse, 2000 Gazin and a sticky, TBD
Patrick -- Dönnhoff Norheimer Dellchen Riesling Spatlese 2001, Angelus 1995, and Pavie-Macquin or Gruaud Larose 2000
Brendan -- Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Auslese 2001, and Lagrange 2000

Jim, FWIW, I'd vote for the Lynch Bages over the Barton.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Wed Dec 02, 2009 10:27 pm

I was leaning towards the Lynch myself, Patrick, although Barton produced a great wine that year.

I'll go with the Lynch, what the heck, Lynch Bages with NYC BWE friends, it doesn't get much better than that!

Ramon_NYC · Post by **Ramon_NYC** » Wed Dec 02, 2009 11:11 pm

Wow. 4 attendees, so far, with 9 wines + a sticky. That’s a quite lot of wine already. But, that’s just us 4 getting normally excited about any of our offline in the Big Apple.

Anyway, I just want to get everybody’s OK that anybody who wants to join in, especially from here on, need only bring a bottle from any of the vintage. Of course, they can still bring multiples, if they want to. Sound good?

Allegretti’s had emailed me to talk menu options. I hope to do that next week and I’ll pass them along for your thoughts. I know that we’ve been there before, but, here’s the website anyway:
http://www.allegrettinyc.com/

It looks like we’re in for a great time with the good stuff at a terrific place.

Blanquito · Post by **Blanquito** » Wed Dec 02, 2009 11:20 pm

Awesome, the 2000 Lynch! I've never had it before.

Thanks for handling the restaurant logistics, Ramon. Allegretti's is a class act.

And I totally agree: anyone one else joining in should only bring one bottle of 2000 or 1995 Bordeaux! I may even pull one of the Rieslings, mainly to bring things back to a red wine focus and give our livers a break.

Jay Winton · Post by **Jay Winton** » Thu Dec 03, 2009 4:09 pm

Unfortunately, we just can't swing this. Hope to be in NYC in the spring

stefan · Post by **stefan** » Fri Dec 04, 2009 5:33 am

Gosh, Patrick, I was thinking of coming until I saw that you invited the Square and his cronies.

stefan

Blanquito · Post by **Blanquito** » Fri Dec 04, 2009 6:04 am

Tattletale!

Blanquito · Post by **Blanquito** » Fri Dec 04, 2009 5:00 pm

Wow, that was fast! We now have another 5-6 interested NYC winos who want in on the tasting. I
know a few of these guys pretty well (virtually speaking), so I can vouch for them at least.

How do we want to proceed Jim and Ramon? Should we cap it at 8 or let all come moving the reservation up to 10? This assumes Allegretti's can adjust too.

Let me know and I'll coordinate accordingly with the "others".

Ramon_NYC · Post by **Ramon_NYC** » Fri Dec 04, 2009 8:09 pm

Yep. I saw the overwhelming response. Good job, Blanquito.
I'm up for 8 or 10 and can make a request at Allegretti's if we decide with the latter. However, capping at 8 is my preference, and it may sound a little greedy, but it provides for more pours for everybody. Also, conversations tend to become less unwieldy.

Blanquito · Post by **Blanquito** » Fri Dec 04, 2009 8:42 pm

Thanks, Ramon.

I agree, let's go with 8, which is where we are at anyway, if that gent's lady friend isn't on-board. Given the inevitable potential for last-minute changes, I think capping it 8 is ideal.

We've already got one bottle of Monbousquet 2000 thrown-in (ah, so predictable for the Squires board, eh?!?!?), which I thought was pretty darn excellent (in an exotic yet distinctly-Bordeaux style) at our St. Emilion tasting in 2006.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Fri Dec 04, 2009 8:57 pm

Sounds good, I'm flexible, I'll go with whatever you guys want to do.

Blanquito · Post by **Blanquito** » Fri Dec 04, 2009 9:26 pm

Here's an updated list of attendees and wines:
JimHow -- 1995 Grand Puy Lacoste and 2000 Lynch Bages
Ramon -- 1995 Pavie-Decesse, 2000 Gazin and a sticky, TBD
Patrick -- Angelus 1995 and d'Issan 2000
Brendan -- Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Auslese 2001 and Lagrange 2000
Leo-- TBD
Michael-- 1995 Lynch Bages OR 1995 Pichon Lalande
Eric -- 2000 Monbousquet
Victor-- TBD

13 wines for 8 people, including a starter white and a sticky. I'll bring another 2001 Riesling as a back-up/extra as well.

With your ok, I've modified my 2000 wine to the d'Issan as checked my cellar and I don't have any 2000 Pavie Macquin (turns out it's the 2001) and I think the 2000 Gruaud Larose will be impenetrable right now. BUT, I am happy to bring the Gruaud if you guys were excited to try it.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Fri Dec 04, 2009 11:01 pm

2000 d'Issan was one of my favorites at the 2000 BWE dinner we had about six years ago, I haven't had it since that night, I'm looking forward to it.

Ramon_NYC · Post by **Ramon_NYC** » Sat Dec 05, 2009 12:23 am

I'm good with the d'Issan, and everything is shaping up nicely.

I'd rather ask this question over here as I consider this is as a BWE-planned event, but should you start a wait list to compensate for any last-minute drop-out?

Michael-P · Post by **Michael-P** » Wed Dec 09, 2009 12:43 pm

Will anyone be around in NYC, 26 Dec - 30 Jan?

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Wed Dec 09, 2009 12:54 pm

I'll be around during that time, michael, let's organize a little "MichaelP in NYC Dinner."

Blanquito · Post by **Blanquito** » Wed Dec 09, 2009 9:26 pm

Here's the final list of attendees and wines:
JimHow -- 1995 Grand Puy Lacoste and 2000 Lynch Bages
Ramon -- 1995 Pavie-Decesse, 2000 Gazin and a sticky, TBD
Patrick -- Angelus 1995 and d'Issan 2000
Brendan -- Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Auslese 2001 and Lagrange 2000
Leo -- Pavillon Blanc du Chateau Margaux 2000 and a blind wine.
Michael -- 1995 Lynch Bages OR 1995 Pichon Lalande (*Michael is tentative)
Eric -- 2000 Monbousquet
Victor -- 2000 Bellisle-Mondotte OR 2000 Giscours

DavidG · Post by **DavidG** » Thu Dec 10, 2009 4:08 pm

Wish I could join you. Sounds like a great group of people. And wines...

Ramon_NYC · Post by **Ramon_NYC** » Thu Dec 10, 2009 8:09 pm

Patrick/Jim,
Pm sent.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Wed Dec 16, 2009 7:21 pm

The Beasts of Pauillac-- 2000 Lynch Bages and 1995 Grand Puy Lacoste-- are resting comfortably in the cellar in preparation of the big night....

Ramon_NYC · Post by **Ramon_NYC** » Wed Dec 16, 2009 10:16 pm

JimHow wrote:The Beasts of Pauillac-- 2000 Lynch Bages and 1995 Grand Puy Lacoste-- are resting comfortably in the cellar in preparation of the big night....

Yessss!
Having my bottles pulled and delivered from the offsite storage.

Blanquito · Post by **Blanquito** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 7:16 am

I'm digging mine out tomorrow!

To warm these puppies up, I'm going to double decant my wines Saturday mid-morning and put the cork back in.

Things have changed a bit, and Michael had to bow out. Jay Hack and his wife (whose name I wasn't sent) will be coming in Michael's place, bringing the 2000 Grand Mayne, d'Armailhac and a 3rd wine.

See y'all in a few days!

Ramon_NYC · Post by **Ramon_NYC** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 2:07 pm

Blanquito wrote:To warm these puppies up, I'm going to double decant my wines Saturday mid-morning and put the cork back in.

Good idea. I'll do the same for the reds that I'll be bringing.
Fyi, and if you remember, they provide decanting services at Allegretti's.

Ramon_NYC · Post by **Ramon_NYC** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 7:41 pm

Blanquito/Jim,
PM sent again.

Ramon_NYC · Post by **Ramon_NYC** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 9:58 pm

Hey Blanquito,

Thanks for the response. I've everything set up and we're good to go at Allegretti's on Saturday with 7 pm start. Still 9 persons, right?
Here's how the menu will look like:

Choice of 2 apps (decided on Saturday - we change our prix fixe each day)
**
pasta mid course
**
Choice of Entrees (one being a steak)
**
Cheese plate

See you there.

Oh and BTW, I think Jay Hack's companion might be Rebecca.

Ramon

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Sat Dec 19, 2009 2:07 am

I'm in town. What time are we meeting tomorrow?

Blanquito · Post by **Blanquito** » Sat Dec 19, 2009 4:33 pm

I'm in NYC. Given the weather forecast, I'm going to show up early like 6:30-ish to check in, etc.

The reds are now double-decanted with the cork in and ready to go!

See you guys soon,
Patrick

Comte Flaneur · Post by **Comte Flaneur** » Sun Dec 20, 2009 7:07 pm

Come on then you 'wankahs' how about some tasting notes...and...some stories from the 'apres-ski'..??

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 1:55 am

I'm too tired to write. Great time. '95 Angelus stars as WOTN.

Blanquito · Post by **Blanquito** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 2:54 am

I don't havey notes in front of me, so I'll write those up later, but as Jim said, the Angelus 1995 took WOTN honors with 4 1st place votes while the Lynch Bages 2000 was very close behind with 3 1st place votes. Both wines were either 1st or 2nd on everyone's ballot. 3rd place was a 3 way tie, but the top dogs were clearly at a higher level.

Great night, Allegretti's was terrific again (thanks Ramon) and the blizzard conditions provided a very atmospheric back drop.