118 Responses

Pages: « 5 4 [3] 2 1 » Show All

1. November 14, 2006

   Dan

   This seemed like more of an April Fool episode than a Birthday Episode.

   C’mon guys! You should have at leasted ended with a nice pink Bandol! Now I am feeling sorry for the GV!

   Dan (In Houston. Where it is still warm enought to drink a nice pink Bandol)

2. November 14, 2006

   Mike F.

   John I remember that site from years ago. Completely hilarious. I used to drink Cisco back during my high school years. Actually I never made it to school on those days. Liquid crack! Too true. Those were some dark times.

3. November 14, 2006

   Jason R.

   Happy Birthday Gary!!!

   Does knocking back a 3 Liter Bottle of Purple Pasion count when you are 15???

4. November 14, 2006

   johnm

   A website about really bad wine for those interested in such: http://www.bumwine.com/

5. November 14, 2006

   Mike F.

   Happy B-day G-man! Worst bottle was drunk back in the ’70s. Someone had given my parents a bottle of Sake as a gift. They did’t know what the heck to do with it as they were not even wine drinkers. So it was put away in the closet and forgotten about. As a kid the bottle had me mesmerized for years. Finally when my parents were out one day I got up the courage to pop that bad boy and chug me some forbidden fruit. (Or in my case rice). I think I threw up for an hour.

6. November 14, 2006

   johnm

   As another who began drinking in the 60’s, the absolute worst was Thunderbird. Boones Farm was balanced in comparison. Happy Birthday!

7. November 14, 2006

   Darlene O.

   Happy 31st, Gary! I’m hoping that after the taping, your crew had some really good juice to celebrate with! My worst bouteille de vin was many, many years ago. Yago Sangria!!! Yes, it’s true. But hey…it was hot back then. :}

8. November 14, 2006

   GregS

   Gary,

   Happy Birthday!

   I have to admit, I have consumed a few boxes of Fanzia white-zin in a past life.

9. November 14, 2006

   Scott S.

   Hey Gary, Happy 31st! So sorry you have to taste the ZinfanSWILL. Treat yourself to say…… yeah that it, the 47 Cheval Blanc. Happy Bithday man!

10. November 14, 2006

    Sydney Australia

    Hello everyone, here is my maiden post.

    White Zinfandel

    White Zinfandel, often abbreviated to White Zin, is an off–dry to sweet rosé wine that is pink in color. White Zinfandel is made from the Zinfandel wine grape, which would otherwise produce a bold and spicy red wine. As such, it is not a grape variety but a method of processing Zinfandel grapes used in California.
    Historically an inexpensive jug wine, White Zinfandel is a quaffing wine that is sweet, low in alcohol, and soft, making it a popular choice with those who would not otherwise drink wine. This frequently makes zinfandel a target of ridicule among many wine connosieurs. Depending on the amount of sugar it contains, White Zinfandel can taste almost like a fruit punch, although some examples have crisp acids and are balanced in their own way. It is rare when a White Zinfandel is not manufactured with the intention of immediate consumption. As of February 2006, White Zinfandel accounted for 10% of all wine sold by volume, making it the third most popular varietal in the United States.

    History of White Zinfandel

    Zinfandel was first produced as a rosé wine in 1869 by the El Pinal Winery in Lodi, California. The resulting wine was thought of highly enough that Calfornia vitacultural commissioner Charles Wetmore, the later founder of Cresta Blanca Winery, advocated Zinfandel’s use as a white wine grape.
    In the 1970s Sutter Home Winery was a producer of premium Zinfandel in the Napa Valley. One technique they utilized to increase concentration in their wines was to bleed off some of the grape juice prior to fermentation to increase the impact of compounds in the skins on the remaining wine. The excess juice was separately fermented into a dry, almost white wine that Sutter Home called “White Zinfandel.”
    In 1975, Sutter Home’s White Zinfandel experienced a “stuck fermentation”, a problem that occurs when the yeast dies out before consuming all of the sugar. This problem juice was set aside. Some weeks later the winemaker tasted it, and preferred this accidental result, which was a sweet pink wine. This is the style that became popular and today is known as White Zinfandel. Sutter Home realized they could sell far more White Zinfandel than anything they had produced to date, and gradually became a successful producer of inexpensive wines. The demand for White Zinfandel resulted in extended commercial viability of old vine Zinfandel vineyards, which saved them from being ripped out. When the fine wine boom started in the 1980s, demand for (red) Zinfandel picked up considerably and these vineyards became prized for the low yields from the sometimes century–old vines.
    Rather than use the leftover juice from premium Zinfandel production, Sutter Home (and most producers today) grow grapes specifically for use in White Zinfandel in places like the Central Valley of California. Production costs are substantially lower and fruit quality is not as important to the final taste as it would be in a dry table wine. Ironically, in the 1990s the Trinchero family, owners of Sutter Home, began production of a new brand of fine wines, M. Trinchero.

    Notable Producers

    Sutter Home is the first and remains one of the most popular producers of White Zinfandels. Shipping over four million cases of the variety, its White Zinfandel is a sweet, pink wine.
    Beringer Vineyards produces one of the most popular White Zinfandels on the market. The vineyard recently released a new “Sparkling White Zinfandel” to commemorate its 20th anniversary as a White Zinfandel producer.
    Barefoot Cellars, a Sonoma County winery, began producing another popular and affordable nonvintage White Zinfandel in 1993. This offering has a good balance between zest and sugar, while their Barefoot on the Beach White Zinfandel, first released in 1999, has a more fruity flavor than most.
    DeLoach is noted for a White Zinfandel that is drier, more complex, and more expensive than most.

11. November 14, 2006

    jared

    Happy birthday gary. ill be turning 32 in about 6 weeks. so did you like cru better than the old washington park? my wife and i liked them both, but i think cru might win. just a comment…i know you thought the jason glen bottle was bad, but at least it was not his brother arron’s number and the fake spike. by the way i was at that game….happy b-day. QOD worst bottle of wine was a bottle of elk cove at union pacific 3 or so years ago and it tasted like a garbage truck smells.

12. November 14, 2006

    Dominus

    Happy Birthday Gary! 31? I forgot what 31 felt like so enjoy yourself on your big day.

    Worse wine ever tasted? It has to be Boones Farm Strawberry if that is classified as a wine, otherwise, Beringer White Zin.

    Cheers!
    Dom

    P.S. Go Colts!

13. November 14, 2006

    The Count

    Happy B-day Gary…Love your site, probably spend more time on your site alone than doing actual “work” while at work.

    Worst wine ever….GOLD SEAL PINK CAWTABWA

14. November 14, 2006

    Pat from CT

    Happy B-Day! Canei wine

15. November 14, 2006

    AlisonD

    H-A-P-P-Y B-I-R-T-H-D-A-Y G-A-R-Y !!!

    I have to say Boone’s Farm Strawberry Hill…but back in highschool we loved the stuff!

16. November 14, 2006

    K Spengler

    Very entertaining episode..and a very Happy Birthday to you as well..Paris, anniversaries, birthdays..that’s a lot of fun for one week. Worst wine? Anything choosen by us in high school can’t hold much hope.
    Now that we know better, we choose better..thanks to WLTV!

17. November 14, 2006

    Ken

    Happy Birthday Gary. 31 huh? I’ve got sneakers older than that.

    White Zinfandel as worst wine? Give me a break. I’m a child of the sixties who was a regular drinker of Boon’s Farm Apple wine. For a step up, we would drink the Mateus Rose. Now that was classy.

18. November 14, 2006

    diego de la p...

    gary happy birthday!! hope you drink something really nice tonight!

    salud!

19. November 14, 2006

    Miguelo DiMarco

    -and Drew Rod: Bartles & Jaymes doesn’t count because they don’t contain wine (they’re made with malted liquor). The nickname “wine cooler” is a misnomer and you won’t find the word “wine” on the packaging.

20. November 14, 2006

    Miguelo DiMarco

    C’mon, admit it, you downed that big glass of Woodbridge after the camera stopped rolling.
    That’s a funny set-up by your staff, maybe they’ll surprise you again tomorrow and give you some wine you’ll like – maybe each will give you a different vintage of Dal Forno Amarone which I believe is still your only 100-pointer.

    Worse wine I’ve ever drank?? –at least with White Zin (as you pointed out), it’s not substantial enough to be very offensive as a ~beverage~ so I can’t say it’s the worst wine.
    The worst I’ve had is a German sparkler I got from TJ’s -I think it was $4- called ‘Schloss Biebrich’. It was like drinking turpentine with bubbles. 2 sips (just to make sure), then I used it as a drain cleaner.

21. November 14, 2006

    DWildman

    Yes, I’m back. Actually watched the episode now….it was great. Hmmm…worst wine. There were bottles of Sutter Home White Zinfandel way back when in college….but…there was also pink Riunite in the park summer before senior year of high school…(of course, my girlfriend at the time was also drinking it, so it wasn’t all bad….). But the worst “wine” I’ve ever had is a toss up. At college, they had a “Wines of the Bowery” party….Boone’s Farm Strawberry Wine, or was it the “Mad Dog” 20/20? That’s a tough one. Have to give it to the Boone’s Farm, I think.

22. November 14, 2006

    Don S.

    CLASSIC EPISODE!!!!

    Happy B-Day Gary!

23. November 14, 2006

    Russ J

    Happy Happy GV!
    ‘90 Roumier Morey-St-Denis? Nice! 325 “bones? Really nice! I assume you made arrangements to have the wine properly handled. At a place like CRU they probably expect it. Stuck to a single bottle since it was a “school night”?
    QOD: Man, I’ve had plenty of bad wine, from Mad Dog to several different jug and box wines. Can’t really pinpoint the all time worst.

24. November 14, 2006

    Drew Rod

    Happy Birthday Gary. Cool episode. I didn’t know scores went that low. I remember those white Zin days. Anyway, worst wine would probably have to be the Bartles and Jaymes non-vintage wine cooler (if that counts), specifically the strawberry, and the fuzzy navel variety. Yes, they were cool once

25. November 14, 2006

    Susan

    Gary-
    Happy 31st!
    Here is to many, many more birthdays for you!
    I love all the white zin’s – VERY funny!
    

Pages: « 5 4 [3] 2 1 » Show All

Leave a Reply