84 Responses

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1. August 29, 2006

   zerokreap (kw)

   it doesn’t surprise me at all that people would be asking you to taste a bad wine…a ot of people like bad wine…there needs to be some sort of course to teach people what wine is supposed to taste like. i mean, wine should not be pigeon-holes, but at the same time there is a taste that is the mark of a truly great wine. i think the main idea here is complexity…people need to understand that a great wine has complexity of taste…that may mean that your first taste of the wine is somewhat awkward…you might not know what you think when you first taste it, but it should grow on you if it is good…the flavors will fill your mouth, it will NOT drink like WATER! smooth does not mean, easy for people to drink….it means that you don’t notice anything out of place as it goes down….okay, there is my rant…stop drinking crappy wine! thanks gary for the review.
   QOTD: is there another drink besides wine? okay…i like a nice crown reserve on the rocks, but i don’t really drink the hard stuff any longer…not since i discovered the great deals at winelibrary.com…hahaha

2. August 29, 2006

   Sam Zen

   Gary, I wonder if you could include your surprise “home run hitters” onto your list of suggested/recommeded wines that are accessible through the WL home page. For example, it seems that you are up on the Castano Hecla 2003 and on the Clos Mimi Petite Rousse 2004. So please include these to the stagnant list that includes sharpshooter and the like. This would be a great quick pick guide for anyone looking to heed your advise. And congrats on your 80th episode… thousands more to go!

3. August 29, 2006

   Darrell Tribue

   favorite drinks besides wine, well I came to wine from the other way I love scotch single malts and blends, micro-brew beers & imports,small batch burbons,premium vodkas, sugar cane based rums, and premium tequlia.

4. August 29, 2006

   Bruce

   Hi Gary,

   My Wife and I drink a lot of wine but we ususally do not plan far enough in advance and pull a bottle out of our cellar at 55 degrees, wait as long as we can (usually not long) and drink.
   You have talked recently about wines that you have opened hours before tasting and wines you have tasted the next day and the wine really opened up. You even mentioned dropping off wine at a resteraunt early in the day before dining with a special bottle of wine. My question has multiple parts….
   1. How long should a bottle be opened before consuming to make sure it is at it’s best?
   2. How should a wine be kept overnight if the whole bottle is not consumed? Is the wine still good the next day?
   3. When buying wine by the glass in a resteraunt should I be concerned about how long it has been opened? How long is too long?

   When not drinking wine, I like a Grey Goose Gimlet. Which is GG, splash of Roses lime juice and a big slab of lime….can be drank on the rocks or up like a martini. Also like many kinds of beer and like to drink the beer of the country of the food I am eating. Been into Weiss Beers latley and like Hackershor with a nice slice of lemon.

   Also my condolences on the passing of your friend. He sounded like a great man who loved wine.

   I am just catching up on the last few episodes, have you come up with a sign off yet? How about….”I Spit so you do not have to”

   Thanks,

   Bruce

5. August 29, 2006

   TimF

   Tony S. — The Bears are terrible. Why do they insist on starting their worst QB?

6. August 29, 2006

   Tony S.

   Oh ya, and go Bears!
   T

7. August 29, 2006

   Tony S.

   Great episode…I ran into a bottle of Clos Mimi Syrah (not the one you had, it’s just a plain old Syrah, I believe it was an ‘04) and it had freakin’ 19.5% alcohol!!!! I quickly put that thing down, figuring I won’t buy that until Port season comes around, so I’m curious, what was the alcohol percent of the one you tried?

   As for favorite drink w/ alcohol would have to be just a good old ice cold beer in a frosty mug. I’ll do cheap or nice beer, they are ALL welcome in my home. I don’t like those bitter ones though.

   As for non-alcohol, water’s good, but that’s more for when I’m not thinking about it, I really like sparkling water in a glass with ice and a slice of lime. And in the morning, hot tea, but like Jaye a few reply’s back, I like real tea leaves, not the bagged stuff.

   So your Jets lost…well, at least they didn’t get beat by the Cardinals like my Bears did.

   SEe you later,
   T

8. August 29, 2006

   TimF

   All this talk about beer reminded me that I do like beer now and again and have even gone so far as to brew my own from time to time — I’m a really hands on kind of guy. The funny thing about beer is that it’s made in nearly the exact same way as sparkling wine.

   So this brings me to a question for the group: I want to make my own wine. I’ve even gone so far as to plant a row of seyval blanc vines in my back yard. This is their first year in the ground so I don’t anticipate being able to make any wine for a couple of more years. But I’ve done some research and see that there are grape juice concentrates made for the sole purpose of making wine. Has anyone out there used these? Any recommendations?

9. August 29, 2006

   Miguel Vasco

   When are you going to start using the proper glass per wine instead of mixing them all in the glass. Dont drink Port with out decanting it first, com on pally pull up your socks!

10. August 29, 2006

    Guy

    Gary,

    My favorite drinks, when I’m not drinking wine, are: (1) Seltzer with a slice of lemon or lime – I drink 2 to 3 liters of this a day, (2) Filtered or bottled water, and (3) A 20 ounce cup of dark roast coffee every morning. This is pretty much a comprehensive listing, I drink little else. The variety and diversity of drink in my life is all in the wine segment.

    By the way, I know you have free-run at the Wine Library store, but I really find surprising the revelation that you don’t have your own wine cellar. Doesn’t that mean you are forced to regularly drink younger wines without bottle age on them? I have a large cellar, and it took a long time to get that way. It’s not to impress friends, it’s because I love the complexity fine wine gets when it ages. So in order that I might have an nicely aged bottle every night if I so choose, I’ve had to collect and store over a long period of time. I primarily like Bordeaux, but have never collected the first growths because of the expense. Instead, I cherry pick the 2nd and 3rd growths – buying futures based upon the barrel samples and on my personal preferences in appelation and chateau style.

    Thanks for WLTV, it’s a “must watch” for me every morning, and I’ve been with you from your very first show in February this year (I was the overall 6th response to WLTV since the its inception. (see the very first episode of WLTV in which you perform a 2001 Verite horizontal tasting.

    Keep up the good work, and hope to see your stor in person (and meet you) soon.

    Thanks,

    GUY

11. August 29, 2006

    Gene Mishkevich

    Hey Gary,

    another great episode. For me, a favorite drink besides wine is a gimlet. It’s a combo of Vodka and Lime juice. Best before food. Why? Because it will yield 2 results. 1) Get your appetite revved up even more. 2) Get you drunk super fast on an empty stomach … Point 2 got us almost thrown out from “Aqua Grill” down in Soho. By my 3rd gimlet, I was calling it “Hamlet” and was demanding that Ophelia and Ophelia ONLY brings me the next one.. this is besides the cushion pillow fight at the same place about an hour later..but I don’t remember much of it.

    2 part Question for you… How do you commute to and from work on daily basis – how do you deal with traffic??? and also I am sure you must have some sort of an email-based PDA (like Blackberry, Treo, etc). Do you find yourself on that thing the minute you leave work and does your wife yell at you for spending too much time with it instead of her?

    GeneM.

12. August 29, 2006

    Stéphane

    You know, you’re really missing out with beer. I was a wine fan myself, and still enjoy it to a great extent but I have found my palate more adapted to beer. Most people in the world don’t go past the level of cheap swill but there are many examples out there of a quality that rivals the best wines. Being from France I think I have adapted most readily to Belgian styles rather than American, Germans or Brits. What I love is not only the complexity but the diversity of flavors and textures that you can find. In the comment I left on the previous episode I suggested Gueuze which is probably one of my very favorite alcoholic drinks. It’s a style made in the region of Brussels through spontaneous fermentation. That is, the yeast comes from the air at certain specific times of the year to ferment the beer. The beer is matured in oak casks. To make gueuze a skilled blender will use samples from casks of 1 year, 2 years and 3 years of age in order to mix the sweetness of the young and the bouquet and subtlety of the older vintage. The result of this process is a beer with very little resemblance to Corona and a similarity with Champagne. The flavor is relatively sour with lots of fruity tones of apricot, apple but also brown sugar and vanilla, some terroir-like odors of smelly socks and Gruyere. Incredible stuff really. I would recommend Girardin or Drie Fonteinen if you can find them.

13. August 29, 2006

    MikeMe

    QOD: I like a nice margarita on the rocks with salt and fresh juice – Cazadores tequilla.

    Gary, I have an oak question. Some wines use American, some Hungarian, some French. I ask the wine makers why and they mostly associate a region to a “spice” level in the oak. However they seem to disagree on what is spicier Hungarian or American. I think it has more to do with cost of oak. Can you pass on some knowledge here because I am finding when they say American oak I tend to shy away from the wine – my pallet anyway.

    Andre #45 – In the US New Belgium Brewing makes a Triple that is sweeter. So does DogFish Ale. Try them and then move on to the real Belgiums.

    Thanks,
    Mikeme

14. August 29, 2006

    Terry Whalen

    Gary, read the WSJ article and love these segments – I’m sharing them with friends – they are great.

    The WSJ article quoted someone as saying that WL would ship for $1 per bottle, and I was excited to try out the $15 Mimi, but when I ordered 2 bottles, my shipping charge at first was shown to be $0 (I’d be fine with $2/bottle, even $3/bottle), but then after I’d entered all my information, the order summary on the last page said shipping would be $13. Can you comment on the WSJ quote on your shipping charges?

    Low shipping charges would make a huge difference to me – thanks in advance for your comments here!

    –Terry Whalen

15. August 29, 2006

    Andre (aka asr2021)

    Hey y’all,
    I hear that some german and belgian beers are sweet. I have been dying to try one, but I dont know which ones they are. As a Rugby player I chug my share of coors and enjoy guiness, but I’d love to try some of the other styles. Does WL carry any?

16. August 29, 2006

    GOL

    Another drink besides wine? Gotta be beer from Belgium. My favorite is Kwak, which when served properly comes in a test-tube like glass that can’t balance on its own, so it requires a wooden holder. Sounds gimmicky, but it’s fun and tasty!

17. August 28, 2006

    Jason

    I’m actually much more of a beer fan than a wine fan. I like wine, but it’s mostly Gary’s wonderful perspective to tasting that draws me to the show. I am a true beer fanatic, however. I love Belgian and California beers the best, with my favorite breweries being Alesmith and Stone (I’ll be at the 10th anniversary, anyone else?). I also have brewed my own for the last year.

18. August 28, 2006

    Andre (aka asr2021)

    Hey Gary et al.,
    I really love green tea with honey. Preferably cold, but hot’s great when you need a warm fuzzy feeling inside.

    I tried the Koura Bay, I loved it a lot. It’s aromatics, including the cat piss, equalled a great aroma and flavor of nothing but passion fruit; I think that’s a typical kiwi wine flavor. If I had the money(I’m a student) I would buy two cases. I had even asked Gary to try it a couple of episodes ago. I’m glad he did. I highly recommend it.

19. August 28, 2006

    chito

    Gary, great episode. I have heard wine snobs refer to it as “cat pee” but like that you call it as it is -cat piss.
    QOTD Jack Daniels with a little Diet Coke, 20% of the time, 80% wine.

20. August 28, 2006

    TimF

    Great episode Gary. My favorite carbonated beverage has to be Dr. Pepper. It goes amazingly well with Taco Bell or any Mexican food for that matter. One of my favorite food/drink pairings is Dr. Pepper and Doritos. Unreal. I even found an outfit in Texas that makes Dr. Pepper with the original recipe — no High Fructose Corn Syrup is used.

    My favorite non-carbonated beverage is apple cider. Not that crappy pasteurized stuff you find in the super market. I want the fresh squeezed stuff — directly from the apple to the glass. I drive up to Wisconsin to get it since it’s illegal in Illinois.

21. August 28, 2006

    StanVH

    Great show. I definately will try the Mimi. I know what you mean by “cat piss”. I have a term for some reds — “barnyard manure” — which is a good thing in my book.

    One of my favorite non-wine drinks is a “shandy”, expically in the summer after mowing the lawn. Mix lemonade with beer (proportions vary – find your own best mix). I first had this on a vist to England many years ago.

    When are you going to do a “blind” tasting?

22. August 28, 2006

    Gordo

    Gary – I was excited that you were tasting the 2002 Chateau Souverain Cabernet Sauvignon, as I had picked up a few bottles at a discount from my LWS a year or so ago. My assessment was exactly as was yours. Terribly disappointing. I then thru a bottle into a blind wine tasting we had of 8-10 inexpensive cabs to see what our friends would think (so, it was a ringer in this lot, costing 2-3x’s more than the other cabs. Again, disappintment, as it came in near the bottom of the heap, even below–yep–2buckchuck. The remaining bottles I gave as gifts.

    The fine Oregon local microbrews are our alternate choices in our fam.

23. August 28, 2006

    Tony G.

    Another solid episode, 92. I can’t believe it’s 80 already, started watching around 6 or 7 I think.

    Drink according to moods, Juengling, if I want a beer, Bombay Sapphire martini, dry with olives when I want something harder. WhenI’m really going all out, you know, on that really special occasion, a nice glass of chocolate milk, the powdered kind. It really brings me back.

24. August 28, 2006

    stewart

    if i’m not drinking wine,then a grey goose martini,dry with blue cheese stuffed olives is my favorite

25. August 28, 2006

    Dr. Richard Periut

    Hi Gary,

    My name is Richard Periut, and I’m a critical care & pulmonary physician at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn. However, I live in Little Ferry, NJ.

    I’ve been enjoying your blog for quite a while now, and have learned much from your episodes.

    With respect with your last episode, I must tell you how I clean my stemware; I clean it with an iota of non perfumed dishwashing liquid, rinse it with very hot tap water (I keep my heater pretty much next to max,) then I rinse it with RO water (reverse osmosis.) Being a keeper of a reef tank, I have to supply my expensive livestock with very pure water. The RO filter (I add DI as well for the fish,) DI = deionizing (an extra step,) leaves the water virtually devoid of any minerals. Thus, the final rinse does not even need any drying with paper or towels.

    As far as my favorite drink besides wine? Puerto Rican (I’m Cuban-American BTW,) El Barrilito 3 stars Rum, along with a Cohiba Lancero cigar (when I can get my hands on them,) after a nice heavy supper.

    Keep up the excellent work, and hope to meet you one day.

    Regards,

    R

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