Great episode, now I'm hooked on blind tastings and am tracking them down, you should consider making blind tastings the majority of your non guest episodes. Again, burgundy disappoints as it ususally will unless you spend big bucks, even then it is hit and miss.
QOTD: Almaviva 2005. Perhaps one of the most pleasureable bordeaux blends I have ever tasted. Thanks Gary for the Passion! Joel

Love Sojourn! Great Pinots! You should also try Moshin, Rochioli, Siduri - all from Sonoma/Russian River....

QOTD: My favorite Chilean winery is MONTES! I work at the Danville (CA) Costco as the wine steward, we sell the Montes Alpha Syrah($15) and Cab($16), and just recently sold out of the Montes Sauv Blanc($10). The Sauv Blanc was OUTSTANDING! The Syrah is really, really good too.....

I visited Sojourn 2 weeks ago - it is THAT good. They have an awesome little tasting room just feet from Sonoma Square. You gotta check this place out, the tasting is free, just call ahead and get an appointment, and it will be hard for you to leave without grabbing a bottle or 5! Craig Hasserot is a cool guy, very welcoming, not pretentious at all.

Sojourn also makes a few Cabernets - the Homeranch Cab is drinking terrifically and the '07 Gap's Crown deserves the ratings its been getting. Grab some before they go bye bye. These guys are rising stars so get to them before this juice is no longer easily accessible!

2005 2 borthers reserve cab... I like a lot of stuff from chile tho... just had a 2006 calcu that was pretty good and there are a lot of carms I like from there too...

Gary!

Great show! New to the program and I'm enjoying it a great deal! It's it's not do to the fact that I live in the San Francisco Bay area. Go Sonoma Wines!! A force to be recognized.

I'm having a blast checking out all the "old" shows....

Thanks,
Kyle

Yo G, LOOOOOVED this Episode sooo much, had to watch it again!!!
Pinot! Pinot! Pinot! Pinot!......YAAAAAZAAAAA!!!!! :)

While there are a lot of great wines listed (and repeated many times!) some other vineyards that deserve attention are Caliterra (Tribute Shiraz and Malbec) and Bisquertt Casa La Joya Reserva (2003 Syrah) are some of my faves!!

I definitely enjoy the show all they way down in Chile!

Now I want to try a blind tasting.. looks like fun!

Emm... I think it was a sauvignon blanc or something! Dunno. Don't drink much Chilean wine.

LOVE the blind format! Was interesting to see you nail the origins!

just got around to watching this one and love the format. you asked if we thought you should do more blind tastings and i absolutely think you should. it's a great to objectively judge a wine and you look like you're having fun doing it.

This was a really interesting show. Some real surprises! Have added the best 2 pinots to my CT wish list.
QOTD: The Santa Ema Merlot 2006 was good and inexpensive. But so far I have enjoyed the wines from Argentina more, for some reason.

Great show, wanted to find an good pinot and will have to see if I can get the Amayna locally.

Best Chilean - I agree with a few choices already and say the Don Melchor has been a consistantly great steak wine, but starting to get more pricey now that it has a bigger following.

GREAT show. I LOVE the blind tastings. LOVE THEM!

QOTD: I haven't had a lot of Chilean wines. It's time for me to discover them, I guess. I have a girlfriend who loves Chilean Merlots.

Super show! QOTD: From Chile, we really dig the Veramonte Reserve Sauvignon Blanc. Always well balanced at an incredible price point!

Shocked to see the French wine do so poorly and the Cali wine take the title. There go the preconcieved notions again! QOTD: I believe Ive only had one and cant remember it, but I dont remember hating it.

The blind tastings are OK but they don't really tell me as much about the wines as when you taste them non-blinded. I haven't had a Chilean wine I like. Maybe making bad choices.

Great show - I really enjoy the blind tastings as long as you don't overdo it and do them too often. But they are different and always interesting.

QOTD: The best wine I have had from Chile is the Almaviva (several different vintages). But I will have to look for this Pinot - it sounds interesting.

What up Chile!!! QOTD: It was a carmenere with a quail on it.

Follow-on to the QOTD: If you haven't tried Cousino-Macul's "Lota" label, you're missing out. It's more like a $55/$60 play but I'd stack it up against any Bordeaux blend at the same price point.

-paul-

Love me some Chilean wines... :)

QOTD: Cousino-Macul "Finis Terrae" 2003. Maipo Valley. Gorgeous blend of Cab Sauv and Merlot, and under $20 bones.

-paul-

blind tastings are the BEST--keep it up gary!

Loved the show and the format... can't wait to find the Amayna... Favorite Chilean? Haven't been drinking much from Chile lately, sadly it is probably a Marques de Casa Concha Cabernet from a few years ago.

This show rocked.
Love the 2006 flash back. Props to Chris for pumping up your cred. :D

QOTD: The BEST Chilean wine I've had was the 2001 Montes Alpha 'M'

QOTD: Alfasi merlot

Who ever set up that blind tasting screwed Oregon Pinot's! I can think of a dozen better wines in that price range. I want a do over! I'll be glad to provide some direction and can point you to new or old world styles all from the Willamette Vally.

Hey Mott ... I see you're messing with avatars ... again.

who the frack is Sonoma M? And why is he or she dissing the K MAN? :lol:

Really enjoyed the show. Love pinot and love the mix from five different regions.

QOTD - Casa Lapostolle Clos Apalta

montes alpha reserve cabernet sauvignon-next time include a pinot nero from italy=preferably fr. alto adige-some great values @ $20.00 and awesome expressions! great show-love the blinds-i learn a lot!

Great show!

Gary what happened to the wrist band?

Awesome show! The super flashback was killer. So right about Chilean pinot
noir. Very distinct taste, but a real up and comer.

QOTD: Concha y Toro Don Melchor 2003. Phenomenal. Ground turkish coffee
and leather for days. What a wine. Down to my last bottle :(

If you don't want to see the names pop up during blind tastings, watch the quicktime version.

Late to the party this time...Whatever.

When I left fine dining to work for a small distributor,way back in '92, our Chilean line was Santa Carolina, and while all the line was more than adequate in quality, value, and were varietally correct, (the market was already flush w/ one tier lower quality) I was taken by both the regular ,and the Reserve of the Sauvignon Blanc! I was just realy receptive to the really bright fruits, AND the Oak and ML style of roundness in the Reserve, which is not where I usually go in SB. That was my eye opener to the possibility of Chilean SB. Chilean PN came along much later.

QotD - MAYBE Le Dix do Los Vascos, but I do love alot of Montes' work.

I like Marques de Casa Conch, (the production was once EXTREMELY limited, and not even made every year), and it seems that though Don Melchor is beautiful, I've had more than one year that just didn't do it for me. Same w/ a number of other producers' TOP prestige wines/blends. Oddly, it seems to me that the top performance in Chilean wines ( of the past fifteen years) is somewhate consistently in their upper mid tiers.

QOTD: 2004 Misiones de Rengo Reserve Carmenere

I love the blind tastings! And you got me all excited with the Anderson Valley guess... my favorite place, heading there this weekend.
I've never had a Chilean wine that I liked, I can still clearly remember the taste of a horrific Chilean Chard I had a few years ago (UGH)last thing I ever had from there. I guess it's time to try some more.

what kids are watching the thunder show???\

Totally just joined the Sojourn mailing list!



QOTD: I haven't had many Chilean wines, but the 2005 Vina Palo Alto comes to mind. Wonderful wine, enjoyed greatly! Recent vintages have not stood up to it though...

Really have trouble watching the blind tastings. Maybe if I was participating it would be interesting. Could not fight through this show. Don't know what the appeal is

I HATE PINOT (price/hype). However, THIS was a damn fine show, one of the best.