Happy Birthday Gary Vaynerchuk!

Happy Birthday Gary Vaynerchuk! – Episode #127

November 14, 2006

Wines tasted in this episode:

Vendange White Zinfandel
Turning Leaf White Zinfandel
Woodbridge White Zinfandel
Not available online.

free.winelibrary.com

Link to the new web site.

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In a special episode today in honor of Gary’s birthday, Gary tastes wines selected by the Wine Library staff. So sit back and enjoy this “Blind tasting” and help Gary celebrate his birthday. We’ll post the wines tomorrow so that they’re a surprise!

118 Responses

November 14, 2006

DWildman
in..first time
November 14, 2006

Jim
Happy B-Day.
November 14, 2006

DWildman
And happy birthday Gary!
November 14, 2006

AnthonyS
Happy Birthday! Top 5!!
November 14, 2006

AndrewB
Hey Gary! 2 more days till BN! What are you gonna do??
November 14, 2006

AndrewB
Oh yeah! Happy Birthday Gary!!!
November 14, 2006

IRA
Happy Birthday Gary
November 14, 2006

Steve B
Happy Birthday, Gary……..
November 14, 2006

Nicholas
Happy Birthday Gary!

I was curious if you’d ever thought about putting a “wish list” option on winelibrary’s website. Sort of like Amazon.com; a place to put wines you want to buy in the future…thoughts?

My Very Best,
nicholas
November 14, 2006

Ernest R
Happy Birthday man. Enjoy.
November 14, 2006

DWildman
Nicholas, yeah…a Birthday/Anniversary/Holiday registry….a great idea. That way our spouses, family and friends won’t be able to complain about not knowing what to get us for gifts.
November 14, 2006

JimmyWineBoy
Gary…Happy Friggen Birthday.
Erik…here’s to MANY crazy birthday parties…enjoy them all man they go fast…CONGRATS!!!!
November 14, 2006

Uncle Josh
Happy B-Day Gary! Your share your birthday with Condi Rice and my brother Elijah among others. You are in good company.
November 14, 2006

Nicholas
It appears that DWildman has read my mind! Santa always brings me the worst wine…but maybe not this year?
November 14, 2006

Brandon M
Did you get a new Chopper for your birthday you dog?

Erikâ€¦hereâ€™s to MANY crazy birthday partiesâ€¦enjoy them all man they go fastâ€¦CONGRATS!!!!
November 14, 2006

matteo
Happy birthday Gary

everyone – don’t forget to vote for your favorite blog!!!!!!!!

http://www.localwineevents.com/blogs/blog_list.php
November 14, 2006

Rich S
Happy Birthday Gary!!! I am totally down with the wish list idea. Right now, I tend to put bottles I want in the shopping cart but the problem with that is that when I do place an order for a few bottles, everything in my shopping cart shows up which can be lots of fun and dangerous at the same time. A “wish list” would be awesome!!!!!

Make that happen GV. Great episode by the way…………..and Happy Birthday again!!!!
November 14, 2006

cgf
qod: i have chugged franzia straight from the bag too many times to recall.

Happy birthday Gary!
November 14, 2006

Tony
Woohoo! Happy B-day Gary! Yeah, we were a bit drunk that night!
November 14, 2006

LinoD
Happy Birthday ‘ya crazy bastard !
November 14, 2006

TampaSteve
Happy 31 my friend!!!!…if I only knew at 31 what I know now……….
November 14, 2006

Louisiana George
QOD – Mad Dog 20/20 – Orange flavor, before it was legal for me to drink wine

Happy Birthday, Gary V and many more to you!

Louisiana George
November 14, 2006

Brandon M
Carlos Rossi from the jug…many a night
Now I taste it and Say Wha Wha Wha Whaaaat was I thinkin?
November 14, 2006

Rob M.
Happy Birthday, chump.

I agree with Nicholas, Rich S (Rich???), and DWildman- a wish list would be nice. I use my shopping cart as my wish list, but when it is time to order, it is a pain deleting what I do not want, but then searching for them all again to put them back in a shopping cart so I remember what I like. It is especially problematic given the new free.winelibrary.com- in order to buy a few bottles of the wine yesterday, I had to delete about 20 wines from my “shopping cart”.
November 14, 2006

Denise
Happy Birthday, Gary!! Many happy returns!
November 14, 2006

hinrgman
QOD – many years ago – a wine called Orange Rock (no longer made)

or Bali-Hi or Twister as a last resort

used to guzzle a pint or 2 under the boardwalk at Rockaway Beach
November 14, 2006

ML
Happy BDay GV!
November 14, 2006

Julius
Happy Birthday. I bet the Pickles tasted better than any of these wines. I tasted one and I gave it a 95.

QOTD – Ripple.
November 14, 2006

Rick E
Happy 31st, GV. I’m not sure how you do it, but you’ve managed to keep this community entertained for 127 episodes. This latest was hysterical, from your not keeping a straight face with the Vendange to the “someone’s peeing white zin in my glass”. Come on, this is classic, classic stuff.

Your free shipping idea rocks (although I’ve ordered the Farleigh Zin from WL earlier this year–it blows).

This site is awesome. Your vlogs are awesome. The Forum, the community, the guest intro’s — All awesome. Thanks, brother.

Rick
November 14, 2006

jon777
Ah… White Zin — so many (foggy) memories. Drank waaay too much of it in college — mostly Sutter Home White Zin. Although, per the QOD, the worst wine was probably Blue Nun.

Of course, this all centered around getting sorority girls drunk, so the white zin holds a special place in my heart…

Happy b-day! Your staff obviously hates you! LOL!
November 14, 2006

Sam Zen
Happy Birthday and week G— getting reved for the bears game? This past weekend I had a former Marine stay with us in DC to celebrate Veteran’s Day. He’s from Brick, NJ, and is a HUGE Giants fan… how fun to see my Bears dismantle those lil’Giants in the seond half. I think that mo will carry over til the Jets game for sure. So long as the Bears can hold off the Jets in the second half all will be well in the world. Happy Birthday and get ready for some pre-Thanksgiving shipping to us Bears fans.

BEAR DOWN… CHICAGO BEARS!!!!
November 14, 2006

AnthonyS
Great intros Tampa Steve, Tony and Brandon. Sorry Erik for spelling your name wrong yesterday. Congrats again on the news.
November 14, 2006

Brooklyn Paul
Happy Birthday Gary!
November 14, 2006

Thomas
Happy birthday gary!
November 14, 2006

Dan G.
Happy Birthday Gary. Man if you co-workers give you that crap I’d hate to see what your ememies would give you. Worst bottle I dont even remember the name. Needless to say I dont buy too much anymore without your recommendation. No guesswork involved.
November 14, 2006

Dan R.
Happy B-Day Gary!!!
November 14, 2006

ChrisR
Happy Birthday buddy! Drink something great tonight and tell us about it tomorrow.
November 14, 2006

zerokreap (kw)
happy birthday man
i thought i was actually going to be sick during this episode…i hate sweet stuff…jolly ranger wine…gross!
i have never had a bottle of white zin
the worst bottle of wine i ever drank was a corked bottle of beringer knights valley cab…yes, i drank a whole corked bottle…i couldn’t get that taste outta my mouth for like two days. as for crappy wines…if i open it and it sucks, then i just toss it out.
i did drink many jugs of carlo back in the day…but it really wasn’t that bad. haha
November 14, 2006

Tony S.
Happy birthday Gary. I will admit to drinking white zinfandel, and I will say it wasn’t the worst I ever had. The main reason I enjoyed it is because when I first found out about wine and didn’t know a dang thing about it, I went to the grocery store to start “learning”. I bought I white zin (I don’t remember which winery) and a California Port of some sort. These were both from the grocery store and this was 10 years ago, so I’m sure my pallet has evolved (I sure hope it has!!). Any way, at the time, they were both alright.

BUT, the worst wine I had (besides out of condition/over the hill wines) was a White Merlot from Sutter Home. A brother-in-law whoe doesn’t drink, but knows I’m into wine bought me a bottle for Christmas. I expected to never drink it, but one day they were comeing over for dinner, so I decided to open it up for that occasion. I acted like it was enjoyable, but it tasted like watered down strawberry liquor. I’d rather have over the hill or out of condition wine.

OK, see you later, and have a great birthday. You ARE going to bring those leftover wines home and drink them all, right?

GO BEARS!!!
T
November 14, 2006

MarcT
I remember back in school when I would get Franzia because it was cheap and all I wanted was to get drunk. I could drink 48 oz of the stuff and get quite a good buzzzzzzz…then I had to drink a gallon of water to not have a horrible hangover the next morning!!!

Great episode Gary…I’m emailing the link to EVERYONE!!!
November 14, 2006

Sue Z.
Happy Birthday Gary!!!!!!!!! Hope you enjoy many more!!
QOD – The worst wine I ever had was definitely the first wine I ever had. My dad gave my brother and I each a big glass of nasty old chianti (from the basket weave bottle, probably something from the 70’s) when we were in our early teens. I think he was hoping we would hate it so much we would never, ever want another sip of wine for the rest of our lives. Thankfully we both grew up thinking there had to be better stuff out there. He drinks barolo. I love bordeaux. Thanks dad;-)!!!!!
November 14, 2006

AndrewP
Happy 31st GV! Another great episode.

QOD – White Zin from a box of course (usually Franzia)… we used to have drinking contests with it in college. Just remove the “space bag” from the box, stand up, and drink until you fell over… life was so much simpler in those days…
November 14, 2006

Katie
Happy Birthday Gary!
QOD – Pink Fox from Les Bourgeois winery in Missouri. Drank it to celebrate the end of finals. Iâ€™m not able to drink anything sweet after that.
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!
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
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.
November 14, 2006

Don S.
CLASSIC EPISODE!!!!

Happy B-Day Gary!
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.
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.
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.
November 14, 2006

diego de la p...
gary happy birthday!! hope you drink something really nice tonight!

salud!
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.
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!
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!
November 14, 2006

Pat from CT
Happy B-Day! Canei wine
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
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!
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.
November 14, 2006

Sydney Australia
Hello everyone, here is my maiden post.

White Zinfandel

White Zinfandel, often abbreviated to White Zin, is an offâ€“dry to sweet rosÃ© 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 rosÃ© 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 centuryâ€“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.
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!
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.
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. :}
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!
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.
November 14, 2006

johnm
A website about really bad wine for those interested in such: http://www.bumwine.com/
November 14, 2006

Jason R.
Happy Birthday Gary!!!

Does knocking back a 3 Liter Bottle of Purple Pasion count when you are 15???
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.
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)
November 14, 2006

Skol
Happy Birthday!

Worst bottle surprisingly was Ramey 2004 Chradonnay Russian River Valley chardonnay.

Skol
November 14, 2006

StanVH
Happy Birthday Gary!!!

Wow — a white Zin tasting. I’ll have to say that white zins come pretty close to the worst wines (wine??) I’ve ever tasted, but the superlative goes to a Taylor (New Youk State – not Bully Hill) gold label champagne — yes, they had the gall to call it that which was so bad that I still remember the date — August, 1967.

Now, you still should do some decent Roses.
November 14, 2006

Jim Vandegriff
HBG! I want to defend white zin a bit. When it first came out in the early 80’s (or so), I tried a number of them. They were mostly terrible, but DeLoach made an excellent one. They had access at the time to some pretty good zin vineyards, and the juice was excellent. While I haven’t had a white zin in 20 years (and it doesn’t look like I’m missing anything), I do have fond memories of that DeLoach RRV white zin. Jim
Worst wine: Cooked 1950 Ch. LaGrange in 1982. Awful, just awful. I’d like to try a 2005 though! Jim
November 14, 2006

DJA
Great facial expressions when tasting the white zins.

Hard to pick the worst as I too was a child of the early 70’s and drank Boones Farm, Almaden, Liefermilch, and step up to impress was Matus or Lancers. But I think Mad Dog 20/20 was the bottom. The goal was the buzz and the hell with the taste. MD’s other great feature was the bottle/flask was made to fit in your back pockets.
November 14, 2006

JustinL
The worst wine I’ve ever had was a Cabernet Sauvignon made in New Jersey. It was like drinking a glass full of liquid mulch.
November 14, 2006

Bill
Happy B-D Gary. I hope the wines look up for you later in the evening!
Worst wine I have ever had was not in fact a white zin, as I have only ever smelt one of these extraordinary examples of bat’s piss. No, the worst was a Seaview ‘Claret’ – a mass market blend of Aussie red that was produced in the 80s (and is still around I hear). Tasted like a mixture of paint-thinner and essence-of-decaying-skunk. Horrendous.
Have a great red on all of us tonight!
Cheers mate!
November 14, 2006

Andrew B.
QOD: Wild Irish Rose >
November 14, 2006

Jaye
Thanks to the WLTV crew for making a very funny episode. I needed a good laugh today. Loved seeing TampaSteve family as well as BrandonM and Tony with significant others.

Gary, one thing you should be truly thankful for, as well as proud of, is that you started this thing — an entire community has come from your idea to start a wine video blog. You have touched many lives in a very positive way — that is a great gift that you gave us. I hope you see it as a gift to you too.
November 14, 2006

Brooklyn Paul
Worst Wine?

Thunderbird! Chugged it. Wow… bad.
November 14, 2006

Rick "The Model" M
Happy Birthday buddy. I am writing from my new mac. The worst wine I ever tasted was some beringer crap my wife made me try. Great episode guy. It was right up my wife’s ally. Where did you go for your birthday dinner tonight? Anywhere worth tryig?
November 14, 2006

karl satirev
Worse wine: tasted in the late 1970’s (and the taste lingers on) – Andre Rose from California. I bought it as a joke, but the joke was on me. We shared the bottle with the kitchen drain.
November 14, 2006

lizv
tampasteve & fam-just hilarious! priceless…tony & brandonm-great to see you guys too! thank you all so much for those great intros!!! hey rick ‘the model’ m-congrats on the new mac it’s about time you’re going to love it. your wife made me try that beringer (ah hem crap) a few too many times for my liking too! thank g-d we’ve moved on from that
November 14, 2006

GOL
LizV – Happy anniversary!
GV – Happy BDay!
Erik – Congrats!

I think a saw a new VaynerMove in the tasting… that would be a VaynerChu(c)kle, the little laugh in the middle of tasting the first white zin!

GO BEARS
November 14, 2006

damon
You know, once in a while you have a well meaning guest stop by, who knows that you enjoy wine. I was gifted a bottle of Beringer W.Z. by such a guest rescently. Have yet to taste, will post notes later.

Gary, Have a good one. My Birthday is on Saturday, but I’m sure I won’t get the same line up of wines that you did.

Worst wine 2 buck chuch syrah……….
November 15, 2006

Chris from NY
Once again i must point out man law. Jerome Bettis and Burt Reynolds both state, “a man should never drink white zin” and it was passed unanimously. Happy Birthday you motoring boat son of a bitch. Just watched wedding crashers….sorry.
November 15, 2006

Seth - MacGeek
A bottle of White Zin.. left out in my friends closet standing up for countless years, opened to a broken cork..

What do you expect we drank it anyways. We were in high school! We were forever scarred… UNTIL!.. WLTV!

seth
November 15, 2006

Misguided Mortal from TJ, Mex
QOD: A chilean red wine that tasted like if you were licking an oak barrel and tannins/alcohol that tasted like turpentine in my university graduation party.

oh and I was going to taste another suspect red wine but when I opened the cork it split into a million pieces and when I poured it on my glass I wondered why it was brown, needless to say I dumped the bottle to the sink
November 15, 2006

Wildebeest
Happy Birthday Gary!

QOBD: The most offensive bottle of wine I’ve ever drunk was a Yellow Tail Cabernet Sauvignon. I should have known I was in for trouble when I saw the light red color. It tasted as if they took a really bad Pinot and added artificial smoke flavoring to give it a bit more “depth”. My girlfriend had bought it because she wanted something a little less sweet than the Shiraz, but after one sip she refused to drink any more. I drank it. After all, it was wine, and starving college kids can’t afford to throw money away. Maybe I should’ve poured it into a beer bong. (Or, a bota bag)
November 15, 2006

Lev M
Gary, you didnt decant the white zins…shame on you
There should be a jug wine face off as well…no?

QOD- never had a white zinfandel, worst wine in recent memory was a corked montepulciano d’abruzzo which had started to re-ferment and was carbonated. At first I tried to enjoy it thinking that this varietal was supposed to be this way, but it hurt my tongue so I stopped. I bought it in tuscany thinking it had something to do with montepulciano so it was a learning experience: buy tuscan wine in tuscany.
November 15, 2006

Anthony M
Gary, Happy birthday!

Seeing how much wine you taste a day (some of which you don’t spit out)…have you ever walked around the office and thought to yourself…”wow, i’m not feeling too sober”?
November 15, 2006

Tom L
Nice to know that we share a birth date, Gary. Happy Birthday to you. I hope you had something better than the white zins with your birthday dinner. Worst wine I even had was from the Brotherhood Winery in upstae NY. Can’t even remember which varietal it was. We went their for a wine tasting and this one made me sick to my stomach.

All the best,
Tom L
November 15, 2006

Lynne
Happy Birthday, Gary!

I’m sorry abouth the misspelling, Erik “with a K”.

QOD:Oh, man, there have been sooo many. Matues and Almaden, (we drank those to use the bottles for candle holders), Blue Nun Liebfraumilch, Riunite Lambrusco, Spanada. One good thing came from my consumption of these wines and that was the theory that surely these can’t be “as good as it gets”.

Enter the beer drinking years, because it was cheap….four kids (they weren’t cheap )….and years later, VOILA!!! Gary V and Winelibrary TV!! Thank you, Gary!! This has been a gift to me. I have gained a true appreciation for wines, thanks to you. And to think it all began when I Googled “white zinfandel”!
November 15, 2006

GeneV
Happy B-Day! Great Show.

QOD: Spanada, August 27, 1973–drove the porcelein bus that night.
November 15, 2006

BigBob
Who would have thunk it! Franzia?

Happy Birthday!

Worst wine… I had to go to a repast luncheon recenty at a NJ winery. Their Claret was the worst wine I have ever tasted…
November 15, 2006

Grasshopper
Happy Birthday Sensei!!!!

Worst Wine and yes a White Zin at Holiday party at In-laws…Woodrbridge White Zin!!!

Hope you had a great time on your big day!

Grasshopper
November 15, 2006

rich loughrey
Great straight faced acting. Happy B’Day
November 15, 2006

DAVID KAPLAN
Happy birthday, Gary !!!!
Worst garbage I ever drank was bottled in recycled Orion beer bottles on Okinawa circa 1968.So bad there was little to differentiate the taste going down or coming back up.
November 15, 2006

Paul
Had a good(?) white Zin from Beringer a few years ago – bone dry and, oddly, drinkable. Had some intials on the label
Worst ‘wine’ – could be most anthing by Boone’s Farm or good old Mad Dog 20/20. Many a good buzz, many a painful morning after.
November 15, 2006

Dan C.
Gary- Happy Birthday a day late! In the Chicago edition of the NY Times, your full page ad is on page 9 of the “Dining In” section opposite the page 8 Eric Asimov “What goes with Turkey Again?” article. Great ad Gary, way to get it out.

QOD- I see I’m not the only person who drank bad wine in the ’70s. Bali Hai and Mad Dog 20/20 are a tie for me, although I recall that the MD at least had high alcohol. Any Boone’s Farm gets honorable mention.

Dan C.
November 15, 2006

NateDogg
Holy crap! Hands down one of the most enjoyable episodes on a purely comedic scale. It’s good to see the King of Tasting trying to hold down that Zin for more than a second or two. Can’t remember when I last had a White Zin, but recently my fiancee and I broke into a bottle of Rosemount Cab Sauv that had been lingering in my wine shelf after having been brought over for a party by a “friend.” After about half a glass each, we poured the rest of it down the drain. Needless to say, that “friend” is now on our s@#! list. Later,

NateDogg
November 15, 2006

Italian Stallion
Hey Gary….Happy Birthday again lol…..I have a question for you:

Does Wine Library offer gift cards? Because I can’t think of anything better to ask Santa for then a WL gift card.
November 15, 2006

Italian Stallion
Oh and I can’t remember the worst wine I’ve ever had….but Twenty Bench Cabernet is up there
November 15, 2006

Michael
The worst wine I have had was an Armenian Pomegranate wine (no name to protect the innocent)….I brought it to my wine group and they all said that I set a new low in wine tasting by letting them taste it.
Happy Birthday V-Man
Michael Hummer
Tucson, Az
November 15, 2006

KAHUNA
Gary,
Enough with the Happy Birthday crap, you have one every year so Whoopdi Damn Doo as the legendary Derek Coleman would say- I get hemroids once a year and you dont see me sitting around errr standing around waiting for gifts with a dopey grin on my face-

Get back to work and start tasting some damn wine-

QOD – that crappy ass chianti you recommended- since I bought six I guess I get to have that experience over and over again- Lucky me! its my birthday YIPPEE YIPPEE-

This is what happens when I buy that crap ass NY Times because you begged us too and all I got was to read the same quotes I read already in the forum and post board- Good lord and to make it worse I did not even make the paper!

Anyway Happy Birthday and Anniversary and whatever the hell else you are celebrating- I have to get some Preperation H- I hear this years Prep H has a cool fruity nose and some heat on the back side.

By the way keep up the great work- and excellent episode!
November 15, 2006

SeanM
Props to the guys making Gary choke on the WZ. I almost choked on my tea watching with the tears running down my cheeks.

G-Man, Happy B-day.
November 15, 2006

Joe Swirl
The HD camera looks great, glad you got all the tech bugs worked out.

Happy Birthday.
November 15, 2006

Eric
Gary – Happy Birthday. Love the show. I only started drinking wine about a year ago. I’m learning a lot going through the archives.

White Zif from the staff? I’d watch your back
November 15, 2006

Shahar Golan
Gary, Oy-Vay (Ner Chuk)!
You forgot to rinse the glass between the wines…
November 15, 2006

TommyO
Happy B’DaY!! Great show today I laughed the whole time …
November 16, 2006

Tony M
Happy Birthday Big G!!
http://www.thewineglass.net
November 16, 2006

Joe Po
Happy Belated B-Day GAry,

Your face on the first tasting had me LOL.
Homemade beet wine was definitely the worst.
November 16, 2006

Lawrence Leichtman
Every wine I tasted from Wiedeker Winery in Arkansas. I have been offered white zinfandels since they first came out and have never had one worthy of being called wine.
November 19, 2006

Vinacull
Happy Belated Birthday Gary! Oh I felt like you came close to horking a little of the Vendange up in your nose when you first tasted it (maybe it tastes better that way?). And thereafter the head buried in the spit bucket had me laughing to tears. Friggin hilarious the whole thing. QOTD: Worse wine I ever had was because of age and vintage — a ‘65 Latour that we received as a “gift” from a colleague back around 2000. This was one time where storage in a Florida closet was not a testament to vino resilience. Raising a glass to your big 3-1 Gary, C
November 21, 2006

Arnold
How’d I miss your B-Day episode?!? Happy Birthday Gary. That is my new favorite episode. You know, the NY Times recommended the Franzia, it tasted like coolaid. But that wasn’t the worst wine I’ve ever had. Sorry, can’t remember who ‘manufactured’ it but it was supposed to be a Chardonnay, someone brought it to a party I had and I brought it over to a friends house and we made the mistake of opening it. It was so bad. Is that re-gifting?
February 17, 2007

Corrado
I saw the “White Zin” ratings on the spreadsheet and had to check this episode out. I’m intrigued by wine ratings and wines like a White Zin seem to pose an interesting challenge. I’ve always been of the belief that a wine should be rated as a varietal. Comparing a Barolo or Amarone to a Sauvignon Blanc or Viognier is almost literally comparing apples & oranges.

That said, it is FAIR to rag on White Zins because they’re inherently weak as ’serious’ wine? Giving ratings of 58 – 69+, while done somewhat tongue-in-cheek, doesn’t likely help the intrepid White Zin shopper.

QOTD: Probably NOT a White Zin; more likely a Chardonnay. Worst I’ve had that I can recall is an Alice White Shiraz. It was red isopropyl alcohol.
March 4, 2007

mczinger
QOTD: Mentioned this in a TN on the forum, but my friend and I managed to get through a glass and a half of horribly corked ‘82 PÃ©trus. It was given to him when he was born (when PÃ©trus wasn’t $500 a sip) and we drank it on his 21st. Disgusting, but we tried! Oh did we try and hope! C’est la vie.
March 10, 2007

Jennifer
The Vendange, believe it or not, is the worst wine I recall having in, I believe, the snowstorm of..circa 98? I concur on the Franzia. I was surprised myself in ‘98 to discover that a boxed wine beat out a bottled one. Good times. Office was closed and we toasted the day with crappy bottle of wine at about 10am.
December 28, 2007

jgtx
MD 20/20 “Red Grape Wine” flavor ftw.
September 24, 2009

John J.
qotd: it was a white merlot. It seems that some people are catching onto what the whole white zin thing is. So it looks like some wineries have decided to cash in by switching grapes and doing it with merlot. I guess they figure now that white zin is coming with pretty bad connotations, that maybe they can cash in on this new ‘wonder’. What a joke. I had a guest actually ask me for one of those about a year or 2 ago. I didn’t even know what they were talking about at the time. I thought maybe they meant a wine made from merlot blanc, that super rare grape in the merlot family found in Bordeaux. I was really impressed at 1st by such a request. Even though I’d never seen a varietal wine from merlot blanc. I was then promptly very let down when the other gentleman who handles the wine with me at our restaurant ‘enlightened’ me to that new marketing scheme that is white merlot.
Gary, how about tackling a vin jaune episode?, and one on tasting different charbono’s please?
October 16, 2009

Adam M.
I was watching the new episode of WLTV today 10/16/2009 and drinking a white zin so I search for it. I was thinking I have to see what he thinks the flavor is because I was like man this is a Strawberry Jolly Rancher. I taste nothing but strawberries and sugar and I fell down laughing when you said it. I love it. Thanks