ThePortForum.com

How about a sticky at the top of the offline forum with a Q&A since we'll be getting some new folks around here (hopefully) focused on offlines...
I am using my own Q's to jdaw1 as a starting point -- he shared answers in a private email and my apologies for making them public (i tweaked anything priv) -- but they were good answers.

Q: What are tastings like? How are they organized?
jdaw1: We are very friendly and informal.
my add: Theme, date and location are worked out here in the forum as the event planning unfolds.

Q: Where are they hosted?
jdaw1: We have had these hosted in peoples homes. We've done these in restaurants, sometimes with corkage being paid. We are open to suggestions.

Q: Who comes to the tastings?
my add: Whoever wants to, but space may be limited by port quantities. Simply reply to a thread that you are interested, and indicate if you will be bringing guests.

Q: Who organizes the tastings?
my add: We all do, but generally one enthusiastic person proposes it and takes the lead. We do this for the love of the red stuff, organizers don't get paid.

Q: Port can be expensive, how are bottle costs handled?
jdaw1: We have done everyone-brings-a-bottle tastings. We have done one-person-brings-all, the cost being shared. We have also done an adopt-a-bottle program, that is, everyone is deemed to bring a bottle, but that might happen because you ‘adopt’ someone else's port with private settlement between the two of you. Something fair will happen.

Q: Are other wines served at a Port offline?
jdaw1: So far they have been purely port. Hard to taste claret side-by-side with port.
my add: Other offlines (for wines, beers, etc) are also organized in the offline forum, but are clearly identified as being "not-port."

Q: Given that decanting hours in advance is recommended for most VPs, how is that handled?
jdaw1: Decanting in advance is indeed important, and would be discussed a little ahead of the event. Usual practice is to double-decant (that it, decant into a clean something, rinse original bottle thoroughly with water, rinse it once more with a small splash of the port, pour port back into original bottle). Usual time for decanting can be the morning of the event.
my add: It can depend on the type and age of the port, so it is usually worked out as part of the offline planning.

Nice idea. Does everybody else think this should be done?

Yes. Very good. It sort of summarises what we have come to know as our Off-Lines.

Seems good to me. Would agree that this should be a Sticky in the Organising Off-lines area but perhaps should also have a link posted in the Information About Port Sticky at the head of the main Forum?

Derek

I think that this would be a great idea to have as a sticky.

Rather than to see yet another sticky appear - could this be inserted at the top of the "TPF 2008 Offline Summary"

I would happily change the name of the thread to just read "TPF Offline Summary"

Alex

A fine idea!

SushiNorth sent me a PM a couple of days ago asking if I would post the Sticky Q&As once some others had had the chance to reply. Well, now that someone else has replied I think it can be posted

AHB: Could you please insert the words into your thread? You might want to revise some of the text so that it looks a bit more formal?

Derek

I think that this would be better appearing as a post in the thread prior to the existing first post (ie. prior to mine). I can't do this - all I can do is to insert a block of text by cutting and pasting.

I assume that an admin can insert a post into a thread order...

AHB wrote:I think that this would be better appearing as a post in the thread prior to the existing first post (ie. prior to mine). I can't do this - all I can do is to insert a block of text by cutting and pasting.

I assume that an admin can insert a post into a thread order...

Unfortunately not. It isn't possible to insert posts anywhere except at the bottom of a thread.

What you could do is add a second post that is identical to the existing post by using the quote function and then editting out the quote markers and then replace the text in the top post with the Q&As.

Derek

Fine idea all round.

De-attribute the words though (i.e., remove the jdaw1 bit), and merge the additions into a coherent whole.

OK, i'm back. Rather than make this a component of the 2008 guide (and thus in need of frequent repostings), I'll post it as a fresh item and will add a Q:
What events have you had so far? What's coming up?
Our 2008 upcoming and recent offlines
Our 2007 offlines (do we have such a thing?)

I'll volunteer to update the top item of the post as we develop new questions and need to update the offlines list.

For now, i'm going to do one more draft of this, here, and then will post it up.

Offlines are events we organise to meet up and drink Port (or sometimes a lesser beverage). You may, of course, forego the drinking and just meet, but we’re sure that drinking would be more fun. Provided for your amusement are some answers to common questions about these events:

Q: What are tastings like? How are they organized?
We are very friendly and informal — good drink and good food in good company. Theme, date and location are worked out here in the forum as the event planning unfolds.

Q: Where are they hosted?
We have had these hosted in peoples homes. We’ve done these in restaurants, sometimes with corkage being paid. We are open to suggestions.

Q: Who comes to the tastings?
Whoever wants to, but space may be limited by port quantities. Simply reply to a thread that you are interested, and indicate if you will be bringing guests.

Q: Who organizes the tastings?
We all do, but generally one enthusiastic person proposes it and takes the lead. We do this for the love of the red stuff, organizers don’t get paid.

Q: Port can be expensive: how are bottle costs handled?
We have done everyone-brings-a-bottle tastings. We have done one-person-brings-all, the cost being shared. We have also done an adopt-a-bottle program, that is, everyone is deemed to bring a bottle, but that might happen because you ‘adopt’ someone else’s port with private settlement between the two of you. Something fair will happen.

Q: Are other wines served at a Port offline?
So far they have been purely port as it is hard to taste claret side-by-side with port. Other offlines (for wines, beers, etc) are also organized in the offline forum, but are clearly identified as being not port.

Q: Given that decanting hours in advance is recommended for most VPs, how is that handled?
Decanting in advance is indeed important, and is discussed a little ahead of the event. Usual practice is to double-decant (that is, decant into a clean something, rinse original bottle thoroughly with water, rinse it once more with a small splash of the port that is then discarded, pour port back into original bottle). Usual time for decanting is the morning of the event, but as it can depend on the type and age of the port, it is usually worked out as part of the offline planning.

Q: What events have you had so far? What’s coming up?
This is the all important question — when do we drink?
• Our 2008 upcoming and recent offlines;
• Reviews of earlier offlines.

(This Q&A is a group effort by TPF contributors.)

Punctuation fixed. May I replace the first post in this thread with the improved text, and then delete the post immediately prior to this one?

If you'd like, or we can just let this whole thread gather dust here and I'll post your repunctuated version to the Offlines forum.

Sushi,

there's a few on here that dont like rushing...but eventually, it will be just so

Alan

SushiNorth wrote:we can just let this whole thread gather dust here and I'll post your repunctuated version to the Offlines forum.

Works for me.

I'm all about action Posted!