NolaCaine Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 What do you think about this for a large-scale dinner? Our house Wines: Hogue Chardonnay $50 Hogue Cabernet Sauvignon $50 Hogue Merlot $50 Champagne: Chandon, California, Brut Classic $55 Chardonnay: Kendall Jackson, Russian River, California $55 Sauvignon Blanc: Kim Crawford, Marlborough, New Zealand $55 Other Whites: Pinot Grigio - Danzante, Italy $56 Pinot Blanc – Trimbach, Alsace, France $55 Pinot Noir: Meiomi, Sonoma County, California $55 Cabernet Sauvignon Kendall Jackson, Alexander Valley, California $60 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 So bad it can't be real (seriously, it's like someone went to Rite-Aid, bought a bunch of wines, and marked them up 300%). Trimbach actually makes a couple of real wines, but their generic varietals are ultra-common. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Slater Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 These are all wines that, theoretically, are never out of stock. They can all be ordered with one days notice so the venue doesn't have carry any inventory. That's why they make you chose the wine 3 days before the event. But, to answer your question, yes- those are some terrible choices. I'm also pretty certain they are all from the same distributor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NolaCaine Posted February 21, 2018 Author Share Posted February 21, 2018 Ah-choo intercontintial the warf Ah-choo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lion Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 This is why I like to rent venues where I can bring my own drinks or bartender. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NolaCaine Posted February 22, 2018 Author Share Posted February 22, 2018 12 hours ago, lion said: This is why I like to rent venues where I can bring my own drinks or bartender. Interested...need space for 400 although expecting 350 this year. Don't want a too big space. Nice too. "fancy" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lion Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 Sherwood Community Center We had my parents 50th anniversary party there about five years ago with 350. Nice modern venue, brightly lit that looked good with decorations. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curiouskitkatt Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 On 2/20/2018 at 6:13 PM, Mark Slater said: These are all wines that, theoretically, are never out of stock. They can all be ordered with one days notice so the venue doesn't have carry any inventory. That's why they make you chose the wine 3 days before the event. But, to answer your question, yes- those are some terrible choices. I'm also pretty certain they are all from the same distributor. Corduroy, Operations Manager, Social Media Contact?!!? How did I miss this? @Tom Power & @Mark Slater!! The dream team. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveO Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 I found the comments from @lionand the two comments about wine quality and prices interesting also. Our bartending school provides bartenders for events like this and hundreds around the region. We don’t go beyond that but there are many venues, caterers, event planners etc. Many wedding couples do the planning work that a hotel provides and save enormous amounts. I’m ignorant about wines and if I were a guest at that event I would be unable to comment about quality but It’s obvious from the comments I could save a lot by purchasing wine direct and get better quality. That would be the same for booze purchased direct rather than what the hotel charges. Btw there are too many caterers to list. Rather than choose a hotel you would have to choose many vendors and invest more time. That is the downside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eatruneat Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 It's not just bad, it's offensive. Reminds me of the quote we got for our wedding reception. $2,200 just for the alcohol. "Top shelf" liquor: Ketel One, Bombay Sapphire, Jack Daniels, Crown Royal, Hornitos, Baccardi, JW Red, Shellback Spiced Rum Wine: William Hill Chardonnay, Louis Martini Cabernet Beer: Ballast Point pale ale, Shcok Top, Stone IPA, Bud LIght Fortunately, we also have the option of providing our own alcohol. So despite the extra work, we'll probably go to Costco and pick up some liquor. We are also thinking of buying a few cases of wine from Napa/Sonoma and having them shipped down. Even if we end up not saving money buy going this route, at least we'll get what we want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rovers2000 Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 7 minutes ago, eatruneat said: It's not just bad, it's offensive. Reminds me of the quote we got for our wedding reception. $2,200 just for the alcohol. "Top shelf" liquor: Ketel One, Bombay Sapphire, Jack Daniels, Crown Royal, Hornitos, Baccardi, JW Red, Shellback Spiced Rum Wine: William Hill Chardonnay, Louis Martini Cabernet Beer: Ballast Point pale ale, Shcok Top, Stone IPA, Bud LIght Fortunately, we also have the option of providing our own alcohol. So despite the extra work, we'll probably go to Costco and pick up some liquor. We are also thinking of buying a few cases of wine from Napa/Sonoma and having them shipped down. Even if we end up not saving money buy going this route, at least we'll get what we want. We used Ace Beverage for our wedding and I genuinely could not have been happier (they also will take back any unopened / unchilled wine / booze /beer which was awesome). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lion Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 It is more work to get a non-hotel for an event like a wedding reception. For example during our reception, my sister handled the decorations and ended up buying $1000 of chair covers and resold them on eBay. But we were able to have a unique reception with a mixture of American and Indian traditions that included the different families needs since we had more flexibility in allocation of financial resources in a non hotel setting. Another example was getting more servers and bartenders from the catering company which was possible since the cost for alcoholic beverages was lower. We mixed more cheaper and top shelf beverages such as John Walker, Chivas Regal and Glenfiddich which are a requirement for a Desi wedding and higher quality wines for my wife's side of the family. I ended up getting the wines from Total Wine which was a lower cost and we were able to return unused bottles and even cases of beer. If it is a business event then going the hotel route makes sense. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dracisk Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 On 2/20/2018 at 4:23 PM, NolaCaine said: Sauvignon Blanc: Kim Crawford, Marlborough, New Zealand $55 I'm pretty sure I bought some of this at Costco for $10, possibly less on sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NolaCaine Posted February 22, 2018 Author Share Posted February 22, 2018 3 hours ago, kitkatpaddywak said: Corduroy, Operations Manager, Social Media Contact?!!? How did I miss this? @Tom Power & @Mark Slater!! The dream team. I know, RIght? That's why I posted here. Secretly I wanted an expert opinion so when I go back to the hotel I could intelligently be indignant. Yes, this is a work event that has to be in DC. When I first saw the list I thought that I've had them all, they all aren't great, and are less than $10 at Total Wine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Slater Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 $55 for Kendall-Jackson is criminal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 1 hour ago, dracisk said: I'm pretty sure I bought some of this at Costco for $10, possibly less on sale. When I said Rite-Aid, I wasn't being smug - they have the Kim Crawford at the Rite-Aid down the street from me, and it's something like $13.99. That said, the Crawford and the Trimbach are actually every bit as drinkable as (for example) Michelob - they're "bad," but not "horrible," and I'd be lying if I said I've never purchased them before to drink with dinner; some of the others (and I haven't had them all) *are* horrible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NolaCaine Posted February 25, 2018 Author Share Posted February 25, 2018 Thank you all. The conversation did allow me to push back with conviction. I think we'll be able to improve the choices although not by much. Not that this is the topic of this thread but some of the food was quite good considering this is service for 350. "Andrew" the chef, I am told, comes from Blue Duck. Of the 6 appetizers I tried, the mini crab cake was fantastic though a bit floppy to be hand held. The "Mini" lobster roll could have used some salt, but was otherwise fine and very generous. Of the three salads, the poached pear salad with endive, spiced walnuts, blue cheese, and arugula was stunning to look at but the least flavorful. My table-mates disagreed and thought it was a very fresh start. My favorite was the generous charred broccolini salad with a bug old hunk of burrata, prosciutto and parm. Crisping up the prosciutto was magic in my opinion but might be cheating in other opinions. Loved all three main options with the grilled filet of NY strip being really tender and easy to eat with the potato puree and horseradish jus being quite wonderful. Sea bass was great with the porcini broth being such a stand-out that I'm curious about how this place does soup. But the best, in terms of flavor, by far was the veggie entree. Curried Fried Cauliflower with caper raisin puree was amazing. Absolutely amazing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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