BWE DC '20: MARCH 5-8, 2020

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Sun Oct 06, 2019 8:13 pm

As the most kind and benevolent dictator of Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts I am hereby declaring and certifying 2020, our twentieth year, as "The Year of BWE," a year-long celebration of the wines of Bordeaux.

We have had many memories of annual conventions in Washington, D.C., and it would seem to make sense to continue the festivities in the nation's capital. We usually do it around the end of March/first of April, but we are planning on being in France during that week. I'm wondering if the Mid-Atlantic subchapter is interested in a DC event, perhaps a little later in April than normal?

Any thoughts? I'm thinking 1990/2000 themes are coming to mind!

stefan · Post by **stefan** » Mon Oct 07, 2019 1:01 am

How about the first week in March? DC weather is usually reasonable by then, and then we have reasonable separation from BWE-Bdx.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Mon Oct 07, 2019 1:03 am

Not a bad idea Stefan.

DavidG · Post by **DavidG** » Mon Oct 07, 2019 3:33 am

March and April are free on my calendar except April 23-26.
Easter and Passover are the same week and knock out April 9-12.

The only thing about the weather in DC in early March that’s predictable is that it’s unpredictable, but the first week of March works for me.

Jay Winton · Post by **Jay Winton** » Mon Oct 07, 2019 1:51 pm

Happy to help with planning/dinners but early March doesn't work for us due to Peggy's conference and a subsequent trip to Mexico. Late March and early April ok at this point. April 16-19 we plan to be in the Crescent City for the French Quarter Festival.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Mon Oct 07, 2019 2:18 pm

That's too bad, Mr. V, I was looking to collect my whoopie pie from you.
After end of March is going to be tough for me because of my Alaska case.
I say we do

February 27-March 1st
or
March 5-March 8th

If DavidG and Winona Chief are around.
The DC convention is probably not going to be as attended as past conventions, but we were able to round up 18 on a whim earlier this year.

stefan · Post by **stefan** » Mon Oct 07, 2019 2:27 pm

Either of those dates are OK for us, Jim.

DavidG · Post by **DavidG** » Mon Oct 07, 2019 2:39 pm

I have work meetings February 28-29. March 5-8 is fine.

I think you're right about a smaller group Jim, with the Bordeaux trip the same month (wish I were able to make that one). That will make the Alcove Room at Charlie Palmer prohibitively expensive but at the same time will open up other venues with more interesting menus. Bistro Bis where we had our "interim" gathering, and a few other places Marcus has found like Bistro Cacao from an earlier DC convention.

Jay Winton · Post by **Jay Winton** » Mon Oct 07, 2019 2:42 pm

I think the February date would work but prepare for bad weather. Jim, I took the Pats. Skins fired their coach at 5AM this morning. I am trying to locate the maker of the great DE whoopie pies.

DavidG · Post by **DavidG** » Mon Oct 07, 2019 2:53 pm

Hmm, my work meetings Feb 28-29 are in Alexandria. They usually include dinner meetings but those are more social than working.

Alexandria is close enough to DC that I could make it to the BWE dinners. I'd have to bow out of organizing duties if that weekend, but Marcs, Chris, and Mr. Vino are well equipped to handle that.

Jay Winton · Post by **Jay Winton** » Mon Oct 07, 2019 3:04 pm

DavidG wrote:Hmm, my work meetings Feb 28-29 are in Alexandria. They usually include dinner meetings but those are more social than working.

Alexandria is close enough to DC that I could make it to the BWE dinners. I'd have to bow out of organizing duties if that weekend, but Marcs, Chris, and Mr. Vino are well equipped to handle that.

As much planning/organizing as you have done, you deserve a break. I will be happy to plan the Friday dinner as I have done in the past and assist wherever needed; but I think we should return to Bistro Bis for one night as that was a great venue.

JCNorthway · Post by **JCNorthway** » Mon Oct 07, 2019 3:27 pm

The Bordeaux 2020 trip is not in the cards for us because of other travel we've committed to next year. But we might be able to make DC. I will keep up with date discussion to see if it will work for us.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Mon Oct 07, 2019 3:30 pm

I think you're right about a smaller group Jim, with the Bordeaux trip the same month (wish I were able to make that one). That will make the Alcove Room at Charlie Palmer prohibitively expensive but at the same time will open up other venues with more interesting menus. Bistro Bis where we had our "interim" gathering, and a few other places Marcus has found like Bistro Cacao from an earlier DC convention.

As much planning/organizing as you have done, you deserve a break. I will be happy to plan the Friday dinner as I have done in the past and assist wherever needed; but I think we should return to Bistro Bis for one night as that was a great venue.

Agreed. I loved Bistro Bis.
Stefan and Winona, how does March 5-8 look for you guys.
That would be good for me, as I could cram my BWE activities into one month and tell the court clerks in Maine and Alaska that I need to clear out that month of March.

JC and Jay, i order you to attend DC '20.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Mon Oct 07, 2019 3:34 pm

Also, I'm up for a Thursday dinner but if it is a smaller group it's not a necessity, we could just do Friday and Saturday.
We can announce that weekend and then gauge the interest.

marcs · Post by **marcs** » Mon Oct 07, 2019 3:52 pm

Early March is great for me. Happy to help out setting up dinners. I talked to a restaurant about a wine club dinner that is *extremely* good and could give is a private room for up to I think 35 people for $150/person all in

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Mon Oct 07, 2019 4:32 pm

Excellent!

marcs · Post by **marcs** » Mon Oct 07, 2019 4:44 pm

Looking back at my communications with this restaurant (Mirabelle in downtown DC near the White House), they can take a maximum of 30 people in a private room, and the price is $150 per person for a four course menu and corkage *plus* tax and gratuity. The tax and gratuity would bring it in just under $200/person all in. It is a good restaurant, but is that too expensive for people? Please let me know on this thread. I can definitely find cheaper places but they would be a bit of a step down in quality.

Winona Chief · Post by **Winona Chief** » Mon Oct 07, 2019 4:48 pm

Both late February and early March work for me. Other obligations in most of April and early May make those dates a no go for me.

Chris Bublitz

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Mon Oct 07, 2019 4:50 pm

Awesome, Chris!
Ok, unless I hear any objection from Stefan, I think we're gonna go with March 5-8 weekend.
Again, we can plan on a Thursday dinner if interest develops in having one, otherwise let's just plan for Friday and Saturday nights.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Mon Oct 07, 2019 4:52 pm

I'm going to add the dates into the title of this thread.

stefan · Post by **stefan** » Mon Oct 07, 2019 6:15 pm

March 5-8 works for Lucie and me, Jim. I have a lot of traveling to do in the spring, but I have delayed scheduling it until the times of BWE events are confirmed.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Mon Oct 07, 2019 6:17 pm

Awesome!
March 5-8 it is!

marcs · Post by **marcs** » Mon Oct 07, 2019 9:31 pm

Which night do people want me to plan, Friday or Saturday?

Is $200/Per person excessive?

Thanks

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Mon Oct 07, 2019 10:53 pm

Saturday is the main convention dinner, I’m trying to remember, David, did that Bistro Bis have another separate room? $200 is ok with me but I can’t speak for others. As long as they understand we bring a lot of bottles.

DavidG · Post by **DavidG** » Tue Oct 08, 2019 5:34 am

Marcs, $200 is fine. Speaking for myself and noting that we’ve had dinners at Charlie Palmer that cost that much.

Mirabelle sounds good for the main event on Saturday, where a private room and space for all the bottles is welcome.

Should I try for Bistro Bis for Friday? I do think they have a larger private space that would work for Saturday but have to see if there is a higher minimum.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Tue Oct 08, 2019 10:32 am

I leave it to you guys as to which restaurant on which night, thanks for organizing.

Blanquito · Post by **Blanquito** » Tue Oct 08, 2019 4:23 pm

I’m gonna try hard to make this, but it will be a very hard sell at home given my hall pass to attend BWE Bordeaux later that same month.

PS. Just spoke to Kim, and plane tickets are pretty cheap from Denver ($200). So we may try to all come for a family weekend in DC to see the Smithsonian, Air & Space museum, the Mall, etc.! Then I can attend wine festivities solo in the evening.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Tue Oct 08, 2019 4:46 pm

Understood. It'll be a good month of March, between France and DC.

JCNorthway · Post by **JCNorthway** » Tue Oct 08, 2019 6:01 pm

I was looking at fares earlier today from Detroit. Seems like the flights going out of DC on Sunday are quite a bit more than the flights coming in on Thu or Fri. Fares drop a fair amount leaving DC on Monday morning. I wonder if there is something happening in DC that weekend. If so, we may need to start looking at hotel options sooner rather than later.

Any insights from the locals on the ground there?

DavidG · Post by **DavidG** » Wed Oct 09, 2019 12:17 pm

Try Southwest to BWI Jon. I’m seeing nonstops Thursday at $80-104 and nonstop returns Sunday from BWI-DTW at $104-137.

Cab to DC from BWI is probably $80-100, somewhat less for Lyft. Or there’s a free shuttle to the nearby BWI Amtrak/MARC station. MARC Penn Line trains to Union Station in DC are $7 each way. Schedule here:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/mta-website-st ... ington.pdf
It’s a commuter line so no storage for big suitcases but I’ve done it. If you decide to take the MARC train check the schedule a week or two prior. Trains are frequent but the schedule changes every few months.

JCNorthway · Post by **JCNorthway** » Wed Oct 09, 2019 1:25 pm

Thanks for the alternative, David.

Jay Winton · Post by **Jay Winton** » Wed Oct 09, 2019 1:53 pm

DavidG wrote:Try Southwest to BWI Jon. I’m seeing nonstops Thursday at $80-104 and nonstop returns Sunday from BWI-DTW at $104-137.

Cab to DC from BWI is probably $80-100, somewhat less for Lyft. Or there’s a free shuttle to the nearby BWI Amtrak/MARC station. MARC Penn Line trains to Union Station in DC are $7 each way. Schedule here:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/mta-website-st ... ington.pdf
It’s a commuter line so no storage for big suitcases but I’ve done it. If you decide to take the MARC train check the schedule a week or two prior. Trains are frequent but the schedule changes every few months.

There's also a WMATA bus-B30-that connects to the Greenbelt metro (subway) stop. https://www.bwiairport.com/to-from-bwi/ ... nsit/wmata

gene m. · Post by **gene m.** » Wed Oct 09, 2019 3:23 pm

Jim et. al.,
I'd be interested in making the trek after Super Tuesday.
Kind regards - Gene

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Wed Oct 09, 2019 3:29 pm

Hope you can make it Gene!

Tom In DC · Post by **Tom In DC** » Wed Oct 09, 2019 7:18 pm

I like Rome2Rio.com for finding transportation options. Their pricing can be on the low side, but the alternatives are usually good.

For BWI to Union Station in DC: https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Baltimore- ... ion-DC-USA

DavidG · Post by **DavidG** » Sat Oct 12, 2019 12:58 am

JimHow wrote: Any thoughts? I'm thinking 1990/2000 themes are coming to mind!

I have more than a few 2000s.

The 1990s were so delicious that I drank all of mine by 2015. But I've been backfilling a bottle here and there in anticipation of BWE 20 in 2020.

I have an idea for a blind tasting of a 1990/2000/2010. Should be easy (???) to identify the years, but a bit more difficult to figure out what wine it is.

marcs · Post by **marcs** » Wed Oct 16, 2019 6:32 pm

The restaurant I am initially looking at has a private room that can seat a *max* of 36 (it is smaller than Charlie Palmer, but the food is better/excellent) at six six-person tables. How many people do we think we will have for this convention?

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Wed Oct 16, 2019 6:43 pm

I'm guessing 20-25 Marcus, I'm sure it'll be less than 36.

I have an idea for a blind tasting of a 1990/2000/2010. Should be easy (???) to identify the years, but a bit more difficult to figure out what wine it is.

i like it!

marcs · Post by **marcs** » Wed Oct 16, 2019 6:52 pm

We had a lot more than 20-25 at our last DC event, but OK. In that case I will go ahead with this restaurant, although no restaurant will really take concrete reservations for March before the beginning of the year.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Wed Oct 16, 2019 6:54 pm

Yes I agree, I think we had like 40. I'm just guessing there might be some drop off because we are alo doing France, but perhaps I shouldn't make that assumption. You may be right, we might expect to have 30-40.