Next Wine Tasting

The next wine tasting is going to be Friday, May 20th at my place.

There's been a few ideas about the wine tasting and I was wonderring how people who are interested in attending the events feel about them.

So here I'm asking for the next tasting. Should I buy all the bottles and divide the cost between those attending or do people what to stick to the everyone bring a bottle in a certain price range plan? The benefits to the former is we won't ahve duplicate bottles and it takes the pressure off people trying to find a bottle to the theme. The benefits to the latter is some people like to go out and select a bottle.

So for those who might attend or have attended in the past, please vote and post your thoughts.

its better if winegirl buys the bottles as the last time there were too many bottle some of which were not the best. after the 7th or 8th bottle i couldnt think of drinking or tasting any more and felt kinda sick with all those mixtures.
Pls do keep us informed about the final cost that we have to split through so that i know i can afford to come.
deb

i haven't attended previously and can't next time, but would love to come if you hold another.

i think you ought to do the shopping because then you could really have a cohesive event. i also think people would appreciate it more if you could perhaps have some sort of theme, or perhaps themes. maybe pick 3 or 4 rhone wines, a few sancerres, barolos, etc., and show them the different nuances. you're the pro, show off a bit!

it really sounds like fun!

Yes we're doing themes. Last time was Syrah/shiraz for red and Pinot Gris/grigio/grauburgunder for whites. The future events will also have themes.

If Winegirl does it then it has the advantage not only of not getting duplicates but also of spreading about the world a bit (which I tried to do last time and succeeded though the wine was too young, which Winegirl would have known)

Plus as Debbie says, if 10 people turn up and everyone brings a bottle then that turns into too much wine

Jeeves... Dude... There is NEVER EVER EVER too much wine...

But I agree that Winegirl should buy the wine...

Sorry Crawlie, of course you're right. I should have said "too many wines"

I voted for Winegirl picking the wines. Definitely a good idea.

As long as it's from somewhere we can get a hold of the wine ourselves, ie, no gastronomy-only wholesalers.

I voted for "I like to pick out a bottle to bring", but I like both possibilities. On the one hand it's nice to be guided by a pro to new flavour experiences, but on the other hand it would also be interesting to have a wine tasting with e.g. "Bring your personal favourite Bordeaux" as theme and then listen to winegirl's scathing criticism

Winegirl, meant to bring the wine list from the Lufthansa first class cabin to Buffy, but I forgot. (I'm all important and stuff and don't have to sit in economy with the rest of the scum. Actually there was an extreme booking error and I got upgraded.) However, I can strongly recommend the 1999 Château Pouget Grand Cru Classé Margaux and also the 2004 Stellensbosch Sauvingon Blanc from South Africa (these and others selected by world champion sommelier Markus Del Monego. How does one become a world champion sommelier? Is it like the WWE with cage matches and lots of snooty trash talk? I'm getting a really pleasant mental picture of two arrogant, suited French guys beating the crap out of each other). Anyway. I think I'll be around for this one and Winegirl should pick the wine.

I also think it's a good idea for winegirl to buy the wine selection.

If anyone want's to buy their own favourite then I guess you could still buy it but just let winegirl know what it is so that she doesn't buy the same one.

I agree that Winegirl should buy the wine. I'm just lazy!

Walking down Lindwurmstrasse yesterday I noticed a decent sized wine shop. Did some searching on the web and their website...Jacques Wein Depot.

http://www.jacques.de/

Not too bad...Has anybody bought wine their before??

Canuck - Jacques' is currently my favourite place for buying wine, they have a pretty good selection of reasonably priced wines.
Most wines are in the price range of 5 to 10 EUR which is the amount I commonly spend for a bottle of wine. I wouldn't recommend all the wines I bought so far, but I was never really disappointed and had a few positive surprises - am just right now drinking a Cab from Chile which definitely tastes much better than what you usually get for the 6.40EUR I paid for it.

Some recommendations:
- Spain/Navarra, 2000, Palacio de la Vega, Crianza, 5,95EUR - excellent wine for this price. If you like Rioja, you will in general most probably like wines from Navarra. It's the direct neighbour to Rioja, less famous and thus usually way cheaper, but with similar style and quality.
- France/Bordeaux, 2002 or 2001, Chateau Bonnet/Chateau Bonnet Reserve, 6,95 or 8,95 EUR - probably the best Bordeaux for less than 10EUR I ever tried.
- Chile/Rengo, 2001 Torreon De Paredes Cabernet Reserva, 6,40EUR - I'm drinking it right now and still can't believe it was only 6,40!