Not what what what...white
Sutter Home white zinfandel

White zinfandel -- any maker -- is the Budweiser of wines. And that's an authoritative statement.

Mine are.

I've a special filter on my door that causes White Sin to explore if it cross the threshold. Sorry, that's just plain crap. They should make them put the word wine in quotes on the bottle.

Peter, I assume then that if you visited and I brought out the Ripple that you wouldn't be pleased.

Harrumph... I won't drink any wine that casts a shadow. Peasants.

Bren R.

I can't say I've ever had a wine that even vaguely reminded me of Kool-Aid, unless it had the word "cooler" attached to it.

One of my wifes favorites for summer parties is White Zin mixed with pink lemonade in a big punchbowl.

People, people... there's a reason that hard liquor exists...

Nah, mine was derision.

I'd love a cocktail thread. I'm terrible at mixology--I need to learn more.

After reading the wiki article on white zin, it seems we have it to thank for preserving many "old vine" zin vinyards. Seeing as I live zin made from old vines, I suppose I no longer wish for the complete erasure of white zin from existence.

So zin lovers OWE it to the white zin for the existence of old vine wines.
Pay some homage eh?

And let's not forget some of the old vine Zins that they use to make the Zin Ports, very tasty indeed.

I loves me some zin port!

I’m a big zin fan myself. Other than some of the Ridge zin’s (most are great), I by the Cline, Ancient Vine zin by the case. I keep it around for those “any day” sipping bottles. I get it for about $12 a bottle when I get it by the case. I reckon in the lower 48, one could pick it up for a lot less. A very, very good bottle. One wouldn’t know it by looking at the price tag.

Thanks for the clarification Chess. I figured I was wrong.

Yep….it’s a dandy.

Another wine I buy by the case is a Melbec from Argentina that my favorite warehouse just started carrying. Not real sure how they name their wines, so here’s what the label has on it.

Catena
2003
Melbec
Mendoza
Argentina

It’s a medium to heavy bodied big red. Almost as smooth as a Merlot, but still has that tannin presence of a well aged Cab. Lot’s of fruit, some spice and a slight buttery finish. This one you taste all over the tongue.

It’s about $15 a bottle. I normally stay away from wines from South America, as I’ve got some pretty bad ones. But one night at a wine tasting event, a pretty girl and a few glasses of wine……well, long story short I spent $1200 on wine and more than that on actions for crap I don’t need, and this Melbec was one was one of the cases I bought. I continue to buy it, unlike the others that she talked me into.

I actually have open a bottle of Melbec yesterday. My parents came to visit last weekend and my dad always brings a lot of "new" wines for me to try. I enjoyed it. The Concha y Toro is definitely worth it! My dad used to always bring some bottles during his trips to Chile.

Chesseroo: you don't like any French wine at all? I'm not a wine expert by a long shot but there's an amazing variety to choose from (well that's if you go there directly to get them ... Can't find all in import).

We get to attend Tehachapi's 3rd annual Wine Festival tonight, local vinters as well as some of the Central coasts wineries will be in attendance, always fun to try some new and varied wines.

Where's the love for Washington wines, chess?

Last year on our trip to Seattle to visit some good friends we tried several of Washingtons wines and enjoyed them very much, unfortunatly I can't remember the names.

This is a fun website for the wine enthusiasts. Cellar Tracker

Well as French wine goes Bordeaux is far from being the best, but that's just my opinion. I'm more of a Burgundy fan.

Here’s a good source of information on Washington wines. Lot’s of good wine comes from Washington. http://www.washingtonwine.org/index.cfm Chateau Ste. Michelle for one.

Thanks for tip on the Chilean wine Chess. I’ll look for the bottle.

I didn’t get that many bottles. Some were well over $50. Like I said, a pretty girl; and I just can’t say no to a pretty girl. But I am drawing a sketch for a wine cooler that I’m going to make. I don’t have room for a cellar unfortunately, but I can build a pretty nice cooler for about 300 bottles. That’s plenty enough room for me.

I’ve never liked French wines myself. I tried a bunch last year when I was bouncing around the UK for a few weeks. Gave up on the wine and stuck to all those wonderful Ale’s. The one thing Brit’s do extremely well….is make beer.

Good link Mike.
I'll add that to the bookmarks and peruse it later today. This afternoon we are heading out onto the deck to sip a nice Quady Elysium, something that was actually mentioned earlier in this thread.
I prefer the Electra, but my wife has yet to try either. Should be nice on a semi hot day.

That Chilean Concha y Toro Don Melchor i mentioned is a $40 Cdn bottle and is a cellaring wine, but short term if i recall, 5-7 years more in bottle.
Ours was already 4 years in the bottle when we tried it so i doubt it would have seen much more maturing for another year or two.

I did alot of searching on wine coolers not long ago until we decided to make the cellar. We almost went that route ourselves with a 300 bottle dark wood design unit. They are incredibly expensive, probably about half the cost of our cellar, or more depending on the brand. A 300 bottle unit is easily 3-4k.

This Koolspace unit was the one we bought for our cellar. The price listed here seems much less than the Cdn equivalent. I believe it cost us over $800 but i would have to go back to the basement reno receipts to check.
It is quiet and does a great job. There is a squirrel cage fan inside which helps keep the noise to a minimum. The compressor rarely needs to come on and when it does, it is a vaguely audible hum.

>>Once i get it up and running and everything entered, i should be able to get a better idea of where my preferences seem to be based on percentages chosen and stocked.

One of my friends once mentioned that he received a better understanding of his preferences based on what he ran out of, ie if he had a lot of something in the cellar it usually meant he didn't like it

Thanks for the link. Did you get your racks from this place? They are different than what I had in mind, but heck, I can’t build them for what they sell them for. What do you think of the cleat stile vrs the diagonal X stile?

Moving over to a new job in two weeks so i decided to crack something a bit more expensive tonight to celebrate.
A nicely chilled bottle of Oyster Bay Sav blanc from New Zealand. Very lime, fresh cut grass, effervescence and darn tart. Just makes you want to stick out your tongue.

I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but I've read some great reviews on it. It was just introduced in March to Ruth Chris Steak House wine selection from Quintessa Winery. Let us know what you think of it, if its good I'll have to track down a bottle.

Tried a new wine last night that the wife and I enjoyed very much, Root 1 Cabernet from Chile, very rich and spicy dark fruit tastes with a touch of pepper. At around $11.00 to $12.00 dollars a bottle I'm going to add a case to our collection for an everynight type of wine.

I had my first Cakebread a couple nights back. It was a 2003 Merlot. Damn good wine. It was the most complex, full bodied and wonderfully tasty Merlot I’ve ever had. Lots of black fruits on the nose with a slight vanilla finish. It hit just about every spot on my tongue with taste, very slight hint of tannins which at first made me think I was drinking nicely aged cab. I’ve always walked by them at the store because they usually run about $50 a bottle, but a friend brought it over so I felt obligated to try it…..

I’m looking forward to trying their cabs now.

I also had a Yulumba red and I went and pitched the bottle without writing down what it was. It was a combination of three grapes with a screw on top. Light body, almost like a Pino. 2004. I only had one bottle too…dangit. Any ideas what that was?? Man it was good and I don’t normally go for light bodied reds.

Cakebread whites are some of the best I've tasted. Their chard -- and I'm not normally a fan of chards -- is excellent.

I appreciate you guys very much.

I think that Washington Reds (especially Cabs and blends) are generally better than Washington Whites.

I'm extremely bitter that the Wine Thread has five stars and the Beer Thread only four.

Ya that sucks about the star rating for sure.

I'm still working towards finding some good Chilean wines but the Concha y Toro brand is a good place to start.

I've heard of Cakebread wines but haven't ventured one. Aren't they on the expensive side of the fence?

I checked out the Cakebread Chard that Peter recommended - $55 in Ontario. I'd be afraid to bring it in in case Ian liked it! ;-)

Cakebread is on the expensive side if you think a $50 bottle of wine is expensive. To me it’s expensive. I tend to look for bottles in the $20 – $40 range and walk by the ones that are higher than that. And then of course the bottles that are under $20 are always fun to try because it doesn’t hurt too much if they suck.

I must be lucky today. Sarah saved that bottle of Yalumba I liked so much. You guys got to try this stuff. I won it in a silent action bundled with a dozen other bottles at a Special Olympics support thing a few weeks ago. I’m just now getting to the bottles………Point being is that I never would have bought this bottle. I think they cost about $35 a bottle.

It doesn’t’ really have a name; I don’t know what to call it. I’ll just type what’s on the label.

Yalumba

Hand picked

90% Tempranillo + 5% Grenache + 5% Viognier

Barossa Valley

2004………..14.5% alc

http://www.yalumba.com/product.asp?p=153&b=18

Wow, The Cakebread Chard runs from about $30.00 to $35.00 here with the Cabs and Merlots at the lowest around $56.00 going up to $70.00 depending on the vendor.

You get used to the price differences living here. We have provincially-controlled liquor, beer and wine in Ontario. This makes us the world's largest wine-buying power and for some reason that has no benefits attached to it price-wise! We do have lovely liquor stores though. . .

Those prices are almost enough to make me cut down on my wine consumption, almost.

Nah, you just get creative! We gathered 8 friends for a 'best bottle under $10' competition - quite a challenge in Ontario! But there were some fun finds - only one would have stripped paint. I was laughing visiting a friend in Florida and touring the A-B-C - half the stock is under $10! You'd have to make the game 'best bottle under $7' there.

Edit - for the record, all the wine glasses are exactly the same, the bottles all arrive in a brown paper bag, and we label the bags a, b, etc. Nearly a double-blind test!

I will take a look for some of these wines tomorrow at the shop, but i'm curious Amie, what was the list of best under $10?
You simply HAVE to share that piece of knowledge.
I know i can add one or two German rieslings to the list.

Hey, baby duck has a real place in Canadian wine history.
I had some when i was younger although i doubt my parents drank much of it. I recall boxes of 4L Hochtaler in the garbage far more often.
Black Tower only once.

The family and I are planning our 7 day trip to Napa and Somona next Sunday, any recommendations on favorite wineries or vintages from the area would be appreciated. The wifes only must go at this point is Silver Oak.
We also plan on taking the wine train for a lunch or Dinner excursion, If anyone is interested I'll post my review of the Wine Train when we return.

Try the Ravenswood Winery in Sonoma. It's about a 5 minute drive from the town center. I would be interested in your thoughts on the wine train.
Cheers,
Shaun

As a California ex-patriate, I am SOOO jealous. I went wine tasting here in Virginia a couple weeks ago. There is absolutely no comparison.

Some of my favorite wineries are:
Cakebread -- by appointment only
Praeger Port Works -- a must if you like port!
Markham -- one of the best Merlots I ever tasted was from here
V. Sattui -- they have a very tasty madeira
Cosentino -- everything they make is tasty

Many of these are further north -- St. Helena and beyond. Worth the trip, though.

Oh man, that sounds like fun. I have a bunch of friends that go every year, invite me every year and something inevitably comes up…..every time.

At any rate, three wineries on MY must see list (if I ever get there)….

Siverado – One of my favorite wines.
http://www.silveradovineyards.com/index.html
Lamborn – the best damn zin made, bar none. Great folks, one of the best wine makers in the business (Heidi Barrett).
http://www.lamborn.com/cs/lamborn/view/docs/9
Mondovi – take their wine tasting class.

Yes, love to hear thoughts on the wine train.

As for favs to see? WAAAYYY too many too count in the California region.
But offering up the best some have had will help me fill out my cellar with new brands that i have yet to try!!
Love the recent round of suggestions. I'll go shopping again next weekend.

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone, I'm going to try to get to all the wineries mentioned. My wife got our reservations in for the wine train today, I'm starting to get excited about the trip, I just hope the weather holds.

I blindly picked out a great Pinot Noir at dinner Saturday - Waterstone. Lucky find! It was Napa Valley, I'm sure. Perfect with my escargot ravioli and grilled lamb - if your train stops there have a glass for me!

Escargot ravioli?!
Geez, Axiom must be doing better than i thought!!

Thanks Amie, nice find on a boutique Pinot, that ones going on the list also.
One of the things that I really like about Napa and Sonoma, is for the smaller wineries they will have a large tasting room in town, it will represent 10 or 12 different vineyards. So for the Waterstone, and the Lamborn that Mike mentioned, I can park in the town center and do some serious tasting, although after about 8 tastes my wife refers to it as just drinking.

>>Doing well? They're reduced to eating sidewalk snacks!

Not just sidewalks. I find mine crawling up the garage door.

I have never understood why the snails you buy in the store are from the Philippines or Thailand. Don't we grow snails that are as good as anyones? Or are tropical snails more moist?

After a couple of trips up and down the 'ol garage door I have to think our domestic snails would be a bit tough and stringy. Better a tropical snail that lounged on the beach its whole life.

Amie's question is a good one though...

EDIT -- didn't find anything conclusive in a quick search (other than a complaint from someone who "ordered escargot but was just served a bunch of snails in a styrofoam cup") but it appears to be a function of size. French snails grow relatively large but are very expensive, and there is a large & tasty breed of African snail which grows well in Asia (and is being raised commercially there) but doesn't seem to survive in Canada.

I bet our snails are just too small. There's probably a clever joke to be made but I just don't feel up to it today.

Actually (based on Freshman French class), the French export the big snails to us because they're not as good as the little ones. Incindentally, the good little ones are the ones that run (well, ooze) wild in Southern California, at least.

The question is, what wine pairs best with urban land mollusks?

Pinot Ipecac.

There was a tiny worm in my artichoke last night. I discarded it foolishly - I should have tried it with the wine I was drinking!

Hey, can the Beer Thread possibly be this interesting?

No, but it's not nearly as disgusting!

Because of this thread I am getting into wine . My fiance has always drank blush wine now we are getting into the more traditional wines. I already made a couple of trips to wine and spirits store as we call it here in Pennsylvania, I bought what people were talking about here such as William Hill Cabernet Sauvignon, Cline Zin and Cline Big Break Zin, and also a wine for dummies DVD lol. Unfortunately the wineries do not ship to PA so I am limited. Any other recommendation for a good Zin or Cabernet Sauvignon. Thanks Drew

Wineries don't ship to Virginia either. It really gets my grapes.

Drew, there may be some good suggestions for cab savs already in this thread, but if you want to start with a quality wine at a reasonable price, the Robert Mondavi Woodbrige cab is around $13 Cdn (so less USD) and excellent for its price. Another good cab standard is Wolf Blass Yellow Label. They are big sellers, popular, but they are lovely quality performers for their price.
Painter Bridge is a Californian zin that is similarly priced and quite lovely.

Best cab i've had yet to date, a 1994 Lindemans Coonawarra. Hard to find now.

Well thank goodness those "Winersies" don't ship to Virginia Peter. Heaven knows what would happen if any winersies got loose.

my, what ever could you be referring to?

SNeAkY bugger.
Got under that 30 minoot edit change ruel eh?


Speaking of wine, just finished a Painter Bridge zin...this....very...second, now onto some Grahams port.

Rosenblum is one of my favorite wineries, acocording to their storefront web site they do ship to VA Rosenblum
We are stopping at their winery in Alameda tomorrow late afternoon when we arrive up in that area, then it's on to Napa

Nice find, HD! Perhaps legislation recently changed. I know I can find Rosenblum in grocery stores here, but the selection straight from the winery is obviously much better.

Yeah Peter, VA law changed about three years ago.

Drew, a similar situation applies to wines not sold in Pennsylvania stores .

I'm drinking a great cab with a couple friends right now. So good I had to post it.... Well that and getting out of carving another damn turkey.

2002 Steltzner Cab
Stags Leap District

Heavy body, very long legs..(14.8%)

Berry on the nose at first
Spice, tobacco and plum
Berry finish.

This is definitely a complex wine. I've not ever had one go from berry, to spice and then back to berry again.

We went through Stags Leap District on Friday, there are 15 wineries in that district that are known for their world class Cabernets, we were able to visit five, Silverado being one of them.
One of the little facts that I learned while out there, is that their Cabs have a bolder taste than the Napa Valley area Vineyards, apparently due to the fact that they have a different water table, even though their vinyards in that valley run almost parallel to the main Napa wineries.
I'll be posting soon our favorites from our trip as well as our thoughts on the wine train.

That’s great that you got by Silverado. They are one of my all time favorite wineries. I love their Cab. Their 99 is THE bottle that got me drinking cabs several years ago.

The week went by to fast, to many wineries not enough time. I want to thank everybody for their suggestions, I was able to taste all but a couple of the wines suggested and all lived up to the hype, the only ones I couldn't find to taste were the Lamborn Zin and the Cakebreads, although I did purchase a Cakebread Cab and Merlot to be tasted later. Sonoma was skipped this year in order to take the kids to the Jelly Belly factory and the wife to the Napa Outlet Mall. I'll give our thoughts on the winetrain, our favorite buys and a couple pics. since everybody seems to like pictures.
The wine train was one of the highlights of the trip, the cars are elegantly restored, the food is gourmet quality. There are several choices of cars that you can choose to ride on depending on if you want a 4 course meal or if you just want to order from a menu. No matter what car you choose you are free to roam all the cars on the train. My favorite was the wine tasting car, for $5.00 you are able to taste 4 wines of your choice of the 30 or so different wineries represented, for $15.00 dollars, my wife and I were able to share tastes from 12 different wineries, compared to the cost of tasting in Napa where the prices run from $10.00 to $50.00 dollars a tasting depending on the vintage that's quite a bargain.
I would recommend this trip to anyone thinking about visiting Napa, it was well worth it.

Some of our favorite wineries that we visited and purchased from.
Cabs- Siverado, Silver Oak, Constantino, we purchased their Cabs and a few others, all their wines were outstanding.
Merlot- Markham, to me their 2000 reserve was one of the best Merlots I have ever tasted, we bought 1/2 a case.
Hagafen- Very tasty reserve Zin, small boutique winery
Sangiovese- Luna, great wine
Red Wine-Chimney Rock, winery in the Stags Leap Dist. their Levage was one of the best wines I had on this trip.
This was just our personal favorites of the many wineries visited, we needed another week

The wife, kids,and father in-law in front of Mondavi


The kids favorite, ariel tram to Sterling Winery


The Take

I'm glad you liked the Markham Merlot. My tastes have been verified! But seriously -- I am completely jealous of your trip, and your newly augmented wine collection.

FANTASTIC TRIP! Great haul of wines!

Now i know i have to go before the border closes behind the upcoming standard body cavity search and brainwave ID scanning.

Sounds like you had a great trip. I’m equally jealous…..of the trip and that wonderful display of vino on your table.

I like Silver Oak too. I just don’t buy it anymore after they had a couple great years and became famous. For what they charge nowadays, I can find much better. But it’s still a damn fine wine.

So what happened at the Lamborn winery? It’s really too bad you didn’t get to visit them. They are very down to earth nice people. Plus you could have tried their new cab. A couple friends and I got a case of it shipped. It’s a special run with a limited number of cases (100 is all). We’re all just waiting for a good night to open one.

The Lamborn winery is open by appointment only, the wine train wasn't carrying their wines that trip and the wine wharehouse where I bought the Cakebreads were out also.
I figured since you were right on the mark with the Silverado, I ordered 3 bottles of their Zin yesterday from the winery

3 bottles of the 2004 Lamborn Zin arrived via UPS this evening at my doorstep. So naturally that was our bottle of choice with dinner.
I'll have to concede that this is one outstanding Zin, very complex with rich black fruits and cherry, and some spicy flavor that adds to the complexity of the wine.
The wife and I loved the wine, which is saying allot since my wife is not as big a Zin fan as I am.
Needless to say, the other 2 bottles are going in the vault with our other favorite wines for a little aging, and to be opened only on special occasions.

My two wine drinking buddies I mentioned earlier are on Lamborn's invitation only mailing list. They buy a lot of their wine and get their new vintages automatically mailed to them. Whenever they get a bottle, I supply the house and food and one of them brings over a bottle. I haven't' had a Lamborn I wasn't very much impressed with yet. Next week we are going to try their private reserve cab.

Glad you liked the zin. It would seam that we have similar tastes.

So i'm guessing that Lamborn won't be available in my area then eh?


Just how big is the cellar that is going to hold that mass of collectors items anyway?

Lol, my cellar is a fridge in the garage that I use exclusively for wine storage, I keep it on the lowest setting so it stays around 50 degrees. This trip pretty much filled it up with special wines, fortunately we have built in racks in our bar that will hold about 30 bottles of the everynight drinking reds, and we usually share a special bottle on the weekends.
I was thinking about buying a climate controlled cellar, if anyone knows about some decent ones that won't break the bank I'm all ears.

Funny you should mention the wine frig., I did a search last night thinking it would be a cool gift for my wife and I for Christmas, I ended up buying this one wine cellar
With an additional $25.00 off from Amazon, I thought it was a pretty good deal.

I have a friend in town who sells appliances out of a small shop, no big box store. I was looking at that exact fridge last year for another friend. The appliance store could not get rid of the things, no one was buying, so they priced them at cost which sad to say was a mere $199 Cdn.

Wow, I guess he should have put them on Amazon, the wine refrigerators seem pretty popular this year, many of the models were already sold out, the one I purchased was one of their bestsellers.

I had a REALLY nice one yesterday. Got it at Costco for about $25. Rated at 93 or 94 points.

Review

http://www.skurnikwines.com/wines.cgi?rm=view_detail&wine_id=3505

Chateau La Vieille Cure
Fronsac
2003
French

The wife, kids and I are in the the Morrow Bay area at her brothers house, his new girfriend brought over an excellent Port from Robert Hall last night. Turns out she works for Robert Hall wineries, so today we will be wine tasting all through the Paso Robles area ending at the Robert Hall tasting room where she gets a 50% discount, I see at least a case going home with us

Out here in Okie-town we had a wine-filled holiday. I thought I should report that an Argentine malbec we picked up from a local (and excellent) wine shop was a great hit. If you can find a Kaiken Malbec (white and orange label), definitely pick it up. At only $14/bottle, it's easy to buy a case.

Catena is another good Malbec from Argentina. The 2003 in particular. They are about $20 per btl.

Come to think about it, I've been finding several good wines from Argentina and Chili lately.

Malbecs seem to be the latest craze following the pinot noir. I've been seeing alot more interest, articles and bottles around the past half year.
Mind you, the Wine Spectator just did some articles highlighting the Argentinian malbecs last month. The advertising helps.

I wonder when merlots will come back into style, maybe following Sideways II...

Speaking of wines, the annual tasting event is coming up tomorrow for New Year's. Do not know how many bottles are on the table yet but i've picked up a Lindemans 1997 Pyrus for the occasion.
http://www.lindemans.com.au/gifs/our_wines/pdf/Coon_pyrus97.PDF

Chess, I'll look forward to your notes!

We, too, enjoyed an Argentine Malbec recently - I think it was a Norton (not sure of the vintage). Very tasty. Would buy it again.

Some of our friends convinced us to have a small combined News Years and birthday party for my little one who turns 3 tomorrow, so I'm providing the wine while they bring the food.
Before it turns into just drinking we plan on doing a small blind Cab shootout, a 2003 Cakebread, 2003 Siverado and a 2002 Silver Oak, my wife is getting pretty good at distinguishing the subtleties of different wines, I'm still at the "that's a pretty darn good wine" stage.

The Bodega Norton does indeed make a very good malbec from what i hear. I cannot seem to get one locally though i continue to ask around.

Our plans have changed somewhat. We just got dumped on with snow tonight and so our idea of opening the Lindemans Pyrus out at a friend's cottage in the afternoon has been nixed. The drive is too dicey to bother. So now we are spending tomorrow aft around the house instead, no wine tasting this New Years' but we will be opening one of my favorite chardonnays mentioned much earlier, the Peller Estate Andrew Peller Signature Series Sur Lie 2002.


Homedad, i look forward to your thoughts on the cab blind tasting. I can get some Cakebreads here but i cannot say about the other two. Their names sound familiar. If only these damn liquor laws would allow for cross border shopping.

The Cab blind tasting went great, as with any blind tasting everyone seemed to have a different favorite, for me the Cakebread got top honors, it tasted very similar to the Silver Oak, both were full rich cabs but Imho the Cakebread was a tad smoother,the Silverado which was rated a 95 by wine spectator came in 3rd for me, it was an exceptional wine and stood out from the other wines with it's unique cherry and oak taste but the fact that it was so different had half the group loving it and the other half not so crazy about it. My 4th choice was the Robert Hall, while good it was a little fruity for my taste.
On another note, Sunday we had a great Washington Cab called Genesis from Houge Cellars that was sent to us from some friends in Seattle.

I just went tasting at Silverado (among others) this past Sunday, and wasn't particularly impressed with any of their "Estate" offerings, though I didn't taste their reserve list (which included several wines close to or above $100/bottle). I did taste a very nice cab from Rutherford Hill, though (they also had a really tasty zin port, too - had to get a bottle of that).

My wife bought me two tickets for Christmas for a port tasting at a local, private wine store for this saturday. The scoop is they have two bottles of a rare port, one of which is spoken for and the other may be opened at the tasting.
I have another friend with a ticket so 3 of us will be attending.
Two hours of tastings and talking about the Grandeur of Port.

Very very excited.
I will be taking many notes.

I've never been to a port tasting, sounds like it will be fun. I really enjoy port, we have several bottles of true port and some late Harvest Zins that many of the wineries out here refer to as port, but I'm sorely lacking in knowledge as to what makes a port great.
Looking forward to your tasting notes, perhaps I can learn something.

The Silverado seams to have lost their way over the last few years. I'm very disappointed as the 99 was absolutely wonderful. I've still got a few of them and there's no comparison between them and the last few vintages. The 99 was wine spectator's #20 and that made them quite popular. They've gone downhill ever since. Same thing happened with Silver Oak. Their 93 was the last vintage I really like. They still make a great bottle, but definitely not a great $80 bottle. I'd rather pick up a Provenance, Stag's Leap or Cakebread than Silver Oak.

Last night I decided to do a little red shopping at BevMo. Came home with these:

Hess (Napa Valley) '04 Artezin - I actually tasted this at the winery and had bought a bottle, but I never got to enjoy it (it went to my parents for Xmas). Opened it last night and really like it. Great body and nicely balanced throughout (definitely not a one-note zin). A nice deal at $18, too.

Roth (Alexander Valley) '03 Cabernet Sauvignon - bought it purely based off the glowing recommendation the little Bevmo info card had. I believe they called it the perfect representation of what an Alexander Valley cab should be. $40, so I have fairly high expectations for this one.

Laetitia (Arroyo Grande Valley) '05 Pinot Noir - Another one I bought purely off the info card recommendation. Pinot is probably the red I'm least familiar with, but I'm slowly getting to know it. Another good deal (well, hopefully) at $18.

I've had the Hess. Good bottle.

One thing I figured I'd throw out there to anyone reading this thread and running out and buying a bottle based on a recommendation someone posts.

This is primarily concentrated to Cabs, but all reds benefit from it as well. Let that sucker breath!

I used to laugh at folks that would tell me to do this, but have become a believer. I use my decanter for every bottle of red I open anymore. I bought this silly thing a few years ago for straining 'the good bottles' that get sediment after a decade or so, but it works amazingly well for rapid breathing (I'm impatient as hell). It works so well that I have two of them now. I pull a bottle out of the cooler, dump it into the decanter and let it sit for about twenty minute (swirling it every now and then). When friends come over for a wine swilling night, both decanters have wine in them.

So anyway, don't give up on a bottle unless you let it breath for a while. If you still don't like it, move on. No sense blowing money on something nasty to you twice. But definately give it time to breath. Some bottles go from down right horible to pretty darn good with a little air.

My cousin (a conneswer...) has also described using decanters for us. He actually asked for a decanter at a restaurant when we ordered a red wine. Seemed to work pretty well!

Good advice. I don't have a decanter, but I'll usually pour myself a small glass after opening and then leave the bottle open to breathe. If I know I'm having wine with dinner, I'll open the bottle before I start preparing the food. It definitely makes a good difference in taste.

Here is another good link to learn about wines Wine Spectator
You can click on the pdf links and print the guide, pretty handy if you throw a tasting at home.

There is some great information to be found in the Wine Spectator, however i find many articles to be rather snooty snobby, very aristocratic.
There was an article on wine cellars a few issues ago and they basically stated that good, standard cellars could cost between 50k and 100k from the vendors they polled. That's just ridiculous. Our 713 bottle climate controlled cellar was 6k.

Another article discussed the latest movement in wine auctions which are occurring more often at restaurants than in rental halls with uncomfortable steel chairs. The author described many buyers as serious collectors that call in orders and have representatives provide a physical presence while other 'newer' and more novice collectors show up in person hoping that some of the good wines will fall through the cracks and get nabbed by them, what the author referred to as "bottom fishers". The arrogance displayed in the writing is aggravating.

I have yet to see the Wine Spectator review a single Canadian wine that was not an ice wine. They often tout 600+ reviews this issue, but not one Canadian brand?
So much for objective perspective.

/end rant

Port tasting countdown 2 hours.

I'll have to agree with you on Wine Spectators attitudes and alliances, when we were in Napa and Paso touring wineries several of the vinyard owners we met scoffed at some of Wine spectators top 100 choices stating that advertising and support do as much as having a great wine.
Agreed they do have some usefull articles, but I'm putting in my order for the book you mentioned. Have fun tonight.

Apparently the port was pretty good. Chess hasn't dragged himself out of bed yet.

Ok the ports tasted, in order (and they were in a specific order for a reason) were:

• Warre's Fine White ==============================$16.41
  
• Taylor Fladgate 10 yr old Tawny =================$41.95
  
• Dow's 1992 Colheita Tawny =======================$29.44
  
• Graham's 20 yr old Tawny ========================$69.99
  This set done in order of increasing age for tawnies.
  
  
• Dutschke Old Codger Tawny =======================$21.99
  This tawny added as a non-Portugal offering for comparison.
  
  
• Quinto do Infantado Medium Dry Estate Ruby =======$19.49
  
• Quinto do Infantado 1996 Late Bottled Vintage ====$37.95
  
• Quinto do Infantado 2000 Vintage =================$76.95
  This set done to compare increasing age of vintage style red ports, all from the same quinto.
  
  
• Fonseca 1986 Guimaraens Vintage ==================$69.09
  
• Smith Woodhouse 1997 Vintage =====================$60.02
  
• Quinto do Infantado 2000 Vintage =================$76.95 (tested again here in this set)
  
• Quinta do Noval 2003 Vintage =====================$150
  This set done to compare some higher priced premium ports from vintage years
  

I have notes on each, but that would make for an extensive post. If anyone wants further specifics, i can provide.
Otherwise, a short summary should hopefully suffice.

• Warre's Fine White $16.41
  -simple, aperitif, cooking, drink cold
  
  
• Taylor Fladgate 10 yr old Tawny $41.95
  -very standard, lots of alcohol
  
  
• Dow's 1992 Colheita Tawny $29.44
  -a very good value for its price, drinking well
  
  
• Graham's 20 yr old Tawny $69.99
  -very standard, lots of heat, subtle flavors, not worth the cost
  
  
• Dutschke Old Codger Tawny $21.99
  -a new, personal favorite, much more sweet than the previous 4, very heavy butterscotch and caramel, smooth texture, controlled alcohol. It may have more sweetness but it also has a much richer character, something i like in a flavorful tawny. This is Australian.
  
  
• Quinto do Infantado Medium Dry Estate Ruby $19.49
  -inky garnet, strong fruit, sweet cherry, young but for a great price
  
  
• Quinto do Infantado 1996 Late Bottled Vintage $37.95
  -the overall best of the night, dark blackcurrant bouquent, very clean mouth feel, well balanced, drinking well
  
  
• Quinto do Infantado 2000 Vintage $76.95
  -the biggest disappointment of the night, still young, may be in a sleepy stage, definitely needs a ton of bottle ageing, still a crapshoot into the future
  
  
• Fonseca 1986 Guimaraens Vintage $69.09
  -heavy alchohol, anise and tar flavours, disappointing all around
  
  
• Smith Woodhouse 1997 Vintage $60.02
  -another disappointment, compared to ANY in the evening this was thin and watery but had lovely brown sugar notes and molasses, not drinking well for its price
  
  
• Quinta do Noval 2003 Vintage $150
  -floral bouquet, black cherry, inky, peppery, clean finish, this is going to be a wicked port in 15-30 years!!
  
  

If anyone wants to start with a good flavored, sweet, inexpensive soft port, i would recommend the Dutschke Old Codger.
If you prefer the vintage style (red), i would have to recommend you put out a bit more cash and get the 1996 Late Bottled Vintage or if you prefer to spend less, the Medium Dry Estate Ruby is a good shot. Just watch out for its slightly overdone heat.

Excellent, Chess! Thank you so much. I envy your experience, and appreciate you sharing your thoughts.

Thanks Chess.

I like a good port every now and then. I tend to migrate back to the Grahams 20 year though. I've tried the 40 year and thought is was grossly overpriced in comparison to the 20 year. Plus I get the 20 year for 40 bucks a bottle.

I'll try some of these others you mention.

I'm have a bottle of Warre's Warrior (non-vintage) at home now. Picked it up at Costco for about $13. It's pretty tasty. I can post more detailed notes later if anyone wants. It's actually the first store-bought port I've had in a long time. I usually get them directly from wineries or portworks.

Great review Chess, there is obviously much that I do not know about port. Now perhaps I'll purchase one of the ports you enjoyed and compare it to what I have at home.

Been a long time since I've posted here but have tried a mess o wines that should be tried. These should be pretty available - at least in the U.S.


Woop Woop Shiraz $8 ish- nice blueberry. a hint of pepper to remind you that it's a shiraz - good mouthfeel. A nice every day drinking Shiraz

Jim Barry Lodge Hill - $15 Shiraz - drinks more like a $30. Great Tannic structure, fruit, long finish

Miramar - unoaked Chardonnay - hello! Nice to taste a Chardonnay without over oaky vanilla getting in the way. Sweetish in a tart apple sort of way, but very refreshing.

A couple good Oregon Pinot's that I am blanking on - I will check my notes on those - relatively inexpensive too!

Columbia Crest Grand Estates Merlot - I know, I know the gag is anything but Merlot - but this is nice approachable, under $10 or around there a bottle. Nice oak, tannin vanilla and cherry - thank you, I will have more!

Silver Oak 2002 Alexander Valley ($60-70)- finally Silver Oak back to tasting like great Silver Oaks of the past. Textbook cali cab boquet - Great tannic structure - long, smooth finish.

Amon Ra Godolphin - Wow! Australian. 80% Shiraz 20% Cabernet Savignon. This is drinkable now. Powerful. A friend and I tried a bottle at a tasting and bought two - one for dinner that night with our families - one to wait until we can all meet up again. This wine derives incredible fruit from the Shiraz and I surmize the Cab help s to give it a velvety smooth finish. Dark fruit on the nose, dark fruit and earth on the pallet. I highly recommend this wine - It's about $50 a bottle, but you absolutley can not go wrong with this wine if you like Shiraz or shiraz blends.

I know I have more rattling around in my head - there are a couple spanish whites - an Alberino and a Savignon blanc that I will have to track down too.

Had a yummy BFC last week - Rodney Strong Chalk Hill Chardonnay, the 2004. It immediately made me think of bigwill2 and the BFC club! Amazing with roast chicken.

that's funny, i had a Chateau St. Jean chard a couple weeks ago and thought of you, Amie. Seriously.

I had a surprisingly tasty Kendall Jackson Grand Reserve Chardonnay a couple nights ago (some of which went into a pan sauce for the seared chicken breasts I cooked up). I picked it up at Costco for $15 and change. Usually I have to spend upwards of $30 to get a California chard that I like. This was a bargain.

A little late, but thanks for the info on port! I'm a fan of port myself, but really had no idea where to turn to try something new. I've been working on a bottle of the Grahams 20 yo for awhile now. I'll try to find some of those others you mentioned.

btw...Justin Vineyards 'Obtuse' is a late harvest cab that I really love. Really worth finding a bottle.

Just checked our liquor control board's website (all liquore stores in Ontario are provincially run) and they have CHATEAU ST. JEAN SONOMA CHARDONNAY 2004 - is that the one? No sign of the Kendall Jackson Peter was talking about though I've gone 'off' our everyday white so it's time to start the hunt for a new one. We do this every year or so, probably right around when the vintages change, and freshen up our house brands.

BTW, Ontario has just started putting a deposit on wine bottles. You return them to the beer store to get your $.20 back.

... even if you bought the wine before the deposit system was instituted. Finally I'm going to get my "sloth dividend" for not having hauled the empties out to the curb on recycle day

We've had that CHATEAU ST. JEAN CHARDONNAY. It was good, but i did not feel it was worth the price we paid here. Give the Bonterra Chardonnay a try. It is 'organic' (add a chuckle and a guffaw here) but quite good. Around $20/bottle.

Kendall Jackson makes pretty decent wines. We've tried several recently and all have been very good quality.

I can't say i've had a late harvest cab but i did try a cabernet franc icewine in Niagara two years ago. Fantastic raspberry flavours.

Spiff, if i come across any other port names worth trying, i'll be sure to post them. I guess i could add to that. We tasted a Peter Lehmann "King" port last weekend. Lots of raisin and tar flavors, light liquorice, light heat, medium body. Ok for $30 but this one might be worth cellaring for awhile to see what it does.

I'm not much of a White Wine drinker, but some friends brought over a bottle of Kim Crawford 2006 Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand and we really enjoyed it.

The 05 Kim Crawford Un-oaked Chard is good.

I also like the Bontara Chard.

I'd call both of these Big Fat Bastards.

I have a few of those red topped KJ chards. good stuff, but I think the 2004 is MUCH, MUCH better than the 2005.

Kim Crawford makes some excellent wines although the sav blancs from NZ tend to be on the pricey side.

There's nothing like a good big fat chardonnay. I prefer the oak flavored as opposed to the unoaked. It is amazing how much a chard tastes more like a riesling without the oak.

Adding to the wine list.
A $15 bottle of Santa Rita Reserva cab sav 2003.
Heavy, dark flavours (tobacco, dark cherry and berry with a bold, spice finish) but quite pleasant. I was expecting it to be more harsh overall but for a generic Chilean cab, it was very good.
A little roast beef, some roast potatoes and caramelized onions, carrots and parsnips rounded out the dinner. Dessert included a chocolate lava cake in sugar crusted ramekins .

Fantastic.

I'll have to confess once again to liking the barrel-fermented chards. Just had a Columbia Crest Grand Estates that was like a plate of butterscotches, but very nice. Room for both styles, I reckon.

I'll take a gander for that label, Chess. The wine looks good even if their website was apparently composed by the same guys that do the Chinese speaker sites.

I've been meaning to ask - are our fellow quaffers south of the 49th parallel as in to 'alternative packaging' wines as we are these days? Our provincial liquor store is at about 5% alternative packaging wines now - everyday bevvies in tetra packs, or unbreakable 'glass', or just cork-free offerings. Is that catching on down there? (Not for anything you'd cellar, just for everyday drinking).

You mean like Black Box wines Amie?

----

Has anyone been to the V2V wine tasting in Napa?? Or, is anyone going? I hope to go this year with a couple frinds of mine.


-------
Please join the Stags Leap District Winegrowers
for its annual Vineyard to Vintner: "On the Trail of
World-Class Cabernet" as our vintners and winemakers
share their hospitality, say a heart-felt thank you to old
friends and welcome new ones to the neighborhood. V2V is a
day for those just discovering fine wine and those who have been
collecting for years. It is a day of swirling and sipping, learning
and laughing. Spend an intimate day meeting our vintners,
attending private open houses, tastings and seminars.
Then join us for a fabulous evening and dinner at
the renowned Stags' Leap Winery.

For event details and to make reservations,
visit our website. Tickets are limited and
reservations must be received by
Saturday, April 7, 2007,
so don't delay!

I've seen several different box wines as well as small bottle six packs of wine, not sure if the cork free bottles will ever catch on here, I was surprised when I purchased a $40.00 dollar bottle of Two Hands 2005 Brave Faces Shiraz from Australia and it had a twist off cap. I'm sure the cork sniffers would'nt find it very appealing. It feels a bit cheap to me. Everyday drinking I don't mind, but if I'm paying over $20.00 dollars I want a cork

I've had quite a few screwcapped wines, too -- mostly imports. I wish there were more. But I do like the sound of a good cork pop.

HomeDad - liked your cork sniffer remark, although those who do "sniff" corks, miss the mark as to why they are presented corks at restaurants and probably don't know as much about wine as they think they do. One is not going to determine if a wine is good by sniffing a cork, although there are scents on the cork you will not get a full picture of the wine until you smell it and taste it in the glass. The cork is presented to an individual at a restaurant for inspection for two main reasons:

1. To confirm the wine is actually what you ordered.
2. To determine that the wine has aged properly and the cork does not show signs of rot, drying out, or leakage, which all indicate a poor seal and are a good indication that you should examine your wine when tasting for signs of oxidation/taint.

Point one developed when there was widespread abuse over a century ago of restrauntuers re-using famous bottles/vintages and filling them with their own wine and charging a premium for those who ordered them. One way for wineries to prevent this deception was to print their names on the corks, so that when the bottle was opened you were virtually ensured you got what you ordered (it's almost impossble to re-cork a bottle with a re-used cork without signs of use and wear).

Point two is pretty self explanatory.

The cork may always have it's place, but I think industry wide the move is going to continue toward screw caps and this is actually industry/consumer driven.

Imagine if 1 out of every 12 Axiom speakers sold was defective. There would be customer outcry and if not corrected, Axiom most certainly would go out of business. However, in the wine industry, nearly one out of every twelve bottles that is sealed with a cork is sealed incorrectly. This goes for winereies of every level. So if you buy a case of wine, odds are that one of the twelve is probably tainted, however you have no recourse. You can't return the bottle to the winery for a new one. And the wineries know this and basically have you over a barrell (pun intended).

How does that make you feel if you have bought a nice bottle for a special occasion and it's undrinkable? Or imagine if you are a collector and you purchase cases of First growth Bordeaux or cult California Cabs which will set you back hundreds of dollars per bottle? So compared with other consumer goods and standards of quality, wine has been slow in the uptake of new tech.

The industry is exploring other sealing/bottling techs. that seal better than cork, and sealing processes that are cleaner and ensure there is less chance of taint by TCA and other environmental factors/microbes, etc.

So enter the screw cap. It seals better and studies show it holds it's seal as well or better than cork over time. Of course you lose the presentation/romance associated with opening a bottle with a cork, but you are more likely ensured the wine you bought is going to taste the way it was supposed to taste.

David, Good information, Thanks.

Yes, very nice David. I know very little about wine, so every tidbit is helpful.

Stay away from the pink stuff.

the best option at this point, IMO, are those synthetic corks (can't remember any of the wineries that use them off the top of my head). You still get to do the whole cork-pulling ritual, but no taint.

I'm not too fond of taint.

Rosenblum and Barefoot are a couple that I know of that use the synthetic corks. I guess it pays to have a jar full of corks when a question like that comes up.

In Ontario (out of interest, the world's largest single wine buyer), we've been presented a number of PET bottles (polysomethingorother that doesn't break when you drop it), screwcaps, synthetic corks, and now tetra packs. They haven't added a straw to the tetra packs yet, thank goodness!

Quite thankfully so, since a straw directs the beverage to a very limited area of the palate.

While I was in Whistler, I bought a bottle of Warre's Otima 10-year tawny port and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's aged 10 year's in oak barrels and is one of the best store-bought ports I've had. Highly recommended. It was about $25CAD, if I remember correctly.

And you drank the whole bottle?
Excellent gusto Peter.

I had Warre's Otima sometime last year. I still have yet to find anything nicer than this Late Bottled Vintage Quinta do Noval 1996.

Is that the one in the slender, clear bottle? If so, that's a favourite on this lake. And, a generous splash of that will make your French Onion Soup sing!

That's the one, Amie. I had to drain the last couple ounces from the bottle before leaving the hotel for the airport...

I haven't found any Port for <$20 US that I like better than Warre's Warrior.

I have about half a bottle of that left here. Costco carries it regularly, too.

In a couple weeks we will be heading here for 3 days. Wine Festival It's a really fun weekend up in Paso and anyone in the area who enjoys wine should check it out. It reminds me of what Napa used to be like until the tastings and wines got so expensive.

love the poster on the website.

The Winnipeg Wine Festival is in a few short weeks for those of you who are clearly planning on flying in for the event. Over 550 wines being showcased over a 2 night, 3 hour/night event, thus creating a sipping time of 19.64 seconds per wine per evening!!
Arrive early.
It will be a long 3 hour night.


Bren and Jordan, if you are attending let me know. We can meet up. We'll be heading there for Saturday night.

I work part time at a wine store. One day, a customer came in and pulled down our most expensive bottle, a 2001 Chateau Cheval Blanc ($365). So I say "man, i've always wanted to get that bottle". So he says "It's yours then" ("yeah right" i think to myself) and proceeded to pull down something else. His wife comes in with a pizza from the pizzeria next door, they sit down at the tasting counter and he says "Where's your cork pull?". "I'm sorry sir but you can't open that here". "But the owner lets me do it".

Long story short, I lock the door as it was closing time anyway and he offers me some pizza and wine and I dine with them. He paid for the wine as he was leaving and I say "Sir, you forgot your Chateau Cheval Blanc", "No I didn't"...and he left.

All I can say is that i'm glad I didn't pay for that wine...perhaps it needed more time to age.

Nice story Vasillios.
I've had one or two wines in the more expensive category and honestly, they were not a world better than a solid $40 bottle.
Still, it is nice to try something silly expensive now and again as a comparison and a splurge.

As for the Six Grapes, it is sitting in my cellar now next to 3 other opened bottles. I just haven't warmed up to it that much. It was touted as being more sweet than most Portugal ports but i didn't have that impression. I'm still quite taken with the flavours, texture and general character of the Aussie "ports" i've come across. My new mission has been to seek out more of them.

Has anyone here ever purchased wine futures? I just found out about wine futures and was thinking of getting a few bottles.

I have not looked much into wine shares as i'm not much into the investing of wine for resale. Some people may choose to buy wine shares if they are very keen on a brand or vineyard and want to get a piece of the limited stock of a particular release, but again i cannot say that we've been so picky to want to do this.

I am going to hazard a guess that buying in advance adds risk that the after casked wine is actually going to be good or at least as good as the money one spends buying in advance.

I just bought two lots - 6 bottles. One lot for $90 and one for $60. It isn't for investment. I just figured that I'm saving some money, in some cases quite a bit, by buying them now. Yup, you do take a chance in hoping the wine is worth the price. But I would suspect that there's isn't that much a risk from the better houses...I hope! Now I just have to wait until spring 2008.

And these wines are??
Come on now, don't leave us hanging.

I've never bought futures before and didn't really know what to buy. I could have gone to my local lcbo and talk to someone there but I decided to just take a chance and pick my own.

Côtes de Bourg - Red Wine
Fougas Maldoror 2005
500587 (XD) 750 mL
$33.00 per btl $99.00 per 3-btl. lot
Lots available: 795
RP: 89-91
Tasting Note: Quickly becoming my favorite Côtes de Bourg estate, Fougas-Maldoror's gorgeous 2005 reveals notes of chocolate, sweet cherry jam, smoke, and barbecue spice. Medium to full-bodied, ripe, and fleshy, it will offer beautiful drinking over the next decade. Score - (89-91). (RP)

and

Bordeaux - Red Wine
Marjosse 2005
500348 (XD) 750 mL
$20.00 per btl $60.00 per 3-btl. lot
Lots available: 795
RP: 87-88
Tasting Note: This lower pedigree wine represents undeniable quality/value rapport in 2005. This vintage is so deep in quality among the better run, less heralded estates, that these wines should appeal to readers looking for terrific values from Bordeaux. Most of these wines are Merlot-based and will be drinkable young. Sleeper of the vintage. Score - (87-88). (RP)

I'm partial to sangrias that have the extra kick of hard alcohol (e.g. whiskey, vodka, gin, brandy, rum). Lemon and orange slices are a must, of course, and you can add any other juicy in-season fruit you want. Keep the proportions as follows and you really can't go wrong:

For each bottle of red wine, add:
2 shots liquor (maybe tequila since it's Cinco de Mayo)
2 cups club soda, tonic, ginger ale, or any flavor of fruity soda (Hansen's works very well)
3 citrus fruits, sliced thinly (more orange than lemon or lime usually tastes better)
1-2 cups of other fruit (try kiwis)
2 tablespoons sugar (or less if the added carbonated drink is already sweet)

It's hard to go wrong, really.

OK, here's my family recipe for Sangria. It really is good, especially if you make it the day before (except for the soda, add that at the end)

2 bottles red wine - Rioja
1/2 c Triple Sec
1/4 c Tequila
1/4 c sweet vermouth
1/4 c fresh lime juice
Lemons, limes, oranges (sliced)
sugar to taste
2 cups Sprite or 7Up
Mix all ingredients in larger pitcher except Sprite Add fruit slices and ref for a few hours. Just before serving add sugar to adjust sweetness and pour in soda. Serve over ice with slices of fruit.


Rich

Returning after the wine festival weekend on saturday evening. A bit of a down year compared to the past, but we've found possibly one or two gems.
Now i just have to remember where i stashed my notes...

I'm drinking a 2005 New Zealand sauvignon blanc from Jackson Estate. It's very dry with good helping of zingy tartness. Grapefruit up front with strong herbal notes dancing around it and a very, very long finish.

I was into whites last week. I'm back to reds now. I'm enjoying a Rickard's Red. Have you heard of it?

Rickard's Red!!
How to hijack a wine thread with beer! LOL, you are my hero!

Rickard's Red. The poor Canadian's substitute for Red Wine .

A friend brought over one of his wine club bottles. They send him their latest releases. Man it was good.

Mount Veeder Winery
2003 reserve
Napa Valley
Red Wine
14.5%

Heavy body blend. More cab than anything, but very powerful berry on the nose. Dark in color, almost like old Bordeaux, which is what its description on the bottle says it is a blend of.

“Aromas of black fruit and tobacco intertwine with complex coffee, plum and vanilla flavors.” – Description on the bottle, and quite accurate.

I think they are about $50 a bottle now as a pre release, but will be in the $80’s pretty soon. Get a case now before they bump the price up. I liked it enough to order a case of 12 bottles. It’s definitely on my top five list.

When's the party? I've been meaning to see Alaska... someday.

I’m not going anywhere, so come on up. Fishing is ramping up if you’re into that. Halibut, cod, ling cod, snapper. In July the Silvers will be running. I could probably talk my buddy into take a group out. He loves showing off his boat. He had Munson build him a custom boat… 48’ aluminum jet boat with two 20” jets and 1300 hp. http://www.munsonboats.com/3240packcatphotos.html it’s about half way down, it’s called the Journey.

I’ve offered before, but no one takes me up on it.

Send me some dates that are good for you.

I don't think i ever posted our latest 'gems' from this year's International Wine Festival.
I will have to find my notes.

If you enjoy Zin this is one that mdrew turned me on to, excellent stuff now pre-releasing. Lamborn

We have a private tours set up for our October trip to Napa with the Lamborn winery. We tried their new cab and it’s wonderful. Too expensive for me at about $100, but it’s definitely a dandy bottle.

A buddy of mine pulled one of his old cabs out of the cellar the other night. I’m still thinking about that bottle..... Not sure if it can be found any more, but if you see it, grab it. Freemark Abbey 94'

We thought it might have turned, but after opening it, we ditched the cheap glasses in the picture and broke out the Riedels.

Very tempting, looks like it is offered with two different lables B21
Freemark Abbey
I'll have to wait another week before I do any wine ordering, leaving for the Hyatt in Irvine tonight for my wifes 20yr high school reunion, then 5 days at the Disneyland hotel for the family. So far I've packed a 2004 Lamborn Zin, 2004 Luna Reserve Sangiovise and a 2000 Markham Merlot, that should at least get us through the reunion

They do indeed look tasty.

A friend of mine is having a bbq tomorrow and is going to pull out a bottle of Mondavi Private Reserve unfiltered, 1988 cab sav.
I'll take pictures.
Then i'll measure its acid content and waft the bouquet before drinking just to be sure i don't get a mouthful of vinegar.

Thanks Michael! I was just at the Freemark websight and they are selling if for $120 a bottle. I'm definately going to order a few from the link you provided.

.... this is one FINE wine. You guys should get one. You won't be sorry.

It's been awhile.

Latest big tastings:
1988 Robert Mondavi Cab sav, Unfiltered- Napa Valley
vs.
1999 Beringer Founder's Estate Cab sav
vs.
2004 Wolf Blass Yellow Label cab sav

Three tasters, four if you count the wife (the usual crew).
All three actually AGREED on every wine, flavours, and in guessing which was which.
No contest, the 1988 was the most complex and best with steak.
The Beringer was best with the Arctic char, lightly smoked (mesquite) and special rub.
Oddly enough the Yellow Label was the best for sitting around and drinking (more young, fruity, more simple) but was also the most harsh for acidity.

Honestly, i think the 1988 may have been a bit past its prime but geez, was it ever complex. One of the crew bought it for $50 on ebay a few years back and had his cousin cart it up from Texas.
Darn interstate liquor laws!

So, in replying to my own post in the wine thread, i'll continue onward.

Travelling to S.Ontario this weekend. If we have time we might try to meet real80sman in Waterloo.
However, we need to make a stop over in Niagara on the Lake and do some shopping for new and delectable bottles. Up on the block, Peller Estate for the Signature Series Sur Lie Chardonnay, Josephs Estate vintage country red and white and Marynissen Cab-merlot 2001 if they have any left.

We just got back from Napa / San Francisco yesterday. From what I remember and the extra 3 inches around my waste, I can conclude that I had a great time. Lots and lots of great wine and food….. There’s no way in hell I could ever live in this area and keep from eating/drinking myself into a state of gross obesity.

To forgo the food part, we spent seven days in the Napa area visiting different wineries. We went to some of the big wineries that each of us are fond of, but for the most part, we tried to find some smaller, non-descript wineries and wines that we can’t find locally. I’m probably forgetting a few, but here are the ones that I can remember we visited.

In the group, there were five of us. I tend to go for big reds; cabs and zins mostly, but I’ll drink anything. I do not like heavy tannins, so Italian and French wines are ones that I avoid unless I’m looking for a bottle to go with food. If I’m looking for a bottle to go with food, French and Italian wines are what I look for. – that’s why they make wine….., to drink with food.

Sarah likes mellow reds like Petite Sarah or Pinot Noir or Merlot. She also likes white wines.

Dwight likes anything and is our wine expert. Dwight gets us into all the libraries and the folks at the wineries just love talking to him. He’s a great wine tasting partner that never failed to get the folks at the wineries to open up one of them “secret” wines.

Shelly and Pete tend to like merlots or anything with a cool label or nice proprietors. These two are just fun to hang out with.

Day 1

We arrived in the afternoon on a Sunday, which just happened to be the last day of the annual wine festival in Santa Rosa. There were over 500 wineries at the festival….so many wines and so little time… (I don’t recall much from day one). There are three that stood out and we ended up going to their wineries for a second try; Wattle Creek, Hook and Ladder and Larson Family Wineries. More about them later. There were many more that we all liked, but after a while, all the wines started tasting the same. One thing for certain, Zins are in this year. I’d say 80% of the wineries had a Zin on the table. I USED to like Zins…. I don’t think I’ll be buying any soon after trying dozens of them.

Day 2

Our first stop was Cakebread, which is an appointment only tasting. Great wine here. If you like big chards with an oak finish, try theirs. I ended up buying a mixed case of their reds and signing up as a wine club member. I like their estate grown wines the best, but they are all very good. I don’t quite know why, but I just like the smell and taste of all their reds. I had better wines, but Cakebread is definitely one of my favorite wineries. You can’t go wrong with anything they make.

After Cakebread, we had another private tasting set up at Flora Springs (thanks to Dwight) http://www.florasprings.com/
If you have not had their wines or been to their winery, this is a MUST have / visit wine / winery. They are one of three of the region’s largest privately owned grower. They own 1200 acres of fruit and sell fruit to some very reputable wineries (like Cakebread and ZD). Plus, they make a really great wine. My favorite is their Wild Boar Cab at $85 a bottle. We did some barrel tasting of their 06 cabs and what was in the barrel was terrific. I can’t wait till these hit the shelves. The entire staff is nothing short of great company and they all love to have fun.

After Flora Springs, we had to get ready for dinner. Thanks to Cesar for recommending the restaurant, it was definitely the best meal I’ve ever had, ever. We set up a six course wine pairing meal at Cyrus. Four hours of food and wine….. Highly recommended. Just be prepared to dig deep in the wallet. http://www.cyrusrestaurant.com/

Day 3

Franciscan Winery / Mount Veder Winery. These two have their tasting rooms in the same building. I have several bottles of each, so figured we’d swing buy and try their latest wines. This tasting was a miserable disappointment. I’ll keep my current bottles in the cellar and won’t be buying any more.

Private appointment at Rudd Winery http://www.ruddwines.com/
This was another really great visit (thanks to Dwight). The visit started out with a tour of the facility, then the tasting followed by a trip through their caves and a very special and closely guarded tour of the owner’s private library. This particular winery has an interesting story. Leslie Rudd is the owner. I didn’t know anything about Rudd before visiting his winery, but after seeing his winery and having an eye for quality craftsmanship and materials, I can say that he spared no expense with this place. It’s somewhat small at 50 acres, but it’s on the Silverado Trail and from what we were told, it took Rudd almost 30 years of waiting to acquire this winery. After he bought it in 96’, he ripped up all the vines and started fresh. He rebuilt the entire facility and dug all the caves. Rudd also owns several businesses in the area including Dean and DeLuca, the Press restaurant, the Brix restaurant and the Oakville Market stores. Rudd started and sold off Godfather Pizza and the Outback Steakhouse. The only business he owns that has his name on it is his winery. I couldn’t help but feel like I was in a billionaire’s favorite play house because it just reeked of care and money….

All that aside, the wines (all of them) were fantastic. I don’t care much for whites, but these were wonderful. He has two Cab’s and both are very impressive. One is his “Crossroads” cab and it is a blend of estate cab and non-estate cab and something else that I’ve forgotten. This bottle is made to drink now, or up to a couple years. The estate cab is on a level that I did not find in any wine the rest of the trip. I think this bottle will set the standard that all Napa cabs will be shooting for. Even though this one was made to cellar, the 2004 is wonderful right now. We bought a magnum of the 03 had it with dinner. I’m still remembering this bottle….. Ya, I bought a few of the 03’s ($130 each). The crossroad cabs are $65 each.

After Rudd we tried Elizabeth Spencer…. I wasn’t too impressed but that could be that I was still thinking about the Rudd wines.

Day 4

This day we set up a limo to take us to some small wineries in the Alexander Valley area. We just told the driver to take us to his favorite places…. The first stop was White Oak. We all agreed that this winery had the best Chardonnay of any winery so far with the exception of Rudd. But considering that the cost is less than half of the Rudd, we all thought the White Oak was the winner. Good news for us, the owner is from Alaska, and we can buy these wines locally.

After White Oak, the driver took us to a fairly rustic winery that we all sort of fell in love with called Field Stone Wineries. They opened up 11 bottles for us to try and we did just that. I liked every bottle they had so much that I signed up with their wine club and bought a mix of four cases. The best part is they’re fairly inexpensive. Their reserve cab was under $50 and it was the most expensive bottle they have. http://www.fieldstonewinery.com/

After Field Stone, we went to another winery that didn’t really impress me. I forgot the name, but it borders Silver Oak. Silver Oak didn’t impress me either, so no surprise here.

After that winery, we went to the Robert Young Winery. I liked all their wines, but they had terrible shipping fees and were not all that friendly. I did however leave there with a few of bottles of their cab sav. They came back in my luggage. Too bad about the shipping costs or I would have bought a case or two.

The last winery for the day was Stonestreet Winery. I didn’t like the wine or the place, and just felt like we were being treated like cattle. They didn’t get any of my money, or anyone else’s.

Day 5

This day we took the Wine Train, or as we call it, the gray hair express. At $80 a head, I can’t recommend this to anyone else. I enjoyed the train ride and the lunch was OK, but again, I felt like I was part of a heard of mindless cattle. We ordered a bottle of Louis Martini cab to try and they brought us the wrong bottle. I mentioned this to the bartender and he comped the bottle. Besides being free, it was a great bottle. The bottle was a 2003 Madrigal Petite Sarah and it was so good, we later went to the winery. Unfortunately, this is there first season as a winery and were busy with harvest so we couldn’t visit with them. http://www.madrigalvineyards.com/wine.html

I was able to find a couple bottles at the St Helena Wine Center and had them ship them to me with a few other wines that we had at different times during our trip that were excellent (2003 Prisoner Zin, 2004 Patz and Hall Pinot, 05 Lamborn Zin, 2003 Cain Five, 2004 Borra Red Fusion, 2005 Leviathan Hapa Red). They also had great prices on Riedel glasses, so we bought a few of those too.

After the wine train, we visited Andreti wineries. I wasn’t overly impressed, but Pete and Shelly liked their wines and bought some.

After Andretti, we visited William Hill. I was very disappointed with William Hill. I had a 95 reserve cab a while back and loved it. Nothing in their current line impressed me. I also found out that Gallo just bought them out. This may mean that they will get better seeing how Jim Beam owned this winery recently and Gallo is quite a bit more family orientated than Jim Beam.

After William Hill we zipped over to Stetzner Wineries in the Stags Leap District. All of us liked everything they poured…and they poured a lot. Their wines are great and reasonably priced considering who their neighbors are. You can’t go wrong with any of their wines. Their Merlot is exceptionally good. They sold me two cases of their reserve wines that they do not distribute. Out of all the reds I had this trip, theirs have the mellowest tannins of all, but they still have that big bold cab noise and taste. Lots of red fruit, but not overpowering. http://www.steltzner.com/

Day 6

Hook and Ladder – Small privately owned winery owned by a retired firefighter. Very reasonably priced wines and all are estate grown, processed and bottled. I would have bought several, but their shipping costs were unreasonable, so I passed on buying any. If you are a firefighter, you get a 20% discount, which is what drew me to this winery in the first place. I’m a volunteer firefighter, so I had to try their wines. http://www.hookandladderwinery.com/

Larson Family Winery – Another small, family owned winery. They have a terrific Pinot. I bought a case them. http://www.larsonfamilywinery.com/

Stags Leap Cellars – great Stags Leap Area wines, but I didn’t think they were as great as they think they are.

ZD – We tried all their wines and loved them all. What I don’t like about this winery, is that they buy all their fruit. They do buy from Flora Springs, so I think they will be consistent, but still, I prefer wineries who grow their own berries for some reason. http://www.zdwines.com/

Provinence – I have many bottles of this winery in my cellar and like them all. Unfortunately, I think they’ve gotten too big and their wines are not on par with my collection. I passed on everything.

Day 7

This day I had a terrible hang over…. After the last day of wine tasting, dinner and vodka inspired game of poker with Pete and Dwight, we weren’t feeling too perky. The only thing we had planned for this day was a tour of Castello di Amorosa. Even though I was horribly hung over, I was speechless wandering around this place. It’s a 120,000 square foot castle that was designed to be a winery!!! Every brick was brought over from Italy and it was all crafted with old world tools and techniques. I dare guess what the owner has into this place, but if it’s cool billion, I’d not be surprised. This place is so cool; it has to be seen to be believed. All the wines are designed to be authentic Italian wines. I didn’t care much for them because they are so heavy with tannins, but I have to admit that they are great with food. I don’t remember doing this, but I ordered a case of wine from them. It’s sitting on the floor and I’m afraid to open it to see what I ordered….. http://www.castellodiamorosa.com/

We finished this day with a visit to the Freemark Abbey tasting room. The 94 cab reserve I had a couple months ago inspired this visit. I was very disappointed…. None of us liked anything they poured.

Day 8

This was a travel day for us and we didn’t visit any wineries with the exception of a visit to the Wattle Creek tasting room in San Francisco. Their tasting room is located at Ghirardelli’s square and I’d recommend that you pay them a visit. They make about ten different wines and I liked them all. I like them so much that I signed up for their wine club. They have a deal where they ship for free if you buy two cases, two times per year. They got three cases out of me….. http://www.wattlecreek.com/index2.html

The next two days Sarah and I zipped around San Francisco. I learned the first night BS'ing with an Irish bartender to never use the "F" word, Frisco. It's either "the city" or San Francisco...LOL.. Too much to wright about the city, but that it was WAY COOL... I plan to go back and spend a few days.


All in all, we had a great time and plan to head back next year. Next year we plan to go in September when it’s a little warmer. I have around 12 gigs of photos do process and upload now. I also need to build a real wine cellar. I figure I have around a hundred bottles in the mail to me…..

Not much of a wine drinker myself Mike but what a heck of a review, thanks and it's good to see you back around the forum. I'm very glad you had a great time *and* you do know pictures from your trip is a prerequisite....welcome back big guy!

Mike, Thanks for the review and welcome back, I'm looking forward to some pictures, sounds like the wine train had a full load for your trip, for us the train was about 25% full and the ages ran from 21 to about 50 which probably made our trip more enjoyable, I hope you at least got into the wine car and did some sampling, that was my favorite part.
We are going up again in Dec. so if there are any must go to wineries or restraunts let me know.

Wow, that's a lot of wine. Sounds like you had a great trip.

I’ll upload some pics after I get some time this week.

Ya, the train was full. Too full to even wander back to the tasting car. The average age was over 50…..

In the Napa area I think it’s harder to find a bad restaurant that a good one. Everywhere we went the food was incredible. If you can get into Cyrus, you really need to try it. Expect costs to be over $200 each for a wine pairing meal. I’d also visit the Brix, Rutherford Grill, Silverado, Fish On, Mustards, Don Giovanni and the drive in for a good burger at the Refresher. There are many others, but those were the ones that come to mind. If you get to San Francisco, Gary Danko’s is every bit as good as Cyrus (maybe better) and also more expensive. Both Cyrus and Gary Danko are better than the French Laundry and just as hard to get into. One of the guys managing one of wineries we went to is a chef and worked at the French Laundry. He told us that chefs go to Cyrus, if that means anything to you.

As far as which wineries to visit…

Wineries I visited and recommend:

1 – Flora Springs is a MUST
2 – The Castle is a MUST
3 – Rudd winery (appointment)
4 – Stetzner (walk in)
5 – Cakebread (appointment)
6 – Feildstone (walk in)

Here’s a list of wineries I missed this trip, or heard about while in Napa. They are on my list to go to next trip:

Jordan – I love this wine but could not get an appointment. They give a tour and tasting. http://www.jordanwinery.com/
Madrigal – I found this wine during our trip and couldn’t make an appointment. http://www.madrigalvineyards.com/wine.html
Turley – I had a bottle of their Pettite Sarah last night and it’s wonderful. They are very small and hard to get any of their wines. http://www.turleywinecellars.com/
Lamborn – Very small producer and they do not have a tasting room to speak of. You basically set up an appointment to meat the owners personally. They are great people. http://www.lamborn.com/cs/lamborn/view/docs/41

Oh geez mdrew, i missed all this.
I never got an email on the thread. Must be the new format, lost all the old settings.

This looks like i'll need some time to digest.

mdrew, i know some others are not as great oenophiles as they are, uh, beer-o-philes, but i personally have to say THAT WAS AN AWESOME REVIEW!!

Your trip just sounded simply fantastic.
Your list of taste tests is beyond impressive. I'm overjoyed that you skipped the major brand names and checked out some local talent and put together an excellent review of your favs, locales and why.
Very thorough.
However, i'm also seriously depressed that there is no hope in hell i will be able to get any of these wines around here!

I think perhaps sometime in the relatively near future we should get together and swap some wine cases. A visit to the great Alaska may bring back memories of my Yukon time. (I would send you a PM but i'm still working the clog out of my msg box).

I may not spend as much on the wine trips that you do, but i did bring back a cooler full (about 14 bottles) of wine from our recent visit to the Niagara region again in Southern Ontario and i discovered a lovely little vineyard.
You can check out there site here:
http://www.laileyvineyard.com/index.htm
They do ship across Canada and apparently do ship to the US. They've started using Canadian oak in some of their chards and cab sauvs.

Now i'm going to read back through your review and check out some of these wineries.

Glad you had a good time, Mike!

I'm curious--did you try the White Oak Zinfandel? Peter and I had it in a restaurant a few years back, and I thought it was quite good. I've never been able to track it down in a store, though.

This would be a good time for a visit Chess. I have numerous wino type friends and they all want to get together in the near future to try some of the wines all of us brought back. It’s sort of a ritual of ours. We all go searching for a great bottle, then wait till we can all get together and try them. It’s a great way to spend time with friends, and also share some good wine with folks who appreciate wine. Several are down right excellent chefs too…. So if you get the itch, just shoot me a note and I’ll set up a tasting night, or two, or three. We have the spare bedroom all outfitted with a new bedroom set and towels in the bathroom. I’ll put you to work designing my little cellar (that was going to be a small kitchenette)

I don’t know what the shipping rules are to / from Canada and US, but you might want to call the St Helena Wine Center. They are VERY helpful and know there stuff when it comes to California wines. They do not charge a ‘handling’ fee and only what it costs them to ship. They have an outstanding selection and are always out trying wines. I’ve already got my cases from them ($80 per case, second day UPS air). http://www.shwc.com/

Yep, I had their "estate" Zin and found it to be pretty darn good, but it's $40 and I thought the Prisoner Zin to be much better, and it's only $35 a bottle (if you can find it). Another excellent Zin we had was from Vinyard 29 (the Aida Zin). We also had their "Cru" Cab, but it sure had me fooled. I thought it was a Zin. Vineyard 29 is another small Napa winery that has very limited lines. All are excellent that I tried. A little pricy though.... http://www.vineyard29.com/

All of us liked ALL the White Oak wines. Heck, you're so close you should just order a mixed case from White Oak. Shipping wouldn't cost you didly.

Wow. I'll repeat that. Wow. Truly impressive trip. Even though your write-up is overflowing with detail and is a marvel to behold, I'm sure it doesn't even begin to do the trip justice. I don't believe I've ever been more envious in my life.

So Peter, does that tempt you to head back to California then?
Poor Ken needs more playmates anyway no?

I will endeavor to get my PM box more empty by tomorrow so we can chat. I likely have enough Air Miles to fly there and back twice.
There is another possible trip to northern Manitoba for Christmas though and i'm burning vacation time for it. A second trip may have to wait a few months at least, but i think this could setup to be one really fun journey!

As for the cellar design, i can't take all the credit. The wife helped and our interior designer gave us several versions of basement outlays to help the idea process.
I also checked out variations at many websites, magazines and of course, some cellars makers.
These folks are actually based in Winnipeg but just before installing our racking, they came back from the US (NY if i recall) where they installed a 10,000 bottle cellar for some truly rich bastard.

A few shots of the cellar completed (i would put them inline but i never resized the buggers so the pics are huge):

Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
Link 4


I will check out the site, but usually 'importing' wines into the country just doesn't happen. They have to be sent by a relative as a 'gift' and there are limits on quantities. I try to get my friends and relatives who live down there to bring bottles back with them. Unfortunately they are not as keen on carting around 14+ bottles in a cooler in the airports as i am.

One of these days, I'm going to have to go tasting in Napa--with someone else driving. Now that I have a kid. Oops.

Well my plans to convert the basement kitchenette area into a wine cellar fell through. When I finished the space last winter, I did not insulate two of the walls, or put up a vapor barrier. Plus, I can’t place a cooling unit on any of the walls due to other room spaces or lack of wall space. Then there is the fact that the basement floor has radiant floor heat and there’s no way of isolating this area. I can’t use a remote mounted cooler because I didn’t put in the right size duct work…. I’m bummed….

So now I have around 150 bottles lying on the loft floor, another cooler full of bottles (60) and all my ambient air racks are full, and another three cases expected to arrive this week.

I need a bigger cooler. Either that or I need to build a free standing cooler.

Any recommendations for a not too expensive cooler that will hold at least 250 bottles? I don’t like to store bottles touching each other, so those coolers with fixed racks for stacking bottles onto one another are not an option for me.

If I could find a self contained cooling unit that I could vent out the bottom front of the cooler, I’d prefer to build one myself. That way I can pick out the wood and build it any size I want. The only cooling units I have been able to find are the kind that are designed for cellars.

The past few nights we've been enjoying a Malbec from Argentina (a bottle each night). The lady at the local store recommended this bottle and we figured we might as well try it; it's cheap at $11 a bottle.

It's very good. Light tannin, great nose, light to medium body, great finish. I can't believe it's as young as it is, or as cheap as it is either.

Dona Paula
Los Carlos
Malbec - 2006

I'm beginning to think my pallet is changing. I'm really liking Pinots, Petite Sarahs and Malbecs lately. A year ago I was stuck on Cabs and Zins.

I had a couple different Malbecs about a year ago that I really enjoyed. I should try some more. At those prices, it's hard go wrong.

The wife and I enjoy Malbecs also, I don't think I've had a bad one yet, and your right at those prices they are great for the everynight non special occasion drinking.

We took a bottle to a freinds last night. It was a big hit with three out of the four others there saying they were going to go buy a case.

I've got two cases reserved for myself.

The bottle has a bit of spice to it. A friend of mine was telling me that that is common with Argentinean wines because the grapes are typically exposed to high winds. He was telling me that the winds make the skins tougher, which in turn gives them a ‘spicy’ taste characteristic. I guess there is a valley in France that is also exposed to winds and the wines that use this valley’s grapes are also spicy.

Who would have thought that wind could make something taste spicy….. One of things I love about wine….

You could try this site for larger wine coolers.

http://rosehillwinecellars.com/3rsV2/products.php?category=wine_cabinets&manufacturer=vintagekeeper

Apparently there's no difference between audio and wine. To be more specific, your eyes will screw up the results when comparing two wines just as much as they will when comparing two speakers or amps.

I’ve been fooled at blind tastings before and ended up picking the cheapest ‘crap’ wine as one of my favorites. But, even though we do them to where you can’t see the bottle, you still get to see the wine. To me, part of tasting is to actually see the color and legs of the wine.

Ooh, I'm sure the wine experts on the board may have a comment on this, while I agree with some of the points may be partially valid, my 6 year old can tell a white from a red wine blindfolded just by smell alone. My wife and I always get wines we enjoy by taste rather than price, but even I of no profound wine knowledge will choke on a 2 buck chuck in a blind tasting. My wife who is much beter can 90% of the time distinguish the type of fruit and flavors in a wine by smell. That doesn't mean she will pick a $100.00 bottle over the black box as her preffered choice for taste though.

Finally got around to uploading some of our trip pictures.

Here's the score that wouldn't fit in my coolers.

Fieldstone tasting...

Stetzner winery...

The Castle...






Rudd winery...

Dwight's 99 Chateau Cheval Blanc Premeir Grand Cru ($1500 bottle of wine)

Rudd's Library

Flora Springs... Barrel Tasting

The caves at Flora Springs

Mike,

Those are some awesome photos! What camera did you use? BTW, I'm not at all implying that your camera was the only factor for this picture quality. I can see that you have much above average photography skills.

Great pics and wine collection Mike, the stuff you couldn't fit in your cooler exceeded my last Napa take

Wow, nice pics, Mike. That really makes me want to go on a wine tour. I may even start developing a taste for wine, too. . .

Thanks guys...
I use an Olympus 510. I found that after a few glasses of wine, I'm not nearly the photographer I thought I was....

I'm heading back down this spring for the V2V at Stags Leap. I have a couple friends that go to that every year and tell me it's a ball.

Wow, Mike. Those are cool pictures. Did you ever think about a second career leading wine tours in Napa or elsewhere?

I continue to be impressed and humbled by the depth of knowledge and experience shared here, especially by the wine guys. Awesome.

Great pictures! Looks like it was quite a nice trip.

When I first saw the pictures of all the wine bottles, my first thought, no joke, was "Boi-oi-oi-oi-oing!"

So, are you channeling Mel Blanc today, Peter?

I’m thinking I just need to buy a winery. Route 29 is up for sale. 20 some million is all….

I can’t believe you history buffs haven’t said anything about the torture chamber shot of the castle. That’s a real bloody Mary (or whatever they called those things).

I’ve been trying a few of the bottles I brought back over the past week. I was almost afraid to, seeing how I was drunk most of the trip. So far, I’m pretty happy to report that they have all been wonderful bottles.

A couple worth mentioning….
The Larson Family Pinot is wonderful. Definitely grab a few of those.
The Wattle Creek 03 Shiraz is also wonderful.
All the Fieldstone bottles we’ve drank are wonderful too! So far I’d say their reserve cab is their best. They also have a great 03 port. I couldn’t believe how good it was, considering how young it is.

I’m looking forward to opening one of the Lamborn cabs in about a year. They only made 100 cases of it and it’s sold out already.

Chump change for you rich Alaskans.

That is an iron maiden. Not a very pleasant thing to endure, I'm sure.... Apparently they were very rare, so if that's a historic piece in the pic, it must be worth millions.

With all the trouble logging in to The Community, it's time to pop a cork an a red. Just found Gnarly Head Old Vine Zin http://www.gnarlyhead.com/wine.asp. VERY drinkable, no food required. Not a big wine, but soft on tha palate and smooth finish.

Scott

The Gnarly Head is a nice zin. Had that last New Years. I was hoping to find a red Cakebread for this New Years but alas, our local wine store is not getting anymore until after the 1st (through they did have a chardonnay available).
So instead i picked up a lovely port from Australia. Penfolds Grandfather. http://www.winestar.com.au/prod882.htm

mdrew, i had not noticed the photos you put up from the trip.
Simply amazing.
I'm simply yet in a complex way, amazed.

Is this darn favorites thread not notifying me anymore?
Bloddy settings.

I have not tried that Port. I'll grab one next time I see it.

I had a pretty good Zinfandel last night. One worth mentioning anyway…

2005 PK (Pezzi King) from Sonoma.

Medium body, nice nose, fruit forward, long finish with very light tannin. If you have a preference for Pinot or Syrah, you’d like this one.

Best thing about this one is the price. $12 bucks.

This damn thread is not sending me email updates.
What's up with that?

I have a port here called Willowglen.
I cannot seem to find it on their website but it only costs $11 and is quite nice, simple.
There is another Aussie port called Old Codger. A bit more expensive, but it has those thick, vanilla, toffee flavours that i love in a good tawny.

I had a great, inexpensive cab sav last night.

2004 Buehler Vineyards / Napa Valley.

This one was unusual for a cab, at least to me. It had a buttery flavor up front with a strong fruit finish. I don’t recall ever having a cab quite like this. I'd say somewhere between medium and heavy bodied with just enough tannin to know it was cab, but very mellow considering how young this was. Just a hint of spice, with plum and blackberry.

This is one that my favorite liquor store recommended. The guys/gals that work the wine center are into wines and are always looking for great finds. Every once in a while I just ask one of them to fill up a couple cases of good wines under twenty bucks and they do a great job.

I'm ordering up a case or two of this one. I think it was about $15

A buttery cab?
Interesting indeed.

Two friends recently went down to the States to do some liquor shopping thanks to the strong dollar. Here's what one had to say when he got back:

OK- Here's the rundown:

75 bottles

total spent Canadian after duty and currency conversion: $914.00
total value if purchased in Canada with taxes: $1482.00
savings: $568.00 or 38.3%
avg price per bottle $12.19
Cheapest bottle purchased: Yellow Tail, which is $15.16 at MLCC after tax (min savings of $2.97 on a bottle)
Max savings on a bottle: $29.21

OK
Not wine, but last night I was in a liquor store looking for a wine for dinner and I noticed that it has finally hit the shelves. Legal Moonshine!!! I tried googling to find you a link but it hasn't made much of a splash yet. About the only thing unusual about moonshine around here is the legal part.

Two products
Straight Shine which is 50% alcohol
Straight Lightning at 75% alcohol

They also make a 40% vodka.

I believe there is only one other distillery in Canada licensed to make a moonshine product and that is in Cape Breton.

Note: I didn't buy it to try as I still have some of the 'less legal' stuff sitting in my cupboard.

Back to basics.

Good wine.

Joseph Estate.
http://www.josephsestatewines.com/wine.html
Vintage Country Red.
semi sweet to sweet (3 on the 6 scale).
Great before dinner or late evening light drink.

$11 Cdn/btl.
Limited area of service though.

New Year's 2008 is upcoming.
As yet an unknown selection of red wines will be set forth for blind taste testing.

Tentatively:
Beringer 2000 Knight's Valley cab sav
Lindemans 1997 Pyrus cab sav/merlot/cab franc

I have a new must buy gadget for all you wine snobs out there.

The Vinturi


"Simply hold vinturi over a glass and pour wine through. vinturi draws in and mixes the proper amount of air for the right amount of time, allowing your wine to breathe instantly. you'll notice a better bouquet, enhanced flavors and smoother finish. it's that fast. it's that easy."

This is one of the few instances where the marketing hype on some gadget is actually true. The guy pouring at Rosenblum's in Alameda had us all try a couple of their reserve zins from the bottle and through the Vinturi, and it was unanimous - the wine through the Vinturi really was smoother, more nuanced and had a better mouthfeel and bouquet. It's quite amazing what a difference it makes, actually. I belong to a wine club that I've been getting bored with, as most of the wines are nothing to write home about. The Vinturi has turned a few of them that were mediocre before into really enjoyable glasses.

Highly recommended!