Petite Sirah Taste Off – Episode #284

July 30, 2007

Gary Vaynerchuk has been attacked by so many emails to taste Petite Sirah that he has finally caved!

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Comments on this episode(225) Leave a comment ›

“First time viewer…loved it,will be back!…” by maryandroscoe
“I’d probably miss wine scores. I like when they’re representative of …” by ulu ulu ulu ulu
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Wines tasted in this episode:

2004 Trentadue Petite SirahSonoma Petite Sirah
2005 Rosenblum Petite Sirah Heritage ClonesOther California Petite Sirah
2005 Elyse Petite Sirah RutherfordNapa Petite Sirah
2004 Earthquake Petite SirahNapa Petite Sirah

Links mentioned in todays episode.

225 Responses

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July 31, 2007

Kraemer
WOW! Grats Gary! I won’t miss this!
July 31, 2007

Bryan
Woot, grats on the Conan appearance Gary. I’ll hopefully be able to catch it and, if not, someone will need to youtube it up.
July 31, 2007

Martin
Scores make me crazy. (In a bad way.) I firmly believe that getting rid of them (in favor of tasting notes and enthusiasm) would help to change the wine world.
July 31, 2007

Matt the Lurker
QOTD – Got Internet? I’ll have to look at Conan’s site. I hope he’s got it there, or if not maybe yall can hook us up. I threw out my cable tv when I got WINE LIBRARY TV!!

Ratings – I think they are helpful. But I also read the tasting notes which are more helpful matching a wine to your pallet. However, the rating tells you about the overall experience more than notes can I think. One vote for keep ‘em.
July 31, 2007

Paul
Scores, no scores – doesn’t matter to me. Pazzzzz, QPR, comments, etc. – those matter. So do what you like, just keep talking (as if THAT would ever be an issue).

QOTD: Have fun on Conan. I’ll try to stay awake – I get up early – but will record it to be safe.
July 31, 2007

dadobs
Hey GV, good to have you back!

Keep the scores unless you have the winemaker sitting next to you.

Will Tivo, I think. Hope you kill!

Thanks for doing the PS today. I’ve had all four, though maybe the Rosenblum was the ‘04.

As for your comments, the Earthquake is truly over the top but still fun to drink. As I recall, it was “Best in Show” PS at the SF Wine Competition.

I really have enjoyed the Elyse wines over the last few years, but they (including the zins) are getting a little too sugary/fake of late.

As for Trentadue, try their La Storia reserve PS–it’s great and for not much more money. Even better, their Bulgarian winemaker, Miro (?) has his own PS (Miro label) that’s excellent (and Miro’s a nice guy so do him a favor!).

On the Rosenblum, the Heritage is good, but if you’re willing to pony up $40 for their Rockpile Road, that’s truly a killer, teeth-staining ride. Btw, all of these wines are better than the Concannon you tried some time back.

Good luck with Conan!
July 31, 2007

Tom T.
Congrats on the Conan show. That should be a cool experience for you. Will watch it live for sure if I can stay awake.
July 31, 2007

Sarah & A Schop
When you get on Conan, you know you have made it! Better do something memorable and interesting. I would recommend going back to your earliest vblogs and not acting that way…kidding, you must have done something right. So as wine library becomes more well-known do the prices continue to fall and the selection rise? Hope so. What have you brought back from your trip for us?

QOTD: Ratings are useful guideposts. They may not be an exact science, but they give you a general idea. People should realize that everything in life is given some rating to compare it with something else, whether its 4 stars for a hotel, or a job performance evaluation, or a college class rank or for these “vayniacs”…how quickly they were able to comment on the video!. From a logical standpoint, those who don’t favor the ratings can easily ignore them and concentrate on tasting notes if they like, or go back to trying bottles based on how much they cost (now that’s an advance in the wine world). But do away with them, and those who like them don’t have the option to follow, or for that matter to challenge. I’ve bought a few expensive bottles only to discover they were horrible, and later discover they were rated horribly low. Better to have an option to ignore or disagree even than to have no option at all.
July 31, 2007

Ryan D
QotD: Too late… sorry!
July 31, 2007

Dusty
nice return show! these are the kinds of tastings i like to have with my friends to see if i can pick out the differences. leads to some interesting conversations. props on landing on Conan. Gonna have to check it out live AND record it to watch later.
July 31, 2007

NathanN
Welcome back Gary! Glad you are home and that you have a renewed appreciation for how blessed we are to live in the USA.

QOTD: I’ll be watching live!

Check out Conans trip to Napa.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4hF71WGd3c
July 31, 2007

Rempshaker
“Definitely surely” ….LOL!! That’s not right dude!

I will be watching live and I have gathered some of my family for a late night wine tasting in upstate NY to take it in as we will be on our way to Saratoga Springs for a week. Good luck, Gary! Conan is AWESOME!! I love that guy! (in a non gay way of course!)

Is Howard Stern next??? I have Sirius!!
July 31, 2007

Bernie Bearnaise
Eggasheggadra! One of the first wines I tried was Hungarian, Bagravita Bulls Blood. Inexpensive. The wines of Hungary were muted as they supplied Russia with a lot of plonk. They now have assumed their rightful place in wine history. I liked your comparison to Paris.

Conan the Barbarian has a TV show now? I thought he went into politics…

I would like a Gary Vaynerchuk QPR rating which would really give the relationship of flavor vs. cost. You do this all the time and this episode really demonstrated this well. For a wine to be worth $2,000 a bottle it would have to make me 5 years younger after drinking it…..

I hope you bring the thunder and a little bubbly to the national audience.
July 31, 2007

Ricardo
Hi Gary,

I noticed that there are some wines that, for one reason or another you found mediocre, when they were rated well by other wine sites or magazines. Could it be because the wines you have in the video have not had time to breath out of the bottle? I am assuming that since you present them in bottles, they are/were not decanted. I could be mistaken in that your staff may have transferred them back to the bottles after decanting… Just an observation.
July 31, 2007

Tom L
Keep scoring the wines, Gary.
July 31, 2007

winelynn
Good luck on Conan’s show ! Congratulations! I will be watching, with my wristband, my pekinese watches wine library tv with me but she may not be able to stay up that late…You’ll do great, remember, you are changing the wine world!
As for the scores, have been learning about wine for a year or so and the scores are helpful to me. The wines for me are about 70% white and 30% red.
July 31, 2007

Jon B.
Very interesting all hit around 88.First off congrats on the Conan spot very nice.(QOTD) I’ll be tivoing it (have to work at 4:00 AM on thursday)so I’ll long have been in bed.Second no I think you should keep the scoring system in place. The point scale all be it irrelivant to a wines true quality to each individual is still a good tool for people to see your opinion on a wines quality, which is valued by some ,I say keep the point scale. Thanks GV and WLTV crew.
July 31, 2007

wildebeest
Holy shit! Do I see 244 digs on this episode!?
July 31, 2007

wildebeest
Holy crap! THE Conan!? You’ve got to be freaking kidding me! Congratulations, man! I’ll raise my SF Vaynerglass to that! Cheers! I’ll have to find a friend with cable TV for sure.

…Normally I’m very proud to say that I’ve completely eliminated television from my life. But at 12:30 on Thursday morning (and the day before my finals for the summer semester) I’ll be really upset if I haven’t figured out some way to watch you on Conan. With all the establishment-loving schmucks around who love to veg-out in front of the TV for hours every day, it doesn’t seem like it ought to be difficult to find an available venue. And yet, I normally shun all company in favor of my studies. Dang it, Gary, you’ve gone and given me yet another incentive to venture outside of my cave.

Sure, Gary, I’ll text myself with my non-existant cell phone.

No way man, don’t stop scoring the wines. Hell, I don’t even watch the show anymore; I just wait for SS Chris to post the ratings. Seriously, do what you want, man. Personally, I like the ratings, but if you decide that they’re getting in the way of what you’re trying to accomplish, give ‘em the boot! I refuse to let a bunch of silly numbers dictate whether or not I watch the show.

I’m curious: You once gave the Concannon Petite Sirah (2004, I think) 90 points. However, you were also really sad that day because of the Jets’ loss. How do you think that wine compares with these? (Personally, I’d give it an 88 or an 89. It blows Bogle out of the water, but there’s nothing all that unique about it either.)

QOTD: I’ll find some way to watch it live, and maybe I’ll record it as well. You see, I’m actually using the legendary Gary Vaynerchuk as a case-study in my term paper on modern trends in leadership. So, I’ll be able to watch without guilt, despite the fact that I’ve got finals the next day.
July 31, 2007

Ferrigno
“I should have done a georgian wine” WELL THEN DO IT!!! SERIOUSLY I DYING TO SEE WHAT’S YOUR OFFICIAL WLTV TAKE ON THOSE!!!
About giving up scores, hmm I don’t know. the reason I like your scores is because you take the customer view on them, the whole 90-point factor, you score 90 and above when there’s the “humgh” factor, the shoulder thing, you know… that’s what I think about that.
Finally, gratz on the o’brien show, I know you’ve got so many congratulations that I really don’t know how to do it myself
well I hope you don’t blow it boyo LOL!
July 31, 2007

JOEinLA
jaffurs
July 31, 2007

JOEinLA
Petites are awesome. Many better one’s out there..Vincent Arroyo, Delectus…

Live
July 31, 2007

KC Dan
Qotd : LIVE .
July 31, 2007

Scarred1
Gary,

Welcome home! We missed you, especially when that phony, SGV, stood in for you on Friday. Great show. Thanks for doing the Petite Syrah – I have a couple Rosenblums in the collection. I make sure to have some dark chocolate around when I open them. Kudos to Cyd for that recommendation. Congrats on the Conan gig.

QOTD: TIVO for sure. Live if I’m awake at that moment (I am so excited about it, that shouldn’t be a problem) and definitely look for the YouTube clip the next day to email to friends.

As for scoring, Gary, I personally like the scores, and use them as a shorthand reference point. Tasting notes are excellent, but the score is the bottom line. It should wrap everything you sense about the wine – the color, smells, texture, flavors, and finish into a one or two word reference. Of course I like having the notes too. But I think they go hand-in-hand. That said, do what YOU think is best. Most scoring is done in a 15-20 point range anyway, so the venerable 100-point Parker scale is a little silly. Oh, and every score is subjective to the scorer. You always have to consider the source, their experience, and their motives. This is called “Common Sense.”

my 2 cents
John
July 31, 2007

Sarah L
I am a purist, I’ll watch you live or not at all. I’ll try to make a point of catching Conan on Wednesday or is it Thursday? You’re wearing my favorite shirt tonight so I guess we will not see it on Conan. Your handler will probably put you in a telegenic solid.

Please don’t give up scoring wines; we can always listen to the tasting notes and adjust for our own palates. Break a leg!