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Dead Yeast Society


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Not too long ago as my memory fades in and out, there used to be a group of restaurant managers, employees and what nots, along with local wine purveyors that used to get together and do a monthly tasting at different restaurants. The idea was for educational puproses and another forum in which 'wine-geeks' could sit and discuss the wine industry without having to be in our own surroundings.

Set-up was at a local restaurant, wine was either donated by said restaurant hosting, memebers paid for their own food. 8 wines were brown bagged, usually one grape, then notes taken and then rated.

Anyone interested in doing said society?

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Not too long ago as my memory fades in and out, there used to be a group of restaurant managers, employees and what nots, along with local wine purveyors that used to get together and do a monthly tasting at different restaurants. The idea was for educational puproses and another forum in which 'wine-geeks' could sit and discuss the wine industry without having to be in our own surroundings.

Set-up was at a local restaurant, wine was either donated by said restaurant hosting, memebers paid for their own food. 8 wines were brown bagged, usually one grape, then notes taken and then rated.

Anyone interested in doing said society?

This souds like a great idea and I would be very interested.

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hi folks, away from dc for the weekend participating in the NYC triathlon, but looks as if this is rolling along so lets plan on so far having 16 people, i will donate the first round of wines, and now a location. I want it to be as easy for everyone as possible. So, DC or VA, not to exclude MD. I have a restaurant location for the event in VA, but if any takers on DC let me know.

Have an awesome day.

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The first official meeting of the DonRockwell.com chapter of the Dead Yeast Society is going to meet on Wednesday the 27th at 7:00pm at Tallulah. There is room for 13 people.

The tasting will include a variety of wines from the same grape, donated by Talullah. The purpose is for education, not showing off your palate or nose, so all levels of oenophiles are welcome. I promise you will know more than I do :P

A selection of main courses that go nicely with the wine will be available for purchase and enjoyed during the tasting.

If you would like to join us or have any questions please contact me via PM or email.

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I think Rabbi's idea is one varietal, blind tasting, compare & contrast (kind of like your tomatoes, mdt). Food is optional/suggest - just in case anyone is a lightweight (like me) and needs to temper alcohol with some protein. :P Stems are optional.

Edited by MelGold
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I think Rabbi's idea is one varietal, blind tasting, compare & contrast (kind of like your tomatoes, mdt).  Food is optional/suggest - just in case anyone is a lightweight (like me) and needs to temper alcohol with some protein. :P   Stems are optional.

Thanks. I guess you do not plan on spitting. spit.gif

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Despite the torrential rain last night and a couple of instances where power was lost for a few moments, the first meeting of the DYS was a roaring success. First off, a big round of applause goes to rabbi1969 for putting things together and to Tallula for the snacks during the tasting.

The grape of the night was chardonnay and he selected a wide variety as listed below. Please forgive any errors as I am going off my notes.

Domaine Coussergues vin de pays 2004 (~$8)

Evans & Tate Gnangara Unwooded 2003 (~$11)

1er Cru Chassagne Montrachet Les Embrazees 2001 (~$50)

Abadal 2003 – Spain (~$15)

Tamar Ridge 2002 – Tasmainia (~$19)

Talley Vineyards Chardonnay Rincon 2002 – California (~$48)

Catena Chardonnay Mendoza 2003 (~$19)

Leeuwin Estate Prelude Chardonnay Margaret River 2002 (~$30)

We blind tasted the wines took notes, scored them for sight, smell, taste, and overall quality. While we were engaged in discussions the scores were tallied and the overall group #1 was the Montrachet, followed by the Rincon and the Evan & Tate.

Already looking forward to the next meeting, when we will hopefully have the donrockwell.com song finalized. :P

Edited by mdt
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My modest contribution,  written in the last five minutes:

To the tune "Rockabye Baby"

Rockwell for eating

and drinking wine

Don't feed us swill

Our dining is fine

(we) sniff out good cheese

and cook with fresh thyme

We make reservations

And post on line :P

Now we're talking!

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Nice to see one of bargain wines placed.

Anyone have more info on this particular bottle?

I've not heard of this producer.

The producer is Evans & Tate out of Western Australia. This winery has been around since probably 1950 and formed by two gentlemen and I bet you can guess their last names 0 :-) One of the largest wine producers out of Australia, they do well over 100,000 cases. Gnangarra is their entry level, and then they have Classic Red & White, both delicious, and then Margaret River Chard & Shiraz. The 2003 Margaret River Chardonnay just got 91 points in Wine Spectator and costs around $15/bottle. These wines are pretty easy to find and absolutly great values. If you liked the Gnangarra Chardonnay, try the Cabernet, the SB and the Shiraz - they all rock for the money. Let me know if you want more information......

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I really was expecting that those of us who participated in the DYS tasting would end up choosing a surprising $10 bottle as Best In Show. Doesn't it always seem like some unknown underdog always pulls out in these things, like Smarty Jones or Funny Cide? Well, unlike the canned tomato tasting we had where Hunts played the role of the longshot winner, we all picked the pricey bottles pretty handily.

As for the personal tastes of me and my wife, we were also pretty similar with each other, which bodes well for wine storage issues in our pad. Special praise to my wife who was actually able to name one of the wines (Catena Chardonnay) before it was revealed. It would have been really spectacular if she thought it was wine number 7 (which it was) instead of wine number 5 (which it wasn't). But the fact she was able to taste it in there somewhere is a hellofalot better than I could ever do!

When factoring in affordability plus our personal taste test results, we'll be buying more Catena (only $15 at Costco. My tasting notes say "Why am I smelling chinese takeout? Is that lo mein?") and the Tamar Ridge.

Many thanks to Rabbi1969 for making this happen. We really enjoyed ourselves and the company.

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what self-respecting group of winegeeks doesn't have their own gang sign and secret handshake. clearly this will have to be the first topic at the july meeting.  :lol:

I'll propose the "slap, slap, slap, shake hands (whiteboy style), shake hands (the other way), stomp on invisible grapes, crow like a rooster then pretend-like-you-are-swirling-a-goblet-of-nice-wine-then-break-into-a-cabbage-patch-routine" shake. It's REAL subtle.

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