Hello all of my fellow wine lovers!

This month the Dallas forum members will be hosting our offline with very special guests Mark Neal and Gove Celio of Neal Family Vineyards. Mark & Gove will be in Dallas the week of June 14th through the 17th and have requested dinner with the locals. They have also graciously offered to pour some of their wines for us during dinner. So here are the details subject to slight modification as schedules firm up:

•Date: Thursday, June 16th.
•Time: 7PM
•Location: Amici’s Signature Italian, Carrollton, Texas.
•Wine Theme: One bottle per person, details to be worked out later
•Food Theme: Prix Fix menu TBD, split the check evenly, 2-3 appetizers per table family style, choice of salad, choice of 4-5 entrees, choice of 4-5 desserts

This event islimited to the first 25 people that respond to the email I’ve sent directly to all locals or that respond to one if the threads I’ve posted in the offline sections of the Wine Spectator and VinoCellar Fora. Extras will be placed on the wait list and move up in order as space becomes available.

Let me know who can make it ASAP and I look forward to seeing everybody soon.

Thanks!

Good evening my fellow wine lovers!

In true Texas friendliness and wine loving style the Dallas area wine lovers have stepped up to the plate and committed to 24 seats for the upcoming offline with Neal Family Vineyards in a mere 6 hours! We’re going to lock it for the moment at 24 seats until we can verify with the restaurant they can handle more people. Here is the official attendee list at the moment:

In
1 - mjneal
1 - HowellMtnMan
2 - WIML & PURPLE
1 - MikeB
2 - Mr & Mrs escape
1 - seanr7
2 - Mr & Mrs TexasZin
1 - TimH
2 - texaswino + 1
1 - SteveB
2 - Mr & Mrs auto
2 - Mr & Mrs preferred
2 - Bella Donna + 1
2 - Mr & Mrs PlanoWino
2 - vintage + 1
24 – Total

If you’d like to be placed on the waitlist let me know ASAP!

Thanks!

Joe

Good morning all of my fellow wine lovers!

I must say the locals have responded to the call to arms. We’re currently capped at 24 attendees for our June dinner with a waitlist that has reached 4 confirmed and quite possibly 7 total. As interest continues and we clear things through the restaurant and Neal Family Vineyards we’ll try to clear the waitlist and add another table of 8. I’ll keep you posted.

Here is the list at this point:

In
1 - mjneal
1 - HowellMtnMan
2 - WIML & PURPLE
1 - MikeB
2 - escape
1 - seanr7
2 - TexasZin
1 - TimH
2 - texaswine (1+1)
1 - SteveB
2 - auto
2 - preferred
2 - Bella Donna + 1
2 - PlanoWino
2 - vintage + 1
24 - Total

Waitlist
1 - just a skosh
2 - BubbaP + 1
1 - WineDrinkerofTexas
1 - ChrisP
5 – Total

Also, we’ve pretty much nailed down the menu for this event. There will be five courses in total including the Passed Hors d’oeuvres. The total price per person including the gratuity will be $75.00 per person. Please review the menu below and let me know ASAP if there are any dietary restrictions we must meet. Otherwise, I’ll assume you’re in and ready to eat!

Neal Family Vineyard’s Dinner
Thursday, June 16, 2005

Passed Hors d'oeuvres
Assortment of canapés – duck liver pate with sliced sirloin
Marscapone cheese with grilled chicken
Cheese bread – Mozzarella cheese baked on Italian bread with sliced tomato, basil and olive oil

First Course
Appetizers served “family-style”
Polenta – served with goat cheese, spicy Italian sausage, mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce
Funghi – mushrooms filled with garlic, Parmesan and fresh herds covered with Provolone cheese and baked in a Béchamel sauce
Crab Cakes – served on a tomato relish and finish with a charone sauce

Second Course
House Salad – mixed baby greens, sliced red onions and tomato served with seasoned ricotta cheese croutons in a Dijon mustard vinaigrette
Caesar Salad – traditional with croutons and Parmesan cheese
Soup the day – cream of wild mushroom

Third Course
Beef Tenderloin - grilled medallions of beef tenderloin and melted Brie cheese in a Burgundy wine sauce
Venison - grilled venison and caramelized onions in a Port wine sauce
Salmon – grilled and served with a Champagne cream sauce
Ravioli - Wild mushroom filled ravioli served with sautéed spinach and sliced grilled chicken breast finished with a Béchamel cream sauce
Lamb en Cruet – loin of lamb wrapped in puff pastry with goat cheese, sun-dried tomato and whole roast garlic finished with a Cabernet shallot sauce

Fourth Course
Crème Brule’ - Soft baked custard with a hint of orange and almond flavor served with a raspberry puree
Bread Pudding - White chocolate, pistachio bread pudding served warm with a sun-dried cherry, brandy anglaise
Tiramisu - Ladyfingers layered between chocolate, vanilla and cappuccino pastry cream served with a vanilla anglaise
Almond Lace Wafer - Almond wafers stuffed with chocolate pastry cream and fresh sliced bananas served with a cinnamon anglaise

I'll have one of each!
Damn that menu looks good - wish it wasn't on a school night.

Sorry...some of us choose wine over school.

Good evening my fellow wine lovers!

Here are the details on the confirmed attendees and waitlist:

Confirmed:
mjneal, HowellMtnMan, WIML & PURPLE, MikeB, escape + 1, seanr7, Mr & Mrs TexasZin, TimH, Mr & Mrs texaswino, SteveB, Mr & Mrs auto, Mr & Mrs preferred, Mr & Mrs PlanoWino, vintage + 1, just a skosh, ChrisP - 24 Total

Waitlist:
WineDrinkerofTexas, DavidW - 2 Total

Now it is time to work out details for the wines. At the request of the restaurant we will be split up into 3 tables of 8 people each. mjneal will be at table 1 and HowellMtnMan will be at table 2. HowellMtnMan will be floating a lot between table 2 and table 3 (so he says!). I’ve assigned people to tables 1, 2 and 3 in the order that they responded to the invitation (other than a couple of singles I needed to fill out tables 1 and 2). This seems the best way to me. If people want to trade out let me know and we’ll try to accommodate as best as possible. The goal here is to try to balance out the wines at each table.

Table 1
mjneal, WIML & PURPLE, MikeB, escape + 1, seanr7, ChrisP.

Table 2
HowellMtnMan, Mr & Mrs TexasZin, TimH, Mr & Mrs texaswino, SteveB, just a skosh

Table 3
Mr & Mrs auto, Mr & Mrs preferred, Mr & Mrs PlanoWino, vintage + 1

So, having “preambled” everything above, I need everybody to start volunteering to bring specific wines for each table. Here are my thoughts. I will bring 3 bottles of NV Champagne for the Arrive & Passed Hors d’Deuvres. Some of you can feel free to bring other Champers as desired. I just want to make sure there is Champagne available to sip on until we start settling in for dinner. After that, I think we need wines at each table as follows:

0-1 Champagne (if somebody has something special they’d like to contribute to their table for the Appetizer course…cool…otherwise)
1-2 White (1 for the Appetizers if no Champagne and 1 for the Salad Course)
5 Red Mixed Bag (i.e. CA CS, Pinot Noir, etc… that will pair well with the next two courses and provide some flexibility)
1 Sweetie (theoretically for the last course but who am I kidding)

So, everybody email me back what you’d like to contribute to each of the course & flights and I’ll try to work things out as best as possible. Or, you can all just bring whatever the heck you fell like!

Thanks!

Joe

Good evening my fellow wine lovers! Here is a quick update of where we stand for Thursday night.

Thursday, June 16th, 7PM at Amici’s Signature Italian in Carrollton, TX.

Don’t forget to bring your own stemware!

Tables and wines so far:

Table One
Passed Hors d'oeuvres
MikeB - 1996 Deutz Rose Champagne
Appetizers
escape - White Burgundy if you have one
Salad
PURPLE - 2003 Crocker & Starr Sauvignon Blanc
Main
mjneal will pour some of his Reds here
seanr7 – either a 2003 Rivers Marie Pinot Noir, 2001 Guigal CdP or 1999 Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon
wineismylife - 1999 Merryvale Profile
Depending on who volunteers for the Dessert course the other brings a red here.
Dessert
Need a volunteer here from either ChrisP or escape to bring a sweet, port or other similar wine.

Table Two
Passed Hors d'oeuvres
Mrs TexasZin - Champagne
Appetizers
TimH - White TBD
Salad
One Person Short Here - Suggest a light, crisp white here like a Sauvignon Blanc
Main
HowellMtnMan will pour some of his Reds here
TexasZin - Pinot Noir
just a skosh - either a 2001 Delille Cellars D2, 2001 Baer Ursa or 2002 Canon De Sol Columbia Valley Syrah
SteveB - 2002 Navarro Deep End Pinot plus a Neal as a reserve.
Dessert
texaswino - Sweetie TBD

Table Three
Passed Hors d'oeuvres
vintage - Champagne
Appetizers
preferred - a White TBD
Salad
mrs preferred - a White TBD
Main
HowellMtnMan will pour some of his Reds here
auto - Kosta Brown Pinot Noir TBD
mrs auto - Martinelli Zinfandel TBD
Mrs PlanoWino - 1998 Hartford Court Arrendell Vineyard Pinot Noir (2001 as a backup)
DavidW - Red TBD
Dessert
PlanoWino - 1997 Joseph Phelps Vin du Mistral Muscat

Let me know if there are any updates!

Thanks.

Joe

Whew! What a night. We ended up with a total of 19 people by the time it was all said and done. The food was great, the wines wonderful and the people FANTASTIC. Many thanks to mjneal & HowellMtnMan for attending and sharing some of their wines with us.

Here is a list of the wines I personally tasted. I missed a few on the other table. I'll cross post this list in the Drinking thread as well for those that don't come to this section in case anybody has any questions.

1996 Deutz Brut Rosé Champagne
1996 Charles Heidsieck Brut Rosé Champagne
1999 Olivier Leflaive Freres Chassagne Montrachet Abbaye de Morgeot (not sure I got the exact wine on this one...escape may need to help me here)
2003 Crocker Starr Sauvignon Blanc Napa Valley
2004 Merry Edwards Sauvignon Blanc
2002 LinCourt Pinot Noir Santa Barbara County
2003 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Sonoma County
2003 Kosta-Brown Pinot Noir Russian River Valley

I think I got these correct. Maybe mjneal or HowellMtnMan can correct me if wrong.
1998 Neal Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
2002 Neal Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 1540 Vineyard
2002 Neal Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain Vineyard
2002 Neal Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Second Chance Vineyard
2002 Neal Family Vineyards Petite Syrah

Thanks to SteveB for bring this one for comparison purposes.
2001 Neal Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Second Chance Vineyard

1999 Merryvale Profile Napa Valley
2003 Martinelli Zinfandel Russian River Valley Giuseppe & Luisa
2001 DeLille D2 Yakima Valley
2001 Mer Soleil Late Harvest White Wine
2002 Jekel Late Harvest Riesling Monterey
1997 Joseph Phelps Vin de Mistral Muscat
2001 Chateau Lafaurie-Peyraguey Sauternes