Great episode(s) Gary, ignore the negative crap, blast the wineries and distributors, if they want to complain tell them to make better wine.

I just got back from OR and WA where I got to taste a bunch of 300 case production pinot’s as well as some great reislings, zins, and syrahs. I had a great time. My friend was laughing at me in the tasting rooms, I was lining up glasses of wine infront of me and going back to them in order to see how air was affecting them. He thought I should be ‘drinking’ faster. I pointed out that if his glass was empty he couldn’t be enjoying the wine as much as I was.

Am I off base, was I tricking myself into thinking I was getting anything new from the wines?

What kind of glass are you using most of the time for tasting on the show?

If I ever get the chance to drive up to the store from MD I’ll be the big guy wandering through the store with a RedSox cap on. 😉

Good show Gary. I like your reviews and am suspicious of Parker in particular. He really loves Grenache lately, and some of the cheap Spanish wines that have gotten 90+ from him are pretty ordinary really. Similarly with Aussie wines. He is almost single-handedly responsible for the demise of the long-term cellaring red in Australia!
Just one note on today’s show: you really maybe should have a 10 minute session with a German speaker to get those terms a bit better!! No big deal, but it does make one squirm a little – especially the final ‘e’ on words like ‘Auslese”, which is actually pronounced!
As for complaints about WLTV. Jesus Christ people, it is not as if you are paying for this service! If you don’t like it don’t watch!! I have enjoyed every episode – to varying extents sure – but every one! Keep it up.
Now, two quick questions, especially after todays email note on Chianti: will you ever stock the Pacina Colli senese again (from maybe 5 years back): the best chianti I have ever had; and will you do a wltv on Heathcote shiraz (you have a few wines from Carlei) – this stuff is the real deal and not Parkerised!

Question about ratings, it seems to me that WA and WS scoring systems are not exactly the same. So I was wondering when you say 87 do you mean very good WS or barely drinkable WA ?
Thanks,
ED

I want the old Gary back…. to hell with the distributors and wineries…

I want my WLTV!

Gary

I, and I’m betting many others, enjoy WLTV because YOU enjoy WLTV. Don’t let a bunch of spoilsports (viewers, vintners, or distributors) change what you want to do, and how you want to do it.

To those killjoys who were so incensed with Friday’s episode, perhaps you can go produce your own wine video blogs and let WLTV stay fun?

Nick

Good intro to German wines. There is much left to be said, particularly with regard to the differences in areas within the country and, even more importantly, character of vineyard and the VINTAGE. After all, most of these vineyards are pretty far north and small changes in weather can have profound effects on ripening. But that’s another episode.

Which brings me to the question posed by cgf in Reply 33: the classifications within QmP are based on must weight, i.e., sugar content in the juice. It usually translates into the amount of residual sugar in the finished wine, but that is not always the case, particularly at the Kabinett on Spatlese levels. By the time one gets to BA or TBA, the sugar content is very high in the finished wine. Additionally, in the not-too-distant past, the German quality review board that evaluates wine and determines whether a given wine is appropriately representative, expected wines to have some residual sugar. Not long ago, two classifications were added to finished wines – halb-trocken and trocken (half-dry and dry) because the German people wanted dry wine to go with food. You will occasionally see that on the bottle in a place separate from all the other info on the bottle. A trocken wine (not to be confused with Trockenbeerenauslese) is simply one that has been fermented to driness, usually with a higher alcohol content than traditional German wines, which are around 8-11%.

Nick: Yes! Right on. Gary, keep it you – keep it fun – Most of us in the Blog family Love a little joke and smile.

Hi, Thank you for the German Wine.

To make the pronunciation easier, there are new classifications that aim to make it easier for consumers to orientate themself with German wine:

Old = Spätlese / New = Classic
(Late Harvest)

Old = Auslese / New = Selected
(Selected Harvest, usually hand picked).

In the Q.m.P classification, (Quality wine with Distinction) the 6 subcategories reflect the time of picking and also the “must weight” (German = Ã?chsle, France = Brix, USA = specific gravity) both of which are strictly regulated.

Cheers
Christopher

thanks paul!

favorite wine writer / reviewers who aren’t Gary Vaynerchuk

Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher @ Wall Street Journal – same kind of all around view / look at wine and seem to understand more than almost anyone I’ve read that wine is about how it fits into your life as opposed to fitting your life around wines and wine scores.

Hi All,
I don’t get it. What’s wrong if the wines are a little on the sweet side. Does that imply lesser quality? To my understanding it is somewhat intentional; it balances the wines natural acidity. Some vintners even add unfermented grape juice to the wine, resulting in a sweeter, more balanced wine.

Also, Auslese, BA, Eiswein, and TBA are all made, either in part or as a whole, with botrytised fruit, hence their sweetness.

Q: Does “must weight” necessarily refer to the risidual sugar left in the finished wine or only to that in the fruit? Does one necessarily follow the other?

Re: vblog #39 from Scott. Check wltv #13 for review of two Pierano estate wines.

Americans talk dry but drink sweet. White Zin alone makes up 10% of US wine case sales and 6% of US wine dollar sales…

Personally, I love sweet wines if they are made correctly. Port, eiswein, noble rot wines are some of (if not the) best wines on the entire planet. I’m the type of guy who won’t let sweetener touch my coffee or iced tea, but if a sweet wine is well made I’m in heaven. Heaven! Still waiting on that port episode…

Liked your slightly subdued demeanor in this episode. You came across as more professional and knowledgeable. I liked that a lot.

Best reviewer – Tanzer
Most inconsistent reviewer – Parker

Gary,
First time…long time…
you have got to be kidding….your episode 69 was hilarious! People have to lighten up…Please don’t go serious (because some critic or uptight suit can’t take a joke)
I have been buying wine at your store over the past 2 years and have become a huge fan of your WL TV. I am in Global Marketing and your company is as good as it gets when it comes to selling value! I love the fact that you are passionate about what you do!!!! Keep up the TRUE blog and please do not lower yourself to the boring suits, critics or people without a sense of humor. Keep it real and fresh…you have truly opened a door that the old farts did not want to be opened.

Hey Gary,
I appreciated this episode on German rieslings. I’m a wine collector, and about 70% of my cellar stores German (mostly middle Mosel) wines. I thought you did a very good job with the categories of wine. You could have used a bit more descriptor language on the wines to give people a better idea of the typical flavors found in these wines. My favorite reviewers include Jancis Robinson, Michael Broadbent, Clive Coates, and a number of German experts who post on the erobertparker.com wine bulletin boards.
You are doing a great job with winelibrary tv, and I thought the earlier episode on “wines that had been open a few days” was hilarious. Keep having fun, and informative. All the best, Jim

Hey Gary,
I appreciated this episode on German rieslings. I’m a wine collector, and about 70% of my cellar stores German (mostly middle Mosel) wines. I thought you did a very good job with the categories of wine. You could have used a bit more descriptor language on the wines to give people a better idea of the typical flavors found in these wines. My favorite reviewers include Jancis Robinson, Michael Broadbent, Clive Coates, and a number of German experts who post on the erobertparker.com wine bulletin boards.
You are doing a great job with winelibrary tv, and I thought the earlier episode on “wines that had been open a few days” was hilarious. Keep having fun, and informative. All the best, Jim

This is actually from my comment yesterday, seems more appropriate today:

I just got back from OR and WA where I got to taste a bunch of 300 case production pinotâ??s as well as some great reislings, zins, and syrahs. I had a great time. My friend was laughing at me in the tasting rooms, I was lining up glasses of wine infront of me and going back to them in order to see how air was affecting them. He thought I should be â??drinkingâ?? faster. I pointed out that if his glass was empty he couldnâ??t be enjoying the wine as much as I was.

Am I off base, was I tricking myself into thinking I was getting anything new from the wines?

What kind of glass are you using most of the time for tasting on the show?

Hi asr2021

You asked: Does â??must weightâ? necessarily refer to the risidual sugar left in the finished wine or only to that in the fruit?

For a wine to qualify for a certain Q.m.P classification, the grapes have to be picked at a certain time and have a “must weight” within a certain range. The time of picking and “must weights” vary from region to region.

Jancis Robinson.

Meadows for Burg
Tanzer for rhone and bordeaux are faves though their palates stray from mine and interesting moments so I trust myself more than anyone in the final analysis.
Least fave: Parker who should stick to rum (that way every vintage can be the vintage of the century) and anything from Speculator because I think they smoke before they taste. By the way, anyone read the parker bio? Very good (and ballanced in its presentation).

I am a big Damon fan. I loved the Bourne movies and I just heard that there will be a third and finally movie. Anybody know when that will come out?

A good refresher for our German Riesling dinner next week…. Thanks for sharing.

Yuw Gary. Don’t have to say I like this ep, do I? You know I’m berserk on German Rieslings. I think that the Von Hovel makes out a tremendous QPR. Even when he year is not that great he manages to make decent wines. But, I have a question to you: did you ever try those other white varietals planted in Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Pfalz or Rheingau? I’m not talking of Gewürz, but of grapes like Elbling, Schuerrebe, Ortega, Weissburgunder (Pinot Gris)? I have always the idea that they are used to make vinegar or bulk wines or something like that, and so, I never feel like trying them (even most producers I regularly visit don’t have them). But, is there maybe a producer over there that actually makes good wines of these?
QOTD: Best: in general: Steven Tanzer (Rhone-varietal wines), Decanter reviewers, Luciano Pignataro (South-Italian), Veronelli guide (Italy in General). Oh yes, and Hugh Johnson, I have lots of respect for what this man did and still does.
Belgian reviewers: Herwig Vanhove, you know the man has a tendency for right bank Bordeaux style for his reds and Montrachet style for his whites, but he doesn’t hide that and he can write interesting and profound articles on wine, winemaking, varietals, … . Dirk Rodriguez: always careful in his judgement, without pretending and does not talk about things he does not know.
Worst: I’m sorry, I know it’s a cliché: RP. Why? I have been disappointed several times (i.e. a 94+ wine that turns out to be complete crap, even different bottles and different shops) I don’t like his style (not the wines, the man himself and his writing) and I certainly don’t like his idea of ‘democratizing the wine world’, because he just did not (it’s a superfluous and ridiculous idea anyway).
A whole bunch of Belgian wine critics. Let’s name the worst two: Alain Bloeykens and Frank Vander Auwera. I don’t know what those guys think of themselves and what they are doing: they clearly pretend to be great wine journalists, yet, everytime I read something they wrote it’s like: ok, that’s wrong, this is superfluous, this is a cliché, … etc. Not that I know everything about wine, I certainly do NOT, but when you read just a little bit and keep your eyes open and your palate unpredjudiced (which is almost impossible), then it is so clear that they just write away like that. And hen I’m not only speaking about their reviews (I certainly recognize the fact that they can discern a good from a bad wine, that’s not my point – yet FVdA sometimes really goes off the track for me: recommended wines of make a good impression at the start, but have a hollow mid palate and a mute aftertaste), but just imagine this: when they write something about a certain wine region, a new phenomenon in the wine business or a cultivar in a two page article they do not manage to say as much as you do in a 10 min. ep! See, … ? And what worse: they are so terribly predjudiced on the inside, while they act as if they are the new wave journalists. Grrrr, … hate that, I tell you smth: I have learnt to read between the lines and I do it for my job, so … give it a rest. All that crap: they pretend to be critical on the NW-wine mindless fruitbomb style and what did they chose as their best wines of a tasting on a fair a few months ago (I was also pt that jury): flabby, fruit forward, structureless and subdued sugary wines like the Penfolds Bin 2 Shiraz-Mourvèdre or the La Mogarba Priorat (that did not even taste like a Priorat).
And yes, you are also somewhere out there, not only because you’re unny, but because I like some anarchism and debunking. Keep up the good work!

Thought 69 was hilarious man!!! seriously, good comedy! Some people just don’t have a sense of humor!

I was looking forward to hearing your thoughts on wine that had sat for a few days… (being a newbie, maybe I’ll find that somewhere as I sift through all these episodes!!)