I enjoy a Malbec now and then, Punto Final and Norton are very good. The jug wine was a pisser. www.winelx.com

So this was it. This is your crossover episode. I was wondering when it would happen. I've been watching your new ones as they come out, while starting from the beginning and moving forward till I made up the difference. After seeing the 1st episode, I was started wondering when that more extroverted, louder, more enthusiastic kind of in your face style I was used to seeing in the recent episodes, would start. And with that small break when tv exec's were showing interest, and then that last episode with the New Zealand pinot, and your 1st qotd, I suspected you were on your way. This episode cemented it. It's not as out there as your current ones are, but you can definitely see the seeds starting to sprout with this episode. Not that its any better or worse, but having noticed the difference, I was wondering when the progression would start.
It'll be nice to see the climb from the beginning here to how youo're doing things now. Btw, I can't wait to see that enthusiasm on a vin jaune or charbono episode. Oh and I did really like this episode too, thanks for the tasting notes Gary.

Carlo Rossi! LOL you're amazing.

Holy cow! I'm so happy I went trolling in the archives. This entire episode was worth it for the taste of Carlo Rossi. The look on your face at the end of the video is just priceless!

Well done. WLTV rocks the house!

I wonder if I can get any of the Susana. I love Big League Chew!

I laughed so hard when I saw the Carlo Rossi come out from under the table. This is by far my favorite episode thus far! Thanks so much for doing this podcast Gary, you've already helped me pick out a few wines, and now I am going back to your older episodes and watching the progression of wine library tv. Keep up the great work!

excellent episode

word 59 "we"

hahaha! I loved the "world-renown wine" at the end. Classic! This is why I continue to watch and catch up on the old episodes! I love seeing the zaniness come out in these first eps!

Ok that was pretty funny to see at the end. We need more of that from time to time!

I have had quite a few Argentinian Malbecs that I have really enjoyed (and a few I have not) - in general, a pretty decent QPR all around.

I love malbec. In fact, I have one keeping me company right now. Good comparisons here. I liked the surprise tasting too. It would be good to see more like that in the future.

Though I'm only up to #59 here I see definite changes going on. The way you pronounce your name changing, the animation, certain phrases popping into use. Very interesting to see how the show morphs. I think the comment above from Jaye sums it up pretty well- "Hmmm. When I first started watching today’s episode I was afraid you were on some kind of new meth-kick or something"

You are a nutbag buddy....I love it.....Carlo Rossi. I want you to drink some baby duck or Matteus sometime.

Had a Bodega Norton Reserve Malbec for $11.99- decanted 1 hour-delicious. Even got my "old world" father to get into it. Wine library TV is changing my wine world...

The Rossi wine thing was a stellar move... brilliant!!! I vote you try some Two Buck Chuck as well :)

My local wine store hosted a wine maker dinner this past Monday (2/26/07) and Susana Balbo was the wine maker. She was very nice, down to earth, and informative. We had 6 wines, among them an interesting Malbec Rose, her Crios Torrontes, and a Malbec Dessert wine that's not available in the US. The Dessert wine was great and hopefully we'll be able to get it here soon.

I 'am a huge fan of Malbec...i believe they are the BEST VALUES out there. Thanks for a great episode and i'll be looking for more of them!
Gary...you rock!

Gary, can you send me a jug of that last wine ... ;-) . Nah, funny move though.
You should try the Malbec M 'Gli Aceri' of Paladin, a Veneto winery. It's about 12 EUR/bottle, a real bargain and a very nice in between for NW/OW-lovers.

Hi Gary,

Have you considered an episode of jug/'big box' wines and doing them blind (maybe with a ringer involved chosen by your staff). I think this would be really a fun episode although it might not be fun for the taster. ;-)

Just a thought,
Mike.

Fantastic....swallowing the Rossi wrapped it up great!
Malbec is one of the few lesser known grapes that I've been drinking for some time....thanks for the taste!

B

GARY you are hilarious.....Big League Chew..wet Rock.....your totally on crack, and you know what...I LOVE IT. Your great, you definetely have another loyal fan.

Today I received a case of Malbec, the wine that smells bad and tastes good. Wine Library does a great job shipping in hot weather. The order was shipped from NJ to Little Rock over night.

First time viewer. Found you from a link on http://fermentation.typepad.com.

Excellent (and fun review) and a great surprise at the end. I've always wanted to sneak a glass of Rossi in at the dinner table to see if anyone notices. I may just have to do it.

Gar, excellant surprise with the Carlo Rossi. You had me cracking up when you pulled that badboy out! Brought back memories of starting out on Carlo Rossi wine on the playgrounds of Newark from the HL's. We've come a long way from those days. Also, way to have integrity and stick by your guns on your beliefs on the programming. Thanks for keeping it real and thanks for the show!

Enjoyed the show- and the edge your walking on...
I'm sure there are more old school viewers who could be taken back- but video blogging is not mainstream...

Drank a Malbec last night - Navarro Correas 2004 --- very nice... thanks to the US push for Malbec- some great deals are showing up on the shelves for wines that will soon jump in price...

Request - still new to the wine world - could you spend more time talking about the wines - at the beginning - especially since I cannot stop by the store to buy the labels...

What continues to amaze me about the show- is that it is done in one take - or without editing... cheers

I really got scared when you brought up this canister. :)

Rossi!!
I sold Carlo Rossi for nearly 10 years. I used to sell in the Ironbound section of Newark. On Monday, I would head "down neck" to make my calls and would always pass my grandfather's (Pop's)house. Pop was in his 90's by then. He would be waiting for me to drive by sitting on the stoop in his lawn chair. I would honk the horn, he would wave and head upstairs to make us lunch. Always peppers and eggs. I would do my rounds and head over with a case of Paisano for the old guy. We would eat together and then I would be on my way. This routine was repeated on Thursday cause " himma needa da wine for da weekena...." he lived until 101 years old and he drank Carlo Rossi everyday that I can remember since I was a kid....

Great episode Gary! The ending had me in stitches, and you looked like you actually gave it an earnest slurp. More to the Malbec, I'm a fan and so wonder how the Balbo compares to Catena Lunlunta Malbec for around the same price point. LOVED the comment on Big League Chew --- did way too much of that on my paper route as a kid. The Heitz reference was cool too (pleasing waft of eucalyptus?) Cheers, C

Gary:
I have always liked WLTV but these past few have been "killer". Year's ago, I dated a girl who lived on another amazing Carlo Rossi product: the Rhine white, and her friend sucked down the Rossi Paisano. Those two (wines and women) kept me a beer drinker for many years!

Loved the surprise tasting -- just great!

I've actually won that jug of wine wearing the uggliest sweater at a Christmas party 3 years ago. That prized jug will never be opened. Letting it age now, until it evaporates... but wait, it's a screw cap! Oh well, atleast I know what it tastes like- thanks Gary!

oh, actually it was in my comment on #57...tasting carlo, that is

gary....i'm hurt you didn't send a shout out to me after i had thrown the idea of tasting our friend carlo in my comments for #58....hahaha....the best thing i have ever seen...i started on rossi....i mean, of course it is bad, but my first experience with wine when i was 18 was a big jug of rossi merlot...yeah, i know, but i tell you, i drank that stuff for about a year...you cannot beat it for the price. i was friends with an artist that ran a small gallery in downtown tuscaloosa, alabama named Flemming Tyler Wilson, and he would have people in that place every night...whether it was close friends or drunk people that wandered by the two big front windows and could see the insanity (art and people) inside....carlo let us entertain without breaking the bank...wine library needs to get a myspace page....carlo has one....you can be friends....oh yeah, and next time where the che' beret...gary 'che' vaynerchuck....im telling you!

Carlo Rossi????? Hilarious...I can't stop lol...Gary you're too much!! ;o

p.s. nice photography Tony. I'm a shutter bug by hobby. I like the landscape stuff a lot.

Booooo Yyaaaahhhh!!!!
Man you are on fire. That was an awesome episode. I thought the video was screwed up at one point when you paused and stared at the Morichetti.
Good question about the Mondo Vino movie P.Hig.
What is your opinion Gary?
As for myself...I drink wines that I like. If I were going to not drink a wine because of "globalization" or something I would spend too much time researching the wine maker, vineyard, and production practices. Now, I will put my foot in my mouth on that because there are some wines out there that because of production levels, false hype, and overall corporate activities I will not even taste (Yellow Tail for example).
But this could be a three hour conversation (over a bottle or three of wine ;)).
Gary, good job again.
Marc

Argentina Malbec? No thanks. Ever see Mondo Vino? There you have it.

YES, YES, YES!!!

That was absolutely classic! When you pulled out that big jug o' Carlo Rossi I about died. The fact that you didn't absolutely kill it was the icing on the cake. Clearly "exceeds expectations" - not that that was hard to do.

This is the real Gary Vaynerchuk - having fun with wine. And that's what it's about. Nobody but a wine snob likes a wine snob. Your freeform irreverent approach is spot on. I mean it. Whatever the TV execs did to you has inspired you to a new level. The past three shows have taken WLTV to a new place. I'm beginning to think that you might actually know what you are doing. ;-)

As always, keep it up.

P.S. I think that doing one show a day is probably going to wear you down in the long run, so it's probably not a good idea to set expections that high. Three a week is probably a more maintainable goal - not that I wouldn't want to watch a new episode every day.

Tony

Gary, could you please differentiate for us your views on the sweetness of wines. On the one hand, you bash rosemount and yellowtail for their sugar water, fake style. ON the other hand, you praise these malbecs for their very fruit forward, residual sugar sweet styles. I'm just trying to understand how to reconcile the two views. Could you please explain a little more the differences you see between them? Thanks.

Gary,

Loved the show! I know everyone is going to throw in their next "crap" suggestion for you, but lets go old school on your next tasting. MAD DOG 20/20...from purple rain to the blue bling. Mad Dog produces some of the most noxious crap ever to come out of a drain pipe sewer.
Your homie,
Mike