aacharya

1. No more bonus bottles unless cleared with you or select others via PM.
A very very slippery slope otherwise. (I like the concept of surprises so
hence the bonus bottles would be a nice surprise to most of us).

2. Keep it two bottles/person, unless the one bottle is a stunner.

3. Keep the minimums for whites, raise it for reds. Going above $50-75,
though, gets into another territory. (Not trying to be biased, but I don't
own anything I paid more than $75 retail for).

4. Stratification by table is a theoretical good idea, but a bad one reality.
One wants a sense of community, not have/have-nots. And people will
slip - or people will call out a cheater.

5. As a newbie to this, I would not want pre-assigned tables. You then
have everyone claiming spots around the "good people" leaving new
people with...new people.

6. Themed tables are fun. I'd support that much more than price
stratification.

ps - EastBay1K - now I want to sit with you. :-)

tcook052

I like the random seating idea so people can meet and mingle with those they may not already know or who may be attending for the first time. I enjoyed meeting and dining with EastBay1K my first WineDo a few years back as we were at the same table having been among the first to arrive. I wouldn't want to be early, have assigned seats only sit way across the room from other guests who are there then.

Being a traveller I buy something when I land and don't mind meeting a min. of, say, $50.00.

Just MHO.

Eastbay1K

One more thing - while themed tables might not work, general themes, such as geographic/regional/styles would be fun.

thewayofthefuture

I generally agree with Eastbay1K on this one. IMO the price minimum is already somewhat arbitrary given the variation in a bottle's pricing among sellers, though I understand why it's there. Raising the minimum to $50 or $75 may bring in a few nicer bottles, but may very well drive away someone who is considering attending for the first time. Tables based on price points would likely be enough to deter some regular attendees, myself included.

challett

Leaning towards a bottle or two of nice bubbles. Originally I thought that I had to bring Napa/Sonoma as my main bottle, but could bring bubbles as a bonus/second bottle; I believe that I was mistaken.

It looks to me that we're lacking when it comes to whites/bubbles, and I'm not an avid white drinker so it's probably best if I stick to what I know (reds/bubbles).

You totally got me. This event is in the middle of a 3 week trip that I'm leaving for tomorrow, and I totally lurched into a panic trying to figure out how I was going to pack formal wear along with everything else. Yikes. Good one. ^

Personally I have no problem with a higher minimum (or not). But I think that price is very relative - not only with regional prices, but also with different varietals. There's a big difference between a $40 Bordeaux or Cab and a $40 Pinot/Merlot/Syrah. I'm more interested in the quality than the cost; although I don't see an easy way to separate the two for the purpose of this event.

I'm not sure I fully comprehend the upside/downside of the bonus bottle. Is the problem that people often bring less than desirable bonus bottles that "dilute" the offerings? If that's the case, then I'm all for eliminating them or adding restrictions (approval/cost/whatever). If the problem is that there's simply too much good wine, well... it's probably still worth considering as no one wants to be wasting good vino, but I don't have nearly as strong of an opinion about that. Could someone shed some light on past WineDos and the potential bonus bottle problem for me?

Open to location changes.

Assigned seats seems like an unnecessary challenge to me, and I think others have articulated good reasons why so I'll leave it at that.

Themed tables could be fun - especially they different regions/varietals idea.

I don't think that tiered tables is a good idea. I think it will lead to people feeling left out and hurt feelings. Rather than go down that road, I'd prefer a WineDo 7.5 with a $100 min (or something like that) for those who want to drink more expensive bottles; and for the record, count me in if there's interest.

1. Not sure I follow how you're reconciling the pre-approval of bonus bottles with surprises. Is the idea that the bonus bottles are approved and then kept secret?

2. Are you suggesting people should bring (2) $40 bottles or (1) $80 bottle or...? It seems to me that these are 2 separate issues - main bottle cost/quality and bonus/second bottles.

3. Agree that price is a tricky line in the sand because of different varietals - but I'm not sure that white vs red really solves the problem, but it's not a bad start.

4 & 5 - totally agree

6. Not sure how to do themed tables without assigning tables. Otherwise I agree, it could be fun.

Totally agree.

dhammer53

I've avoided you? I thought it was the other way around.

Speaking of seating, I know some of the regulars manage to sit in the same seat year after year. Myself included. Early arrivals get to pick and choose who they sit next too.

I like this idea. @:-)

Seating at WineDo has always been random, except once, where I tried to coordinate each table. What a nightmare that was.

You're taking aacharyas idea a step further. @:-)

I've attended other wine dinners where themed tables worked. Just as an example, my wife prefers white wine. She'd volunteer to sit at a white wine table.

Keep em coming.

DLroads

The list is updated (I was wondering how an OR wine got in... )
For potential changes, I agree the formula seems to currently work well. Some modifications, but no major changes. The space issue is maybe something to look into as it can get tight with 24 participants. More glasses (so one can taste them side by side) would be great.

Sorry for the disappointment wine above, Eastbay. I had a pleasant surprise bottle (That this time worked FANTASTIC) and that was a '13 Virage Rose. Two days after, and the tasters still complement (I am now certain that the first time I had a corked bottle, have I had space, I would have taken few more for the summer)

dhammer53

Challett,

We must have cross-posted.

There are attendees that bring one bottle, and there are some that bring 2. Hence, the bonus bottle idea was born. Bonus bottles were a good way to share something interesting, something unusual, something that the person thought we may enjoy, even though there was no minimum associated with it. We increased the minimum to $35 from $25 three years ago on the first bottle. I thought it was time to step up. On average, we have 1.5 bottles per person.


Some attendees will bring a $35 bottle, while others will bring something more expensive. If you want to bring an expensive bottle, feel free to do so. The theme of the first wine dinner was bring your best bottle. We have a history of all price ranges. The first or second dinner, we had a couple of $200+ wines/champagnes. That's what makes this event fun and educational.

Dan

challett

Thanks Dan. That was my understanding. I figured some bonus bottles may meet the minimum $35 and others may not; some may be great while others are duds. I certainly have untasted bottles in my cellar that I could happily bring along for this type of sampling.

Am I correct in assuming that the reason you're looking at whether or not to change the bonus bottle policy is twofold? Having too much wine to comfortably consume, and lesser quality bottles diluting the quality average? If the former, also limiting the bonus bottle to a certain standard would seem prudent.

If it isn't an issue of quantity but only quality, could we have all the bonus bottles (or at least the ones that don't meet the minimum cost) on a separate table so the adventurous could explore while allowing those who wouldn't dream of drinking a sub-$35 wine stick to the "acceptable" bottles on the main tables?

dhammer53

Until the last year or two, dealing with the bonus bottle wasn't an issue. In some cases they surprise, and in some cases they're duds (to me), to use your words. The issue is that I start pouring all the wines from starter whites and champagnes, to other whites, to light reds, then moving on to heavier reds. I'm just trying to start logically.

Maybe the thing to do is to start with the regular wines, followed by the bonus bottles. The past two years, we were on our last bite of dinner when we finally poured the last 3 heaviest reds of ~36 bottles. In an ideal world it would have been nice to enjoy those wines midway through dinner.

Something to ponder.

challett

It sounds like quantity may be a problem. While I haven't attended before, I can certainly imagine that I would have appreciated getting to the big reds earlier as well.

In that case I think that either keeping a minimum cost for all bottles, or separating out the extra bottles (to either drink after - or for people to go and taste at their leisure/desire) makes perfect sense.

Edit - I think that a side table for non-qualifying bonus bottles would be better than saving for after. Take, for example, Bill who doesn't like white wines much. Instead of tasting wines he isn't excited about while waiting for "the good stuff", he could go and find an interesting (to him) looking red on the bonus table to try and enjoy while the bottles that are less exciting (to him) are being poured.

Calcifer

All these thoughts of how to change it are way too much for my little pea brain to comprehend. Sounds like more rules, less fun to me.

In other words, what Eastbay1K said much more eloquently. Then again, we usually sit at the same table so I may be biased.

BOB W

I agree. The KISS method works best the vast majority of the time.

BTW, what is the "Pay for flights" that Mr. Hammer alluded to? I've always thought that the point of Flyertalk was to fly for free. That's how I am getting there.

Eastbay1K

I think it was me who alluded to "Pay for flights." Despite my youthful appearance, I'm becoming a crotchety old you-know-what with an aching back at times, and cannot deal with battlefield upgrades on airlines that don't care about a more-than-half-lifetime of business. So, yes, some of us actually pay for flights, in comfortable seats (which earn more miles/points to take other flights for free in even more comfortable seats )

I hope I've cleared up your confusion. You may be suffering from latitude sickness.

BOB W

The weather we have had up here for the past two months can only be described as "Arizona Spring". Mid to high 70's and very dry, hence the 183,000 acre forest fire outside of Soldotna. So no latitude sickness for me, at least not yet.