Snow rain snow rain snow
I forgot the construction
Buffalo weather
-- Haiku by Gattman


Date: January 16, 2010 for tasting. Earlier and/or later for the spa.
Place: Lewiston, NY at the Barton Hill Hotel.
Contact: katy@bartonhillhotel.com
Cost: Room and Tasting: $120.00 for one. $140.00 for two.
OR Dinner/Tasting $20 + BYOBottle of wine
Time: 5 pm - Dinner at 7:30 pm
Theme: Cabs and Cab Blends. Or something else.
Host: justinrsanderson


Attending
• justinrsanderson + several soon-to-be w00ters
• bahwm
• ddeuddeg
• Tiger
• cheron98

Tentative
• Astd Hockey Players

Possible Wines
• Woot Cellars Monkey Prize
• Wellington Vineyard Designate Cabernet Trio
• 2002 Burgess Enveiere
• 2002 Forefathers Goldschmidt Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
• 2007 Amavi Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon
• 2005 Cosentino Cabernet Sauvignon
• 2005 Janzen Estate Cloudy's Vineyard
• 2005 Nickel & Nickel Vogt Vineyard Cab
• Madison Cellars Cab


0149

A January event sounds great. I've had a few ideas for a venue if we get a lot of interest.
Barton Hill might be a nice place to hold the event, and allow for easy accommodations for those with long travels. Speaking briefly with them, it seems like $89 per night for a guest-room, and most-likely a complimentary banquet room for the event (assuming there is one available for the date).

justinrsanderson wrote:A January event sounds great. I've had a few ideas for a venue if we get a lot of interest.
Barton Hill might be a nice place to hold the event, and allow for easy accommodations for those with long travels. Speaking briefly with them, it seems like $89 per night for a guest-room, and most-likely a complimentary banquet room for the event (assuming there is one available for the date).

Sounds like a great idea, but it won't work for us if we have it on a Sunday night with school on Monday.

ddeuddeg wrote:Sounds like a great idea, but it won't work for us if we have it on a Sunday night with school on Monday.

Sunday night probably isn't a great idea for many people.

How about January 2, or 9th? Saturday seemed to work well for everyone October 3.

Don't forget that MLK Day is Jan 18th. For all those who get the "lesser Fed holidays" off.

Lighter wrote:A new topic so we can plan.

Twelfth night might be interesting. January 3 - but that seems early. It is a time and day for food and wine.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelfth_Night_%28holiday%29

We (Lighters) are clear for most of the month.

Another thought before this gets rolling too far-- were you thinking about hosting the event at your place?

cjsiege wrote:Don't forget that MLK Day is Jan 18th. For all those who get the "lesser Fed holidays" off.

Thanks for mentioning that. I did think about that. The MLK weekend could make it a little more attractive if anyone was thinking of coming in from out of town.

I prefer MLK event, because Jan 3rd is a bit too early for school to start just yet, thus I probably wont be in town. While UB doesnt get MLK day off, I wouldnt mind doing something that saturday

ddeuddeg wrote:Another thought before this gets rolling too far-- were you thinking about hosting the event at your place?

Not this one. There is a reason Brockport isn't in session until January 26. That two lane country road trip north of the thruway can be like reliving Captain Scott's Expedition.

Or it could be 70 and sunny.

Lighter wrote:Not this one. There is a reason Brockport isn't in session until January 26. That two lane country road trip north of the thruway can be like reliving Captain Scott's Expedition.

Or it could be 70 and sunny.

So it sounds like Saturday January 16th might work for most people. Any other ideas? Thoughts on hosting it in Lewiston at the Barton Hill Hotel?

tiger7610 wrote:I prefer MLK event, because Jan 3rd is a bit too early for school to start just yet, thus I probably wont be in town. While UB doesnt get MLK day off, I wouldnt mind doing something that saturday

tiger, your school starts on Jan. 11th and MLK Day is a holiday--unless your division does its own thing.

justinrsanderson wrote:So it sounds like Saturday January 16th might work for most people. Any other ideas? Thoughts on hosting it in Lewiston at the Barton Hill Hotel?

Would we be able to bring in food? What about heating things?

justinrsanderson wrote:So it sounds like Saturday January 16th might work for most people. Any other ideas? Thoughts on hosting it in Lewiston at the Barton Hill Hotel?

One of the nice things about that venue would be that, although it may not be very well-known outside the area, in Lewiston there tends to be very little of the so-called "elements." It sounds to me like a really nice week-end getaway experience paired with a wine tasting with a bunch of really nice folks. I'm assuming that for any kind of deal, we'd need to have a reasonable number of rooms occupied. If the details of bringing in our own food and wine can be worked out, along with keeping the food warm and/or cold as need be, and others are willing to join in on that basis, you can count on us, probably for 2 nights. Let's shoot for the MLK weekend, tasting on Saturday the 16th. With luck, some more of the WNY people who surfaced last week will be watching.

Ah, spa . . .

16th is good. Barton Hill looks interesting.

Wonder about conflicting with their restaurant and wine bar? Certainly worth pursuing.

For us it is right down Ridge Road which is usually kept clean most of the way to Lewiston. There is that one mile trek north to Ridge Road from Cassa Lighter . . . We would have to return Saturday night because of Sunday day obligations.

Lighter wrote:Wonder about conflicting with their restaurant and wine bar? Certainly worth pursuing.

For us it is right down Ridge Road which is usually kept clean most of the way to Lewiston. There is that one mile trek north to Ridge Road from Cassa Lighter . . . We would have to return Saturday night because of Sunday day obligations.

I wondered the same thing. I suppose it could depend on how busy that weekend is, and how good justin's connection is.
As for the drive, you could have the easier trip. We have about 30 miles of mostly north, which could mean in and out of lake-effect snow half a dozen times. We've done that before. Requires a bit of patience and practice, but not much stops us.

Lighter wrote:16th is good. Barton Hill looks interesting.

Wonder about conflicting with their restaurant and wine bar? Certainly worth pursuing.

Sometimes a chunk of wet limestone is quicker at figuring things out than I. It's not a quint B&B with six rooms! 80 some rooms. Telephones in the bathrooms. Well . . . that's a horse of a different color!

ddeuddeg wrote:I wondered the same thing. I suppose it could depend on how busy that weekend is, and how good justin's connection is.
As for the drive, you could have the easier trip. We have about 30 miles of mostly north, which could mean in and out of lake-effect snow half a dozen times. We've done that before. Requires a bit of patience and practice, but not much stops us.

I am working out the details now. The connection is pretty solid (the other half is a manager there). Even with the holiday, the winter is pretty dead at Barton Hill (especially with 80 rooms). Preliminary thoughts are that we can bring cold/room temp food for sure (cheese plates, bread, salad, etc.) We are working on hot food too. The general manager is very accommodating (and may be a guest at this event himself). So, as long as enough people are fine with the date, I will progress with planning with the Barton Hill for Saturday January 16th.

Any thoughts on a theme?

I know it will be after xmas and new year and even russian old new year, but it still will be the dead of winter, so anything winter/warm related. If we have access to any stoves, maybe try the mulled wine idea again?

justinrsanderson wrote:Even with the holiday, the winter is pretty dead at Barton Hill (especially with 80 rooms). Preliminary thoughts are that we can bring cold/room temp food for sure (cheese plates, bread, salad, etc.) We are working on hot food too. The general manager is very accommodating (and may be a guest at this event himself).

Any thoughts on a theme?

Rooms will be available at a significant discount. Before booking please contact me, the reservations need to be booked through the manager.

There will be a small fee for use of the room, corkage, glasses, etc. Hoping for $5-10, per guest.

Let me know if anyone has any additional thoughts.

How much would rooms go for? Also how many rooms are we thinking of getting?

tiger7610 wrote:How much would rooms go for? Also how many rooms are we thinking of getting?

Read the top of the post from justin.

tiger7610 wrote:How much would rooms go for? Also how many rooms are we thinking of getting?

Price is not concrete yet, so I don't want to speculate more than I already have.

As for # of rooms, I gave a ball-park of 10 for the weekend. (each night counts as 1). The actual event will be in a big room, either the lobby/restaurant, or one of the 3 banquet rooms. I am hoping the second floor banquet room with a view will be unoccupied, but I'll take what we can get for next to nothing ($5-10, per person).

Further details will come, but slowly. The busy season is winding down. Let's keep the conversation flowing though. Also, please tell as many people as you like about it (wine.wooters, or not), I am going to open the event up to the cellartracker forum users too (although I think there are only a few in our area).

Any ideas on the theme?

Specific varietal? Vintage in a specified region? Some combination of both?

I am very inexperienced at this sort of thing, having only participated in 4 or so tastings. They were 1) Region (Napa and Spain, 2) Varietal/Vintage/Region (2007, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Riesling) 3) Varietal (Zinfandel, our last WNY event).

What are your experiences?

justinrsanderson wrote:Price is not concrete yet, so I don't want to speculate more than I already have.

As for # of rooms, I gave a ball-park of 10 for the weekend. (each night counts as 1). The actual event will be in a big room, either the lobby/restaurant, or one of the 3 banquet rooms. I am hoping the second floor banquet room with a view will be unoccupied, but I'll take what we can get for next to nothing ($5-10, per person).

Further details will come, but slowly. The busy season is winding down. Let's keep the conversation flowing though. Also, please tell as many people as you like about it (wine.wooters, or not), I am going to open the event up to the cellartracker forum users too (although I think there are only a few in our area).

Any ideas on the theme?

Specific varietal? Vintage in a specified region? Some combination of both?

I am very inexperienced at this sort of thing, having only participated in 4 or so tastings. They were 1) Region (Napa and Spain, 2) Varietal/Vintage/Region (2007, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Riesling) 3) Varietal (Zinfandel, our last WNY event).

What are your experiences?

ddeuddeg & I have been to a few w.w tastings & events: RPM's Magical History Tour '08; lesser known varietals (to help fill in Century Club gaps) at SoCal #4 (sanity's home); bubbly & sushi in Detroit (cheron's home); old wines in Chicaqo (hosted by tmr); summertime wines at Sip & Sail (krugsters brainchild); clambake in Conn(hosted by mother); "local" WNY/Finger Lakes/Southern Ontario wines at Buffalo/WNY #1 & Bflo/WNY #2 Zinfandels at ddeuddeg & bahwm's house. Of course, there have been other tastings here and there without well-organized themes.

Would we like to continue with the varietal theme and go with the heartier cabernet sauvignon for the winter months?

bahwm wrote:

Would we like to continue with the varietal theme and go with the heartier cabernet sauvignon for the winter months?

Cab sounds great to me (currently my favorite varietal, I'll drink it with anything!) I also have a good amount of them in My Cellar.

It can also open us up to some interesting blends, I just had a Pretty Sally Cab/Shiraz blend that was incredible (and only $13 at WTSO).

I'm up for cabs, do we want to bring something like port for desert?

bahwm wrote:
Would we like to continue with the varietal theme and go with the heartier cabernet sauvignon for the winter months?

Just ruminating. It seemed to me that we had too many bottles at Buf/WNY #2. After a while they really started tasting the same. Nice to go through so many zins, but the ones at the end didn't get a fair shake in my mouth. D??? commented that the bottle per hour ratio was higher than any w00t taste he'd been at.

Wondering if my reaction was to the single varietal getting worn out. Or, just too much wine?

Lighter wrote:Just ruminating. It seemed to me that we had too many bottles at Buf/WNY #2. After a while they really started tasting the same. Nice to go through so many zins, but the ones at the end didn't get a fair shake in my mouth. D??? commented that the bottle per hour ratio was higher than any w00t taste he'd been at.

Wondering if my reaction was to the single varietal getting worn out. Or, just too much wine?

Agreed. My palate was fried towards the end. Many of the wines were also pretty similar, i.e. many 2006 Dry Creek Zins, their subtleties were tough to pick up after so many.

Possible solutions:

1. Less wine (but that's not fun)
2. More time, space out the tasting between palate cleansers and small plates.
3. Multi-varietal - keep with a theme of some sort, such as 2005 Napa?, or wine purchased from woot. Or a QPR battle, everyone bring a wine within a certain (readily available) price range.
4. Aeration or decanting of the wines (knock off the heat from the young "pop-n-pour" reds.

Any other solutions?

Lighter wrote:Just ruminating. It seemed to me that we had too many bottles at Buf/WNY #2. After a while they really started tasting the same. Nice to go through so many zins, but the ones at the end didn't get a fair shake in my mouth. D??? commented that the bottle per hour ratio was higher than any w00t taste he'd been at.

Wondering if my reaction was to the single varietal getting worn out. Or, just too much wine?

Could it be that there were already 11 bottles on the table before any of the guests arrived?

That's another reason for doing true swish and spit . . . you can keep on tasting for a long time without losing your ability to taste.

. . . bump . . .

bahwm wrote:. . . bump . . .

upsy daisy!

bahwm wrote:upsy daisy!

No new info to report on this end, unfortunately. Just to recap looks like $89-99/night for a room, plus $5-15/pp for corkage/food.

Not sure what food would include. I'm hoping to have some sort of main dish provided by the kitchen, and for us to bring cheeses and other cold dishes. I live close enough to bring a hot soup.

Any ideas on what to have the kitchen prepare? My thought is to keep it to an easy, low-cost meal. Maybe brisket, london broil, leg of lamb, prime rib (local farm is only $4/lb). The current chef is young and ambitious. He has total control over what is purchased, and how everything is prepared and presented.

I will meet with management soon, to go over the plans. Would love to get some input on how many people are considering attending the event. There will be 4 or 5 of my family/friends.

I'm interested, but not having a fulltime job really impacts my finances. I would definetely want to split a room with someone if I was going to do it. But i'm interested provided finances work out.

Did someone say "Lake effect?"

Long term weather forecast says that we are heading into an El Niño pattern: warmer than normal temps and less snow. That could be good news!

It's been a week since anyone posted on here, and we'd like to see more Western New Yorkers responding one way or another. By all accounts, we've had a good time at 2 previous events in the WNY area. Let's hear from some more of you. We know you're out there.

Calling all "Western New Yorkers": Can we start having some confirmations on our Jan. 16th tasting? Who's coming? What are you bringing? Everyone is invited! It's a long weekend. Come on out and play!

bahwm wrote:Calling all "Western New Yorkers": Can we start having some confirmations on our Jan. 16th tasting? Who's coming? What are you bringing? Everyone is invited! It's a long weekend. Come on out and play!

We're both in. If we don't have enough people commit (12?) we'll have to select a different venue than the Barton Hill. Any other creative ideas?

Lighter, could you please set up your first post along the format that iByron did for the current NoVa/DC tasting for Black Friday? (Click on reply to iByron's first post and you will be able to copy that info into your first post and make changes). That way you will be able to input info re: attendees, etc. and it makes it easier for everyone to read the info. It's kind of like the unofficial w.w. format. CJ or Sparky do the updates every Sunday, late afternoon/early evening. You're IT for this tasting for keeping on top of our updates! Thanks.

ddeuddeg and I are both in.