Sadly my best bottle has only been an ’02 Bordeaux but I’m working on my collection.

Gary, does your dentist ever scold you about wine staining your teeth? I noticed you really swoosh it around in there. Mine asked me last week how much coffee I drink and when I told him I’m a big red wine fan there was a big ah-ha from him on why my teeth were stained.

Keep up the great shows!!

Chad

Ditto Brandon’s question

Well I have a gravitar, too. I wonder if it appears….

er.. no

The gravatars take a while to get “rated” on gravatar.com, they should be approved soon (I hope!)

Gary,
Never seen you go “blah” for 4 before. It isn’t very often that you feel blah about any wine.

I think your palette was definitely having an off day. Maybe you should get your nose insured, like Robert Parker, so you’ll always have an income for your family. 😉

I wish I had a great answer for the QOD but to be honest, I’ve never given away any stellar wines. I usually give away the stuff I decide I don’t like. I know that’s bad, but most of the people I know can’t tell the difference.

Best wine I’ve been given was a 2000 Marcelina Carneros Pinot Noir. Actually, not too many people give me wine either. I don’t have a lot of wine drinking friends. Really, I should say wine LOVING friends. I have friends who will drink wine, they just can’t appreciate the difference between Gallo and Guigal.

Oh, PS, my gravatar isn’t showing up. I signed up and got my gravator approved. What else do I need to do? Isn’t it supposed to automatically appear?

Oh, PS, my gravatar isn’t showing up. I signed up and got my gravator approved. What else do I need to do? Isn’t it supposed to automatically appear?

gary, i read that your appreciation for wine started at the age of 17 but isnt the legal drinking 21? did you partake in under age drinking?

The best bottle given: LeRoy 1937 Richebourg, to my parents for their 37th wedding anniversary (it was a while ago – they’ve been married for 58 years now.)
The best received – for my wedding last summer – a bottle of 1990 Veuve Clicquot Grande Dame.

Liked the ‘lizard’ reference. Stream of consciousness thing, right?

QOD: A co-worker gave me a bottle of Grand Dame Veuve Cliqout 1993 a couple of years ago (I still haven’t had a chance to open it). I haven’t given many good bottles out. I just don’t have very many “wine friends” so I don’t give out nice bottles. Sometimes I’ll add a bottle of Moet White Star to a wedding gift just for fun — something I know almost everyone would enjoy…

Gary-
Great episode! I will give this one at 95.
THANKS for trying the Mas De Daumas Gassac Red 2003!!!!!:):):):)
You have saved me alot of $ already!!
That is more money I can spend on GREAT wines not just any old wine.
The best wine I have given is a :
Biltmore Estate Reserve Reisling.
The best wine I have ever received is;
Bilmore Estate Chateau Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2002.
This might shock you but the BE Chateau Cab has NOT been opened.
I think waiting a few years is a good idea.

I enjoy the episodes when you don’t like the wine. It keeps it honest.

I do have a question for you about one of your comments:

What is a “Bad” wine color?

Pinots are generally lighter in color than Cabs or Syrah/Shiraz. Does that make it a “worse” color?

Thanks,

Dan (In Houston)

ps: I have a gravatar, too. Don’t know what to do to make it work)

When a close friend of mine was in better financial straits (before the bubble burst), I used to get a assortment of wines from him each Christmas. They included 1970 Vega Sicilia Unico, 1997 Fisher Lamb Vineyard Cabernet, 1996 Mondavi Reserve Cabernet, 1997 Pine Ridge Andrus Reserve among many others. Talk about jump starting a wine cellar.
As a wedding gift, I gave the daughter and son-in-law of one of my friends two bottles of wine – a 1999 Fisher “Wedding” Vineyard Cabernet and a 2000 Fisher “Unity” Chardonnay. I guess I’m just a sentimental old fool.

Gary,

Thanks for getting the wines back on the video page. Hey what was us with the glass of water that seemed to magically appear in the corner of the video?

Gary,

Thanks for getting the wines back on the video page. Hey what was up with the glass of water that seemed to magically appear in the corner of the video?

First off…I didn’t get to watch yesterday’s episode until right before this one. So, with that in mind, Gary, Gary, Gary…I don’t want to trash talk, but even without a very good 1st string offense, the Bears are gonna clobber the Jets. And for ALL YOU NEW YORKERS OUT THERE THAT LIKE THE GIANTS AS WELL: The Bears are gonna cloober the Jets one week AFTER taking care of the Giants, and both of those games are in your home town. That’s right, for 2 weeks straight the Bears are gonna call the Meadowlands home. So, YOU ARE WELCOME NY/NJ.

OK, onto today’s episode. The best wine I ever gave as a gift was a 2001 Mouton, but I had my sister-in-law going in with me with that, so it’s not like I went all out. And the best wine I ever recieved was a bottle of 1996 Sassicaia from a client. Had that with some steak…man. Fortunately being in the wine industry, I get a few hand outs from clients, which are always appreciated.

Either way, your episode rocked today, I like the tasting of suggestions (what? Were you scared to re-tasted the white zin?!?!?!?). Either way, as always, good job and the Bears are the SuperBowl champs this year. And NEVER FORGET 85….by the way, when was the last time the Jets won it all?

Go Bears!
T

That’s right, I said “Cloober”.

Hi Gary,

This is an interesting article from yesterday:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/30/dining/30evan.html

Thanks – for your nose.

Nice format change, but I do miss the search feature in the left hand column.

The best bottle I gave as a gift was a 1990 Spatlese Nackenhein Riesling
The best I received was a 1983 Real Velha vintage port. Thanks sis.

Great show thanks, I always learn something new.

Gary,

Blah reviews are a good ep in my opinion since most of these wines are question marks in my book, which is why I think we all wanted them reviewed. Thanks for tasting the Lateral! The reviews I’ve read were iffy so I was hesitant to buy. You saved me some $$ to spend on different wines. I’m just about to order a mixed case from you so I’ll definitely leave that one out.

Agree with you on the Etude. I love its acidity and concentration in good years but the vintages have shown great variance.

Tony S – The word you are looking for is “Clobber”… and it is a great word to describe the mid-November beat-up DA BEARS are gonna administer in NJ (where the two NY teams play)

QOD – Best wine received: 1994 Mouton Rothschild (still aging so I hope it’s great!)
Best Given… 2004 Pax Castelli Knight Syrah (like Bill Nelson’s comment #5, was appropriately given to a like-named recipient)

Gary – I will echo Dan’s comment #39 and say I love when you keep it real and turn em all down (as you mostly did with the Sauv Blanc episode)… makes your recommendations much more genuine

Gary,

Johnny Laim Jones???

O’Brian over Marino???????????

At draft day, do you hid wine flasks in your coat to help you deal with the bad picks the Jets always seem to make?

Anyway, cannot pick the best bottle I received or gave, will think about that over a bottle of amarone.

I gotta echo johnb’s question. It says Gary’s “passion for wine started at a young age, a mere 17.” Were your parents contributing to the delinquency of a minor by feeding you wine?

I mean, look at you. Not only are you drinking in public, you’re doing it on the Internet where the whole world can see you. Oy! I’m glad I’m not your poor mother, she must be so ashamed, seeing you every day like this – in front of a camera even – where the whole world can watch you disgrace yourself like some common shikker who doesn’t have even pride enough to shame himself and his poor family in private. That you could do such a thing to your poor mother is a shandeh.

I dunno, is Vaynerchuk goy or Jewish? Gary looks like he could be a nice Jewish boy…except for the drinking, that is. Ah! It’s a shame. His whole life he has in front of him, and this is what he does with it. 😉

Gary, I was glad to see that today the load time for the video was a lot better.
QoD:
Best Bottles I have ever given would be either a 1979 Durney Vineyards Cab. or a 3L 1995 Heller Estate Cabernet. The ’79 was an anniversary gift to my parents this year for their 27th anniversary. The 3L was a gift to my older brother and his wife for their anniversary/house warming gift.

As for what was the best I was ever given. Hmm. I got a bottle of ’82 Karly Zin for my 24th b-day. The wine inside wasnt any good but the fact that I got a bottle from the year I was born as a gift was pretty nice. The other nice bottle given to my girlfriend and I as a gift was a 1.5L from Robert Mondavi’s 90th Birthday. It has a picture of Mondavi wearing a suit of corks on the bottle.