O-The train from Chicago departs 5:25 PM and arrives Northbrook at 6:02 PM, or they have a 5:15 arrives @ 5:54. I can take either or if it works for someone grabbing me at the station...I can always foot it if not to far. Still haven't decided what to bring yet...

Otis, the R2-D2 posse will be two.

Scubarex:

I am driving with Scott McDonald from downtown, leaving around 6:00pm. You can ride with us if you want. Let me know.

J3

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

Make sure it works.

J3-

Thanks for the offer, a ride would be great (even though i am used to the train, daily commuter). I am in the Loop. I can walk somewhere or I am on Jackson & Franklin. Let me know how you want to arrange it.

Scubarex,

Scott's meeting me at my building at 5:30, and we're walking to my car. I park at the lot on the northeast corner of Washington and Franklin. Why don't you meet us at the northeast corner of Washington and Franklin at a little after 5:30?

J3

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

Make sure it works.

[This message was edited by jcubed on Aug 02, 2004 at 10:36 AM.]

We are ready to roll. The guest list looks like this:

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

Thanks to everyone who volunteered to bring stuff. I think we are all set, unless it rains. It's not a problem to move it inside, but I'll be short about 6 chairs. Does anyone out there have any folding chairs they could bring, if it looks like rain?

Please try to get to my house by 7:00 PM ("doors open" at 6:15 PM), so that we can get all the bottles foiled up an numbered. Again, I'll direct you to a room where you can wrap the bottles and pop the cork when you arrive.

Looks like the menu will be:

A couple Appetizers from Lady VM

Grilled Ribeye Steaks with Montreal Steak Seasoning

Hobo-style Herbed Yukon Gold Potatoes, with Crumbled Andouille Sausage and Sweet Onions

Shi-itake Mushrooms sauteed in Red Wine

Blanched Sugar Snap Peas in Lemon/Mint Ice Water

Farmstand Corn (courtesy of Lady VM)

Basil-Chive Butter for the corn/steaks (I've got way too much basil in the garden)

Barcelona-style Grilled Tomato French Bread

Jcubed's Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

Hmmmm. You may may want to eat a light lunch.

I'll have rating sheets available for note-taking. After sampling each wine, Rank your top three in descending order and hand your ballot to me for eventual tabulation. NOTE: with 16 people, we'll need to be a bit judicious in our pours.

Should be a blast. See y'all tomorrow.

Cheers,

Otis

J3-

I will be there at 5:30, how do I recognize you...

Scubarex,

We met at Mykha's. I'll recognize you. But Scott and I will likely be the guys carrying wine bottles.

Jim

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

Make sure it works.

J3-

Hey-keep those bottles under wraps. I remember real name and/or screen names, but haven't put em both together yet. Thanks

Scott:

Notice the change in time to 5:30 in my lobby. Is that OK with you?

Scubarex:

Cool. See you tomorrow with bottles under wraps.

J3

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

Make sure it works.

Otis,

I can bring 6 folding chairs. If you think we'd need more, I think I can borrow some from neighbors. I also have a card table I could bring if you'd like.

Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow. Hopefully the weather holds out.

VM- I sent you an email about the racks. Let me know.

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

AllRed,

Excellent! Six folding chairs and a card table would cover all contingencies.

Thanks,

Otis

Otis,

My Chicago trip has been caancelled. I have to do a 1.5 day thing with an account in PA, and then something in North Jersey.

I am seriously bummed about missing this event. I will e-mail you my wine choice and see if you would've approved. (It's too late to ship it to you!! )

Thank you for the consideration. We will do it soon.....

DBW

quote:

---

Originally posted by dbw4:
Otis,

My Chicago trip has been caancelled. I have to do a 1.5 day thing with an account in PA, and then something in North Jersey.

I am seriously bummed about missing this event. I will e-mail you my wine choice and see if you would've approved. (It's too late to ship it to you!! )

Thank you for the consideration. We will do it soon.....

DBW

---

Ouch! DBW, you're going to miss a good off-line by the sounds of it. Bummer.

As Oscar Wilde would say, "Work is the curse of the drinking class."

Sorry you can't make it, dbw4. As a fellow frequent business traveler, I understand how these things happen. We'll catch you down the road!

To the Mafia: the show will go on. See you tomorrow.

Cheers,

Otis

Business trip cancelled my ***. I smell fear in the air. I'll bet dbw didn't like the way his croquet game was progressing and was worried about making a poor showing.

VM

Either that, or he was dreading the grief that Vino Me was going to heap upon him about the Phillies recent collapse.

Guys,

You forget, I am a Philadelphian. We have already bailed on the Friggin' Fillies (until they fire Bowa and Kerrigan) and jumped on the EAGLES bandwagon. Did you hear the ankles breaking while we jumped ship on the Phils???

PS - my wine was either a 98 St. Clement Orropas or 96 Simi Reserve Cab. I am into blends with a decent percentage of Merlot with steaks, lately.

Oh Well.

DBW

PS - Croquet is for sissies, unless it's FULL CONTACT.......

Otis,
In addition to the bagged red, I'll be bringing a 02 Francois Pinon Vouvray "Cuvee Tradition" and an 02 De Moor Bourgogne Aligote.

Otis,

Following the Vouvray theme, I am also bringing a 1989 Domaine du Bas Rocher Vouvray. We'll see if it is still holding up.

J3

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

Make sure it works.

Great. With the 2 Vouvray I am bringing that makes 4 and should be enough whites to get us through to the Steak wine competition. I put together a tasting sheet for the Vouvray. We should have a nice sampling of them.

Let the Summer of Vouvray begin.

VM

Nomar Catuli

It is with deep sorrow that i report there was a casualty on the way home last night....

My titanium enforced stemware broke; the bowl seperated from the stem. Needless to say i am in mourning.

Just want to express my thanks again to Otis and his wife (does A***** have a screen name?) for the excellent steak dinner with all the trimmings, and to the other members for the array of wines to sample. Special thanks to Haggis for bringing the Krachers.

and thanks again to J3 for hauliing me there and Mrs VinoMe for cruising me home in the downpour.

[This message was edited by Scubarex on Aug 04, 2004 at 11:32 PM.]

I too wish to thank Otis and Mrs. Otis for their hospitality last night. It was clearly above and beyond. I only wish I would have left prior to witnessing Otis and Vino Me dancing (not together) to "You Sexy Thing".

Also, Haggis, that Kracher#6 was incredible. Thanks for bringing it along.

Hopefully somebody will post some notes on all the great wine we consumed last night.

What a night! Wine, dinner and...dancing!

Thanks so much to Mr. & Mrs. Otis for their hospitality. It was good to see everyone, and meeting Scubarex. Sorry to hear about the stems.