Forums Closed
|
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
Best wishes for a wonderful and magical new year!
|
|
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
|
 |
04-10-2004, 03:24 PM
|
#1
|
Community Rank: Adventurer 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: arkansas
Posts: 555
|
Home wine tasting party
|
|
|
|
04-11-2004, 09:25 PM
|
#2
|
Community Rank: Sightseer 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Southern Illinois
Posts: 96
|
Re: Home wine tasting party (and it\'s kinda long)
My husband and I belong to a "Wine Tasting Temperance Society" comprised of the guys in his band, the wives, and some other friends we have in common. We started this about 5 years ago and it is soooo much fun. 
Like you, many of us are uneducated about wine. I've been to a few big professional wine expos and so I was "elected" as "Public Relations Director". We have a President, he who hosts at his house for these events, Vice-President, the guy who was a ring leader in starting the whole thing and mans our personal website...if it's even up and running anymore, my husband is the "Statician", he holds a MS in Pure Mathematics and is responsible for tallying the scores...yes, we even have a scoring system  ...we also have a "Secretary" who is a friend of hubby and me who is now a math teacher because of my husband...she's also a former student.
How we do this is...
1st...each person brings a wine of their choice. Sometimes we have a theme...red only, white only...or whatever hits ya...these can be a hoot! The wine should arrive in a plain brown wrapper/bag to conceal it's identity. The president places them in a "secure location"...his downstairs bar fridge area.
2nd...we provide wine glasses for each person...Walmart sells some nice ones for about $6 for 4. Glass is a must...no plastic or paper. We have a couple pitchers of water for swishing and rinsing the glasses. We also have a "spitoon" for the rejects and used water...a nearby sink will work.
 Snacks are nice...we usually offer some crackers - ritz, wheat thins, triscuit...nothing too flavorful - and cheese -cojack, cheddar, swiss or whatever sounds good. The crackers are helpful because you can "cleanse the palate" between wines.
3rd...I hand out the score sheets (made easily with excel or by hand with a ruler and pencil then copied for each participant) and a pencil...if there are any new tasters I go over "How to Taste Wine" and the "Score Sheet"...
wine #? Appearance Nose Palate Assessment Score
Appearance is what the wine looks like in the glass. What color is it? A white wine can be amber, golden, pale yellow,etc. A red can be purple, red, pink, etc. Does it have any "legs" or viscosity? Or as I was told "does it have any hang time?" When you swirl the glass does the wine cling to the inside?
Nose is what it smells like. Fruity? Woody? Citrus? Old Socks?
Palate is what it tastes like to you. Can you taste the apple? The oak from the barrel? Like the cough medicine you took as a kid?
Assessment is your overall thoughts on the wine. This is our favorite part as we have some very creative people tasting with us. Some are serious and write, "The wine is a smooth, well aged, red that would accompany a fine steak." Others have been known to write, "It looks like grape juice, smells like my dog's breath and tastes like Vicks Formula 44."
Score is on a scale of 1 - 10, 10 being the best. We do not allow negative numbers.
4th...the prez, with bottle nicely covered by the brown paper bag, pours a small amount (no more than 1/3 of a glass) into each participants glass and each makes their notes on the score sheet.
5th...After each wine has been tasted, the "Statician" and "Secretary" ajourn to another room with calculator and pencil to tabulate the averages and determine a winner.
(The prez actually prints a certificate for 1st thru 3rd place winners.)
6th...When everything is tabulated, they return to the tasting area and announce (if say 10 wines), "In 10th place is #4." Then we each take a turn and read our score sheet notes. Again, this can be quite funny sometimes.
After the winners are announced then we find out who brought which wines and the winners receive the certificates from the prez.
Then we finish off what is left in the bottle and sign the corks for the prez to display in his cork board display in the kitchen.
We have a lot of fun doing this and it's great way to spend an evening trying wines you'd never try if you had to buy the whole bottle.
One time the VP brought a bottle of Night Train as a joke...it received the Vicks Formula 44 comment. Another guy brought a bottle of Boones Farm and it won!
If you want to learn how to properly taste a wine, there are numerous books available. I found one at Barnes and Noble with great photos and descriptions that I copied so everyone could have one for that first tasting many years ago.
Hope this helps! If you have any questions, just send me a message here and I'll be happy to help some more!
Laura šoš |
|
|
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
|
|
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
Linear Mode
