Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

Many of you have known and loved Dennis Bates, also known as "Setab" here on Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts.
As you may know, he has written a number of books in recent years.
In the past few days, I have been reading excerpts from his books on Amazon, which I have enjoyed.
In googling his name this evening, I was shocked to come upon his obitiuary.
It appears he passed away this past June 2nd, at the age of 63.
I mentioned him in a thread just a couple of days ago, remembering the afternoon I had my first Branaire Ducru in the lobby of the Marriott Hotel in Napa in 2002 with him and Nicolas.
Dennis was one of the original founders and managers of Bordeaux Wine Enusiasts, and his spirit and friendship will be with us always.
I am very saddened to come upon this link in google this evening, and my thoughts are with his wife Jane and his family.
We have lost a great friend.

Here is the link that I found on-line:


qctimes.com/app/obits/app/modules/print.php?id=150051



Dennis Bates


BLUE GRASS, Iowa — Dennis L. Bates, 63, of Blue Grass, died on Wednesday, June 2, 2010, at University Hospitals in Iowa City.
Dennis was born January 11, 1947, to Leslie and Florence (Norton) Bates in Davenport, Iowa. He married Jane Williams on July 4, 1969, in Goldfield, Iowa.
Dennis graduated from Davenport West High School in 1965. He then graduated from the University of Iowa in 1969 with a degree in Journalism. He then attended the San Francisco Theological Seminary prior to attending and graduating from William Mitchell Law School in St. Paul, Minn.
He practiced law privately with the Norton Law Firm, Lowden, Iowa, for several years and spent the next 27 years working as a civilian attorney for the Army, retiring in 2006.
He was a member of Blue Grass Presbyterian Church, where he sang in the choir for many years. After retiring, he pursued his life-long dream of writing and publishing. Since 2006 he has published three novels.
Services will be held on Monday, June 7, 2010, at 10:30 a.m. at Blue Grass Presbyterian Church. Visitation will be held on Sunday, June 6, from 2 to 5 p.m. at the church. Additional visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the church. Interment will take place in Oakdale Cemetery, Wilton, Iowa.
He is survived and lovingly remembered by his wife, Jane, and their daughters, Emily and her husband George Allen of Charlotte, N.C., and Elizabeth Bates of Davenport; his sister, Carol and her husband Kevin Kelly of Davenport; his brother, Rev. John and his wife Nina Bates of Rudd, Iowa; as well as a host of other relatives and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents.
Memorial donations may be made to Blue Grass Presbyterian Church in his memory. Online remembrances and condolences may be left at http://www.bentleyfuneralhome.com.

That's too bad. I never met him but I do recall his posts from my first years here and his particular Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasm for 1990 Chateau Lagrange, if I'm not mistaken.

That is quite a shock, Jim. I look forward to sharing '90 Lagrange with Dennis in That Great Tasting Room in the Sky.

Terrible news indeed, Stefan, very sad.
I'll source an '89 Lynch and join you guys.
Indeed, Hound, the '90 Lagrange was his '89 Lynch.
I have a lot of images of Dennis this evening:
Sniffing how "stinky" that '89 Beaucastel was at the Chicago '01 blind tasting.
Sipping '96 Branaire in the lobby in Napa.
Greeting him in the Hilton lobby at NYC '03.
He had an amazing life, a real joy of life. Sixty-three is much too young though....
It sounds from some of the guestbook tributes that he died unexpectedly.

Such a nice guy. I have a great memory of sitting between him and stefan at the NYC dinner several years ago. One of the founders of BWE is gone. RIP Dennis.

Sad news indeed.

Alex

Agreed. And 63 is no age these days. I never met Dennis but enjoyed his input, which was more prolific in the early days, articulating his special affection for Ch Lagrange - think more than anyone here he drew our attention to the oustanding qpr at this estate.

I was just really sad last night when I read this. Hadn't heard much from Dennis in recent years, but he was great fun to hang out with and I can't emphasize enough how important he was to the early development and success of BWE. We decided to have our first BWE convention in Chicago in 2001 because we had a critical mass of BWEers out in the midwest, people like Scott, Rick, Jon, Bob/Deb, Ben, others, and Dennis was a very big part of that midwest contingent. I exchanged messages with Bob and Deb, they hadn't heard about Dennis either.

Life is much too short and tenuous!

This is a big shock for me too.

I will always remember Dennis Bates as I told him one day that he was like the uncle ''I never had''.

Many memories for me, with BWE, include Dennis :

When I met him in Chicago 01 at the Zinfandel restaurant. I went to the Chicago aqurium with him and his wife Jane on Saturday early morning after partying with Whuzzup_ in the Windy City Blues bars until 4:00 am the previous night. When his beloved 1990 Lagrange finished up second, a point behind the 1989 Lynch and one point ahead of the 1989 Pichon Baron.
Of course, the 1996 Branaire in the Napa Marriott hotel lobby with Jim. I opened a 1993 Malescot St-Exupéry at that time too.
The picture of the ''Réservoir dogs'', just before entering the restaurant for the 02 BWE convention dinner.
I passed a full weekend with him and other BWEers, tasting wines and attending the Indianapolis Formula 1 Grand Prix, a generous event organized by Whuzzup_.
He shared his hotel room with me at NYC 03, at the Hilton near Central Park, because I was limited on money and his wife could not attend the convention.

I feel sad as I know that this will never stop, and other in the future will just also stand in that grand tasting room in the sky, waiting for us to join them.

There is nothing we can do but give my best sympathy to Jane and the family, and remeber Dennis Bates as a great guy.

RIP Dennis Bates, BWE will miss you.

Nic

Hi everyone. It's been a long time since I visited BWE. (Still drinking wine but not as much Bordeaux these days.) But after Bob and I heard about Dennis this morning (from Jim) I had to stop back in to say hello to all my old friends. Bob and I will pull out a nice bottle of Bordeaux tonight and toast to Dennis and our BWE friends. Life is too short!

Sad news indeed. Dennis was someone who I think was comfortable with who he was, and enjoyed life for what it gave him. He was certainly our "in-house" promoter of the 1990 Lagrange. Ironically, I brought 2 bottles of the 1990 Lagrange to that very first BWE dinner. I also remember having dinner with Dennis, Bob and Deb, and a couple of others in an Iowa City restaurant the following year - really nice evening with quite a collection of wines. He was always a lot of fun to be around. RIP Dennis.

Jon

I only met him once, at the NYC convention, he was sitting next to Jim, I think and they had a half empty bottle of Petrus on the table (there are no half full bottles of Petrus). I vividly remember getting a pour and joining them for a few minutes. Very nice guy. RIP

I enjoyed sharing wines and tales with Dennis at a couple of BWE conventions. Even though he hadn't been around BWE lately, this news produces acute pangs of sorrow. So sorry to hear this.

I've been trying to remember when we last saw him, David, I know he was at NYC '03 and not at Chicago '04, was he at that 2000 vintage tasting in winter 2004?

Geez I remember that moment now, Jacques, I had completely forgotten. That was the point in the evening when I had a '67 Petrus in my left hand and a '97 Petrus in my right hand. the first three times I drank Petrus were with Dennis... the '73 in Chicago, and the '67 and '97 in NY.

Good to hear from you Deb, I hope all is well in Iowa. I'm going to uncork a Lagrange this week myself....

Jim, my memory is not good for dates and places, but I think it was the '00 vintage tasting in NYC in '04. I know it was something after NYC in '03.

RIP. Great life. Great guy

Good to see you here, Wyomissing, you joined BWE within the first 24 hours of its existence.

Jim, I was so taken aback by this news that I couldn't post about Dennis until now. We were both the same age and I said we were Orphans separated at birth years ago on BWE. I first met him at Gios "Grand Slam Twelve Course Meal" at Gios' home the night before the NYC 03 Convention.

As everyone said he was a great fun loving guy. When he heard that I had retired and taken a part time job selling wine he said he wished to do the same once he retired as a Jag Attorney. I sure hope he was able to.

Stefan, let me share that btl of 90 Lagrange with you two in the Great Tasting Room, I'll bring a 71 JJ Prum Auslese for Dessert.

Here's a sort of wild idea. If we can source bottles 90 Lagrange among those attending, we could do a tribute to Dennis at next year's BWE convention. It would only be fitting.

Jon

Wow, that is really sad news. This reminds me of how much BWE feels like a family, as even though I didn't know Dennis very well, it's like someone in the family passed away. RIP.

Never knew him, but he sounds like a great and well respected man, rest in peace.

Yes, that really hurt to find out about Dennis, he really had a joy of life that was an inspiration.

PappaDoc wrote:J

Stefan, let me share that btl of 90 Lagrange with you two in the Great Tasting Room, I'll bring a 71 JJ Prum Auslese for Dessert.

Neither one of you is going anywhere soon. I'm requesting the BD quash all this talk of private tastings I can't attend