Hamilton's sounds great to me. I'm all for it.

Who else is in? 2 hardly makes an offline. Matt, Steve, David?

Looks good... let me just run it by Terra to make sure we don't have anything planned. But, we should be in for 2.

The 18th is no good, so can we do it on the 25th? If so, count us in for 2...

Up to 4 people... dbw where are you? This is close-by for you.

Count me in for 2 on either the 18th or the 25th.

I've put out the feelers to a friend from Staten Island and another NJ friend, who are both major connaisseurs, about this as well. I probably shouldn't though because they always bring better wines then I do and they'll make me look bad.

Who else can we get from here to come?

WHOOPS!!!

I mixed up my dates... the 25th is a "no go" and the 18th is fine for us.

So count us in for 2 on June 18th.

Put me down for two on June 18.

Fewer people is fine for me. I like big pours anyway.

quote:

Originally posted by Daniel Fulton:
I like big pours anyway.

Me too!!!

Again, I'm great with the 18th!

What's that make? Six?

I know there's more people from NJ and Philly around here!

OK, reservation made for 6 at 7:00 p.m. at Hamilton's Grill Room in the "Garden Room." She said it is indoors, but they open it to the outside if it's nice out. If we want to be totally inside (which might be a good idea, it can get muggy in June), we can eat at 6:00 p.m. If we want to increase the number in our party to 8, we need to do it within the next few days as they're already starting to fill up.

What do we want to do about wines? I know me and Matt are deep in Italians, but we did Brunello last time. Any suggestions?

Have a look at the menu here:
http://www.hamiltonsgrillroom.com/menu.html

The food looks very wine friendly so it will probably work well with a number of things, Brunello, Barolo, Barbaresco, Bordeaux, Rhones, etc. It would be nice to have a few serious whites too, maybe some Condrieu or something equally engaging. What do you guys want to bring?

Perhaps we should make the reservations for 10 and then if we need to cut back that's probably not as bad as trying to increase it later. Don't know how that works with them.

Sounds great!

I'll check with the restaurant tomorrow and report back then, but what do you think about wines KB?

I only have 1 "drinkable" Brunello left (my last '95 Fuligni), and I'm saving that until a bunch of us (Dan, PurpleHaze, Hunter, futronic (?)) can get together for another offline. The oldest Barolo I have is a 1997 Mossolino Riserva... so we all know that isn't even close to being ready. I'll look when I get home tonight and see what I have.

Ok, the reservation is increased to 8, but the reservationist said that 8 is the absolute maximum number they can accomodate.

So what are we thinking for wines???

quote:

only have 1 "drinkable" Brunello left (my last '95 Fuligni), and I'm saving that until a bunch of us (Dan, PurpleHaze, Hunter, futronic (?)) can get together for another offline.

Insert salivating graemlin here [ ]

If I weren't going to be out of the country, I'd drive north to drink with you guys again! I'll save a 1995 Costanti to match your Fuligni, mwags....

PH

next time, PH. Where are you off to?

By the way, if we don't like my Italian or Rhones suggestions, maybe a pinot flight?

Cat Island, Bahamas. There's a little place there I took Mrs. PH for our 10th anniversary (14 years ago). We're heading back. My kind of place....seriously casual luxury. No buildings allowed higher than a palm tree. 24/7 honor bar. Now that's civilization!!

PH

What about a "mish-mosh" of wines. Everyone just brings a bottle of something they have that they would like to taste, or see how it is progressing.

I was looking last night, and a few things peaked my interest...

1998 E. Guigal CdP
2001 Gunderloch Nackenheim Rothenburg Riesling Spatlese
2001 Dei Toscana Sancta Catharina (after VM's lackluster review)
1999 Feudi Di San Gregorio Taurasi Montevergine
(but I'm thinking of letting the last two sleep).

I'm also trying to get my hands on a 1988 Gruaud Larose or a 2003 Loring Clos Pepe. Plus, with all the mixed reviews of the 1997 Travaglini Gattinara, I thought I would bring one and we could get a group consensus.

Forget the 1988 Gruaud Larose and save your money. I've never found this wine to be very impressive.

The Taurasi does sound interesting though, and of course the Riesling sounds lovely, but they all sound like good choices. I wish I had more non-Italians. Oh well...

quote:

Originally posted by Daniel Fulton:
Forget the 1988 Gruaud Larose and save your money. I've never found this wine to be very impressive.

You're not alone in this... your comments have been echoed by many on this forum. Thanks, I'll save my $$$.

Okay... I'm back from the long-ish weekend and looking over the menu and choices trying to pick wines that will go with the food.

Has anyone made any decisions about what they are bringing?

Anyone who is reading this: we've got 2 seats open for this event so speak up now!

I'm very flexible with what I can bring. I'll wait to see what you and Matt are bringing, then I'll bring something to complement them.

However, I do have some Ampeau red and white burgs from the 80's and 90's that are ready to go, a few interesting Rhones (1998 mostly), and (as always) plenty of Italians. Anyway, let me know what you're bringing and I'll see what works. If we decide soon, I'll have time to have something sent from my offsite storage.

The good thing about this restaurant is that the food looks very wine friendly, and I think we could find something on the menu to go with just about anything.

OK, I'm looking to bring 3.

I'll bring the 2001 Gunderloch Nackenheim Rothenburg Riesling Spatlese (should go very well w/ the appetizers, but we'll have to do smaller pours if 6 of us want to get some), and the 1997 Travaglini Gattinara (just to see what others think). My final one is still up in the air, but if I can get to the store before our offline (which I should be able to do), I'll bring the 2003 Loring Clos Pepe.

I think 1 more white for the appetizers, 1 dessert and the rest reds should be perfect (unless you guys think otherwise). Although, I don't see "desserts" on their menu. (Maybe I can get an Auslese for dessert, and nix the Clos Pepe... thoughts?).

Figures...I'll be driving back from Pittsburgh to NY in the afternoon on the 25th.

hmmm... are we going to try and do flights or not?

I have a couple of options in the Pinot category I could get my hands on including a rather difficult to find one that I could only find in a Magnum (holding off naming it for effect :- )