What I learned from the folks at Turley is that they primarily only make Zin's with a few Petit Sirahs, their mailing list wait is now two years. My wife remembers seeing a couple P/Sirahs on the wine list so I plan on grabbing a few on Monday.

I've been on Wattle Creeks web site but have yet to order anything from them, I'll have to give them a try.

Just to recap Easter dinner, we enjoyed a 2005 Chase Cellars Petite Sirah, a 2004 Turley Pesenti Vineyard Zinfandel and for desert a Graham's Vintage Port 1994.

We all enjoyed the Chase P/Sirah but all came to the same conclusion, it was good not great now, we thought laying it down for a year would possibly make it a great wine.

The Turley Zin we all loved, full bodied without being fruit forward, and a great finish.

Last for desert was the Grahams, I'll have to say it was remarkably smooth with great balance, I'm just not sure if for my tastes it was worth $100.00.

We liked Turleys wine so much that on the way home we stopped back at the tasting room, we bought several more Zins and a couple 2004 Haynes Vinyard P/Sirahs, I'll look forward to drinking these in the next few months.

Cool… I was waiting to hear what you thought of the Chase before I commented on it. I agree, it needs some time resting, or so I hope. I bought a case of the damn things. I was actually pretty disappointed with it, but I had high expectations too. It is a pretty complex wine and hard to identify what the bouquet is. Considering this, I do have faith that a little time lying down will make it a wonderful bottle. I do not plan on opening another for at least six months.

I just got some good news from Turley yesterday. They think they can get me on the mailing list for this fall’s shipment. I don’t recall which P/S I had, but it left a very lasting memory of being fantastic.

Speaking of P/S, I had a Marietta P/S last night. I had this a few weeks ago and recall that I liked it then. I like it even more now. I suspect my fancy Venturi helped open it up some. It’s quite a bargain too. It’s only about $15.

So P/S is not the same as POS, right?

I don't get why you guys keep mis-spelling "Turkey".

Mike, that's sweet that you may get on Turley's list, they told me at the winery it was a two year wait, fortunately we drive that way about 4 times a year. I'll have to look up that Marietta, I've really taking a liking to the P/S's lately. I think my palates changing or I'm buying better wines, even the Merlots are starting to taste good again to me. Well, I did stop smoking last month after 25 years of the nasty habit, which has really made a difference in food and wine tasting.

Tom, as usual I chuckle everytime you post. I actually had to look up POS

I too am experiencing a pallet change. I was a hard core heavy bodied cab sav guy a couple years ago, then I was on a zin kick, then it was merlot, then shiraz, then sirah, then pinot and now – like you, I’m also really digging Petite Sirahs. But, I still enjoy all over varietals too... I’m even getting into white wines, which I always considered to be kin to kool aid.

I believe that a lot of this shift in tastes / preferences is not that they are changing, but maturing. When I have a glass of wine now, I spend time trying to identify the bouquet; then I spend time trying to identify the taste on the mouth, gums and teeth, then the finish. I still can’t pick out cigar box or green pepper or the other gazillion flavors and smells I see on tasting notes all the time, but I now know the basics. I think knowing the basics and knowing what a good finish is, is why my preferences have evolved. It helps having friends who really know wine around. When we get together to share a bottle, they explain the steps to me and help me identify things. I don’t know if you have one or not, but I bought a wine wheel from Wine.com. It’s pretty cool to taste a glass and see where it lands on the wheel.

I look forward to opening a new bottle every day now. It’s finally dawned on me why drinking and appreciated a good glass of wine really is. Five years ago it was either red or white….. Nowadays I even enjoy fine stemware. Five years ago I’d drink wine out of tall water glass, or the bottle itself.

Who said you could come out of your room? Get the F- back in there!!

Tase him! Tase him, bro'!!!!

Oh geez that's funny.
Someone let Tom out of the beer bottle and into the wine cellar.


I've been absent from the thread for awhile, unfortunately. It is apparent I've missed some interesting conversations.

We have a bbq scheduled in two weeks which will include a massive chardonnay tasting. A friend is bent on taking out a Rodney Strong or a Cakebread and betting it against some 'cheaper' chardonnays such as Toasted Head, Andrew Peller Signature Series Sur Lie and a few Aussies.

The bbq has 8 heads at last count. How many will be wine tasting i'm not sure; 4 of us at least.

Is that a tasting of massive chardonnays or a massive tasting of chardonnays?