I finally had the chance to meet this wonderful lady at davidn's house. And now, she comes to our turf!

While all of the Denver winos combined could not compete with the size and quality of davidn's cellar, and his heart, we decided we had to do something special.

The details:

Friday, March 26th, time to be determined.
Place: Not to be mentioned in public, as this restaurant has generously allowed us to BYOW with no corkage, in the land of illegal BYOB!
Menu: TBD, likely a customized menu to match the theme.
Theme: Bordeaux and Southern Rhones.

So, if any traveling winos want to join us, let me know!

Mike

I have it on my calendar on the outside chance I might need to make a last minute trip out west. If I do I'll be sure and let you know and schedule a layover in Denver.

Mbansek, dude, you need to come up with a name for your gang of banditos out there in the land of Mile-High everything.

TJ of The DC Crü

Y'all are in for a treat all up in there in Denver, Lafon is terrific wine-O

what Eric said!

I'm looking forward to it and trying to figure out the best way to cart a magnum of Bdx out there!

Simple Lafon, wrap it in the cloths in your carryon bags (you don't check lugage do you?). After all you need a magnum of bdx more than you need clean cloths for every day.

And I would be happy to mail you an empty magnum shipper, even if you use it to carry the wine here!

Mike

MB:

Thanks for the offer. I have plenty. I'll also be bringing a few Rhones to share as well. Can't wait!

Lafon

Looking forward to this evening!

Should be a great time!

Now, all we need to do is decide on the place and time.

Let's see, table for 20 that will allow us to BYOW with no corkage, when BYOW is illegal in Colorado. And at the last minute, on a Friday night, (since our arrangement at the original restaurant cratered when the sommelier quit/was fired) in the middle of tax season.

Well, that leaves only two more places, one at 9:00 and one under investigation. But something will work, even if it is at my house.

Lafon, I sent Jill your cell number.

Mike

Give 'em hell Lafon!

Are you all in one piece?

Winebrat... you think they are done drinking yet? It's only a few minutes past midnight there.

Empirically, I am still in one piece. However, the condition of that one piece is not the greatest right now, even though this is the latest I have slept in about three months. At the least, I am in no condition to try to correctly spell the names of French, Italian and German wines. We were the last people in the restaurant for the last, oh, one or two hours.

Man, I sure hope everyone got home in one piece last night.

Ms. Lafon is certainly a big ball of energy, with an infectious laugh. I think we might have scared her a little at first with some of the tasting note impressions, especially "smells like a turtle's cage." And it went downhill from there.

But needless to say, we had a fantastic time. And we must not have scared her and her friends too much, since they have invited us to go out to dinner again tonight.

If I were smart, I would climb back into bed right now. But tax season duties call. Well, sometime today, anyway. Or maybe tomorrow.

Mike

Quote:

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I think we might have scared her a little at first with some of the tasting note impressions, especially "smells like a turtle's cage." And it went downhill from there.

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Lafon; scared? Are you kidding me?

I guarantee she can out-drink and out-descriptor all of you guys on her worst day!

Don't hold back Lafon.

What an absolutely fabulous group of Denver forumites! The Denver contingent certainly knows how to "do it up right."

Thanks to Mike and Jill for putting last night together again and again and again. And also thank you for sharing the Janasse. There was alot going on in that wine. Yes, we're going to make a run at it again this evening and see if Jill and I can complete Mike's "extreme makeover."

The company was absolutely top notch and as expected, out of control, as it should be!

I tried my best to "respresent" for the Bay Area contingency and take notes while tasting, a task that's akin to walking and chewing gum for me, but nonetheless, I think I got the job done and had great time in the process.

That being said, I'm still a little foggy this morning on a couple of things like: How did Jill get such big meat? And what about Mike's? Where did the '97 Pegau go? How did I end up with such a big glass? How does Rose know what turtle cage smells like? Did Dave and Matt get on their flight today? Did Gillian sign us up for a spa weekend? How can Ben have so many bottles in that little bag? What DOES puttanyos mean? Did we really call Free the Grapes and tell him he was lame?

Nonetheless, a good time was had by all and new friends and old friends were able to connect over some awesome wines. Notes to follow shortly

And finally, me? Scared? I have to admit, I think the ratio was something like 13 people to about 16 -18 wines. And I don't think there was much left.

Here is the list of wines I could find that we had at our dinner. All spelling errors are mine. And I think I am missing three or four winess from the pre-dinner, whites and Italians.

2002 Chehalem Inox Chardonnay
2000 Chateau Charmail Haut-Medoc
2000 Chateau Duhart-Milon Rothschild Paulliac
2000 Sarget Gruaud-Larose St. Julien
1994 Chateau Troplong-Mondot
2000 Chateau du Trignon Gigondas
2000 Chateau de la Gardine CdP
1997 Pegau Reservee CdP
1999 Pegau Reservee CdP
2000 Pegau Reservee CdP
2000 Janasse Vieilles Vignes CdP
1991 Ficklin Vineyards Vintage Port
2002 Brachetto d'Acqui
1990 The Royal Tokaji Wine Co. Tokay Aszu 5 Puttonyos Birsalmas
1971 Berres (?) Urziger Wurtzgarten Spatlese MSR

Mike

Some of these wines didn't even make it down to my end of the table. At least all the important ones did. Had a great time meeting Lafon and seeing everyone again. Thanks again for setting everything up (especially with the last minute changes). Bridget and I had a great time. I've posted a few notes in reply to Lafon's. Can't believe we made the guest of honor take the notes. Actually, yes I can