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Would anyone be interesting in a small NYC gathering on June 20th in NYC (thus a RL offline to celebrate the anniversary, as opposed to the virtual one)? Small as in, not a tasting, just a nice dinner with a couple bottles?

UPDATE:
La Sirene at 6PM, attendees and bottles listed below

I'm around, 5 is a little too early though.

Shall we eat some place near the village?

Around astor place?

haven't been down there in a while and the missus would probably attend as well.

Yes, let's do that. I'm putting it on my calendar now We can even take an excursion to Warehouse if anyone wants to pick up some inexpensive VP to honor the occasion.

Let's sort out bottles when we get a little closer (and know where we each stand in the post rankings!)

I'm beginning to get a tad jealous of your casual gatherings. Keep it up.

16 tastings in London compared to 9 tastings in the States.

I don't see how you could be jealous =)

Another port gathering another appearance by David sounds about right.

Well then that makes us four

still on graham's the tawny =)

how bout the sake tasting sushi?

Yes, I would still like to do the sake tasting, unfortunately my schedule wound up a bit booked so I don't yet have a good time to hold it. I am starting to think mid july may work well though.

any restaurants in mind for this tasting?

I must admit i havent eaten around the area in a long time and don't know any BYOB places down in the area.

Hey Sushi, still interested in this?

Shall we decide where, what and who? (my fiance would be coming too)

g-man wrote:Hey Sushi, still interested in this?

Shall we decide where, what and who? (my fiance would be coming too)

Yup, still interested. I had forgotten we didn't pick a place. I'll go look up BYO places in the village right now

http://menupages.com/restaurantdetails. ... d=2&home=Y

7$/bottle BYOB, small cozy place but the food is good, the service is a little sub par though. dessert here is excellent.

Looks good, but I might be able to do you one better...
http://www.yelp.com/biz/la-sirene-new-y ... query:byob

Never been there but hell, they kicked in free port for some yelp reviewers. Must be our kind of place. Corkage is free, BYO is legal, and pre-fixe is $25. It is cash only, and a tiny place. If we like the look of it, I'll make us reservations. The owner also sounds happily insane, so we should get him over to share a glass or two

that place does sound amazing ... (2 people for me!)

Shall we consider a line up of what to bring?

I would imagine, we have most of dessert wines taken care of.

SushiNorth wrote:The owner also sounds happily insane, so we should get him over to share a glass or two

Sounds like you will fit in well. Do they have wifi so you can participate online?!

benread wrote:Do they have wifi so you can participate online?!

Hmm, probably not. I bet there is some nearby, but unless g-man or differentdave is equipped with an internet phone we should probably just text updates around.

Anyone else in NYC thinking of joining us? I'd like to get a final count by tomorrow, as this place is getting a lot of good reviews and will be packed.

can we do 6pm btw?

and dave has a crackberry.

2 for me.

What shall we bring you think?

I believe I am slated for Taylor's LBV. I have a 94 and an 01 and can bring either.

I think I may also bring a 1/2 of Taylor Qd Vargellas 88.

Oh yeah, and Sohowines is around the corner... O_O

okay I'll find a graham's tawny

and will probably swing by sohowines for something.

was thinking of digging into the cellar, but I dont think the dry reds would hold with a whole day at work and 100 degree weather outside.

g-man wrote:okay I'll find a graham's tawny

and will probably swing by sohowines for something.

was thinking of digging into the cellar, but I dont think the dry reds would hold with a whole day at work and 100 degree weather outside.

I'm planning on a cooler pack to keep the temp down most of the day. I figured the LBV would be pop-and-pour, but I'll decant the 88 for a few hours in the morning.

I would still like to attend, I can either bring a bottle of port, a bottle of white or wred or desert or anythin in between. I might not make it untuil closer ot six though (coming in from Long Island)

The plan

6PM @ La Sirene (unless i have trouble making the reserve)
Attending:
* G-man
* G-man's missus
* SushiNorth
* DifferentDave

Drinking
SushiNorth: Taylor LBV 1994
SushiNorth: Taylor Qd Vargellas 1988 (I'm bringing a 1/2 of it so we have VP rep'd at the table)
G-Man: Graham's Tawny
DifferentDave: _(your call)_

SushiNorth wrote:The plan

6PM @ La Sirene (unless i have trouble making the reserve)
Attending:
* G-man
* G-man's missus
* SushiNorth
* DifferentDave

Drinking
SushiNorth: Taylor LBV 1994
SushiNorth: Taylor Qd Vargellas 1988 (I'm bringing a 1/2 of it so we have VP rep'd at the table)
G-Man: Graham's Tawny
DifferentDave: _(your call)_

you guys want a Kosta browne rose? it might make a nice starter.

Anyone offended by Taylor 1963? OK, I’ll bring that. Count me in† . I’ll make a team placemat.

†  Yes, I did think about “in you are to count me†, but stayed my hand from such barbarism.

OK!

I just called in the reservation for 5 people at 6pm this Friday the 20th. I also encouraged them to have their charismatic leader swing by and say hello

This place is CASH ONLY so please bring enough to cover.

I should mention that I highly doubt they will have enough port glasses for us to do a full tasting, heck they may not have more than enough for one plain wine glass each. As I hadn't anticipated anything on the order of a '63 being at the table, it didn't matter til now. Any thoughts?

g-man wrote: you guys want a Kosta browne rose? it might make a nice starter.

Sure, I think starting with port might be a little rough (but I am bringing LBV, so not /that/ rough). We likely have plenty of wine now...

For 5 people:
1 LBV, 1 tawny, 1.5 VP, dd's wine, 1 rose.

SushiNorth wrote:We likely have plenty of wine now...

For 5 people:
1 LBV, 1 tawny, 1.5 VP, dd's wine, 1 rose.

I count just over five bottles port equivalent, for about five of us. I’ll bring an extra, just in case.

Please could people say exactly what they’re bringing?

a grahams tawny and a rose

g-man wrote:a grahams tawny and a rose

Any particular rosé? Graham’s 10Y tawny?

jdaw1 wrote:

g-man wrote:a grahams tawny and a rose

Any particular rosé? Graham’s 10Y tawny?

The kosta browne rose 2005 vintage

and the Graham's Tawny (according to my title) - If I can't find the graham's tawny, I'll bring my next level the Warre's Otima 10 yr.

g-man wrote:The kosta browne rose 2005 vintage

Reading a little about it -- this is a plot to teach us pink can be good, isn't it? reviews all sound tasty

Jdaw -- i'm sure you've got a decanting plan for your port, but any suggestions for me?
The Taylor 94 LBV is filtered. Most of the LBVs I've had have been young and pop-n-pour. Should it be decanted in advance? and for how long d'you think? (i'm hesitant to go over a couple hours with an lbv)

The Vargellas 88 half could be decanted anytime, and I found it reasonable at +8 last time. Happy to try longer if that would help it.

SushiNorth wrote:Jdaw -- i'm sure you've got a decanting plan for your port

Taylor 1963 needs three to six hours.

SushiNorth wrote:but any suggestions for me?
The Taylor 94 LBV is filtered. Most of the LBVs I've had have been young and pop-n-pour. Should it be decanted in advance? and for how long d'you think? (i'm hesitant to go over a couple hours with an lbv)

The Vargellas 88 half could be decanted anytime, and I found it reasonable at +8 last time. Happy to try longer if that would help it.

Others: please comment.

I would decant the Taylor LBV for 24 hours, my (very limited) experience with Taylor's LBVs would lead me to believe that they take a long time to pull themselves together.

The Vargellas '88 - not so sure. 6-8 hours perhaps?

SushiNorth wrote:

g-man wrote:The kosta browne rose 2005 vintage

Reading a little about it -- this is a plot to teach us pink can be good, isn't it? reviews all sound tasty

a more selfish reason and that's to clean out the cellar of ready to drink wines.

g-man wrote:a more selfish reason and that's to clean out the cellar of ready to drink wines.

Ha, for a while I was holding monthly "come drink my wine" parties, there's still far too much in the basement, desperately seeking drinkers.

AHB wrote:I would decant the Taylor LBV for 24 hours, my (very limited) experience with Taylor's LBVs would lead me to believe that they take a long time to pull themselves together.

The Vargellas '88 - not so sure. 6-8 hours perhaps?

I'll aim for 6-7 on the vargellas (noon decant), if it needs two more we'll be there for two hours i'm sure

I see a bunch of "Taylor LBV 2001 sucks" notes, glad i'm leaving that one at home (and will schedule it for amateur hour at someone's party). I didn't see any notes on the Taylor 94, but others have had good results at +24.

Anyone else want to weigh in on LBV decanting?

Bonus bottle of Mz97 just decanted for Friday. It needs a long decant. The T63 will be done at lunchtime on the day.

Placemats made: please check that what there is correct, and that nothing is missing.

jdaw1 wrote:Bonus bottle of Mz97 just decanted for Friday. It needs a long decant. The T63 will be done at lunchtime on the day.

Placemats made: please check that what there is correct, and that nothing is missing.

i put in a warre's 10yr optima instead of the graham's

I'd consider the rose simply an appetizer and not really part of the port tasting =)

Sushi, do they have stemware at the place?

g-man wrote:warre's 10yr optima instead of the graham's

No ‘p’. Placemats updated.

When I made the code that lays out the circle text, back in 2004 or so, I made the circle text lie a little in from the maximum extent of the circle, so that descenders (the dangle-down bits on a ‘y’ or a ‘g’) wouldn’t clash. This is the first time that care has earned its keep in the wild (rather than in an artificial test example).

I’ll bring glasses.

Martinez too? You guys either better be big drinkers or planning on next-day-tasting reports. I have to be coherent enough to get up at 5:30a the next morning for a 4 hr car ride.

jdaw - thanks for supplying glassware (and the 63 of course! Very generous, and you've certainly upped the quality of the tasting).

SushiNorth wrote:Martinez too? You guys either better be big drinkers or planning on next-day-tasting reports. I have to be coherent enough to get up at 5:30a the next morning for a 4 hr car ride.

jdaw - thanks for supplying glassware (and the 63 of course! Very generous, and you've certainly upped the quality of the tasting).

Due to my night classes, my drinking habits have been severely hampered.

I'd doubt I could even remotely come close to keeping up with Julian in putting away the port.

Moment of truth guys: ~24 hr decant? 12 hr decant? 2 hr decant? What would you like for this 94 LBV Taylor? I'm off to work out for a few hours, when i get back I'll need to make a decision.

I don’t know, so am casting half a vote for twelve hours.

i'd agree with julian at the 12 hour

Is anyone taking any kind of portable internet enabled device to this event?

DRT wrote:Is anyone taking any kind of portable internet enabled device to this event?

Even uf we fdid we'd durnken postr.