Outstanding episode Gary. I was in WL this afternoon and spoke with “Jim” on the floor. I picked up some of your recently reviewed and recommended wines today and am looking forward to tasting them. I was hoping to find a nice Barbaresco while there, but no one I saw there knew what you were tasting today, so I decided to hold off. I may pick up a bottle of the ’98 Cantina Vignaioli . . . Castellizzano next time I stop in.

Lovely pics Tony!

Zerocreap, thanks for taking the initiative and coming up with such a thoughtful QOD. I actually started drinking wine because I couldn’t stand beer or coffee, and I didn’t want to be a total loser in social situations. It started with the old B&J wine coolers, moving on to Beringer White Zinfandel and Rieslings. Eventually I started stopping in at wineries while on vacations, and then one day I tasted a well-aged Bordeaux. I was completely hooked and amazed how many variations there were in wine, and even how a wine can differ in taste from hour to hour, day to day, and bottle to bottle. The alchemy that is wine is truly unique in my opinion, and I can see myself being continously surprised and delighted with new sensations over my lifetime. I don’t think I drink or collect wine for “snob appeal” but rather as a student and admirer of the enigma that is wine.

Tony:

KILLER pictures. Thanks for the link.

Great episode. Made me want to go out and try a Barbaresco.

I agree will Joe (above) that the scoring system should not include the price. That is where the QPR (quality to price ratio) factors in. Considering price into the score only adds confusion. It seems obvious enough that a 90 pt wine that costs $100 woudn’t necessarily have a good QPR. I realize that this must enter you mind when coming up with the scores based on the gut feel, does it seem worth the money type thinking. Following this logic, a wine producer could change an 88 pt wine into a 91 point wine just by lowering the price, and maybe making even more money based on the good score. The scoring system also seems pretty broken anyways considering really only about 12-15 points of a 100 point system are ever used. What would represent a zero score? A glass of Allegheny river water?

As far as red wine storage, based on my experiences (average about $12 cab,merlot,shiraz), most of these wines get distinctly worse using GaryV method of corking on the countertop. Many become harsh and more alcholic after only a day or so. Sometimes really “tight” wines will actually get better. I have had good luck with using Bloxygen type products and the Vacuvin + Refrigeration methods. Alternatively you can decant into a smaller bottle the amount you intend to keep (up to the neck) and refrigerate. That works well also.

Hi Gary,

Great show.

I’ve noticed that you’ll often rate wines lower than Parker, but never higher. Do you think he is just over-enthusiastic?

I liked in tonight’s show when you described Castellizzano as smelling like fungi, and then said, “It’s like sticking your head in mud. Not fun, guys.” Tee.

Thanks,
Miriam

yeah jaye, like you, i started on the cheap stuff…rossi was my poison when i first began. i too really love the enigma that is wine…and because it takes effort to understand i feel as though i am involved in something bigger than just a drink…which of course makes me feel as intelligent and deep as one could possibly feel while drinking a substance (which is not too deep, but better than the thoughts that arise during a coca-cola). i am not quite sure what go tme into the good stuff…i guess the time i spent living in spain and backpacking thereafter helped…that was about 7 years ago and i have progressively learned more about this great drink.

Gary, great show. Nebbiolo is one of my new favorite grapes. I was recently introduced to it by a friend, and WOW! It was nice to see this episode, so Thank you for it!!

As for Zerocreap’s QOD I love wine for an everyday drink. I hate wine snobs and people that think wine is too good to have with just an ordinary meal. Many have heard me say I was a tasting room host before and still work for a winery. Well today, I was doing a favor for my brother and taking some of his business associates out for tasting in the Carmel Valley. Anyway, total wine snobs, and they were rude about it too. I have had many chances to drink very expensive and nice wines and yes I appreciate them, but I also can appreciate more inexpensive and everyday wines. The people I took tasting however didnt. Many of the wines I liked were spit out in disgust by the people I was with. Just sorta made me mad, but atleast they tipped me well for being a nice guy. I used it to send some wine to a friend in Florida for their birthday. Anyway wine is a wonderful and mysterious thing, and I love drinking it and learning more about it each day.

Gary, this is off topic, but I know you mentioned that you’d provide free shipping codes to the city of the teams that beat the Jets this year. How about some love for your city, NYC? If the Jets win, will WE get free shipping?

Thanks and I love those Italians.

Gary,

Great episode. You have me totally intrigued by the Cantina Vignaioli Elvio Pertinace.

Gary, Great episode. I liked the hammer.
As for the color of the wines…I find that I can see what you are describing when you swirl the wine in front of your shirt (especially white shirts) so maybe you could swirl the wine in front of your que/QOD sheet. That would give the viewers a white backdrop to the thin layers of wine that occur during the swirl. Thus we could all get at least a better idea of what color you are describing.
Katie Couric has nothing on you man!!!
Keep up the fantastic work.

BTW…I’m having an issue getting my gravatar pic to show up…any tips? Am I an idiot?

Nice show about the Barbarescos.
Question: Could you review wines from the Baja California region on your show in the near future?. Thank you.

Great episode, as always. I’m a newbie, in that the wines you showcased today I have never tried. So, this weekend…:}

Zerokreap, here’s your answer to the snob question: http://wine-thoughts.blogspot.com/2006/09/why-column-on-wine.html.

I’m not a wine snob, and don’t think much of wine snobs. Wine is a wonderful thing to be shared and enjoyed, not treated as a means for acting superior and putting other people down.

Sure CdP is my favorite wine, and I could be plenty pretentious about that, but I enjoy wine too much. It’s just not something to get all serious about. It’s something to be happy and open and sharing about. If I ever get to the point where I only drink 100 point RP wines, please come over and shoot me.

Hi Gary,
you note somewhere near the end of the show the time the wines have been left open to breathe. It seems to vary from 2 to 3 hours. Is there a general rule for this? And more to the point, when most folks eat at resturants, they dont have wine uncorked for 2 hours which from what I understand means the wines will not taste their best. So should you avoid wines when dining out, only drink wine at home when you have 2 hours or what?
kampai, cheers, solute,
Kev

Another great episode full of surprises and courage! It must be tough not to make excuses for popular wines that don’t show well – but there is so much great wine out there. A search feature just on WLTV content would be really helpful (it took me a while to find the show with the Match 2002 cab as that wine was not listed). I am going to the Giant game this weekend, any wine suggestions? On second thought I better stick with beer…

Hi Gary,

Great show again. Thanks for give me so much pleasure.

1) Have you ever check out the “bottle” next to the “Wines tasted in this episode:” ? It looked more like a short bottle of beer rather than a bottle of wine which it symbolizes. That is about the only thing needed on an otherwise excellent revamped WLTV site.

2)Do you have any plans on tasting Del Forno – Amarone ? A 100 point wine rated by you.

Still watching everyday from Hong Kong

MIRIAM, You stated that Gary never scores higher than Parker. Generally, Gary(the Chuk) does not score higher than Parker, but not always:

-Today’s episode included 2 wines (Ugo & Cantina) that Gary rated higher.

-The “Renard Tres Ninos” meritage in episode #76 — Parker-91, Gary-94.

-The “Berite la Joie” meritage in Ep #1 — Parker had as 95, Gary said he’d rate it higher.

NOTE: I keep a spreadsheet of all of Gary’s “Recommended” wines from each episode, so it was easy for me to look this information up. I’d be happy to send it to you.

TONY DUNN, awesome photos…can almost taste the grapes just looking at your photos…and GREAT website. Your very talented!!

MIRIAM, correction: Gary only scored one wine (Ugo) higher that Parker in this episode (#85). Gary scored the Cantina higher than the Wine Libray, not Parker. SORRY! The others are correct.

Also loved the episode as always Gary. Barbarescos have always been a puzzle to me though. I have gotten bottle variation from several of what would be considered top producers and at $30-50 price range I expect at least 2 bottles to taste the same. when the wine is bough from the same place such as Wine Library I don’t expect storage conditions or shipping conditions to be the issue so why so much variation? As for me I cork the bottle overnite and use a nitrogen based system for more than one day storage. If wine snobbery is an issue do a whole tasting of 2 buck chuck or Rex Goliath.

Zerokreap: Regarding your question… There is so much information about wine — one could spend a lifetime learning about it and still only know 5% of what is out there. So I think some people are mislabeled as wine snobs when in fact they are just talking about what they know and love. I think the real wine snobs are those that say, “oh, I won’t drink that kind of wine because it stinks!” People who look down on others for liking Sutter Home White Zin. People who thumb their nose at Pinot Noir from Sonoma because they will only drink Burgundy. For example, I was telling my local wine merchant that I really liked a bottle of Keller Estates Pinot I tried. He stuck out his tongue, made a sour face and said, “Blah. I hate Sonoma Pinots.”. Those are the real wine snobs. BTW – I don’t think I’m going back to that store…

Gary — Great show. I haven’t tried very much Italian wine, but I’m going to be on a mission to do so from now on. I’m an avid reader of wine books — can your recommend a good one that focuses on Italy?

Gary,

Great Episode, though, I had the Tenuta Carretta 2000 also, and did not get the same reaction as you did. But, I did have it with a Porter House Steak so…

Just a suggestion, Whatever team beats the Jets, your next episode following the Jets loss(often)- you have to wear a t-shirt of the team that beat the jets….even the Dolphins…

Stop talking about Katie- she’s a disgrace to news broadcasting.

Gary-
I am in a creative mood.
Here are a few more suggestions for a good sign off:
FUN,FREE AND ME
or
FREE FUN WITH ME.

Gary,

Another good show. You’re energy level seemed even more up today. Thanks for doing a show on Barbaresco. I started to explore Italian wines, but, for one reason or another, didn’t get through them. I’ve tasted just about every varietal, but haven’t had enough to appreciate the differences in region and fruit.

That leads me to a question…Do you think I could gain a better appreication if I try various wines from a single region? I really fell in love with Rhones and tried a number of varietals from that area. I thought perhaps I would do the same for Australia, California, Spain, Oregon, etc.

I really liked your response about the goal for WLTV. You are providing a great service, and it does feel a lot more folksy here than some of the stuffy tasting parties and wine shops around DC. Keep it up (well…the show that is!)