2023 BWE LONDON / MARCH 23, 24, 25, 2023

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Wed Dec 14, 2022 10:52 pm

Oui oui!

Blanquito · Post by **Blanquito** » Fri Dec 16, 2022 11:17 pm

My plane tickets are reserved and paid for. I arrive Heathrow in the morning of March 23rd. Who else is confirmed and ticketed so far?

Can’t wait!

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Fri Dec 16, 2022 11:31 pm

Confirmed:

Ian
Jim
Patrick

Michael-P · Post by **Michael-P** » Sun Dec 18, 2022 2:32 am

Bought our ticket for London. Please confirm Nalan and I for at least Thurs and Sat.

We don't want to dampen anyone's misplaced enthusiasm for Burgundy on Fri so maybe instead we'll do something on our own in London Fri. But let me look in the cellar just after Christmas to see if I have any of that silly Pinot juice before excluding us from Fri.

Michael-P

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Sun Dec 18, 2022 2:41 am

Confirmed:

Ian
Jim
Patrick
Michael/Nalan

Blanquito · Post by **Blanquito** » Sun Dec 18, 2022 4:05 am

We could do New World on Friday? Though that doesn’t preclude pinot.

I could bring a mature-ish Ridge Monte Bello and maybe a Heitz Martha’s, or a 70’s Forman-era Sterling cab. There’s lots of excellent New World whites to chose from and I’ve got some killer cali dessert wines too.

tim · Post by **tim** » Sun Dec 18, 2022 4:45 am

I am confirmed, still need to buy my train ticket.

Any thoughts to a hotel? There are a couple of hotels near Ian’s place that are usually good value for London.

Comte Flaneur · Post by **Comte Flaneur** » Sun Dec 18, 2022 12:26 pm

There are two good hotels near me and I live about two miles from the very centre of London. The Friday dinner will be 300 yards from me and the Saturday night dinner about 1.75 miles away in the centre of town, so those are good options.

https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/lonlid ... DI-LONLIDI

https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/lonish ... lsrc=aw.ds

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Sun Dec 18, 2022 12:28 pm

Confirmed:

Ian
Jim
Patrick
Michael/Nalan
Timmy

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Sun Dec 18, 2022 12:29 pm

Hilton is always good for me.

Comte Flaneur · Post by **Comte Flaneur** » Sun Dec 18, 2022 12:33 pm

Regarding Friday one option would be to go to the superb La Trompette but it is a long trek to far out west London - about 45 mins from the centre of town and nearly an hour from my place. So maybe I should find something else more central.

On the theme for Friday, my thought is that we should absolutely accommodate Michael and Nalan’s preference to avoid burgundy because after all they are coming a very long way for this. I like Patrick’s idea of new world. Alternatively we could make it anything but Bordeaux and Italy? Which of course could include one or two burgs but Michael would have plenty of other options.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Sun Dec 18, 2022 12:43 pm

Why limit ourselves to particular vintages or regions?. If it were up to me I would say Bordeaux all three nights… or anything else interesting that people want to bring. New world? I am a Bordeaux Wine Enthusiast. Our typical schedule is:

Thursday: Champagne, Bordeaux, Sauternes
Friday: Anything But Bordeaux
Saturday: Champagne, Bordeaux, Sauternes

Friday night is always the least interesting night for me because we are usually drinking wines from like Italy, Burgundy, California, etc., that rarely bowl me over like Bordeaux does.

But I always go with the flow, BWE is about the people, not the wine. A few of us Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts are going to be visiting Stuart and Kathy in February for a couple nights… We are going to be drinking… Bordeaux. On both nights. We are Bordeaux wine enthusiasts!

It would be a shame to go all the way to England and not maximize the amount of time we get to see MichaelP and Nalan, who we already only see in person once a year at most.

SF Ed · Post by **SF Ed** » Sun Dec 18, 2022 12:53 pm

I am with Jim. Except that Friday is always the least interesting night. Saturday night is always the best night, but I rarely find Bordeaux interesting. Part of its greatness is its consistency and repeatability.

SF Ed

Blanquito · Post by **Blanquito** » Sun Dec 18, 2022 9:34 pm

I am totally down with all Bordeaux, all the time!

That said, I do think part of the reason the Friday nights are the least satisfying/interesting wine-wise is the lack of any structure, beyond having no Bordeaux. Now maybe sticking to Bordeaux each night would provide enough cohesiveness right there (though I really enjoy a theme even for Bordeaux, like specific vintage comparisons and horizontals), but I do think something broadly thematic would improve an Anything-But-Bordeaux event. I threw out New World on the assumption that many of us have a deeper collection of these than Burgundy.

But anything but Bordeaux (and Italian) on Friday keeps it simple, so I am happy with whatever the powers that be decide.

Blanquito · Post by **Blanquito** » Sun Dec 18, 2022 9:42 pm

Reviewing this thread, it looks like we are currently at a max of 12 BWE attendees?
1. Ian (confirmed)
2. Jim (confirmed)
3. Patrick (confirmed)
4&5. MichaelP and Nalan (confirmed)
6&7. Ed and Lisa (confirmed)
8. Tim (confirmed)
9. Alex (confirmed)
10. Joel (probable)
11&12. Stefan and Lucie (hopeful)

Still plenty of time for other BWEers to join in though.

Plane tickets seem quite reasonable to me (eg, a round-trip, non-stop flight from Denver to Heathrow on British Airways cost me $665, which is what is was last year before the post-COVID travel boom drove airfares sky-high), and of course the pound is low.

Michael-P · Post by **Michael-P** » Mon Dec 19, 2022 12:35 am

Looked for and found in the cellar 3 bottles of 59 Burgundy, "Chambertin - Begue", good ullage and color, no labels. If my records are correct I bought 5 at the Bonhams London Sept 2006 sale. I recall some had labels and I think I brought one to a BWE-SF event and SF-Ed said it was a "village" burg, whatever that means. I think they were good back then. Well, as good as Pinot can be, that's to say "drinkable". So we can meet the Burg requirements for Friday night. Now I need to find the Italian juice....

tim · Post by **tim** » Mon Dec 19, 2022 1:04 am

Blanquito wrote: ↑Sun Dec 18, 2022 9:42 pm Reviewing this thread, it looks like we are currently at a max of 12 BWE attendees?
1. Ian (confirmed)
2. Jim (confirmed)
3. Patrick (confirmed)
4&5. MichaelP and Nalan (confirmed)
6&7. Ed and Lisa (confirmed)
8. Tim (confirmed)
9. Alex (confirmed)
10. Joel (probable)
11&12. Stefan and Lucie (hopeful)

Still plenty of time for other BWEers to join in though.

Plane tickets seem quite reasonable to me (eg, a round-trip, non-stop flight from Denver to Heathrow on British Airways cost me $665, which is what is was last year before the post-COVID travel boom drove airfares sky-high), and of course the pound is low.

Do we have a max attendee list? I know a couple people that might want to join.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Mon Dec 19, 2022 2:20 am

Looks like a great crew, can't wait!
Seriously, I'm fine with whatever themes you guys want.

marcs · Post by **marcs** » Mon Dec 19, 2022 2:46 am

I’m going to try to come but can’t confirm yet…

Nicklasss · Post by **Nicklasss** » Mon Dec 19, 2022 4:01 am

Exchanging some text messages with Jim, and E-mails with Ian offline.

Maybe i'll use platform 9 and 3/4 and who knows what will happen...

Comte Flaneur · Post by **Comte Flaneur** » Mon Dec 19, 2022 11:06 am

tim wrote: ↑Mon Dec 19, 2022 1:04 am
Blanquito wrote: ↑Sun Dec 18, 2022 9:42 pm Reviewing this thread, it looks like we are currently at a max of 12 BWE attendees?
1. Ian (confirmed)
2. Jim (confirmed)
3. Patrick (confirmed)
4&5. MichaelP and Nalan (confirmed)
6&7. Ed and Lisa (confirmed)
8. Tim (confirmed)
9. Alex (confirmed)
10. Joel (probable)
11&12. Stefan and Lucie (hopeful)

Still plenty of time for other BWEers to join in though.

Plane tickets seem quite reasonable to me (eg, a round-trip, non-stop flight from Denver to Heathrow on British Airways cost me $665, which is what is was last year before the post-COVID travel boom drove airfares sky-high), and of course the pound is low.
Do we have a max attendee list? I know a couple people that might want to join.

Hi Tim let’s see how many BWErs we get first and give priority to them. Stefan won’t know for a while whether or not he and lucie can join. There are people I know here who would probably like to join too given the opportunity.

Michael-P · Post by **Michael-P** » Mon Dec 19, 2022 6:11 pm

LT sounds yummy but it also sounds a bit far so maybe something more central?

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Mon Dec 26, 2022 5:56 pm

I just got word that certain man from the province of Quebec will be joining us in London....

Joyeaux Noel!!!

Blanquito · Post by **Blanquito** » Mon Dec 26, 2022 7:09 pm

Wunderbar! Now we just need Stefan, Lucie and Marcus to confirm, and it’s fully on!

Comte Flaneur · Post by **Comte Flaneur** » Mon Dec 26, 2022 8:33 pm

I heard a similar rumour on the grapevine ….

Nicklasss · Post by **Nicklasss** » Mon Dec 26, 2022 11:36 pm

Confirmed, it is not a rumor. It was fun with the family to be in London last July. This will be completely different, being in The City with some BWE friends.

Blanquito · Post by **Blanquito** » Mon Dec 26, 2022 11:46 pm

Updated:
1. Ian (confirmed)
2. Jim (confirmed)
3. Patrick (confirmed)
4&5. MichaelP and Nalan (confirmed)
6&7. Ed and Lisa (confirmed)
8. Tim (confirmed)
9. Alex (confirmed)
10. Nic (confirmed)
11. Joel (probable)
12&13. Stefan and Lucie (hopeful)
14. Marcus (hopeful)

This is shaping up nicely!

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Tue Dec 27, 2022 12:00 am

Indeed!

Nicklasss · Post by **Nicklasss** » Tue Dec 27, 2022 1:49 am

It is not the right way to do that, but BWE is a "kinda big family", so I'll swing this enabler to encourage BWEers to attend :

The 2023 London BWE convention will be approximately 2 months before my WEDDING WITH MARIE-CLAUDE! Yes, after more than 27 years with her, i finally made the big demand and she accepted! Our wedding is planned on the May 21st... You all know now, and 2023 will be a very special year, for us, for love, for me.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Tue Dec 27, 2022 2:02 am

Oui oui!

JoelD · Post by **JoelD** » Tue Dec 27, 2022 3:29 am

Congrats, Nic! And very glad you’re going to make it to London! I will start looking for my finest Beaujolais to bring in your honor.

Jay Winton · Post by **Jay Winton** » Tue Dec 27, 2022 3:10 pm

Congrats Nic!

Tom In DC · Post by **Tom In DC** » Tue Dec 27, 2022 4:42 pm

Congrats, Marie-Claude and Nic!

Nicklasss · Post by **Nicklasss** » Tue Dec 27, 2022 5:28 pm

JoelD wrote: ↑Tue Dec 27, 2022 3:29 am Congrats, Nic! And very glad you’re going to make it to London! I will start looking for my finest Beaujolais to bring in your honor.

Bring what you want Joel, but make sure to be there. I don't focus too much on wine at BWE events, i'm just happy to see BWE bodies, the ones i know since 2000, and new.

SF Ed · Post by **SF Ed** » Tue Dec 27, 2022 5:58 pm

Airfare purchased. It is not very expensive to fly SFO-LHR in that time frame - not much more than flying coast to coast in the US.

SF Ed

tim · Post by **tim** » Wed Dec 28, 2022 1:40 am

Congrats Nick! Train tickets purchased, hotel reserved (Doubletree, right near the Hilton). Now need to pick out which wines to bring

tim · Post by **tim** » Wed Dec 28, 2022 1:44 am

Can you put a +1 for me, to be confirmed?

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Wed Dec 28, 2022 1:50 am

I'm sure Mr. Flaneur can work it, Timmy, after all, "more is better" is the mantra of BWE dating back to at least NYC '03.
Now if we can just finesse Stefan/Lucie and Marcus, we should be in for an epic trip to Olde London Towne.
When a man is tired of London, you know, he is tired of life....

Any other BWEers joining us? Last chance! It’s just a skip and a hop across the pond for a quick three night adventure.

JoelD · Post by **JoelD** » Wed Dec 28, 2022 4:53 am

I'll likely need a +1 as well as one of my friends plans to travel with me. Possibility that Jim might want to join as well, will update on that after the new year and when I get my flights sorted as I'm still considering extending the trip elsewhere. But unless something crazy comes up, I'm in.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Wed Dec 28, 2022 9:39 am

Well done Joel. Yes get Jim to go, he’s got the BWE spirit. This is really looking up!