Great tour, love that song. Was in The WL cold room yesterday, for those who have never done it, it's like going to a national monument for wine...have not had any of these wines. Best Cabs....had a 2000 Stags Leap Cask 23 recently, was awesome, love any year of Altamura (great great Cabs), Caldwell, had some reserve Berringer's that were great..think some of my best Cabs are still in my Cellar. www.winelx.com

Hmm, Gary doesn't say it, but Hopewell Valley is actually a New Jersey winery. I don't think all of their products are made from their own vineyard's grapes, though (maybe why Gary counted it with New York wines?). I haven't had much of their wines (despite being only a few miles from where I live!), but their white port is an excellent dessert wine.

very cool store hope i get to see it some day! you should put in a fire pole! im just saying. how PIMP would it be to have a fire pole in a wine store. snobs take the stairs. GaryV, takes a fire pole!!

The name of the song, I believe, is "Yakkity Sax".

Interesting video. Could you taste some Finger Lakes wines?

what is the name of that song!!

I think you need a few more corks on your table.

Good to see a tour of the store! Thanks for all you do, G-man!
K

Ahhhh...so now we see where the black bucket came from. It's fun to see the "old" gary. Oh, and (QOTD) the "BEST" cabernet I've ever had.....2001 Teachworth.

I feel like I know you so much better now. Sweet.

The most surprisingly awesome Cab I had was Cyrus 1998 Alexander Valley. It was in the cellar till summer of '06 and we tasted it with Justin Isosceles 1997 (95ws) and it kicked the Isosceles all over the place. Maybe it had something to do with the Cyrus being unfiltered but what a gem it was. I may have opened the wine at its very peak. Never had an experience quite like that with a bottl I payed $25 for. Keep-it-up Vay-ner-chuk!
Looking forward to see when they announce the date of the Steelers-Jets game.

Being on IR, having nothing to do, I watch this episode for the umpth time and finally had to comment... you didn't show the area of your store where I pick up my online orders.

Great episode.

Keep doing more USA wines that aren't from California!!

Best Cab 2002 Rudd Oakville Properitary Estates. Very hard to find in Wisconsin. It was young but opened up and was outstanding.

Gary

Come back - plaese!!!

Drool ... wish we had something like WL over here.
QOTD: difficult, I not really into Cab. Sauv. (I like it though). Let's go for OW then, because NW is hard to get. Mmm, 1990 Sociando-Mallet? Maybe yes.

Great tour for us West coast buyers...
Best Cab...94 Mondavi Tokalon,or a 97 Grgich Yountville...01 latour...

Best Cab based ever would have to be the one that hooked me. 1959 Chateau Lafite Rothschild "Double Magnum" I was fortunate enough have this one at a family reunion about 12 years ago.

The best i have found in my price range however is the 1992 FERRARI-CARANO "TRESOR RESERVE"
I also really enjoyed the 1998 Leeuwin Estate "Art Series" Cabernet, but can't seem to find them anymore. Gary thanks for everything and keep up the good work. Jtk

I'm a little late with this but.....Wow, some interesting LI bashing on this board. There are over 30 wineries on the east end of LI and sure, some are not so hot, but do yourself a favor and try a few others. Shinn is making great reds. Jamesport makes some great reds, whites and blends. And Channing Daughters and Wolffer, both on the South Fork, are 2 of the best wineries out there. Also try Lieb (whites), Macari and Roanoke. If you just go to the Pindar's and Bedell's you'll be missing out.

Best Cab based
Old World 1971 Leoville Las Cases by far.
New World old style 1979 Heitz Martha's Vineyard
new style 1999 Harlan the Maiden

Keep up the great comments.
How about a review of Virginia Wines.

Gary, another awesome episode. I have watched from the 1st (Verite) and you are now Humming with the show. I haved been going to WL since 1999, and it was interesting to reflect back on how small WL was then while watching you run through the place now. I have all my family and friends visiting WLTV now.

My best Cab experience was the 1978 Chateau Montelena Estate consumed in 2000. The longest strongest finish I have ever experienced. It was still youthful. Montelena must of loaded that wine with Stems and seeds back then for it to have so mcuh life after 22 years.

thanks for all you do for us.
Joe

New World:
JP Insignia - all good, but best I have tasted so far is 1991. I have newer vintages in my collection, but I like to wait till they are really ready to drink.
Old World:
Pichon Longueville - Lalande. 1989 is the only one I have tasted, though I have other vintages in my collection.

GARY YOU TALK THE TASTE OF BLACK CURRENT. I'M NOT SURE WHAT IT TASTES LIKE CAN YOU DESCRIBE ANOTHER WAY!

Rick

1971 Chateau Margaux when it was in its prime.

gary,
how do you have a ny episode without finger lakes rieslings? I know you have some Dr. Frank's rieslings in stock, and you used to have a wiemer riesling in stock. Hopefully you are just waiting until you have a better selection of finger lakes wines before you feature them in an episode?
also, I hope you include a dominus in your cab tasting because it seems like a high-end wine that the critics (rp and laube of spectator) have been dramatically split on for recent vintages.
-thanks

I love Cabernet Sauvignon (and Cab-based) wine. While I have enjoyed several outstanding ones from all over the world, the one that stands out in my mind was the 1997 La Sirena from California. My wife and I drank it in 1995 (6 years in bottle) and it showed lush black currant fruit, lightly toasted oak, sweet spice and minerality and ripe tannins. A well balanced wine!

GV,

HEITZ CELLARS MARTHAS VINEYARD 97

the tour was great, reminded me of some Benny Hill episodes. maybe you could dress up for us? In NYS I like Dr. K's Salmon Run chard. For California cab, I remember a bottle of 1986 Chateau Montelena Estate that was great a couple of years ago. For Bordeaux, Lynch Bages 1989

Gary,

Would love to see an episode on Michigan whites. Best cab based wine -- tough call. I've recently had both a 1989 Pichon Longeuville and a 2003 David Arthur Elevation.

hey, don't knock Jersey... we rank 5th in wine production behind CA, WA, OR, and NY... (Though can't say I have had any good ones, let alone many NJ wines at all...) 8

The best Cab I have ever had ...
- over $100 - Bryant Family 1997
- under $100 - Clark Claudon 1994 or Quilceda Creek 1998

Lovin' WL TV ... thanks

Best cabs - I have to go with the '61 Lafite Rothschild. But for California, the '84 Mondavi Reserve was marvelous. I'd have loved to try it alongside the '84 Heitz Martha's.

I agree that Virginia, Texas, Idaho may have a shot of hitting the high end of things. But NJ??? It's a LONG way off.

Keep 'em coming.

Just saw yesterday's WLTV now. Great show.... as for the best Cab, I have to thank you. Was out at The Ryland Inn about 6 months ago for a group 40th birthday with my wife and two friends and their wives. Both friends are further along in their wine education than I.

During the early parts of the meal my friends had selected a white and then a burgundy (neither of which I specifically recall). As the time came for our beef course we decided to go with a Cali Cab, and it was my turn to choose. Browsed the list looking for something that would be good but wouldn't completely break the bank and when I came upon the 2002 Egelhoff Cab. I thought it to be pretty reasonalble on a restaurant list at $110.

I had purchased a case from WL based on your extremely strong recomendation last year but hadn't yet tried. It was absolutely stunning. We all loved it, and I was very pleased to come up with something that they had never heard of and are now trying to acquire. Can't wait to get into my stash over the next years. Many thanks!

Gary,
I could not have been more pleased with your reaction to the Bedell merlot. Well I guess a "It sucks" would have provided an even greater chuckle, but to that gray haired old snob at the winery, ha ha ha . Justed started the whole wine thing so I would like to know what $25 and what $50 cab would provide the most bang for my buck. Not yet become comfortable with dropping a $100.
Thanks,
The vindicated wine novice

Good tour as I have often wondered about the size of the Wine Library operation. Impressive.

I look forward to your daily episodes, almost as much as tuning in David Letterman for his monolog, antice and such. Your show is not Letterman status but you do look a lot like Jay Leno!

Cabernet based? Too wide of a range for me to remember. As for cabernet, I recently attended a wine dinner featuring only Cabernet with each course. All were Premier Napa Valley. Wow I loved them all. Wine is much like a beautiful woman, its hard to pick a favorite. So as you experience beautiful wines there is a moment in time it is the best you ever had.

Gary, enjoying the videos!

My personal favorite Cab is the 1984 Heitz Marthas Vineyard. I have a few left and will be enjoying one on my birthday this Sunday.

Most RECENT best Cab: 2003 Tony Coturri Red (which was a blend) Best Cab ever: Caymus!!

Thanks for the NY episode and a tour of Wine Library third floor(I am fortunate enough to have seen the rest of Wine Library many, many times) Hello to all the guys behind the scenes that make Wine Library and WLTV happen - Love the Foosball table!

Best cabarnet had to be the 1986 Silver Oak cab -Napa brand. I still have one bottle left.

Gary,
Where do we vote for Brandon M's (comment 21 on Episode 62 was it?) animated graphics of the "VeynerNOD" and "VeynerCHUCK"?
Lookin good!

Gary,
Thanks for the behind the scenes looksey. I appreciated the ever-so-quick bottle pull from what looked like the Rhone aisle. The Benny Hill theme accompaniment gets a nod and a wink. Best old world-based Cab I ever had was an 82 Latour. Sublime beyond words. Best new world-based Cab was the '91 Dominus. Thankfully I still have a couple bottles stashed.
Cheers, CK