Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

I figure it might be good to put everything together in one thread so that attendees can check in at one location for updates and information.
I'll try to put together a detailed message tomorrow so that we can get ourselves organized on hotels, where to send money, themes, venues, menus, etc., etc.
It's coming up soon, I can't wait!
BD

Here is the updated head count:

Jim How +1.
Jon & Paula
SF Ed +Lisa
Stefan & Lucie
Mr. & Mrs. Vino
Tom & Gail
Marcs
MichaelP & Nalan
Chris & Marjorie
Rob & Sue
Patrick
Omar
MichaelP's friends (2)
Tom's friends Bob & Barb (2)
TOTAL = 25

We are working on Nic and his friend coming down from Quebec, that would give us 25.
Marcs's significant other may come, depending on babysitter availability.
I'd like to see us get to at least 30. MichaelP, am I correct that you posted that two of your friends were attending?

Anyone attending the Friday night dinner should mail a check to Mr. Vino for $155 per person. You can email him personally for his contact information.

I am reposting in this thread the Saturday night dinner information originally posted by David. The dinner will be held at Charlie Palmer restaurant near Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.

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The plan:
6:00 - 7:00 PM: Welcome reception with butlered hors d'oeuvres and Champagne.
7:00 - ???? PM: Seated dinner.

Cost
Will depend on some of the choices below. Champagne? More rental glasses if we do a blind tasting? In 2014 when we did this all-in for the Saturday dinner at Charlie Palmer was $200/person (including tax, tip, corkage, rental glassware).

Champagne for the welcome reception
We've done this as a free-for-all bring 'em if ya got 'em and we've done it with relatively inexpensive (and unexciting but real) Champagne purchased locally with your event dollars. We can mix/match with some good stuff brought in by BWEs and some purchased locally to insure there's enough and it's there and chilled on time. I'm open to suggestions.

Dinner Menu
Appetizer of baby spinach salad with egg, portobello and smoked bacon vinaigrette
Choice of entree. I'm negotiating number of entree choices, 2 vs 3. One will be filet mignon, the second (and third if possible) will be salmon and pasta.
Hazelnut pyramid dessert.

Tasting?
If someone wants to organize a blind or unblind tasting this year, we can do it at 7:00 and delay the dinner service until 7:30. We can arrange for decent stemware rental. The logistics involved:
Choose the wines in collaboration with BWE contributors
Insure there were 2 bottles (for 1.5 oz pours) of each wine, or 3 bottles (for 2 oz pours and/or a backup in case of TCA)
Consider whether you trust the pourers or if you want to use pour restrictors.
Put together voting sheets if you want to vote for best wines and/or best taster/guesser
Get the wines from people ahead of time
Open the bottles and double decant to remove sediment Saturday afternoon
If blind: Mask and mark the bottles. Have someone help you if you want to remain blinded as well.
Deliver the bottles to Charlie Palmer
Direct and assist the staff in pouring the wines during the 6-7 PM welcome hour to insure no mix-ups.
Bring a bunch of pens - no one remembers and distribute them along with the voting sheets.
Someone will need to collate the results if there is voting.

We're adding two more, our friends Barb and Bob who have attended in DC in the past.

I'll have price info early this week.

Ok great, that brings us to 25, with Nic and his friend and the possibility of Marcs's significant other making it a possible 28.

Jim How +1.
Jon & Paula
SF Ed +Lisa
Stefan & Lucie
Mr. & Mrs. Vino
Tom & Gail
Marcs
MichaelP & Nalan
Chris & Marjorie
Rob & Sue
Patrick
Omar
MichaelP's friends (2)
Tom's friends Bob & Barb (2)
TOTAL = 25

Reminder: Tuesday is the day by which we would like to wrap up the hotel situation, so it'll be important to check in on the next couple days.

The Benevolent Dictator Champagne reception will be held in my room on Friday, April 1st, starting at about 4:00 p.m.

Fizzy plonk in YOUR room, Jim? That is a new one.

Or is this an April Fool joke?

We've had the BD Welcome reception for the past few years, it's become one of my favorite parts of the weekend!

Yes, it is always a lot of fun, Jim. But Champagne?!?! Lucie loves Champagne and I like it, but I thought you only drank it to be sociable.

BTW: Our plane arrives DCA at 4, so it will probably be 5:30 before we can get to your room.

Are you coming in on Thursday or Frday Stefan? I've been putting off the Champagne reception til Friday so that more can attend.

Sorry, Jim; I thought it was on Thursday, the day we arrive. On Friday we'll be in your room on time.

I've been drinking Champagne more and more. The 2005 Dom Perignon we had at Rob and Sue's house was a beauty.

We may be lucky- here's cherry blossom forecast

http://cherryblossomwatch.com/peak-bloom-forecast/

JimHow wrote:I've been drinking Champagne more and more. The 2005 Dom Perignon we had at Rob and Sue's house was a beauty.

The famous economist, Maynard Keynes, was asked on his deathbed if he had any regrets? He said he wished he had drunk more champagne. At least, that's the way the story goes!

Some more amusing quotes regarding Champagne at:

http://www.champagnesabering.com/home.php?id=29&aid=102

Chris Bublitz

Official prediction on Cherry Blossoms:

"Even though we saw some cherry blossoms this winter, peak bloom will occur from March 31 through April 3 this year, the National Cherry Blossom Festival announced this morning."

Chris Bublitz

Nice.