I’ll be honest, I’m just leaving a comment so I can say I answered the very first QOTD! I stumbled upon this episode and found myself really admiring the transformation you took as the show has progressed.
You rock dude.
QOTD: 2003 Domain Serene Evenstead Reserve, Oregon.

good stuff! “taste the wine and stop being sheep”
qotd: best pinot? i cant remember! sorry… i have a terrible memory…

word 58 “way”

You are right Gary Burgundy Pinot can be very over priced. But it’s good! And yes, my favourite pinot (so far) is a Burgundy wine; 2005 Cote De Beaune-Villages for 11 bones in English money so what’s that – 22 dollars? Lots of gamey aromas with hints of oak and vanilla. Dark berry fruits and spices on the palate..terroir all over the place. I also agree that Chilean pinot can be very good value – it’s cheap in England, some are £6 a bottle – you can’t complain with that! Unfortunately I have so far been disappointed with the New Zealand Pinots I have tried – finding them too sweet and fruit driven and lacking complexity. Looks like I have been picking up the wrong bottles! Any help on that aprreciated! Tom Bexton, UK.

Wow Gary, not counting the episodes that have come after this, this is definitely your best episode up to that point. And the 1st QOTD! Your approach has certainly changed a bit since then, not for the worse or anything, but I hope you don’t ever forget what you said in this episode.
Love that you’re trying NOT to follow the trends, and instead doing your own thing. Definitely what keeps me watching more episodes.
Not sure I can answer that 1st qotd yet. I don’t buy alot of pinot noir, but I’ll be looking for the Three Miners now. Seems pretty hard to find a good one [especially in Burgundy, where it is so hit or miss.]so I haven’t bought many. With that being said, and with me agreeing Burgundy is a bit overrated with what’s available now, the best I can remember would be a Burgundy. It would be a Clos Vougeot, 2000, from Louis Jadot. I’m sure you know as well as I, there are very many pinot’s out there of a better quality.
But glad to hear you say once again you want comments, and you don’t wanna follow trends. Because I’m itching to see you do a charbono tasting episode and a vin jaune tasting episode.

Had some good pinot’s from Van Duzer , and Wild Hog as well, like others have commented.

it’s just awesome watching the development of WLTV.

QOTD has begun!!!!!!

QOTD: Paringa Extate Reserve 2006 (Mornington Penninsula)

Cheers
Andrew

A little late to the party, but I love these old episodes.

Best pinot: 2006 Cloudy Bay Pinot Noir, Marlborough, New Zealand. Tried it when I was studying abroad in NZ. Went on a bicycle wine tour, and Cloudy Bay was our last stop. Very corporate-looking winery, but damn, this pinot blew me away. Tried it again this fall when I finally found it in the states, and it was just as good.

Hey Gary,

You were hyped today! Maybe a little over the top, but that's OK once in a while.

My favorite Pinot? We'll I don't particularly like most Pinots, so I'm not a good judge, but the best pinot I've had was a 2000 Marcelina Carneros Pinot Noir. I have no idea how it rates against other Pinots, because I rarely drink Pinot. But this one was smooth and complex with a well developed body and character. Most Pinots seem like watered down wine to me, with very little structure or character, but this wine was excellent. Maybe I've only had bad Pinot. It wouldn't surprize me.

Keep up the great work.

P.S. I'd love to see an episode of “Great Values from California”. A lot of CA wine is getting overpriced, but there are still a lot of great wines at good prices out there. It would be great to learn about a few that you especially like.

Gary, I have just purchased the Three Miners Pinot on your sister site Cinderella.com I would like to say I have had a favorite, but I have not. My choices for selection have not yielded one that I appreciated paying the price for. I am confident that the purchase of Three Miners will change that.

I am an Iowa Vigneron so I am very hard to satisfy, especially with my own vineyards wine grape wine analysis. I have been evaluating cold hardy wine grapes here at Mira~Nat vineyards going on 11 years now and am changing a few hundred vines this year with new varieites. I presently evaluate 33 varieties.

The work you do and the information and intel that you share has been a boon for me and the development of fine wine at Mira~Nat. But from recent episodes when tasting wines from the “other 46” I can tell you need some serious help in that area. One would be to stick to BOA wines. (Best of Appellation). I realize wines you used for tasting in these types of episodes may have been sent to you, but I think your peeps would be better served with analysis of BOA wine until they have familiarized themselves with these wines. I would be glad to help you with this should you give my thoughts on the matter your consideration. Because you, with a little bit of me, we can change the other 46 wine world, whether they like it or not.

Ciao Gary!

Ah… and so it begins… the maddening of Gary Vaynerchuk.

Surprised not to see more new comments in here after the shout out in the most recent show (820). I stated watching around 275 and though I've watched a few of the older episodes, it is fun to see things evolve. This does seem to b a bit of a turning point…

Phew! It was a rush watching episodes 57 & 58. I've been watching cover to cover in recent weeks and this is definitely where the show starts to flex its muscles. A little controversy has a way of bringing about a better thing.

AWESOME! Felt like a turning point!

Glad you decided to keep it simple….it totally works!

i Honestly have to say i think this is the REAL 1st episode of WLTV!!!

Best pinot was a bottle of Soter Pinot Noir from Mineral Springs Oregon that was given to me by my former boss. I had it in Cabo San Lucas with some amazing seafood with my GF at the time (who is now my wife!)

Once again before i leave this episode i have to say you killed it! i mean this is WLTV and it is epic!