Wine Spectator Online Wine Spectator Forums Off-Line Events 4th Annual Italian Offline - Photos Now Up!
Wine Spectator Forums Off-Line Events 4th Annual Italian Offline - Photos Now Up!|
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 I'm not taking the bait on this one!On a more genuine note, this offline truly is one for the books. An absolutely incredible evening of fantastic friends and food, paired with several absolutely incredible wines. As mentioned above, much thanks is to be expressed to Otis, Een and PH for lining this up. Super jobs and support by everyone involved. What could top this one? Only having next year's in Italy. Phenominal evening.  |
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There is definitely an echo in here, but what a great night! The venue was superb and only exceeded by everyone’s generosity. I’m with Longboarder on the quality of the wines. Simply amazing.
Chicago is a great town, and Een & hubby, Grossie, Otis, et. al. made it even more hospitable. You guys sure know how to make someone feel at home. When I return, I hope to see disco-Otis sporting bell-bottoms and polyester…  Thanks everyone! ------------------------------ "Hey Man, I'm drinking wine, eating cheese and catching some rays." Oddball |
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A huge thank you to the PH, grossie, Een, Otis, and wine+art! The evening whizzed by wedding day-style, i.e., so damn fast!
  Myself I knew about half the folks in the room. Cool ratio. I love chatting with peeps I don't know, yet getting surprise bear hugs from those I do. Unlike last year, the wines all rocked! Folks were practically scrambling out of their chairs to share select bottles. The generosity and festiveness made the night! Kudos to Chef Vincent, Thomas, and the entire staff for amazing food (those scallops w/oxtail ragu, c'mon!!!) and flawless service. And, thanks to the Chicago contingent for steering us to other treats over the course of our time there (e.g., delish oysters, also superb salmon with a relatively delicate wasabi sauce on a glorified potato chip). Woof! Thank you everyone!!! |
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I am so jealous
Wish we could have made this years - I am happy that everyone had such a good time |
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I had a decent weekend.
Joe ----- Wine is like potato chips around me...if it's open, it's gone. |
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Me too ------------------------------ "Hey Man, I'm drinking wine, eating cheese and catching some rays." Oddball |
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You and MLV were missed. This was truly one for the ages. I did not taste an off wine the entire night, with some truly spectacular. |
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May I just say that I miss a good many of you already? I rather feel like Dorothy when she had to leave Oz.
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And I feel like the tin man except I found my heart. |
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This weekend is right up there in the top all time offlines. Picking out which outing was the best and which wine was the best would be like picking a favorite child.
Saturday night though was pretty close to perfect. Thanks to everyone that helped put a piece of these offlines together. And thanks to everyone I met and the hospitality, it was a wonderful experience. |
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No friggin kidding!!! It was a great time, and I feel pretty spoiled. My second official WS offline (first was last year's CDP), and the good times kept on going. Thanks to the crew who made it all happen (even helping me round up my "special" menu---delicious!) I loved seeing old friends and making many new ones.
More broken-record time, but the wines, each and every one of them, was stupidly delicious. It's not every offline where a '99 CdNeri TN (one of my vinos) was a "so-so" wine. Also thanks to TLV/Mrs.TLV for giving me a lift back to my out-of-the-way hotel to sleep off my Italian-fueled hangover. Grazie! Ciao, -IB Ban Trolls. |
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Thanks alot, it is a shame Passover prevented us from attending |
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We'll plan better next year, Jc. We missed you two.
PH |
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OK, here we go.
Apologies in advance for not having a final group shot or lineup of the incredible selection of wines. I needed to leave a little early on this evening, and also was given the hairy eyeball by my dinner companion when I started wandering around with the camera early on. It was made clear to me that constant wandering away from the table would be severly punished later on, so I wisely parked the camera early! Here's what I've got. Clicky! Remember, for captions click the i in the center of the first photo in the slideshow. Additional photos welcomed! PH This message has been edited. Last edited by: PurpleHaze, |
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PH,
I have a couple of extra pix. Shoot me an email. A few folks have it, incl. Een, W+A and KSC02. -IB Ban Trolls. |
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Mr. Een has some that I will have him forward to you.
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indybob, incoming!
Een, I'll post them when I get back to the house... Thanks! PH |
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Glad to hear that everyone had a good time and the food and wine hit the mark. Sorry I had to miss this one but you will all be glad to know that Allred and his wife did in fact go through with it and tie the knot on Saturday. They are now off to Napa for their honeymoon.
VM |
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WOW what a nice event. Hopefully, I could attend one of these in the future.
I am keen to hear about what transpired between KSC02 and Steve8. We here have had our own suspicions about these "two" for some time now. I guess their constant critiques about pink champagne and salmon coloured email backgrounds was more about projecting than anything else. *********************** "I have drunk not to the clouding of my reason, but just so much that I can still surely distinguish the syllables with my tongue." Athenaeus |
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Mimik, give this story about 9 months and the whole world will know.  |
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9 months. Hmmm.... *********************** "I have drunk not to the clouding of my reason, but just so much that I can still surely distinguish the syllables with my tongue." Athenaeus |
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Director Ang Lee, a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign grad, had apparently been tipped off about this scintillating romance and is reported headed north with a film crew as we speak. Congrats, steve8 & KSC.
PH |
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Brokeback Winos?
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<groan>.-IB Ban Trolls. |
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