Dead Reds Wake 3 - charity

It's not everyday you get to hand a few dollars over to a charity of choice. But today we do.

I've been a tad slack sorting out the finances after the last Dead Reds Wake 3. Apologies. The tin has sat here staring at me to move it, shake it and generally do something with it. But I hadn't. Well hadn't - but have now.

It's good news to report that after all the catering, glass purchases and general advertising / publication expenses we are sending $450 off to two charities. Doesn't sound much, but remember we only take $10 at the door :)

The two charities selected are Movember for Prostrate because so many of the guys in the group are participating (in face I'd love for yo all to post a piccy of how you are going) and the second is the Cancer Council (SA) for their Breast Cancer Research.

Happy giving :)
xc

From humble beginnings...

To members of Bring out your dead reds

Well, we reached another milestone today. We can now proudly boast over 200 members in the "Bring out your dead reds" Facebook group. Its great to see!!

For the newbies amongst us we've had 3 offline events in the past year that we call "Wakes".

There are fotos and videos posted so you can see what we get up to at these Wakes - but basically its about opening and enjoying old wine (with fingers crossed they haven't gone off but sometimes they have!!). The next one isn't due til March 09.

I'd love to hear from people o/s who like to also hold an event at this time (a global wake).The group loves to share fotos of bottles opened/tried. Check the convo's - it's been fascinating. And of course - please participate in the discussions, such as:

Love of wine, in six words
Wake 3 Suggestions
What is the oldest bottle of wine in your cellar (cupboard)?

Enjoy yourself... xc

Dead Reds Wake 4

To members of Bring out your dead reds

It's a long way off but I needed a target. So the date is set.

But hey, I also need some help. Dead Reds Wake 3 couldn't have happened without the support of a great crew - do you want to help make Wake 4 special?

To note, here's the date:http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=42622196321

For the next wake we've had a few ideas brewing, like fashion parades whilst we "sip/ taste"... punter judging (people's choice), bigger after party with music/DJ, and a possible international hook up with fellow dead redders not living in Adelaide.If you want to be involved in helping to make a unique, fun event happen (globally)... just for the love of it , please let me know. I'm on charlie@charliedesign.net.au

Hope that next bottle your crack open is even better than the last - keep the dead ones for the events :) xc

Wine Flavours

To members of Bring out your dead reds

I love groovy things and this website is just that. So, how do different wines taste? This website gives you the flavours as a visual representation...This visualization then attempts to show the strength of these relationships. The authors culled descriptive flavor words from over 5,000 published wine tasting notes written between 1995-2000 in a major Australian wine magazine.

This is the result:http://tashian.com/wine-flavors/

Awesome! xc

Quite frankly, this is a group who enjoys their wine.

Tasting it, talking about it, sharing it, laughing over it, learning about it, you name it, we just enjoy it. And there's certainly not a single wine professional amongst us - we're all happy amateurs (although we'll happily listen to anyone who knows what the heck they're talking about!!).

The anticipation of opening that bottle and experiencing the first taste, checking if it's still a glorious beauty or a ghastly beast is something you need to experience. The expression on faces, the anticipation, the cry out when it's a goodie - or a disaster - is hilarious.

Just when one committee member uttered the words that we may not get many more deads (gasp shock horror), out came to the event another four or five from the 1970's (with the top three deadest being amongst them). The rest were scattered through the 80's and 90's. We had over 30 bottles to the event!! And I still think there are more to unearth.

Now, at this particular Wake, thanks go to Marc for bringing along the Steve Maglieri, voted by (judge) Miles Crawley as the nights winner as being best taste, best preserved, best everything. The punters who got to sample it still have stars in their eyes. It was yummy.

The Woodley Burgandy (1970, 1Pint 6FL OZ) simply didn't have the same reaction from the crowd and (judge) Jim Manning agreed. The beautifully aged and tragic bottle had obviously lived a tough life, gone green around the edges and may have enjoyed a more welcome entry into the world if it had been opened in the 70's, when it was made. Alas a lost treasure. Brought to us by Sean, the singing Irishman, who was happy to just have a bottle to take part!! An awesome DEAD RED! A winner.

Stay tuned for the next event. Planned for February 2009!
xc

Photos will be posted to the wall.
Plus, check the new blog: http://deadreds.blogspot.com/

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Big thanks to:
Jim Manning and Miles Crawley as judges

Steve Davis as our MC and roving mike. Love ya style !!!

Committee members on tables:
Karen Foster
Paul Prince
Darren Richards
Michelle Williams
Kay Walker
Lee Ryan
(sob that Steve Thomas couldn't join us)

Dana Malach who did a superb job with the photos on the night.

Bruce Gannon for his expert "Door Bitch" role. We all thought he was serious!! eeek.

The Earl venue
Mercato catering - nom
Willabrand nibbles - nom nom
Steve Davis coffee sampling - nom nom nom

and a special mention to Trevor Cologne (my man) who had to put up with me leading up to then event and did a great job of just being there when needed! He also did a supurb job as video guy on the night though (there's a lot of funny footage we're sorting through).