Riz welcome 🙂 so nice to have u with us!

U like the wine glass switch 😉 lol

Thank u so much and thnx for commenting 🙂

I might have to agree with you here. I would have to go back and watch a few of my favorites, but this had so much “finger on the pulse of the wine world” talk and the nerddom factor was through the roof. These are the shows that really broaden my worldly knowledge of wine and give me a glimpse into a couple wines that I probably will never get to try (specifically the 430 bone Chard). Personally, it is always awesome to watch you trade notes and talk wine with someone who has been in the industry as long as you GV, and who has somewhat of a similar background regarding pallet and over all wine knowledge. Keep ripping face.

Two of my favorite shows have been the two with Josh. Great stories, insight and simplicity. I really wish I could be there in the room to be lucky enough to try some of those wines.

The key for me with the alcohol is I want to know that it is there, but it should not be in the top couple things that I notice. The rare occasion is a dinner that has an entre that really needs some power to compete with it. That being said, I am probably 90 lighter 10 heavier. And with that I think I will open a Riesling. Enjoy and keep the great shows coming.

QOTD- I buy wines with no regard to alcohol content. I do prefer wines with less alcohol because I can drink more over an evening with getting pissed.

I look for 13 something % usually. I’ll buy wines into the 14 and 15 range if I hear good things about it, but if I’m choosing between two otherwise equivalent bottles, I’ll go for the lesser alcohol content. With bourdeaux type wine, where 14% is the rule, if I see something in the 13s, I’ll try it on that reason alone.

Hey Guys

Awesome show. I love Josh’s honesty and the obvious knowledge he’s got going on.

QOTD: I suppose that I prefer lower alcohol wines. I’m quite sensitive to heat so often notice the alcohol in badly made, over the top wines. But all that said and done for me the alcohol % isn’t a big consideration when shopping. Different wine style have different % and key is the balance of the wine and not the alcohol listed on the bottle and to drink a wine that appropriate to the situation (both mood and food).

Cheers
Andrew

Awesome show Gary, the two of you are great together – and it’s not just the quality of the wines, it’s the quality of your shared observations – learned much.

QOTD – prefer big, but it better be under control, too much heat is a dead give away of too much ‘make-up’.

Great show as usual, but I agree with others in ranking this among the best. The lineup of wines was just sick- as a Seattle guy who’s in the industry, I appreciate seeing the Andrew Will get some love (BTW Gary, it’s pronounced like “shampoo”), and also the more esoteric stuff like the Lopez de Heredia. The restaurant I work at carries their Rose (the current vintage is the 2000) but it’s naturally a tough sell. Definite geek wine. I’m looking forward As far as alcohol levels are concerned, my palate tends to prefer lower alcohol wines about 90% of the time, I’d say. When I went down to Napa/Sonoma in May, we stopped at Ridge and were treated to .375s of 1987 and 88 Monte Bello. Aside from being delicious (as expected), what surprised me about these two wines were the alcohol levels- 11.7% and 12.9% respectively. Wine made in this now less-popular style of lower alcohol is just better, in so many ways. The subtleties and nuance has an opportunity to shine when it isn’t being masked by fruit and oak. It’s so much better with food. You just don’t really see wine, especially from California, made like this anymore. Even old world producers are kicking up the alcohol levels. It’s really a shame.

It was probably my favorite episode.

http://tv.winelibrary.com/2010/03/31/armagnac-the-oldest-spirit-in-the-world-episode-840/

Josh is one of my fav guests you’ve had on
Qotd: I appreciate all from 5.5 to 17% if the quality and balance is there. But I start to get pretty leery when the abv breaches 14%.

QOTD: Alcohol level really has no effect on how I buy wine. I generally don’t even look at it until I’ve started drinking. The only thing I care about is balance. If the wines got the stuff to stand up to the alcohol it doesn’t matter to me whether it’s at 8% or 17%.

Great show! I think Peter Michael makes some Chard from Cali that really capture what you were talking about—a lot of flavor without the hugeness of most other Cali wines.

One of the greatest guests ever!

Alc level doesn’t mean anything when I buy wine. I like big & bold zinfandels with 15+, I like rieslings from Mosel at 7-9%. As long as it’s nicely integrated and doesn’t take over the other flavors.

These days I buy and drink wines with the following alc.
Low alcohol (7-10% alc vol.) : 20 %
Medium (10-14% alc vol) : 40 %
High (14+ alc vol) : 40 %

GV – Great two parter, I must say I am truly jealous of the wines you got to taste! Bring this guy back next year!

Here are some results from a Riesling Blind Tasting. New York State, and Wiemer, well done…

Riesling World Cup Blind Tasting

Embracing World Cup fever, my friends Justin and Danielle organized a blind tasting of Rieslings from around the globe. Twelve Rieslings representing nine different countries competed in a head to head blind tasting competition. We were asked to taste each wine and jot down our impressions, notes, and scores. Then at the end we ranked our top three favorites in order, as well as our least favorite wine. Please read my additional recap below, but here are the final results!

Riesling Cup Winners:

Winner: 2009 Donnhoff, Nahe, Germany
Runner up: 2007 Pegasus Bay, Waipara Valley, New Zealand
Consolation: 2008 Wiemer, Semi Dry, Fingerlakes, NY USA

Last Place: 2008 Trimbach, Alsace, France

Complete wine list:

1. 2006 Chono Reserva, Bio Bio Valley, Chile
2. 2007 Gamla, Galilee, Israel
3. 2007 Substance, Columbia Valley, Washington USA
4. 2008 Gobelsburger, Kamptal, Austria
5. 2008 Trimbach, Alsace, France
6. 2006 Leeuwin Artist Series, Margaret River, Australia
7. 2008 Montinore, Almost Dry, Willamette Valley, Oregon USA
8. 2008 Wiemer, Semi Dry, Fingerlakes, NY USA
9. 2009 Donnhoff, Nahe, Germany
10. 2007 Pegasus Bay, Waipara Valley, New Zealand
11. 2007 Cave Spring, Niagara Peninsula, Canada
12. 2009 Adam, Hofberg Kabinett, Mosel Valley, Germany

For most people when they think of Riesling, they think of it as a sweet wine, but in fact, Riesling can be sweet, semi sweet, or dry. And sometimes, somewhere in between one of these descriptors. The wines in this tasting were arranged from highest alcohol content to lowest. So number one was the highest with number twelve being the lowest. The thinking and general rule of thumb being the higher the alcohol content the drier the Riesling, the lower the sweeter it will be. I would say that the wines did tend to get sweeter as we went along with the last wine certainly being the sweetest but in the first half the wines tended to be dry to semi sweet, whereas the wines tended to be semi sweet to sweet in the second half. In this sense Riesling can be a difficult wine to choose because the style can be so different, but the general rule of thumb on alcohol level versus sweetness seems to be a good starting place. I personally found the driest wines to be very dry and tart with predominantly citrus flavors. Wines 1, 4, 5, and 6 representing the driest versions. Wines number 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 I think could be categorized as semi sweet to varying degrees. While wine number 12 I would say was by far the sweetest, I think that wines 7-11 could fall into the borderline semi sweet to sweet category. At any rate, it really depends on what you like, I personally found the dry Rieslings too tart for my palate, and I really like the number 12, the sweetest, but would maybe serve it as a more light dessert wine. I think the top scoring wines represented a good balance of crispness and a just slightly sweet honeyed quality. As refreshment after a hot summers day, I think that hint of sweetness is pretty tasty! Try a Riesling or two, you might be surprised, especially since New York State?s Finger Lake region represents one of the best places in the world to produce this interesting wine.

Tags: riesling

GV, great stuff, Josh needs to be back next year, for sure!!!

QOTD – I think it is all about time and place. Some of the higher alcohol wines have great balance too… were I forced to answer this, I would say my preference is normally distributed with a mean of 12.5%…

in which show the best wine,is name is hermann riesling dry 2008.this wine is too good for another wine.dear so keep sharing more and more do it man bye take care thanking you dear…..

Gary – Josh is hella-interesting to listen to and uber-educated about wine. Quite possibly my fave guest of the year. Great wines too!…QOTD – I don’t pay to much attention to the alcohol level when purchasing. I quite often go back and check it out on the bottle if I feel a lot of heat when drinking it.

Excellent guest – good to see him back on the show.

QOTD – generally I prefer lower alcohol levels.. it’s quite rare that I will buy anything that hits 15%. I love German rieslings, which are often 7-8%, and old world reds that usually sit in between 12.5-14%. Things like Mollydooker that hit 17% are just ridiculous.. and not in a good way.

Great show! Enjoyed the guest… man am I jelious of your job… 5 amazing wines that not just anyone can have! Cant believe you still spit a $400+ wine!

QOTD: I am not that fussed about Alc levels… but for normal wine… on a normal day… Less that 15%

Just awesome! Love when Josh is on. Like how you hooked MOTT up with a taste. Keep up the good work.
QOTD: Never even think about it unless the wine is garbage.

Riz is 100% correct..Ravines Dry Rieslings are dry….REALLY DRY..would love to hear your opinion on their age worthiness Riz. Was in the Finger Lakes over Columbus Day and was really impressed the depth of quality from Rooster Hill, Shaw, McGregor and a special shout out to Dr. Frank..every thing from their most recent vintages is unique and distinctive. Dr. Frank also makes some spectacular bubbly from both Pinot Noir and Chard, with the Pinot based bubbly being one of my faves.

On a side note, you can get Williams Selyem at their sister winery Millbrook Winery in Millbrook, NY

QOTD: I like my wines to have lower alcohol levels: love my light rieslings, prefer my bordeaux to be below 13%, don’t want my whites to have much over 12%… not that this stops me drinking high alcohol wines! They just have to be in balence thats all.