Where Do You Off-Line?

As I wander the internet, it seems the majority of non-commercial offlines, say less than 10 or 12 particpants, take place in restaurants. Now maybe it is a Midwest thing, or the lack of BYO friendly restaurants around here, but we hardly ever Off-Line at a restaurant. The the majority of our "wine gatherings" at our home or someone else's abode, with an occasional event in a club/hotel.

Just curious, where do you prefer to off-line?

Hi Bill,

The majority of the time we get together with wine friends it is at someone's house. That way we can eat and drink exactly what we want. Luckily we are all fairly good cooks and that certainly helps. Also, many of the restaurants here do not allow corkage and it gets rather expensive ordering several bottles of wine off the reserve list. We also usually have better wine and stemware at our homes than in restaurants. And at home we don't have to worry about unruly children or surly wait staff ruining the evening.

But I have been known to attend a restaurant offline or two.

A mix. We have been holding a series of wine parties over the last couple of years, and these have been rotating through various homes. I also sometimes attend dinners at restaurants where I bring the wine and people comp me dinner.

I also sometimes attend dinners at restaurants where I bring the wine and people comp me dinner.

Depending how precise you are about the finances this can be a tricky proposition.

Sometimes people will casually offer to cook for me if I bring wine. But they often expect good wine and in many cases what I bring would be several multiples of what they spent on food. Not that I'm flashy or a big spender or anything, just that wine is often more expensive than food.

Same thing for restaurants. Are you bringing wine for everyone? Unless it's a case of Muscadet or something like that, I'm guessing with one or two bottles you're quickly passing the food cost.

Part of it of course comes down to your definition of "offline." The term originally meant a bunch of people who knew each other from an online community getting together. I still participate in those, but far fewer "a bunch of strangers" events than I used to. Now I have several informal groups, some of which started online, but now are arranged privately. The exception is generally if a prominent online group member visits NY. Then we have a real offline. More often than not it is in a restaurant as it's hard to fit a lot of people in most NYC apartments. We have hosted a few in our home, but travel to suburbs can be difficult.

My 2 Westchester groups rotate hosting in homes. 95% of my getting together with winefolks in the city is in restaurants.

[David M. Bueker]

Many more in-home "events" now than in the past. There's not that many BYO-friendly spots around here, so we've mostly gone to smaller groups and home cooked meals that highlight the wines we want to serve.

I also sometimes attend dinners at restaurants where I bring the wine and people comp me dinner.

Depending how precise you are about the finances this can be a tricky proposition.

Sometimes people will casually offer to cook for me if I bring wine. But they often expect good wine and in many cases what I bring would be several multiples of what they spent on food. Not that I'm flashy or a big spender or anything, just that wine is often more expensive than food.

Same thing for restaurants. Are you bringing wine for everyone? Unless it's a case of Muscadet or something like that, I'm guessing with one or two bottles you're quickly passing the food cost.

Not precise at all. I have a problematical collecting "jones" or hobby. (It's inherited-you should my mother's immense collection of pig figurines).

My friends benefit....so my goal is to get a little bit back. Wouldn't claim it is "even trade"...but, for example, my friend on Sunday night dinners-he basically maintains my bicycle for me (I am hopelessly unmechanical)

My friends benefit....so my goal is to get a little bit back. Wouldn't claim it is "even trade"...

Ok. That works.

As I wander the internet, it seems the majority of non-commercial offlines, say less than 10 or 12 particpants, take place in restaurants. Now maybe it is a Midwest thing, or the lack of BYO friendly restaurants around here, but we hardly ever Off-Line at a restaurant. The the majority of our "wine gatherings" at our home or someone else's abode, with an occasional event in a club/hotel.

Just curious, where do you prefer to off-line?

Depends on the state. In CA, we often go to restaurants because they are more use to corkage fees or some a sheer lack of them (Rutherford Grill in Rutherford is a popular one for us). In states like MA, we go to people's houses.