Comments on: Opus One yes Opus 1, Insignia, Mondavi and Caymus Taste Off. Do I Need To Say More? – Episode #122

By: John J.

John J. — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 05:52:08 +0000

Interesting episode Gary, love seeing love real pricey wines get beat by the more affordable ones. Price definitely isn’t everything.
Would also love to see you do an episode on vin jaune’s, or if you tackled a charbono tasting episode.

By: VinOrecul

VinOrecul — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 05:27:48 +0000

Big prices. Rhone has saved my palate from bankruptcy many a night.

Walla Walla N Rhone…with a little bit of Williamette valley. Now there is romance!

BECAUSE US! WITH A LITTLE BIT OF YOU! WE’RE CHANGING THE WINE WORLD. WHETHER YOU TASTE IT OR NOT!!

GARY, are you watching?????????

By: Max

Max — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 14:28:25 +0000

When I tasted these wines for work the Mondavi and Caymus came out with that impressive complexity and balance. Where Opus and Insignia seemed like they were being crushed by their Names.

By: John

John — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 04:33:16 +0000

How about blind tasting and not knowing what Parker or the Spectator have to say? Funny how you slurp/slurp, fail to cleanse your palate, and sometimes swallow. I’m not impressed

By: ben

ben — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 04:50:24 +0000

are you sure Gary?,that sometimes maybe your nose does not get it,and you might be irracional in judgment hey sometimes got to check twice

By: Craig

Craig — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 04:50:15 +0000

Gary

A correction for Pats. Saying Puriri Hills comes from Australia is like saying Opus One is from Canada.

Puriri Hills is the genius of New Zealand.

Also if any cab sauv is present it is only in very small quantities. It is Merlot Carmenere predominant. The Estate version is the third tier wine behind their Reserve and Pope.

By: pats

pats — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 11:14:08 +0000

Gary, a few other great cabernet’s are Puriri Hills Estate 2005 which is made in Australia. Another one is the 2002 Chateau Pontet Canet Paulliac, Chateau Haut-Bages Liberal, and one from Spain which is Torres Mas La Plona 2001.

By: chenin

chenin — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 15:57:54 +0000

Gary,
Good to see how you bring legends back to earth.
Similar things could be said about a lot of first-growth
Bordeaux, too.

By: Ookla

Ookla — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 01:30:12 +0000

Opus One was the wine that made me realize that I’m missing something in not understanding wine. I’ve always enjoyed wine, but it seemed like I really didn’t understand what ‘good’ wine was or how to go about picking it. I think the problem was that I never really had wine that was really, really good…

Then I was out on a business dinner with a partner and he was pissed at his boss – so he bought a $300 bottle of wine on his expense account. It was either an ‘82 or an ‘88 Opus One (can’t remember) which we had with dinner at Bareli’s in Secaucus. As I was tasting the wine someone asked me what I thought and the first thing I said was ‘kool aid’.

Everyone laughed at me, but that was the only thing I could think of – it wasn’t sweet, but it was the first wine that I had ever had that was so enjoyable, it brought back memories of hot summer days when I was a kid and the perfect thing to drink was kool aid…. That wine was the perfect thing to drink that evening and I realized that, although I wasn’t going to be popping a 20-year old bottle of wine on a regular basis, I needed to understand a little more about something I had been missing out on for far too long…

Sorry to go off on you here, but just felt I needed to say all of that apparently. It’s too bad the Opus One failed to impress on this vintage, but you mentioned a soft spot for the Insignia – I’ve got one for Opus One.

By: Denise

Denise — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 02:24:31 +0000

I can see why it is his favorite. Some good wines. Even though he did not like the Opus One, I have had a 1994 Opus One that was awesome (enjoyed it in 2000). And of course he loved the other Robert Mondavi, his stuff is also awesome.