These are within the last year since I can’t remember anyfarther into the past.
Worst – 1989 Ch. Clerc-Milon – It tasted like filtered through a sweatsock filled with wet rocks. Not good.

Best – 1997 Val di Suga (Angelini) Brunello di Montalcino Vigna Spuntali – An awsome brunello.

Glad to see you like the Cantlys since I bought a case from WL.

Gary – try not to use the word “sucked” – it cheapens your presentation.

James R Deane Understood, I am not trying to hurt WLTV with certain words but sometimes I get a little too excited

Gary,
Basketball…with a name like Vaynerchuk you should be playing some hockey..so we purchased some of the Catena Chard last week up here in the great NorthWest….btw….you been out here to check out the fantasatic wineries??? Blow your mind….so Catena….think you might of had a bad bottle…the one we are drinking is excellent….at least a 90!!
Love your show…keep it up!!

Gary-
I didn’t mind the sucked comment, BUT, the sotto voce “oh man!” comment when smelling the BV said it all! Keep it up! Still thinking about the best worst, but the best recommendation so far from WL for me has been the Coturis. The Red is amazing!

Well, one that just didn’t do it for me recently was the Annick Parent Bourgogne Rouge that got 91pts from Dennis Iavarone. Mostly just acid, it tasted like. But it could have been a bad bottle.

The Pannaroz that everyone is panning… we had a bottle, and we found it pretty good. Again, there might be a lot of bottle variability.

The best is hard to place. I kind of liked the Kosta Browne Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir this year, but there have been many other 90+ wines that were quite good.

I agree with you on Wine & Spirits; they seem less captive to the “Parkerized” style, which often means they find good stuff that WS and RP haven’t really noticed. How about Decanter; what do you think of *them*?

Hi Gary,
Was it “bring your birds to work day”? I seemed to hear lots of chirping going on during the show.
Best 90 point or better wine…1989 Leonetti Merlot. Big for a merlot, but smooth as silk. Though I think that Leonetti has slipped a bit over the last few years.
Worst 90 point or better wine…1994 Opus One. Rather plain and nondescript. It was OK, but I’ve hade plenty of $20 to $40 wines that I’ve liked MUCH more.
Take care,
Gary Beesley

Best: Roches Neuves Saumur-Champigny … WS91, under $15, delicious raspberry tobacco goodness (but then again I liked the Raffault Chinon, so what do I know).

Worst: Castano Monastrell or the Footbolt (not so much ‘bad’ as thoroughly boring and forgettable … feh!) or the Jester (all oak and heat – like trying to drink a campfire).

Speaking of heat … it’s the middle of the summer and no roses yet?

Best 90 pointer, by far the ’01 Shingleback Shiraz McLaren Vale. Drank and gave away cases of it from 10/03 to 11/05 (peaked in early ’05), everyone loved it. Honorable mention goes to the ’98 (yes, ’98) Clos Pegase Cab. Spectator 87, I thought it was far better.

Worst, the ’99 Cantina Zaccagninni Montepulciano D’Abruzzo. When I was finally able to un-pucker, I poured the rest down the drain. Wouldn’t even use it to braise short ribs I was cooking that night.

The last few episodes have been REALLY entertaining! And by the way, if a wine “sucks”, use the word. Next, you’ll offend someone by saying “crap”, then “undrinkable”. DON’T BE PC!

Best 90pt wine – might have been La Palazzola ’00 Merlot, Umbria IGT, which made me a fan of several well made Italian Merlots.
Worst? Well I love Spanish reds but don’t know where RP came up with some of his ratings. I have only found two which drank worse than the Panarroz Jumilla, and they weren’t as highly rated.

Gary,

Im typing this from Mexico, just wanted to say you have a great “vlog”. Unfortunately it does get me very stressed that a lot of the wines you recomend are unreachable to me for geographical and cultural reasons. 🙁

Keep the good work.

Holy crap the star folding is addictive and soothing all at the same time…like sudoku.
I think lately my favorite 90 pt. (IWC) wine is the 2001 Bodegas El Cigarral Pago del Ama Coleccion Vino de la Tierra. BOOM is the first thing I said after tasting it.
Least favorite…hhhmmmmmmm
I think I have been lucky lately. *** knock on wood.
I love the aviary you have added to your office to. It brings a nice touch to the episode!!! Tweet tweet.
Marc

The Allegrini 2001 Palazzo della Torre was a 90 pointer and a top 100 of 2005 for WS. Plenty of fruit, a nice rush of acidity, floral and mineral qualities, measured oak and a long smooth finish. Loved it.

Most of the bad 90+ were all too easy to forget. The latest nightmare was the Château Sainte Gemme Haut-Médoc 2000. Unbalanced, bitter, and one dimmensional.

Oh and if a wine sucked, say it. Conversely if a wine is of a terroir driven style and elegantly balanced on a gossamer thread of nuanced complexity and ethereal dimension, say that too. (However this kind of talk may lead too something crazy like doing origami).

Hey Gary!

The worst 90+ point wine in recent memory has to be Dunn Howell Mountain Cabernet, it really sucked!! BTW I do not beleive that your use of the word cheapens your presentation. Best one in recent memory would be Saint Cosme Gigondas Valbelle 2003 cuvee. I makes th syrahs from Saxum, Cayuse and like taste like great grape juice…give it a try!
Cheers!

Gary….I think using the word “Sucked” is absolutly acceptable. I think it’s a word that describes, at least for me, too many things wrong to go into it. It should probably be reserved for wine that has no chance (Which your doing quite nicely.) And lets face it, getting laid after sharing a bottle of wine is just another great wine experience a lot of us have!!! So..I think it’s all presented very classy…you do push the envelope, but just far enough. Or maybe you should wear a stuffy corduroy jacket and pick up a british accent, and use words like “Bollocks” and “Bloody Hell”. Maybe that’ll classy up the joint!

Hello all,
Gary’s Father Sasha loves birds and there are a couple of large cages with multiple song birds just outside the office where Gary films.
I guess the birds were having a good day.
Phil

I just wanted to say that I really enjoy to watch your show.

Please keep on sliding the glasses on the table!
Sound and movement during the wine testing is very important to create the right atmosphere.

Greetings and best wishes from Germany!

I am a huge fan of Spanish Wine. In fact I have some wonderful memories of camping on the beaches in southern Spain years ago drinking Spanish wines you open with a Coke bottle opener.

However, most of my big disappointments are Spanish wines for which RP has gone overboard. (There are a few cough syrup Aussies he has rated a bit high as well) Probably the worst in recent times was the Desc. D J. Palacios Petalos del Bierzo D.O. 2004. RP gave this up to 93. To me it was a tannic cardboard sandwich with a little tightly closed fruit in the middle.

So many good 90+ point wine experiences – and how do you rate a 90 pointer with value vs a 98 pointer that you paid $150 for. too hard.

Much easier to have a level playing field and disucss the most dissapointing 90 pointer (sans corked bottles which can happen to the best). I think it was the Marquis Phillips 2003 Shiraz that Parker gave 90 points too. His writeup was so fnatastic and the wine so cheap (I think about $11 at WL) that I bought a case without trying it. It was so hot, and one dimensional. Grape juice with Vodka. I gave 3 a try, and cooked with the rest. I love Parker in Bordeaux – and Napa- but believe Parker overrates Australia.

You’re blowing me away, keep it up. Wine marketing is so pompous and inflated, combined with the narrow views available from the press, voice like Wine Library are an absolute MUST!

Sorry Miles (“Sideways”) but two of the three best 90+ wines I ever had were Merlots. The first was the 1982 Petrus, WA98 and WS96. The second was the 1993 Castello di Ama L’Apparita, WS96. The third (non-Merlot) was the 1970 Vega Sicilia Unico Gran Riserva, WA96 and WS92. And best of all, they didn’t cost me anything. The Petrus was a result of being in the right place at the right time and the other two were gifts.

Hey Gary….get used to seeing the Italian Stallion give comments on your shows….I think your great….First off, I hate Steve Tanzer. He under-rates the wines to set himself apart from Suckling and Parker….I feel your reviews are dead on balls accurate

Hey Gary…two things….first off, what the HELL is that sqeaking on the background…it sounds like your in a pet store. Second, I had this wine called EDGE CABERNET, from Napa. This wine is absolutely delicious..I would love for you to review this wine….EDGE CABERNET!!!! PLEASE GARY

Hi Gary,
Just getting back into WLTV; I had “sobered up” after the Mondavi episode, but couldn’t resist the newer ones. Sorry to say, but it pleases me when BV gets a bad review. A few weeks back, on my way to class @ NYU, I stopped in at Astor wines where they were holding a tasting of 4 BV wines with the winemaker present. He completely ignored my standing before him for 5 minutes, serving others around me who had arrived later. He then proceeded to take a jab at my youth, laughing with two other tasters whom he had previously known. Eventually one of the store employees served me after the winemaker checked my i.d., returned it, and continued his conversation with complete disregard for my presence, wine snobbery at its worst. Thus, I shall never purchase a bottle of BV wine, rejoicing at the sight of bad reviews. BTW the chardonnay was one of the wines offered that day; I am glad to know that my perception of the wines uneventful and slightly medicinal nuances was correct. Oh yeah, I’m 22 and after reading “Wine for Dummies Cover to Cover” I’ve had the bug for a year or so now. It’s very disheartening to have such experiences; luckily they’ve never occurred in your establishment.