Anyone up for a get together in late August/early September?? It's been a while, at least for me, to share some good vino with the Cru since I missed the Doc get together at Dino in July....

Chime in one and all...

T-Rep

I'm out of town the weekend of August 25-28, but otherwise interested. I'd like to see if we could do one at Circle Bistro at One Washington Circle since the chef (Brenden Cox) has indicated he would do a meal designed for our group if we gave him a list of wines and a couple of days notice. We can negotiate a fixed price to include everything. In addition, there are a few folks who could more easily make such a dinner if we had it on a Saturday, but almost any day is ok for me.

See the thread at

web page

In response to my inquiry Brenden gave me the following:

Figure that a tasting menu will run approximately 10-12 dollars per course, amuse and pre dessert gratis of course. While I do not charge corkage for the wine intense I do like to see a gratuity around 22% to cover the work of the staff. If there were to be foie or truffle that course might jump to $15 but that's really the only major change. Normally people send me a list of wines that are being considered and I send a five, a seven and a nine course menu to work with the wines.
5 course- 50.00-60.00
7 course- 70-84
9 course- 90-108

Take care,
Brendan

Dinwiddie, good idea.

that does sound great...

i am out this weekend and the 23rd of august. then i think we are in town until the middle of sept.

Cool beans - that would be fun.

I'm in if the late is right. No good for the rest of August, and Labor Day weekend is out. The middle two weekends show promise, but so does a mid-week thing if that is what's needed.

at the N.C. shore the next two weekends, and in Atlanta the first week of September, but it looks ok the rest of the month.

If we are talking September, I may be interested. I had a great time with this crowd at the Kosta-Browne/Neal dinner a few months ago.

If it is a Friday, then Friday the 8th is best for me.

So any news on date, theme and venue? I think it'll be fun to have themed dinner - here are some thoughts:

- "Mailer Madness" - bring a wine from a mailing list that you are on
- Pinot Vineyard exploration - how about verticals/horizontals of famous Pinot vineyards?
- Grenache and Syrah

After instigating this thread and just coming back from Bethany Beach, DE where I was unplugged and incommunicado for about a week, I guess I should chime back in.

The suggestion by Dinwiddie to do a dinner at Circle Bistro is fine by me. The best dates for me are now in September...either the weekend of Sept. 08-10 or 15-17. I especially like Jaimetown's second and third thoughts as to a theme but worry that the chef at Circle Bistro (assuming that we decide to have the offline there) might have a hard time putting together a menu for us if we all bring in something from different mailers highlighting different varietals. Being a "pinothead" I have a particular interest in the pinot horizontal/vertical idea but will be happy to go with what the rest of the Cru agrees on.

T-Rep

Sounds like fun. I wish we could be there, but alas, I am currently at the airport (Dulles) waiting for my flight back to Jo-burg. Great seeing everyone again a few weeks ago. We should be back in May 07.

Doc

Circle Bistro sounds great...

We should be ok for the dates mentioned... did the circle bistro have a limit on number of people?

September 8-10 works for me I think. If we settle on a date and theme, I'll contact Chef Brendon Cox and find out what he needs. I like the Syrah/Grenache idea, and would be willing to ante up with either a 2002 Clarendon Hills Grenache Old Vines (Clarendon Vineyard or Hickinbotham) or a 1998 Bosquet des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Grenache.

Looks like Sept. 08/09/10 works for most of the Cru but what's better for the group/restaurant....Friday night or Saturday night? I'm good with whatever night or theme we choose but I'm light on Grenache/syrah's although I can pull something together...

Anyone else? Bueller...Bueller???

T-Rep

Friday night usually works best for me, but I could do Sat or Sun as well. I like the mailer madness idea since I do need to cut back. The pinot or syrah/grenache are equally good. James, since you came up with these great ideas, please pick one and we'll comply.

In Sept. I'm out of the country until 9/14 and would like to join if it works for the majority-- thanks Bob for the good idea

For me Saturday and Sunday work best.

Before we go out on a theme, I'd like to throw out the vineyards that I have (CA, not burgundy), and see if anyone can match any of these - I'm focused more on North Coast and Sonoma County - let's see if we can put together an interesting CA Pinot tasting. We can of course add Champagne (hear that Alex? ), and a few Grenache/Syrahs too, but I'm personally intrigued at the thought of a pinot theme.

Savoy (Littorai 02,03 and Radio-Coteau 02-04)
Hellenthal (R-C 02-03)
Marsh (R-C 02)
Alberigi (RC 04)
Terra Neuma (RC 04)
Summa (Littorai 03)
Cohn, Koplen, Kanzler 03 (Kosta Browne)
Cargassacchi (Brewer Clifton 03)
Sonoma Coast/RR 04 (Kosta Browne)

If you have any from Central Coast or Santa Rita Hills, that would be fun too!

James,

I have:

Cargasacchi - 2003 Siduri and the 2004 Loring
Gary's - 03-04 A.P. Vin and Loring, 02 ROAR
Clos Pepe - 02-04 Loring, 04 A.P. Vin
Savoy - 04 R-C
Amber Ridge - 04 Dain
Don Miguel - 99 Marrimar Torres

and several WesMar single vineyards

I'm off to take Jake to college this weekend, but if you guys want, I'll e-mail Chef Cox on Monday when I get back and see if Friday or Saturday is better or even if the restaurant can accomodate us. (If we do a Saturday, we can probably have the larger meal since there won't be the pressure to get home as early to get to work the next day like there is during the week and we will also be able to rest a little in advance of the meal.) I'll need an idea of the size of a group for them. He said that he doesn't need too much advance notice, but knowing this group, the more advance notice we give him, the more time we have to build up the posts discussing the menu and wines in advance.

So . . . please let me know if you want me to contact him, and whether or not you plan to attend if possible. Hopefully Corkage can make it since we haven't seen him in a while. TJ, you need to try too, been too long. Turn on the alarm system and show up.