What is this. I'm the last one to leave at 3:30 and the first one to post. What a blast we had. Let me say this. Everyone on this board should make a New Years resolution to meet Otis. You will be hard pressed to meet a more generous, fun loving or likable guy. That is to say nothing of his DJ and dancing abilities.

~Hey Otis, do you mind hosting a party at your home for 60 people? No problem dude.

~Hey Otis, what if we open 75 bottles of your wine? No problem dude.

~Hey Otis, I know there is leftover wine in about 50 bottles; but, I really liked that Gunderloch. Can we open another? No problem dude.

~Hey Otis, you don't mind if we trash your kitchen? No problem dude.

~Hey Otis, does it bother you if we leave empty slider boxes strewn around your house? No problem dude.

~Hey Otis, if a White Castle accidentally gets ground into your basement carpet, will that be alright? No problem dude.

~Hey Otis, is it alright if we move a sofa into your wine cellar again so we have someplace to sit? No problem dude.

~Hey Otis, sorry about the wine stains on your carpet? No problem dude.

~Hey Otis, I know the kids are sleeping; but, is it okay to crank the stereo louder because I really, really like this song? No problem dude.

~Hey Otis, can I start boiling water to sanitize some corks to rebottle the leftover wine? No problem dude.

~Hey Otis, the boiling water made it too hot in here, can we open all of your doors and windows to cool the place off? No problem dude.

~Hey Otis, can you play that funky music white boy? No problem dude.

And his wife is a Saint to put with him. Perhaps "put up with him" is the wrong choice of words. Encourage him is more like it.

I will let Otis disclose the winners of the WOTN voting. However, my favorite wines were:

2001 Henry's Drive Reserve Shiraz
2001 Neal Family Cabernet Sauvignon
1993 Royal Tokaji Wine Co. Nyulaszo Tokaji 6 Put
2002 Gunderlock Riesling Nackenheimer Rothenberg Auslese

Thank you Otis and Mrs. Otis and thanks to everyone for the memories.

VM

Yeh, thanks again to Otis and Allison for hosting ... again. My favorite comment of the night came from Otis's wife upon finding us on the couch in their cellar, "Your skunking the wine!" Everything was A+

My favorites were:
88 Phelps Backus Cab
01 Neal Family Cab
96 Marcel Deiss Pinot Gris Bergheim
90 Sori Paitin Barbaresco
94 Chapellet Cab
01 Testarossa Garys' Vineyard Pinot
99 Antinori Guado Al Tasso

I was wondering if anyone survived.

VM/R2: Thank you very much for your kind comments, but it was a genuine pleasure to share my wines and home with good friends and wine-besotted brothers and sisters. I had a blast!

Here are the results of the balloting for WOTN. Three points for 1st, 2 points for 2nd. 1 point for a 3rd place vote. 1st/2nd/3rd/Toal points are in parantheses). NOTE: the incredible Tokaji 6 putt that Pinto Envy brought was my runaway WOTN, but it came too late to be included in the voting.)

1) 2001 Neal Family Cab Sauv (3-7-2-25)
2) 1988 Phelps Backus Vyd Cab Sauv (7-1-0-22)
3) 1999 Cosentino Hoopes Ranch Cab Sauv (4-0-1-13)
4) 1990 Sori Paitin Barbaresco (2-2-2-12)
5) 1998 Terrabianca Ceppate (2-2-0-10)
6) 1994 Chapellet Cab Sauv (1-1-2-7)
6) 2000 Ridge Late Picked Nervo Zin (2-0-1-7)
6) 1999 Dom Grapillon D'Or Gigondas (0-2-3-7)
6) 2001 Gamba Zin (1-2-0-7)
6) 1999 Siduri Garys' PN (2-0-1-7)
11) 1996 Marcel Deiss Bergheim Pinot Gris (1-1-1-6)
11) 2001 Testarossa Garys' PN (0-2-2-6)
11) 2001 Henry's Drive Reserve Shiraz (2-0-0-6)
14) 1999 Antinori Guado Al Tasso (1-0-2-5)
14) 2002 Gunderloch Nackenheim Rothenberg Auslese (1-0-2-5)
16) 1995 Taylor Fladgate VP Quinta de Vargellas (0-2-0-4)
16) 2001 IO Ryan Rd Syrah (1-0-1-4)
18) 2001 Vino Con Brio Pinot Gris (0-1-1-3)
18) 1998 Yarra Valley Hills Warranwood PN (1-0-0-3)
18) 1995 Fatt. dei Barbi BdM (1-0-0-3)
18) 2001 Veritas Heinrich GSM (1-0-0-3)
22) 2001 Marilyn Merlot (0-1-0-2)
22) 1999 Rainoldi Valtellina Sfursat (0-1-0-2)
24) 2001 Roar Garys' Vyd PN (0-0-1-1)
24) 1997 Guenoc Bellavista Vyd Reserve Cab Sauv (0-0-1-1)
24) 1999 Martinelli RRV Reserve PN (0-0-1-1)
24) 1991 Cosentino Cab Franc (0-0-1-1)
24) 1999 Houghton Gladstones Shiraz (0-0-1-1)

Thanks to everyone who brought appetizers. The spread was 4-star.


And now, the traditional highlights of my neighbor Murph's tasting notes:

2001 SA Prum Spatlese - " sweet, like Dorothy Hamill"

1998 Yarra Valley PN - "very strong abdomens"

1997 Allegrini Palazzo della Torre - "solid, brass-boots"

2001 Mulderbosch SB - "tart, slutty"

2001 VCB Pinot Gris - "nice cup-o-wine"

It was great seeing the tlilys again, and meeting the PE's for the first time. It was a real treat having these Cali-forumite celebrities on hand as guests of honor.

OK, that's it for now. My head is pounding. I need to talk to management, because I believe I was overserved last night. They ought to be more careful.

Cheers,

Otis

Otis and Mrs Otis provided a hell of a good time. They are the most gracious of hosts. Unfortunately noone had a camera to take photos, there were some definite great moments. Among my favorite moments:

Otis's dancing (must be seen)

Vino Me boiling corks

Vino Me serving sliders

R2's teeth (again)

Mrs Vino Me trying to work a tape deck (actual cassette tapes- very ancient, something many of you younger members have probably never seen)

Grossie and Mrs Grossie adjusting the lighting in every room followed by Otis and Mrs Otis wondering who keeps turning down the lights and turning them back up.

Mr Pinot Envy mellowing out in the living room eating an apple. I really admired him at that moment.

Pinot Envy's Tokaji (definitely my WOTN)

Tlily and Mrs Tlily showing up in shorts and Hawaiian shirts.

Murph.



Just a great night. Great seeing everyone again and meeting others for the first time. Otis, have you chosen a date for the third annual?

********
Yes, but I came here for an argument.

Oh! Oh! I'm sorry, this is abuse.

Grossie,

You may not have been around for the Purple Teeth competition; but, for the first time ever, R2-D2 lost. He was beat out by NSexton who was the unanimous choice for purplest teeth. The King is dead, long live the Queen.

VM

Otis and Mrs. Otis,
Thx. again hosting an excellent event. I especially like the fact that I am not associated with any breakage or injuries (this time around). Everything was terrific. My favs included:

1988 Phelps Backus Vyd Cab
1990 Sori Paitin Barbaresco
1999 Dom Grapillon D'Or Gigondas

But when its all said and done, there were a TON of excellent wines. Many I didn't get to (like the Tokaji). Nice to meet the "out of towners," and conversing with friends. Thx. again!

Cheers,
Blue Oval

I've been decrowned I guess that Sonicare system is sorta working.

I also liked the:
95 Taylor Fladgate Port
the one sip of Tokaji I snagged from my wife
1998 Terrabianca Ceppate
2002 Gunderloch Nackenheim Rothenberg Auslese
1999 Dom Grapillon D'Or Gigondas
2001 Henry's Drive Reserve Shiraz

oh hell, it was all good

When is the Grossie B2K Diminishment party?

2040.

********
Yes, but I came here for an argument.

Oh! Oh! I'm sorry, this is abuse.

I'm extremely envious! Sounds like a FANTASTIC time!!

When this event was first announced, I looked into airline shedules right away. My problem was getting back in time for work tomorrow (and being sober enough to actually go to work), but with the possibility of snow-cancelled flights, I couldn't take the chance. Now, I rather wish I had.

BTW, I can do purple teeth like nobody's business! Do I sense a challenge coming up?

-----------------------------

Cheers.

Seaq- 6-9 inches of snow today in Chicago. Pretty good chance of a snow delay.

********
Yes, but I came here for an argument.

Oh! Oh! I'm sorry, this is abuse.

without a doubt otis is the master mafioso when it comes to hosting parties of epic proportion. it was a fantastic party and my thanks go to otis and mrs. otis for once again pulling off the unthinkable, 50 close friends, newcomers, and neighbours in a close setting with no one getting whacked!!

PE and Tlily it was great to meet you. look forward to seeing you at future offlines.

my top three were the 98 ceppate, the 88 phelps backus, and the 94 chappelet.

here's to a wonderful start to 04!

Glad to hear everyone had a good time! I hope I'll be able to make it next year!

This King ain't dead, despite the ill wishes of my favorites on this board. Oh, and sorry we missed it, we thought about you guys when we were at Clancy's last night. Too bad the Rose Bowl- Sugar Bowl double, plus an Arena League game got in the way. Next year maybe. Or this summer. My cousin's getting hitched in Chicago in May or June. We'll talk about that proposition later.
Until then Get Along little doggies

Cheers!
And remember: Life's too short to drink bad wine.

KoH,

You posted that at 6:45pm (EST)? I thought you would have been at the Superdome by then!

sounds like all had a great time!!!
all of you in the chicago area have some great friends in Mr.&Mrs. O. i take my hat off to them. but 3:30
bez

Bez,

Is 3:30 too early or too late to leave? We had plenty of wine and the place was still rockin'.

VM

A couple other notes from the party:

1) Nametags were optional, but it was halfway through the party before I realized that everyone wearing a nametag was named "DebAnne", including the yet-to-be-born Baby rob a!

2) The Iron Tongue award goes to Scott McDonald, who sampled all 70+ wines - and was remarkably coherent after such a formidable feat. One of my more prolific-drinking neighbors latched onto him and spun through the entire lineup, too. We had to walk him home. But he re-appeared 15 minutes later, after realizing he had the wrong coat on ("Hey, I don't have a Palm Pilot... do I?")

3) One of the lines of the night was delivered by Mr. Pinot Envy. He was commenting on the John Hughes-ian feel to my neighborhood: "I keep expecting McCauley Culkin to walk around the corner."

Cheers,

Otis

Futronic,
Believe it or not there are telephone hook-ups at the Superdome.
GEAUX Tigers.

Cheers!
And remember: Life's too short to drink bad wine.

Hmmm ... I didn't know that sort of technology was available!

I just thought you'd have been busy doing other things at that time. Glad to see the Tigers win. What was the party like down there? I'm sure Bourbon St. (among others) were rockin'.

Sounds like a fabulous party!
And where was Suckling?

Anche Dio è di-vino

Otis & Allison,
Thank you very much for the great evening. You know it was a great time when my pregnant wife stayed out to almost 1:30AM.

Also, thanks to everybody who brought food. It was quite a spread.

Rob

vino me
no 3:30 is fine , i must just be getting old!

Thanks to the Otises for hosting a great event. The hospitality, wines, food and guest list were as always exemplary.

J3

*************

I have no idea.