I have a 2-3 day visit for business on 8/2-3-4.

I believe I will be in town on both 8/2 (Mon) and 8/3 (Tues) evenings. The hotel is:

Hyatt Deerfield Illinois, 10 miles north of O'Hare on I-294 North 1750 Lake Cook Road
Deerfield, Illinois

Is there anyone in that area? Can I be priveledged enough to meet any of the gang?



Regards,

DBW

This message has been edited. Last edited by: dbw4,

dbw- I will probably be around then. Deerfield is quite a bit North of the city, but Mondays I work not far from there. I will be getting back from overseas the day before, so I may be too jetlagged to make it work, but we can wait and see.

I think that Hotel is not far from Otis' house, so maybe we can enlist him too. I suspect he's out of town now since I haven't seen him on the boards for a while.

Tues evening would work for me if you wanted to come downtown, but at this point I guess lets see what everyone else has to say.

********
Who loves you, baby?

I'm available on both Monday and Tuesday.

dbw4:

grossie is correct, the Hyatt Deerfield is very close to my house. It would be a genuine pleasure to crack open a few bottles with you.

I think it might be time to hit Costco for some ribeyes and do another Steak-Out blind tasting on my patio.

grossie/Scott: would you guys be willing to come to Northbrook on Tuesday 8/3?

Anyone else, post here if interested. I probably need to keep it under a dozen people to obtain approval from Mrs. O on a work night.

Looking forward to meeting you d-dub!

Cheers,

Otis

Count me in for one maybe , O-man. It will depend on the jetlag, and I won't be able to predict well until the day before, or even the day of. I also have to be up very early the next morning to ply my trade on some poor souls who would want to know that I was sober the night before.

********
Who loves you, baby?

Otis,

I am available on Tuesday 8/3. A steak out with a blind tasting sounds good.

J3

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

Make sure it works.

Otis,

I'd be happy to venture up your way on Tuesday, 8/3. I had a great time at your last Steak-Out.

All right!!!

Should I smuggle a bottle out of the great state of PA for the event? I will look at the link for the last Steak Out to determine if there is a theme.

Otis - send me an e-mail with directions and contact info.

david.weiss@oracle.com


DBW

Duh. I get it now. Steak wine....

Otis,

We could probably head up that way Tuesday. I will confirm and let you know, but for now, tentatively 2.

AllRed

Count me in for 1, possibly 2.

Of course my wife and I will make it. Can't wait to kick some Pennsylvania butt on the croquet course.

VM

I gotta bring some "butt", too? I was only planning on making an ass out of myself!!



DBW

Tuesday would be great!

Looks like we have enough momentum for a Steak-Out.

Participants so far:

dbw4
Scottie Mac
grossie (tentative)
jcubed
R2D2 (1 or 2)
AllRedATT (2)
Vino Me (2)
haggis (1 or 2)

Probably have room for one more, then I'll have to cap it.

d-dub: I'll send you an email shortly with directions.

We'll probably do the same set-up as last year. Bring a bottle of wine that you think goes well with steak. Don't tell anyone what it is. I'll direct you to a room to wrap it in tin foil. Pop the cork. My wife will then number them and we'll serve them blind with a nice thick ribeye and some potatoes and assorted grilled veggies out on the patio. Rank your favorites in descending order and I'll tally up the 2004 Steak-Out champion.

Last year, an Italian Super Tuscan blend of cab sauv and merlot won the title. Can the USA, France, or Australia claim the title this year? Will it be a Bordeaux varietal again, or can some other grape turn the tables? We shall soon find out.

Cheers,

Otis

Oh yeah. Anyone want to do a quick inventory review for trades? If you have a neat mid-priced bottle ($25-50) that would be fun to exchange or teach me about, I would return the favor.

Since it is slightly more illegal to ship wine than commit assault in PA, I need to use these travel opportunities to carry wine home.

Example wines for trade:

1999 Bodega San Pedro de Yacochuya Cafayete
2000 Arrowood Syrah Saralee's Vineyard RRV
1999 St. Clement Cab Sauv Napa


Whatever. I have a list but am just looking for the chance to trade a good bottle for something else good that is hard to find in PA.

DBW

Better yet - any of you Cubs fans want to sell a little Neal Cab? We don't get it in PA and I shared my only bottle with Steve8 and Escape at a Montreal offline.

Thanks,

DBW

DBW,

I'd be interested in trade possiblities. If you'd like to e-mail me with a list of what you'd be willing to trade, I'll send you my list. My e-mail address is:

Mcdonaldscott23@aol.com.

Scott

Sounds like it will be a great time! Unfortunatley it looks like I won't be able to make it, but I want to hear the stories.

Otis, if you still have the room, my wife and I would love to make it on 8/3. It was great to meet you tonight and I would look forward to another gathering.

Anwar: Sorry you can't make it, but I'm sure we'll hook up soon at another event!

TLV: You and you wife are more than welcome to join us. Palatine is not far away!

At this point, I need to close up the list. I'm adding Mr. & Mrs. Scubarex (who expressed tentative interest last night). The lineup looks like this:

dbw4
Scottie Mac
grossie (tentative)
jcubed
R2D2 (1 or 2)
AllRedATT (2)
Vino Me (2)
haggis (2)
TLV (2)
Scubarex

We'll get started at 6:30 PM. You can email me for directions at m.boersma@comcast.net. Bring one bottle of "steak wine" per person. If possible, please bring your own stems to help minimize clean-up time for Mrs. O (dbw4 - I got you covered).

I'll grill up some ribeyes, have potato and veggie sides, and maybe some corn on the cob from the farmer's market. I can supply a selection of starter whites from my cellar. The croquet course will be set up for some wicked wicket action.

More details later...

Cheers,

Otis

[This message was edited by otisabdul on Jul 23, 2004 at 11:15 AM.]

Oits- you can count me in, probably will fly solo, shoot straight there on the Metra after work. All I would need is someone to grab me from the train station and VinoMe to cruise me (at least part way) home. Still a little bleary from last nite.

Gotcha scoob. We'll figure out transportation issues later. The Metra station is only 5 minutes away from my house.

Cheers,

Otis

SR- No problem driving you home.

Otis- If my wife has not already done so, she will be contacting you about bringing a salad, appetizer or dessert to help you out. Also what do you think about kicking off our Summer of Vouvray by opening a few of these whites to start off. I am willing to bring a couple in addition to the 2 steak wines.

VM

Vino Me,

Thanks very much for your kind offer. I'll work the food angle with Lady VM. A little Vouvray kickoff sounds perfect.

Cheers,

Otis