sukeiasa wrote:just checked in at the vegas westin... looking forward to see y'all tomorrow... have with me a bottle of 08 roessler bluejay and a bottle of 08 blackpine....

Well, the theme was Spanish wines .....

but I suppose we'll forgive you this once.

Is everything today going to be a straight run? Basically should we be bringing with us all we would need with no stops back to the hotel? Not sure if the wine for tonight, etc should be carted around all day though.

HitAnyKey42 wrote:Is everything today going to be a straight run? Basically should we be bringing with us all we would need with no stops back to the hotel? Not sure if the wine for tonight, etc should be carted around all day though.

I think dinner at sanity's is about 7, so that should give you time after bowling to head back to the hotel.

My suggestion is I bring back all the wine to my house (before lunch) and you can take it back after the tasting.

bahwm wrote:Ddeuddeg & I each got a $100 compensation voucher from SW for the inconvenience! We are @ the airport & ready for a 10:05 departure!

Update on the treatment from SWA: Free drinks on the plane. Tried to use free drink coupons, and the flight attendant said, "I don't want those." Looks almost impolite in print, but it sounded very gracious when she said it. Anyway, why have one free drink when you can have 2? Result, a nice hour-and-a-half nap.

MarkDaSpark wrote:Well, the theme was Spanish wines .....

but I suppose we'll forgive you this once.

Yeah, these tasting themes take a little getting used to.

initial wine tasting notes:
CyberPub Cellars Pub Blend 2010 is very tasty!

Fruit forward with flavors of sour black cherry, aromas and flavors of tobacco and leather.

sanity wrote:initial wine tasting notes:
CyberPub Cellars Pu Blend 2010 is very tasty!

Fruit forward with flavors of sour black cherry, aromas and flavors of tobacco and leather.

Thank you for hosting tonight!! Lot of fun was had by all. Glad sukiasia could make it.

Will list the wines in order later. Too tired!

MarkDaSpark wrote:Thank you for hosting tonight!! Lot of fun was had by all. Glad sukiasia could make it.

Will list the wines in order later. Too tired!

pictures!

richardhod wrote:pictures!

Laterz!!

Brunch at Hash House A Go-Go at the M Resort. I think we all liked this one best.

Some shopping for shoes by Cheron, HaK, and I at the Outlet Mall. Then R&R by the Trop pools.

Soon, a 4 course wine pairing dinner at the Biscanyne in the Trop with tenuki (and C&H). Then off to the show!!

So laterz dude!

sanity and Mr. sanity: thank you for hosting a wonderful event, as always. ddeuddeg and I had a wonderful time and are home, safe and sound. It was great to be able to get away for a quick weekend get away to be with our extended family.

Just checking on some flight info for August Awards dinner. It looks like we can both use our free awards flights for round trip travel on Southwest and the prices at The Orleans are incredibly low! Of course, it'll be something like 110 degrees in the shade! : )

To bed we go! The alarm will be going off in 4 hours and I feel appropriately tired! I couldn't fall asleep on the plane. Note to self: do not drink Snapple iced tea, followed by Dewars and think you'll be able to sleep! Too many mixed signals! G'night all! Safe travels tomorrow.

bahwm wrote:sanity and Mr. sanity: thank you for hosting a wonderful event, as always. ddeuddeg and I had a wonderful time and are home, safe and sound. It was great to be able to get away for a quick weekend get away to be with our extended family.

Glad you two made it safely home!! Sleep tight!

MarkDaSpark wrote:Glad you two made it safely home!! Sleep tight!

Thanks! Ready for second part of nap now. However, three more classes to go! Then, nap time for a while and off to choir.

It seems to me that we were told last year to store the wine bottles upside down for a week or so after we got them home. Does that sound familiar to anyone?

Thanks sanity and mr. sanity for hosting a wonderful weekend! i had a great time... totally overslept on sunday and woke up at 10am, and then headed to the wrong hash a go go location... we did make it to the m resort at like noon-ish... and it was well worth it... i had the meatloaf hash and it kept me full the whole day!

Thanks to everyone for such a fun weekend! I hope everyone had/has safe travels home. Thank you all, too, for making my friends feel so welcome in the wooters world.

sparky, thanks so much for being our traveling wine accessory shop! It is so nice to have all the gadgets available that make wine tasting easier and enjoyable.

d-dog and bam, so good to see you as always, and never enough time to chat as always; and thanks for sharing the wedding pics!

imagine4vr thanks for Friday dinner and the pies and all the other goodies! And more thanks to you and sparky for the Tablas Creek wine!

Cat, your hard work paid off, you look fabulous!

HAK, congrats on the bowling win and bragging rights!

tenuki, I love my autographed bottle, what a great idea! Everyone should bring a bottle next time and have us all sign it. And the colheita you brought was very enjoyable.

sukeiasa, I'm glad we finally got to meet you and your lovely friends. Make sure you join in a nova-dc gathering!

We all have been throwing around ideas for our next gathering in August for the awards dinner. It will be hot, but 20 minutes from my home is a ski resort, that has great room rates in the summer! Something to think about.....

Also, ideas for the next barrel were a super tuscan, or a bordeaux blend, or......?
I'll be checking with Charlie re his thoughts on the better fruit to which he has access. I know his cab fruit is very good.

Chef Cindy just emailed and said to please say thanks again to the group and she really enjoyed cooking for us, and hopes we have her back again! She also asked if she could join the group!

Can we get some additonal thoughts from the crowd about how our blend is tasting right now? Any thoughts about how long I should let it sleep before pulling it out?

Oh, and I'm ALL OVER a SuperTuscan for the next adventure!

cjsiege wrote:Can we get some additonal thoughts from the crowd about how our blend is tasting right now? Any thoughts about how long I should let it sleep before pulling it out?

Oh, and I'm ALL OVER a SuperTuscan for the next adventure!

speaking of, anyone tried Publend Original Vintage recently? (do we have a CT entry?) My unlabeled bottles keep looking at me in an accusatory fashion every time I enter the wine room! (thanks again CJ!) Also, does anyone know if the Original ever entered any other competitions?

joelsisk wrote:speaking of, anyone tried Publend Original Vintage recently? (do we have a CT entry?) My unlabeled bottles keep looking at me in an accusatory fashion every time I enter the wine room! (thanks again CJ!) Also, does anyone know if the Original ever entered any other competitions?

PB recently tasted and the post is here. I'm sure someone (HAK?) made a CT entry, as he did for this year's wine, too.

Additional notes for 2011 wine; several people mentioned they liked this wine better than last year's, but for various reasons.My initial thought was it's better, because it tasted more integrated from the start. Last year, at first, the wine, to me, had a very pleasant leather, tobacco, earthy thing going on. This 2011 wine had that as a secondary feature, and some nice fruit taste up front.

btw, the Colheita that tenuki brought was/is so interesting. I'm sipping some now, and still the aroma is quite arresting. I could enjoy this aroma all day long. Brown sugar, taffy, maple syrup, many burnt sugar flavors but soft, not harsh.

joelsisk wrote:speaking of, anyone tried Publend Original Vintage recently? (do we have a CT entry?) My unlabeled bottles keep looking at me in an accusatory fashion every time I enter the wine room! (thanks again CJ!) Also, does anyone know if the Original ever entered any other competitions?

We just drank a bottle last week. It seemed almost sweet, it's still so full of fruit. Ripe plums, almost raisin-like, but not objectionably so. Of course, I'm one of those who likes aged zinfandel. Surprisingly, with all that ripe fruit-forwardness, it really paired well with dinner. If only I could remember what that was. Tough day today, suffering from jet lag and general fatigue, stepping on a rusty nail at our Habitat for Humanity house and having to go to the doctor for a tetanus shot. It may come back to me.

A big thank you to sanity for organizing our second wine making adventure and for hostessing another fabulous weekend. I feel like we're pros at bottling, we were in and out within an hour, bottling 20 cases of wine! And like sanity mentioned, I think it turned out much better right out of the barrel than last years blend.

Lots of food, wine and excellent company. I had a great time and can't wait to do it again

ddeuddeg wrote:It seems to me that we were told last year to store the wine bottles upside down for a week or so after we got them home. Does that sound familiar to anyone?

Don't remember, but if I can't store bottles on their side, they go upside down so the cork doesn't dry out.

Well, except for sparkling and ports/madeiras.

Bottles upside down sounds familiar.

Echoing the sentiments of others, sanity, thanks for hosting a fabulous evening! Sorry time caught me and I passed out... but I did try everything!

Thanks everyone for the compliments -Sparky, I'll get my bowling groove back soon

Won $100 at blackjack back home in the cold again

Looking forward to the next round!

Was a really fun weekend, thanks again for hosting sanity! I'll bring back your tupperware when I go up next. That really was a delicious pie imagine brought, especially when you're up late and hungry I'll probably need to pick up another colheita to try, it really was interesting, and you get to see how it changes after it's been open.

I don't know if I can do August, we'll see. I already go up to Vegas too often to just add another trip without cutting one somewhere.

Great seeing everyone again!

tenuki wrote:Was a really fun weekend, thanks again for hosting sanity! I'll bring back your tupperware when I go up next. That really was a delicious pie imagine brought, especially when you're up late and hungry I'll probably need to pick up another colheita to try, it really was interesting, and you get to see how it changes after it's been open.

I don't know if I can do August, we'll see. I already go up to Vegas too often to just add another trip without cutting one somewhere.

Great seeing everyone again!

There's plenty colheita left for you to taste in 2 weeks! Keep the plastic, I have enough.
...and cut a wine.woot trip, are you insane?! ;)

So I FINALLY have a moment to sit at my computer at home to say a big THANK YOU to sanity, and everyone else who added to a wonderful weekend in Vegas!
It really was a great time, as expected. The fun-packed Saturday bottling/lunch/bowling/tapas/drinking.....yeah, all that stuff.
After brunch on Sunday we (Sparky, Cat, & I) went off to the outlets because Sparky needed new shoes and because we were there we stopped by the Rockport store and I finally bought myself a new pair of shoes. Been in need of one of those for a couple years now. Yes, I'm a guy. Including these I've bought only 3 pairs of shoes (all Rockports) in maybe almost 10 years.
Then that night at the comedy show, I got to be part of the main act up on stage. LOADS of fun! I so wish one of us actually had a camera. Oh well, spend a weekend in Vegas and have barely any good photos of me. Oops. Guess that meant I was having too good a time.
Oh and I came home $15 ahead in gambling fun.

HitAnyKey42 wrote:So I FINALLY have a moment to sit at my computer at home to say a big THANK YOU to sanity, and everyone else who added to a wonderful weekend in Vegas!
It really was a great time, as expected. The fun-packed Saturday bottling/lunch/bowling/tapas/drinking.....yeah, all that stuff.
After brunch on Sunday we (Sparky, Cat, & I) went off to the outlets because Sparky needed new shoes and because we were there we stopped by the Rockport store and I finally bought myself a new pair of shoes. Been in need of one of those for a couple years now. Yes, I'm a guy. Including these I've bought only 3 pairs of shoes (all Rockports) in maybe almost 10 years.
Then that night at the comedy show, I got to be part of the main act up on stage. LOADS of fun! I so wish one of us actually had a camera. Oh well, spend a weekend in Vegas and have barely any good photos of me. Oops. Guess that meant I was having too good a time.
Oh and I came home $15 ahead in gambling fun.

Cheron still beat you, she apparently won 100

tiger7610 wrote:Cheron still beat you, she apparently won 100

While they were all shopping after breakfast Sunday I won $500 at the M Resort

tiger7610 wrote:Cheron still beat you, she apparently won 100

I had him sitting next to me to coach me through the hands

Imagine4vr wrote:While they were all shopping after breakfast Sunday I won $500 at the M Resort

Nice!! Congrats!

Imagine4vr wrote:While they were all shopping after breakfast Sunday I won $500 at the M Resort

Sweet!

HitAnyKey42 wrote:So I FINALLY have a moment to sit at my computer at home to say a big THANK YOU to sanity, and everyone else who added to a wonderful weekend in Vegas!
It really was a great time, as expected. The fun-packed Saturday bottling/lunch/bowling/tapas/drinking.....yeah, all that stuff.
After brunch on Sunday we (Sparky, Cat, & I) went off to the outlets because Sparky needed new shoes and because we were there we stopped by the Rockport store and I finally bought myself a new pair of shoes. Been in need of one of those for a couple years now. Yes, I'm a guy. Including these I've bought only 3 pairs of shoes (all Rockports) in maybe almost 10 years.
Then that night at the comedy show, I got to be part of the main act up on stage. LOADS of fun! I so wish one of us actually had a camera. Oh well, spend a weekend in Vegas and have barely any good photos of me. Oops. Guess that meant I was having too good a time.
Oh and I came home $15 ahead in gambling fun.

I tried, but the flash wanted to go, so I covered it up. Figured they wouldn't like it, since they didn't want any video taping either.

However, O Demon Eyes (no, not red eye) ... shall I post thine picture with the Wizard from afterwards?

MarkDaSpark wrote:I tried, but the flash wanted to go, so I covered it up. Figured they wouldn't like it, since they didn't want any video taping either.

However, O Demon Eyes (no, not red eye) ... shall I post thine picture with the Wizard from afterwards?

Sure.

Echoing cj, does anyone else have comments re the taste of the new wine? I know a couple of you preferred it over last year's wine.

Proof of HaK's demon side (or is he a Terminator?). After the show on Sunday with the main comedian (who was really funny).

Placeholder for link to 2011 Bottling album.

sanity wrote:.....

Also, ideas for the next barrel were a super tuscan, or a bordeaux blend, or......?
I'll be checking with Charlie re his thoughts on the better fruit to which he has access. I know his cab fruit is very good.

What about a blend of (31%) Cabernet Sauvignon, (30%) Syrah, (18%) Petite Sirah, (12%) Merlot and (9%) Malbec