Pittsburgh BYOB gathering - Round 7

I'm targeting Friday, March 26 for Round 7. Let me know if that works.

Location not yet determined, but I'm focusing on a restaurant that has a separate room for us. That really worked well at the Palazzo Ristorante.

I'd like to focus on "Rhone Style" wines.

We could do "Southern" Rhones, like Ch. du Pape, Cotes du Rhone & Gigondas. Southern Rhones can use any of the 13 permitted grapes, but usually are Grenache or Syrah dominant. There are great wines from all over the world that fit the category.

OR

We could do "Northern" Rhone, which is 100% Syrah. Also great wines from all over.

OR

We could do both regions.

Your thoughts are appreciated.

The 26th work for me - I believe it would be 2, but need to check with the better half.

I still have a lot to learn about French wines, so either focus would be appealing. Not sure I have too many of either southern or northern Rhones in my cellar, but it would be fun to track something down to bring.

Thanks for setting this one up Hawk!

dontime

Is the tasting going to be confined to just French or will it be Rhone-style wines from across the world? I'm game either way and I'm good for two on that date.

I would vote for Southern Rhone, or Rhone valley in general, as those wines make up the largest part of my collection. My biggest challenge would be deciding which Chateauneuf-du-Pape to bring! Definitely in for that date -- one and maybe two -- wherever it may be held.

This sounds great. It looks like the 26th is good for me, and hopefully the Mrs.
I would also vote for sticking with the actual Rhone Region, combining both northern and southern. Look forward to the experience.

I am travelling on the 26th, Hawk. Sorry, will not be able to make it. And I love Rhones and Rhone style wines. Someone should bring a Gigondas, and see how it stacks up against the Chateauneuf-du-Pape's that show up.

That weekend is not looking good for me.

26th works for me. How far back to get a CdP or Gigondas that's drinking well right now? My cellar is weak in Frenchies in general & Rhone specifically

Confirming 1 for the 26th. Wife will be out on the west coast that week. If we decide on the Rhone region, I'll likely bring in a northern selection that I found particularly appealing a while back.

Opened up a nice middle-of-the-road '05 Gigondas tonight with dinner, was $20 on sale, very enjoyable thank you very much. The heavier duty '05s and later probably haven't peaked yet.

BTW there's a great website which covers Rhone wines, http://www.therhonereport.com/ worth checking out.

Good for two on the 26th.

Hawk - did you want to do this one blind or not? Just curious.

Are we set on the Rhone region or is it Rhone style juice from anywhere?

I vote for blind, and I vote for only Rhone region wines.

Oh yeah, I was thinking about something the other day. If we do a blind tasting, we should all take the entire foil off the top. I noticed in Round 5, some of the bottles foils were just trimmed around the top. Also, we should all try to use state store bags. Last time I used regular bags instead of state store bags, and I could tell the difference. Just some food for thought.

I was just wondering if you (Hawk) found a venue and set up a time for this tasting yet?

I'll go with the majority, but thought it might be nice to do a straight (non-blind) tasting this round. Thought it might be neat to try some samplings of the same region (northern or southern), compare and contrast, then do the other region, or something of that nature. Also, when there are many wines to rotate in a blind tasting, it can feel rushed at times, making sure you sample quickly and pass them on, not being able to "savor" a favorite with the meal.
Anyway, just a thought – I'm fine either way, as the WINE is the common denominator.

You're right about "feeling rushed" during the blind tastings. It may be a prudent idea to do it open this time.

It looks like the consensus is for just Rhone wines, but both north and south.

A quick primer for those who are not that familiar with the Rhone region.
Northern Rhone wines are syrah Syrah (an addition of up to 15% of Marsanne or Roussanne is allowed).
Southern Rhone wines are usually a blend consisting of two or more of the traditional 13 Southern Rhone grape varieties. Typically it's the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre or Cinsault grapes, but can also contain the Muscardin, Counoise, Clairette, Bourboulenc, Picpoul, Roussanne, Terret Noir, Picardan or Vaccarese grapes.

We'll go again with a "blind" tasting, however, I think we'll try to do the wines in "flights" so that we don't feel rushed. If everyone can tell me either "north" or "south" and the appellation, e.g. Cotes du Rhone, CdPape, Gigondas, etc. , I will group the wines from the same areas. I suspect 4-6 wines in each flight would work.

As to location, I've been having a little trouble getting the restaurants to waive the corkage fee (usually $12 to $15 per bottle). I got the Bigelow Grill to reduce their corkage fee to $5 per bottle which seems reasonable.

Give me your thoughts on a corkage fee. If you don't want to pay it, I'll find a restaurant that doesn't have one.

I'm good with a $5 corkage fee. But, any more and we'll end up paying a fortune to do this tasting. Bigelow Grillle sounds pretty good to me also.

I'll bring a Chateauneuf du Pape and a Cote Rotie.

I'm fine with $5/btl corkage.

I'll be bringing a Chateauneuf-du-Pape.

Sounds good Hawk; no problem with $5 corkage. Bigelow looks great.
I'll be bringing a Coteaux du Languedoc

Okay with the corkage.
I plan to bring a Chateauneuf du Pape and a Gigondas.

I think I can make it. Plan on bringing something from Cornas -2000 vintage.

Looks like we'll have a good turnout.

We're set for Friday, March 26 at the Bigelow Grill at 6:30PM. The Bigelow is Downtown in the DoubleTree Hotel at Ross Street (behind the USX Tower).

Try to let me know your count by Wednesday so that I can confirm with the restaurant.

I'm in for two.

I'm in for two also.

I'm in for 3. I'll bring a Valle Vista CDP.

I will be coming solo for this one. ecola, I may have to fight you for that treasured VV.

I'm Han Solo also

I'm in for two, not three as I said before.

Me solo also

Hawk - do you want the appellation written on the bag?

No just tell me when you get there & I'll group the wines.

Here's what I have for the count:

Ecola -2
Dontime - 2
Mark - 1
J2K - 1
Big Red - 1
Jonradus - 2
Hawk - 5
Total - 14

Any others?