In this post on 2010 Magical History Tour Thread, I said

Look for the 2012 Magical History Tours thread coming soon.

This time, I'm going to try to do two Tours - essentially back to back:

Tour 1 - Mostly for those who have not been on Tour before, should be very similar to the 2008 Tour.

Tour 2 - For those who have already enjoyed a Tour (including participants in Tour 1 who are gluttons for 'punishment') - Tour 2 will be much more concentrated on one or two varietals in one area: possibilities include Napa Cabernet; Chardonnay, etc. With appropriate digressions.

OK, Now we can edit this post a bit:

Edit: As noted, we have now determined that the Tours will be the week of July 23-27th. This timing was dictated by the needs of participating wineries. We'll be revising this #1 post further (and updating the lists) as things develop.

The first tour will give priority to New Tourists. Only if it is not full will we add Veterans.

The second Tour will give require a prior tour (including the first Tour if someone is enough of a glutton for punishment and wants to stick around) or consent of the instructor.

Limit will be [strike]24[/strike] 30 on each Tour, with waiting lists.

New Tourists:
1. kkv123
2. CAGirl
3. CAGirl+1
4. sjcwineaux
5. cmaldoon
6. joesisk
7. joesisk+1
8. bsevern
9. ajrod27
10. redwinefan
11. redwinefan+1
12. jmdavidson
13. jmdavidson+1
14. JesseM3
15. JesseM3+1
16. jhkey
17. otolith
18. otolith+1
19. Itwdswafo
22. rjquillen
21. chipgreen
22. chipgreen+1
23. justplainjulie
24. justplainjulie+1
25. michaepf
26. chemvictim
27. chemvictim+1
28.
29.
30.

Waiting List


Regrets (dropouts):

sanity
rlmanzo
rlmanzo+1
rjquillen+1
kittymac+1
dstearl
trifecta
trifecta+1
tiger7610
tiger7610+1
smartheart
smartheart+1
kittymac
jhkey+1

Returning Tourists:

1. HAK
2. HAK+1 (cheron98)
3. deddug
4. bahwm
5.
6. joatmon
7. joatmon+1
8. wkdpanda
9. txmusicman49
10. txmusicman49+1
11. ublink
12. ublink+1
13. cesare
14. kttest
15. MarkDaSpark
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.

Waiting List

Regrets (dropouts):

gregorylane
winetrancer
gregorylane+1
wkdpanda+1
polarbear22
merbill
merbill+1
richardhod
richardhod+1
klezman+1

THE NONREFUNDABLE DEPOSIT IS $250, payable as described to woopdedoo -- pm him for address information and name for check -- NOT LATER THAN MARCH 5th.


1. If you are still interested, you MUST pay the deposit on time if want to hold your spot(s).

2. If you are shown as single, and actually have a +1 for sure (are willing to deposit on the +1), we will give your +1 the same priority as you have.

3. If you're shown with a +1, but it is tentative, and you are not prepared to deposit on the +1, also respond so that others can move up the list.

4. As described, deposits are NONREFUNDABLE. If you deposit, and have to withdraw, the next person on the waiting list, if any, will have the opportunity to take your spot and to reimburse you for your deposit. We will not add a new person unless they confirm to us they will reimburse the person they are replacing, but the actual payment arrangements will need to be made between the Tourist dropping out and his or her replacement Tourist.

Edit: This post will be updated fairly regularly to reflect those who wish to be added or removed.

We are already in "waiting list" territory for the New Tourists and close to "waiting list" territory for the Returning Tourists. It is important not to be put off by being on the waiting list at this stage - in the past, we have been able to accommodate everyone who wanted to come as many people drop out for one reason or another.

Looks great RPM. Can you add rlmanzo +1 to the new tour as well?

Thanks,
Rich

HAK and his +1 are definitely still interested.

I'm a +1 now. I am amused

rpm wrote:

...Exciting News...

1. If you are still interested, you MUST post your interest to this thread within the next ten days if you want to hold your spot(s).

Interest officially posted.

I'm a vet but the +1 is a newbie - would it be better to go for Tour 1 or Tour 2?

I'm interested, I guess I have to contact instructor (not sure what/why, but will pm RPM). I really doubt I can take off a full week from work, so I guess I'm just going to go with the newbie tour.

Still really interested. I may have a +1 depending on scheduling.

My personal preference for dates of the veteran tour would be the Tues-Thurs, rather than the Mon-Wed. There's a couple reasons for this, one of them being that due to work things, I kinda need to work on the Mon 7/23 (but could fly out that night). Also, if we did the one week for both tours I would hope it would be the week of 7/23-7/27. As the prior week I wouldn't be able to do at all.

As for the Tues-Thurs preference, the non-work reason is that it allows for extending for beyond the tour. Friday would be a good day for more winery stuffs, or just touring/relaxing around the area. So that would allow for a Tues-Sat (or Tues-Sun) vacation with a day or two after the tour for doing other things.

To sum up: 7/16-7/20 don't work for me at all. I'd prefer no 7/23. The rest is all good.

kttest and I are interested

Also, it's a lot cheaper to fly on a Monday than it is to fly on a Sunday. So that's another reason for starting the tour on a Tues or Wed.

I'm interested as a new tourist and would probably do the second tour if it's in the same week.

I would like to come to both tours with a +1 if possible.

rpm wrote:In this post on 2010 Magical History Tour Thread, I said



OK, Now we're getting down to crunch time and we're wrestling with logistics of whether we can do two tours in adjacent weeks, or whether we should try to do two tours in one week with one overlapping day, so that there can be one large community gathering of the combined groups for a hello/goodbye dinner.

There are advantages and disadvantages to both approaches. We are pretty much confined to touring during the week, because weekends are full of high season non-rpm tourists who will mob the wineries.

We are focusing on the week of July 16-20th for the New Tourists Magical History Tour.

If we do 2 separate Tours, we'd do Tuesday-Thursday, as we have in the past. This works well with the wineries and avoids crowds (other than us). If we do the second Tour for Veterans would either be Monday - Wednesday (23-25 or Tuesday-Thursday (24-26) of the following week.

If we try to stick to one week, we would have Tour 1 start on Monday, with Wednesday as the overlap day (exactly what that would mean is unclear - I can't imagine a 50 person group at any winery working), and Tour 2 continuing Thursday and Friday.

As we nail this down, we're looking for input.

As mentioned before, the first tour will give priority to New Tourists. Only if it is not full will we add Veterans.

The second Tour will give require a prior tour (including the first Tour if someone is enough of a glutton for punishment and wants to stick around) or consent of the instructor.

I will transfer the indications of interest from the prior thread into two columns: New Tourists and Returning Tourists.

Limit will be 24 on each Tour, with waiting lists.

We'll have nonrefundable deposit information up as soon as we nail down the schedule.


New Tourists:
1. kittymac
2. justinanderson
3. tiger7610 (contact instructor)
4. tiger7610+1
5. jawlz
6. jawlz+1
7. winetrancer
8. winetracer+1
9. rlmanzo
10. sanity
11. sjcwineaux
12. cmaldoon
13. cmaldoon+1
14. dstearl
15. joesisk
16. joesisk+1
17. smartheart
18. smartheart+1
19. bsevern

Returning Tourists:

1. HAK
2. HAK+1 (cheron98)
3. deddug
4. bahwm
5. tiger7610 (contact instructor)
6. klezman
7. richardhod
8. richardhod+1
9. joatmon
10. wkdpanda
11. wkdpanda+1
12. merbill
13. merbill+1
14. polarbear22
15. txmusicman49
16. txmusicman49+1
17. ublink
18. ublink+1
19. cesare
20. kttest

These lists are very preliminary, but are in the order of sign up/indication of serious interest.

1. If you are still interested, you MUST post your interest to this thread within the next ten days if you want to hold your spot(s).

2. If you are shown as single, and actually have a +1 for sure (are willing to deposit on the +1), we will give your +1 the same priority as you have.

3. If you're shown with a +1, but it is tentative, and you are not prepared to deposit on the +1, also respond so that others can move up the list.

Anyone who has not signed up and is seriously interested (and prepared to deposit by mid-February), sign up now!

More information as soon as possible, but dates are not locked yet, so I wouldn't book the flights this week.

rpm,
Winetrancer is my wife! We are to be on the veterans tour I would think! If possible we would like to bring a +2...our Son from Chicago. Sorry for any confusion as I thought you would know who winetrancer was.

Edit: Let this stand as our interest stated...your decision on a +2 will be adhered to...he would be a newbie, but has been studying his wines for several years now, and is quite good.
Edit #2: all of the veterans with newbie +1s...are you going to decide?

mikegberg+1 (both n00bs) in a very tentative, hold my place until I get home and discuss, sorta way.

I assume most people fly into SFO or OAK?

mikegberg wrote:mikegberg+1 (both n00bs) in a very tentative, hold my place until I get home and discuss, sorta way.

I assume most people fly into SFO or OAK?

Or SJC.

Please add me + spouse to the list. Since I did not attend the last time, I guess I am a newbie. However, I don't think of myself as that from a wine standpoint.

RPM,

Shannon and I would *love* to go, but unfortunately I think that will be right in the middle of the RPO summer season. The orchestra hasn't put the detailed schedule out yet, so we don't know what the week will look like.

Thanks for putting this together, though, what a great opportunity for the woot community, both new and veterans!

Wes

I love the idea of having an overlap day so all the wine.wooters can mingle!

I'm not sure if I should be in the newbie tour or the experienced tour (love the idea of focusing on Napa Cab I haven't been on a RPM tour, but grew up around the NorCal wine industry.

RPM I'll leave it to your discretion, either way I'm looking forward to this!

The +1 and I are confirmed interested.

gregorylane wrote:rpm,
Winetrancer is my wife! We are to be on the veterans tour I would think! If possible we would like to bring a +2...our Son from Chicago. Sorry for any confusion as I thought you would know who winetrancer was.

Edit: Let this stand as our interest stated...your decision on a +2 will be adhered to...he would be a newbie, but has been studying his wines for several years now, and is quite good.
Edit #2: all of the veterans with newbie +1s...are you going to decide?

My blushes, I had forgotten. I will fix you in the right order in the Veteran Tour. Gotta think about +2 and see how it's shaking out.

rpm wrote:In this post on 2010 Magical History Tour Thread, I said



OK, Now we're getting down to crunch time (snippety snip)

Thank you rpm! I approve of the deposits, since last time we had to pony up unexpectedly more wonga because of pullouts at the very last minute. However, I'm glad some did because that meant I got to go!

I'm in, and I'll check and get back to you re my +1 (if so, might hope for both tours!).

I think I would also prefer an overlap day, since most of my wine.wooter friends are going to be on the veteran tour it seems.

rpm wrote:My blushes, I had forgotten. I will fix you in the right order in the Veteran Tour. Gotta think about +2 and see how it's shaking out.

it's kind of +1 each :D Greg, why don't you get your pals to sign up and post on here too, f they are a real life couple of humans?!

cheron98 wrote:Or SJC.

or even Sonoma, though that will cost you a bit more

richardhod wrote:it's kind of +1 each :D Greg, why don't you get your pals to sign up and post on here too, f they are a real life couple of humans?!

By +2, I'm almost positive he meant that the "+2" is his son as the addition beyond the "+1" as his wife. So it's 3 total for him.

Thanks for putting this thread together!

Unfortunately, I don't think I or my +1 will be able to make it, as we'll just be getting back from our (month long! hooray!) honeymoon in early July, and taking additional time off work, if even possible, would be difficult. Hopefully this will make space for someone else who is interested in going, and we'll be able to make any (potential) subsequent tours.

HitAnyKey42 wrote:By +2, I'm almost positive he meant that the "+2" is his son as the addition beyond the "+1" as his wife. So it's 3 total for him.

Ah whoops, you're right. I was concentrating to much on buying HiFi on Ebay and misread. Fetched my glasses too, which helped.

I know there was discussion about deposits, (non)refundability, etc.

Can anyone who has gone give an indication of what the actual cost for the tours were in the past and better for an expectation for the neophyte tour? (I have an idea, but still need to budget and a rough estimate would be helpful)

I also understand that the tour costs are not all-inclusive, so aside from travel and hotel costs, what other costs were involved?

Thanks and looking forward to getting more excited...

Myself +1 are definitely interested in the newbie tour.

joelsisk wrote:I know there was discussion about deposits, (non)refundability, etc.

Can anyone who has gone give an indication of what the actual cost for the tours were in the past and better for an expectation for the neophyte tour? (I have an idea, but still need to budget and a rough estimate would be helpful)

I also understand that the tour costs are not all-inclusive, so aside from travel and hotel costs, what other costs were involved?

Thanks and looking forward to getting more excited...

Last year it was slated to be about $600 but I think it ended up around $800 after the last-minute pullouts (there needs to be a cutoff of say a week or two for pullouts having to pay full price).

The price included a great minibus (and brilliant driver, who among other things showed us the ripe figs on the tree at Pine Ridge), tours and tastings, some great lunches. I can't remember if dinners were included, but I think not.

The hotel we were at was about $100/night for a room. I shared with two others making it cheaper for us younger lads.

I am still interested, +1, if the newbie tour is held the following week of the 23rd, M-W or Tue-Th. If the newbie tour is definitely being held the week of the 16th, then please remove me from the list.

I am in agreement with submitting deposits.

richardhod wrote:The hotel we were at was about $100/night for a room. I shared with two others making it cheaper for us younger lads.

You'll need to figure out different roommate arrangements this time, since I'll have someone else to share my room with this time.

HitAnyKey42 wrote:You'll need to figure out different roommate arrangements this time, since I'll have someone else to share my room with this time.

indeed.. I was well aware of this. Depending on the +1 statuses, perhaps Adam and I might still end up sharing!

me and a +1 are definitely in for the newbie tour! We are flexible on dates. Thanks rpm!

HitAnyKey42 wrote:By +2, I'm almost positive he meant that the "+2" is his son as the addition beyond the "+1" as his wife. So it's 3 total for him.

Most intuitive of you HAK...it is indeed my son. And, if he's allowed to attend, at 23 and a computational bio physicist, with a very good palate...he might just fit in!

Edit: If Richard or Klez can't firm up the +1 and our +2 is allowed to attend, I'm sure he will prove a respectable roomie.

Somehow I got dropped off the list!

I have to be in NYC for work the 23-25th, so I'm not sure if it really matters, but if the fogie tour ends up not overlappign too badly I'm in.

I and my +1 are definitely interested.

tiger7610 wrote:I think I would also prefer an overlap day, since most of my wine.wooter friends are going to be on the veteran tour it seems.

Agree with this wholeheartedly.

Speaking of roomates, if I do end up going on this tour, I'm going to need someone to share a room with, and based on my experience of finding a roomate for the clambake its going to be difficult. It seems that single female wooters have disappeared from the forums.

tiger7610 wrote:Speaking of roomates, if I do end up going on this tour, I'm going to need someone to share a room with, and based on my experience of finding a roomate for the clambake its going to be difficult. It seems that single female wooters have disappeared from the forums.

see if Tenuki's bringing any of his single female oenophile friends (or suggesting they come). Just put the word out around the pub etc!

I'm interested +1. Although I'd be new, I do think I'd prefer to be in the veterans group. Or heck, put me on both lists.