18 Responses

1. June 4, 2006

   Marc

   WOW! Wonderful again Gary. It is refreshing to see you accept and promote people forming one’s own opinion on what each of us on our own find to be good wine.
   Still looking forward to the “Spain” episode.
   Keep up the good work.

2. June 5, 2006

   Brian

   I was curious why you say that a wine has been “opened” for X hours when all you’ve done it take out the cork. Everything I’ve read has said uncorking does very little in the aeration process (on the few hour time scale), I was under the impression the wine needed to be decanted or at least in a glass to open up.
   Also why don’t you taste out of Riedel glasses?
   The show is great! I can’t get enough.

3. June 5, 2006

   garyv

   They are Riedel glasses and I think you are right about decanting and in glass but opening a wine in the bottle DOES HELP!

4. June 5, 2006

   Sam Zen

   I agree Gary, value purchasing is teh way to go. However, is it worth the risk of buying “off” vintage without having the benefit of tasting through hundreds of wines to find the diamond in the rough? Most of us have the chance to taste one day a week, at our local store, and that’s it. So, realistically, how do you suggest for the average buyer to buy “off” vintage wines???

5. June 5, 2006

   garyv

   Sam the best bet is to get to taste the wines before. So #1 go to tastings that offer free shots at off vintage wines, there will be many of them given the vintage. #2 go to wine by the glass places and go through a few. #3 have a party and do an off vintage tasting ( these are fun)

6. June 5, 2006

   Bill

   Love your enthusiasm in these videos. Informative and fun. (Would like to see a few more close ups. Your camera operator should be gutsier, if that’s a word.) I agree that these “off” vintages have terrific values. I would encourage you to sell the well known/famous wines from those “off” years. It’s really a great opportunity to buy wonderful wines from superb winemakers that too many people won’t allow themselves to afford normally, at discounted prices.
   BTW, my new everyday red from Spain is the Pedrosa. I am turning heads with this one — paticularly when I tell them the discounted price. Hope you’ve tried it.

   Bill

7. June 8, 2006

   Julius

   I agree with you about finding those “diamonds” in “off” vintages. I have enjoyed many wines from, among others, first and second growth Bordeaux estates from less than stellar vintages at much lower prices than those in “hyped” years. In fact, the economics made the wine even more enjoyable.
   The opposite approach is also a way to find enjoyable wines; buy wines from “lower level” producers from highly regarded vintages (sometimes referred to as sleepers).
   It’s also interesting to note that the 2000 Ristow in this episode actually received a better review from the Wine Spectator than either the 2001 or 2002, both of which were rated better vintages.

8. September 25, 2006

   Brandon M

   This epsiode is the reason I don’t jump on the bandwagon for huge vintages. (2005 Bordeaux) I find it much more appealing to find those “Diamonds in the Rough” from an off vintage at a lower price.
   It’s hard to not get caught up in hype years, but it’s much more fun to find something that no one will have, or didn’t care to buy.

   I think that decanting is SOOOOO much better than just leaving the bottle open for a few hours. Don’t you really need to get air through all of the wine in the bottle, not just the top layer?

   B

9. May 21, 2007

   vivaitalia

   So true! I always look for wines from great producers from off vintages. I get stellar bottles for discount prices. Brandon is very right about decanting, it makes a big difference if you have the patience to do it. Just take two of the same wine and open one and leave it on the counter and decant the other for the same amount of time. I can’t imagine why people don’t decant every single bottle of wine they drink.

10. June 12, 2007

    David Canada

    You said it….I bought heavily in 2004 Bordeaux and am now laughing at all the articles saying that it is the last vintage to have sane pricing for what it delivers. You said it….as you always do

11. June 22, 2007

    caleb

    good show and even bigger message!

12. August 31, 2007

    WA Ambassador

    Good message here. Everybody has their own tastes and preferences that they need to cater to. I like what you had to say about the various vintages. It really pays to try each vintage no matter what they are priced at so that you can find the diamond in the rough.

13. September 7, 2007

    GrapeStuff

    I really would like the opp. to do more vertical tastings so I can really compare vintages.

    Think I might go and seek out a few ‘03 Napa Cabs that have been discounted. Cheers!

14. February 9, 2008

    The Fanjestic

    I actually found this wine on sale in Overland Park, KS for about the same price on a closeout and bought a bottle. I remember thinking it was an 88-89 point wine, but I can’t remember if it was the same vintage – I think it may have been 01 or 02.

15. February 25, 2008

    yowens

    Hey GV- If their is such value in “off-vintages,” why does no one buy any futures in them? Because they will not cellar as long?

16. March 16, 2008

    Kristen

    GV! This was a *great* episode! You need to revive this idea at some point cause I think a lot of new Vayniacs might like to hear about this. Thanks for giving me more nuggets of information (and ideas for cheaper wine)!

17. July 9, 2008

    Dan Leavy

    woot! challenge the wine world!

    word 47 “he”

18. September 14, 2009

    John J.

    One of the smartest episodes I’ve seen you do so far Gary. Couldn’t agree more, there’s always great wines in less than great vintages. Definitely a good opportunity to find wonderful values for the price.
    An episode on the aging potential of some lesser known wines would be great. Particularly vin jaunes which seem to have absolutely amazing aging potential.

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