Pittsburgh Tasting Group/Club?

Anyone interested in starting a monthly (or whenever) Pittsburgh wine tasting group? Pick a place, pick a theme, share some wines and some laughs, etc..?

I've been thinking about this too, especially after Yinz du Vin fell apart due to concerns over liability. I was tossing around the idea of meeting at a BYOB restaurant for dinner. Any suggestions? Tomato Pie cafe by North Park is a regular hangout. It's basically a pizzeria, with indoor, outdoor, and screened porch seating areas. Relatively small and they don't take reservations. BYOB and no corkage fee, but if you want to drink from something besides a plastic cup you need to bring your own.

I'm up for a restaurant, house, parking lot, whatever! Let's get some more people involved and go from there. I'm on the east side of Pitt, we could alternate locations. Let's start spreading the word and set a date and location.

Sounds great. I'm in. I live in Beaver and will go anywhere.

We could invite evreybody from Philly to watch a replay Stanley Cup series against the Flyers, I'm sure they would like that.

-Eric

OK how about Friday July 17, meet somewhere for dinner and wine? If you think you'd attend please send an e-mail to ccm4 at consolidated dot net, or you can just reply to this post. Venue info to follow, which will be depend on the number of interested parties.

I'm in! How should we decide on a theme, region, etc.....How many people, more the merrier? I may have one other person interested. I also saw someone on Cellar Tracker named "Hawk" from Pittsburgh. Anyone know him/her? I could send Hawk a message.

OK...Friday July 17...6:30PM...Tomato Pie Cafe next to North Park...bring a bottle that goes with pizza/italian. This will be a decidedly casual affair (oil cloth tablecloths, plastic drink cups, etc.). I'll bring a dozen inexpensive stems to share, but feel free to bring your own if you wish. THIS IS NOT A COMPETITION, we're not trying to see who brings the best or most expensive bottle! Just bring something you like and that you want to share.

They don't take reservations and it can get busy, largely depending on the weather. About 1/3 of their seating is outside, 1/3 is on a screened porch, and 1/3 is inside. No idea where we'll settle in but look for a maroon PAWineTalk wine bag sitting on a table and that'll be me.

The address is 885 E Ingomar Road Pittsburgh, PA 15201, (412) 364-6622. They have a listing on Google Maps but while the address is correct the pushpin on the map is not at the right spot(!). It is across the street from the North Park driving range, between Grubbs Road and Kummer Road. You can use this link to see the correct spot:

http://maps.google.com/maps?daddr=40.5914,-80.0155

Hope to see you there!

Hi Guys,
I am interested and will let you know for sure in the next couple of days (will post to this forum). Thanks for organizing.

Since we all buy most of our wines from PLCB, should we list what we are bringing so there are no duplicates?

I'm most likely bringing a 2005 Feudo Maccari Saia (Italy, Sicily).

Good idea J2K

I was going to bring the much marked down '04 Cinq Cepages since there's no evidence that the 2 raters are coming

Another wine enthusiast named Jim has confirmed he will participate and is bringing a
Allegrini Palazzo Della Torre 2004 (IGT, Valpolicella).
This gathering is shaping up nicely :-)

I was undecided but am leaning heavily towards Laurenz V. "Charming" Gruner Veltliner. (Someone needs to bring a white, right??) Bought a bottle a couple months ago based on Timo's glowing review but haven't gotten around to opening it. Looking forward to trying my first Gruner!

One other thing, it probably makes sense to arrive early if the weather is nice. We went this evening (around 5:45) and got a table right away but by 6:20 there were people waiting.

I dont live near Pittsburgh or Philly.
I'm jealous.

I'll be there. Plan on bringing a Spanish bottle that I picked up in Ohio; I've had this before and do not believe it is offered in PA.

I have a couple bottles of that Screaming Eagle laying around so I figured I'd bring those. If I remember I'll also bring a few 1947 Cheval Blancs. See ya Friday.

-Eric

I am bringing a Biale Zin, Deb is bringing an Elizabeth Spencer ExS Chardonnay. I look forward to meeting everyone.

p.s. I am not sure YdV is dead, I am planning to resurrect the group in less public form when I rotate off the Wine Advisory Council.

Tim

To all. Great first event last night. Look forward to more.

Someone asked me last night the grape for the Palazzo Della Torre & I was suffering memory loss. It turns out that it is 70% Corvina, 25% Rodinella and 5% Sangiovese. Not a very common blend.

Pleasure sharing wines with everyone last night! I came home and cracked one of those Steven Kent Cabs!!

J2K...What, eight bottles wasn't enough so you opened another when you got home?? Wow you're my hero! Seriously though how'd you like the Steven Kent? I'm loving it.

Yesterday evening was a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to the next time.

Mark,
are you going to put the list together?
Jim

All wines from the tasting are in the front-page story.

Great time guys, we should definately do this again.
I mentioned to a few of you how I thought the Vinturi aerator was a worthwhile investment for $30. I am sold; you can read the reviews on Amazon as well (link below):

http://www.amazon.com/Vinturi-6700-Essential-Wine- Aerator/dp/B000UPOJ5W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-ga rden&qid=1248049733&sr=8-1

Mark,
Thanks for the article on the first tasting.

Anything afoot on the next?

I think J2K was going to organize something on his side of town?

As I recall, jlburd volunteered to set up the next one, I think he mentioned Bloomfield. If not, let me know and I'll be glad to set up the next one.

Have you guys ever been to a wine tasting at Dreadnought Wines in the Strip District? www.dreadnoughtwines.com

Figures that I missed this, as Tomato Pie would have been totally convenient for my wife and me. We have young kids (meaning babysitters) so we don't travel too far from our home in Franklin Park.

Anyway, we'd like to participate in something like this. We're not experts by any means, but we do guzzle a daily bottle in the $15 range and regularly read the ratings here. I'll try to follow this thread.