ThePortForum.com

Hi there,

Tom and I met up on Saturday to sort out long outsanding Port deliveries. To mitigate for the stress we had a very nice lunch in the Bell in Wendens Ambo and realised it is about time for starting the discussion with regards to the Christmas offline. Hence this thread and an initial suggestion for a date, the Thursday the 16th of December and as a venue The Bell in Wendens Ambo.

Theme - any objection to a repetition of the traditional "The Unknown Shipper and His Peculiar Friends"?

Of course Tom and I are the first to reserve a seat on the table

confirmed attendees:

uncle Tom
WS1
DRT
Axel P
Chris Doty
AHB
1 special guests
KillerB
Cookie
JacobH
Alex Moffat
RAYC

regards

WS1

I'm in

...and the theme for the Christmas Off-line is always non-negotiable

I would like to join you again and I suggest to continue as we did before.

Axel

Game

I'm in.

Does the fact that Chris is game mean that we can shoot him on August 12?

Can we reserve a couple of spots for guests who would not normally attend our offlines? Last year the fact we did this meant that Rute and Joao were able to join us.

Hi Alex,

fine by me; are 2 places enough?

regards

WS1

AHB wrote:Does the fact that Chris is game mean that we can shoot him on August 12?

Game Shooting Seasons:

Pheasant: Oct 1 - Feb 1
Partridge: Sept 1 - Feb 1
Grouse: Aug 12 - Dec 10
Ptarmigan: Aug 12 - Dec 10
Blackgrouse: Aug 20 - Dec 10
Snipe: Aug 12 - Jan 31
Jack Snipe: protected
Woodcock: Oct 1 - Jan 31
Woodcock (Scotland): Sept 1 - Jan 31
Duck & Goose (inland): Sept 1 - Jan 31
Duck & Goose (below high water mark): Sept 1 - Feb 20
Coot/Moorhen: Sept 1 - Jan 31
Golden Plover: Sept 1 - Jan 31
Curlew: protected
Hare: cannot be sold March to July
Game Americans: 12 August only

Should be OK so long as we don't set the dogs on him first as that is apparently considered to be inhumane.

Ahh....so this must be that British humor I've read so much about.

Chris Doty wrote:Ahh....so this must be that British humor I've read so much about.

! about which I have read so much.

Surely.

I'm in

Please include me in this one.

updated!

regards

WS1

WS1 wrote:Hi Alex,

fine by me; are 2 places enough?

regards

WS1

I think 2 places is a reasonable balance

Just in case we may make this, can you keep two places open for LadyR and me?

Hi Ronnie,

fine by me, will put LadyR and you down. Please advise if it does not work out.

regards

WS1

Wolfgang,

Regrettably I think that I am not going to be able to make this year, despite having enjoyed last year so much. I have noted the date in case things change, but please don't reserve a seat for me.

I have no idea what I am doing in December but if I could be put down on the list, I will do my best to attend.

Hi Jacob,

as ar as I can see this should work

regards

WS1

Picked up some suitable candidates for the drinking list last night..

Tom

uncle tom wrote:Picked up some suitable candidates for the drinking list last night..

Would that be bottles or participants?

Bottles.

Wolfgang, Tom,

could you please fix a date soon as I need to book flights.

Thanks

Axel

If everyone is OK with Dec 16th, I'll call The Bell to make the reservation.

Tom

Happy!

Axel

16th please. (I've already made arrangements around that date!)

Yes, 16th please. Looking already fwd to it!

regards

WS1

WS1 wrote:Yes, 16th please. Looking already fwd to it!

regards

WS1

+1

Agreed then, I think; The Bell has been booked for Thursday Dec 16th.

Tom

Hi there,

had just a quick chat with Tom about the christmas offline and adding +1 (one guest of his) to the attendee list.

regards

WS1

Hi There,

just added Alex Moffat as Tom's guest. This also means that we have a full tasting provided we have noone dropping off. Hence we have also to start a waiting list for any further interested people.

regards

WS1

Is that Alex Moffat the illusionist?

Is that Alex Moffat the illusionist?

He tends to magically appear when we are in The Bell, but otherwise, no..

Tom

My room at the Saffron Hotel has been booked. Now I can spend the next 2 months trying to decide what to bring along on the night.

I have some unknown port which deserves an outing where the bottles look to be from the '20s or '30s, perhaps one of those will see the light of day...oh the fun of making a choice!

Placemats?

During my visits to the Bell and His Peculiar Friends, the placemats haven’t worked well. Do others agree? What could be done better?

Placemats don't really work well at The Bell when we are 14. Perhaps small, numbered stickers (to tie in with the numbered decanter labels that Uncle Tom uses) that could be stuck onto the foot of each glass would be better. Plus tasting notes pages. What do you think?

Not at the last moment i.e., soon please buy a packet of Ryman’s product 0220013560, P65 ! 21×38mm 65 per Sheet. You’ll have to make some careful measurements, after which numbers (or Greek letters) can be printed thereon.

There will be matching bottle labels (to be printed onto Ryman’s product 0220013460, P8 ! 99x68mm 8 per A4 Sheet, which you already have) and decanter labels (to be printed onto plain A4 white paper).

Does that work?

That all sounds quite splendid. I should be able to get the new labels a week from Friday when I am next in the office.

There's good news and bad news. The good news is that we booked our tickets to spend some time in the civilized world in December. The bad news is that we will not make it over to the UK and that we will be gone again before the 13th anyway.... so we will definitely not make it to this year's Christmas offline.

In which case, and subject to necessary approvals, can I put myself forward to profit from this unfortunate turn of events and take your place?

Could the list of confirmed attendees be updated and reposted please?

Done; we have 12 people interested/comitted to attend:

uncle Tom
WS1
DRT
Axel P
Chris Doty
AHB
2 special guests
KillerB
Cookie
JacobH
Alex Moffat

So with Rob we are up to 13.

Is there someone in mind for the 14th place or may I invite a guest?

Alex,

I am fine to add Rob to the list, but would like to suggest to wait a little in order to give members of the forum also a chance to take the last empty seat. If nobody is stepping fwd over the next couple of days I am happy you inviting a guest.

regards

WS1

WS1 wrote:Alex,

I am fine to add Rob to the list, but would like to suggest to wait a little in order to give members of the forum also a chance to take the last empty seat. If nobody is stepping fwd over the next couple of days I am happy you inviting a guest.

regards

WS1

That seems perfectly fair.

Is there someone in mind for the 14th place or may I invite a guest?

Bear in mind that it gets very crowded in The Bell if we have more than 12..

Tom

Good point. I shall top up the numbers only if we fall below 12.

latest update

uncle Tom
WS1
DRT
Axel P
Chris Doty
AHB
2 special guests
KillerB
Cookie
JacobH
Alex Moffat
RAYC

Just ordered my Port for the Christmas tasting; I hope no-one minds if I go for a "peculiar" this year!

JacobH wrote:...a "peculiar" this year!

<<gulp>>

Hopefully it's not a bottle of Taylor's first vintage Rose...

Would a Taylors 1855 Scion be classed as 'peculiar' or 'unknown'??....I have had the stuff under my nose but it was snatched away before it touched my lips ...for an extra £166 each we could try this juice...any takers??