Time for my yearly thread to thank those forum members who shared bottles with me this year. This is probably my favorite post that I put up every year. It is a time to remember all the great wines and times I had with other forum members. Here are the past winners since I have been keeping stats:

2010- Allred
2009- Allred
2008- Tyee
2007- Blue Oval
2006- Grossie
2005- Pinot Envy
2004- Pinot Envy
2003- Pinot Envy
2002- Dr. T

The top wine for 2011 was opened by Blue Oval who makes his 2nd appearance as #1 on my list. Allred almost made it 3 years in a row but fell just short with the #2 wine last year. With all the wines Otis has opened for me I'm surprised he has never garnered the top spot (he needs to step up his game- although he did have the most wines in the top 10). I think this is the first year that there are no nonCWM board members on the list (probably because I did not travel much last year due to my surgery). Here is my complete top 10 list for 2011:

1. Blue Oval- 2005 Sine Qua Non Grenache Atlantis Fe203~2d Vin de Paille (VM97)
2. Allred- 2001 Sine Qua Non Chardonnay Mr. K The Noble Man (VM96)
3. Otis- 2001 Kathryn Kennedy Cabernet Sauvignon (VM95)
4. Allred- 2001 Alois Kracher Chardonnay TBA #7 Nouvelle Vague (VM94-95)
5. Blue Oval- 2005 Sine Qua Non Roussanne Atlantis Fe2O3~3e (VM94-95)
6. Otis- 1997 Altesino Brunello di Montalcino Montosoli (VM94)
7. LostVerse- 2001 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese (VM94)
8. Grossie- 2005 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese (VM94)
9. Scott McDonald- 1999 Allegrini Amarone della Valpolicella Classico (VM93-94)
10. Otis- 2006 Tardieu-Laurent Hermitage Blanc (VM93-94)

Thanks to everyone who shared bottles with my wife and I in 2011 (whether you made the list or not).

VM

You mean Otis needs to open a Sine Qua Non for you?

I thought he was going to take it this year. His KK held the top spot for most of the year until a late November offline at Blue Oval's house.

VM

Great list, VM, and every one of those listed are well known for their generousity and passion for the grape.

That said, that list also suggests that you need to get outside of Chicago more often.

I recognize quite a few of those and am glad to have made the list. I did not have the Atlantis, so Allred would be at the top of my list as the Mr. K was tops for me this year.

We'll see if we can't step it up this year.

I think you were around when #2,4,5,6,7 and 8 were opened.

VM

quote:

Originally posted by KSC02:
That said, that list also suggests that you need to get outside of Chicago more often.

I'm going to correct that this year.

VM

quote:

Originally posted by Vino Me:

quote:

Originally posted by KSC02:
That said, that list also suggests that you need to get outside of Chicago more often.

I'm going to correct that this year.

VM

I highly recommend south Florida

+1

What about Toronto? We even have a reasonable hockey team this year.

+2 on S FL

I can't say that I've kept a top ten, but many of my favorite bottles in 2011 were tasted owing to the generosity of the fine folks that I've had the pleasure to meet at offlines. Two that stood out were:
2001 Ornellaia - thanks to theweb
2001 Peter Miachel Les Pavots - thanks to VinToronto

quote:

Originally posted by vinojoe:
2001 Peter Miachel Les Pavots

An especially nice vintage of this wine!

I don't write this stuff down anywhere and my memory isn't what it used to be, but for sure

2006 Guigal, Cote Rotie, La Turque (Vinaigre)
1998 Tenuta San Guido, Sassicaia (KSC02)
2006 JL Chave, Hermitage, Blanc (KSC02 or Impulse??)

I know there were many others, but those came to mind very quickly.

quote:

Originally posted by steve8:
2006 JL Chave, Hermitage, Blanc (KSC02 or Impulse??)

I believe that bottle was opened by vinaigre

I guess I should have known that. Who else in our group likes to sacrifice these young big wines?

Any visit to JB's house is virtually guaranteed to include a number on the top 10 list.

quote:

Originally posted by Jcocktosten:
Any visit to JB's house is virtually guaranteed to include a number on the top 10 list.

+1 I think JB stands for Just Bigboys.

The only person that I know that I shared with last years was WIML. It was only one weekend but here are the top 10 we got to try from each other's contribution.

2005 Sine Qua Non Grenache Atlantis Fe2O3~2a, b & c
2001 Harlan Estate The Maiden
1997 Ravenswood Pickberry
2008 Jean-Pierre et Jean-Francois Quenard Vin de Savoie Chignin-Bergeron Vieilles Vignes
2009 Jean-Pierre et Jean-Francois Quenard Vin de Savoie Chignin-Bergeron Vieilles Vignes
1999 Gosset Brut Grand Mellesime
2005 Bouchard Père et Fils Beaune 1er Cru Clos St. Landry
1970 Taylor VP
1927 Domaine Bory Rivesaltes
2004 Damien Laureau Savennières Le Bel Ouvrage

I cannot tell you the specific wines, but I can tell you the most generous forumites from last year (in no particular order): Asterixis, KSCO2,Mimik,wine + art, longboarder, on the wine, darcy kelly, basecadet, tannic bastard, jburman82 et al. I apologize if I've omitted anyone.

The fact that I remember the people and not the specific wines really speaks to what's really important in all of this.

Great posting, Dok.
I wanted to post some of last year's greatest wines shared by fellow forumites. But I had to admit that, for several, I couldn't remember exactly who brought the bottle. When several of the same forumites get together around a table, the conversation is as memorable as the wines, and 'who' brought what is merely a sidebar.

That said, I love the idea of crediting those who brought those wines. The amount of generosity displayed is unmatched.

BTW, DoktaP is tops on that list as well (which is no new news to anyone who has participated in consuming wines with this man).

Thanks to my friend W+A, 1999 Casanova di Neri Cerretalto and 2001 Solaia.

quote:

Originally posted by KSC02:

BTW, DoktaP is tops on that list as well (which is no new news to anyone who has participated in consuming wines with this man).

Big +1 on this. I now have an 89 LLC habit thanks an offline last May with him.

This thread would not be complete without mention of the '82 Petrus shared by Big "Angry Thumbs" Provolone. Thanks!

Tons of great stuff at offlines for sure.

As it would be too lengthy to list everyone and each bottle, I'll just pick the most memorable in my mind, which was theweb bringing a 1982 Mouton Rothschild to my birthday celebrations. Extremely generous.