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.

Gary-
I LOVE the new format on the WLTV Web page.
Please give my congratulations to any and all who had a hand in making that wonderful change!
Thanks:)

Nice to see the gravitars are now up. Still waiting for the latest epidose to load.

GOL: What do you think of Pax wines? I tried a bottle of 2004 Cuvee Christine a few months ago. The guy I bought it from urged me to decant it for a long time. So I opened it about 5 hours before dinner. I tasted it several times during the day and it just kept getting better and better. By the end of dinner, it was hands down the best syrah I’ve ever tasted (maybe the best wine I’ve ever tasted in my life). It had an incredible creaminess unlike I’ve ever experienced. I’d be interested in hearing if others other have tried any Pax. They make a lot of different wines so I’d like to know which ones to pick up…

Hey, I loved this episode. It would have been even better if GV had tried my “old” Italians. Maybe next time! And absolutely no need for an apology. I(almost) felt guilty.

QOTD: Maybe the best bottle I have received will be the 2001 Feudi Di San Gregorio Serpico. It is certainly rated highly enough, 95-WS, 97-RP, I think. It will be a few more years before I crack that one. Best gift bottle I have opened was an ’02 Martinelli G&L Zin. Killer and way better than the ’00 which we had the same night. As far as giving, I admit that I am with Tony in comment 32. I have given some expensive bottles as gifts, big time show-off Bordeaux, Napa Cabs etc., but I find it very hard to part with stuff I know is good. So I SUCK as far as the giving goes, but I am a VERY good sharer!

And the Jets draft montage was obviously hilarious, especially the Mel Kiper, Jr. clip! He gets so pissed when teams make wacky selections! But the Freeman McNeil pick should not have been in there. Sure he was fragile, but his game was legit.

Gary,
Interesting episode tonight.
Visited WL for the first time today – we met at the register – nice to meet you. Went home with three mixed cases of wine, many based on WLTV episodes, but at least half picked with the help of your excellent staff and my ‘trolling’. I truly recommend anyone who can get there taking the time to visit the shop. I will be trying the Godello this weekend.
QOD: Best wines received: 1966 Vallana(Montalbano)Spanna – drunk when it was 20 years old – excellent; 1978 E. Grasso, Barolo Riserva Speciale; 1978 Heitz, Bella Oaks Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon.
Best wine given: Taylor vintage Port (can’t recall the vintage though) and a Pol Roger vintage Champagne along with two Baccarat crystal flutes when my sister got married.

Gary, Thanks for this episode. I love the fact that its not always all about the money when it comes to good wine.
For our family Labor Day Weekend: I bought about 2 cases of mixed up wines, all reviewed by Gary V, the “wine guru”. (Yes, I purchased them from WL) 🙂 My family will be coming in & we’ll watch the segments, taste as Gary reviews, and see if we can figure out what the heck is so appealing about “cat piss”! Thanks, GV, for making wine drinking even more fun.

“Buying your wine… so you don’t have to”…Lynne 🙂

Gary, I would like you to answer the QOD once in awhile. I do not think I am alone in wondering how you would answer. Finish show with your QOD, start next show with your answer…just throwing it out there.

QOD Gave: 2001 Caymus Cab Recieved: Penfolds 98 Grange

Have a great long weekend and enjoy your party!

TimF – I am relatively new to Pax. A friend who lives in CA talked them up and helped me obtain 3 bottles of the Castelli Knight ’04, one of which I gave as a gift per previous post. My wife and I had the other bottle a couple months ago, and it blew us away. My wife thought it was the best Syrah she’d ever had. Your description of “creamy” rings true for us as well. It was certainly “new world”, if RP reviewed it he would have said it had “gobs of fruit.” If GaryV reviewed he would’ve told the “old world” guys to turn away from the screen. I have read that the Griffin’s Lair (which is the next price point up from the Castelli) is/was recently considered their best Syrah, but as you mentioned Pax makes 5 or 6 different small lot Syrah’s from different vineyards, I’m sure there is much variety year-to-year. I saw their Cuvee Moriah at Sam’s recently (sorry to plug a national competitor Gary, just trying to help out my fellow Chi blogger), but I didn’t step up because it’s a GSM and for same price as many superb Chateauneufs I was skeptical. Anyway, I’m excited to try some more, but short of ordering direct it seems pretty tough to find Pax in stores. GaryV, maybe WL should try to order some!

Best wine gift given – Aro 2001 Rioja from Muga to my friend who guided us thru northern Spanish wine country. recieved – probably the 1995 Torre Muga from the same friend who has visited there before and had the baby lamb dinner prepared in that area. john

GV – nice clips at the end of this one – I’ll give you 95pts for the creativity. Still not biting on my wager from yesterday I see though!!!

Anyway – favorite wine received is once again my Grahams Vintage 2000 Port from a good friend. Favorite wine given was during last years holidays where I handed out the Twenty Rows Cab & Grappler to my team at work – great wine – great value and all loved it!!! Thanks to wine library!!!

Anyway, I’ll still wait on that wager. Time to go and catch 2 hours of sleep before I head off to work 🙂 (Don’t worry GV, you are not the only crazy one out there;)

GOL – Thanks for your thoughts on Pax. I assume you means Sams Wine and Spirits and not Sams Club (can’t imagine there’s enough volume of it for that). I saw some at Knightsbridge in Northbrook and their prices were nuts — probably twice what I paid directly from Pax. If you do order directly from Pax, you get a personal phone call from them and a personal letter welcoming you to the “family”. I thought that was interesting…

Gary,
Loved the draft day highlights! Don’t worry, in some of those years, I was watching Dallas select Alonso Highsmith, Quincy Carter and the like.

My best bottle ever given away must be the 1999 Grace Family cabernet. I lost it in a bet in the Bahamas. The best bottle received was probably my first exposure to Helen Turley’s work (a 1997 Martinelli Charles Ranch chardonnay.)

Have a great day and keep up the great work!

Chip LaMarca (“The Commish” from Lighthouse Point, FL)

Gary, great show as always. As for your Jets, just be glad you aren’t a Boston Bruins fan… i miss Joe Thornton. I’ll toast to him again tonight as I have many many times in the last year.

Cheers

There was some talk about Pax up there…has anyone tried their Rose (the one in the clear bottle that’s shaped like a bowling pin, sorta)? I had that this summer and thought it was damn tasty, and it’s really cheap. They have another Rose that is more expensive that didn’t quite do it for me though. Just wondering.

OK, go Bears! Cloober…what was I drinkin?
T

Wow 0 for 4. That’s just like the Boston Red Sox. Better luck next time. That piece on the Jets was priceless. I was a devoted Jet fan through the 70’s (ooops old guy here) and I remember the hard times. Now I’m a Pats fan (living in RI).

I bought a few bottles of Cain Concept a few weeks ago after trying a cain 5(which I really enjoyed). I was really disappointed with the “concept” as well.
The best bottle of wine I received as a gift was a 2001 opus1. I’ve heard people pan the Opus, but for me, it was the first time I understood the marriage of “nose” and “pallet”. Up until I tried the Opus1, other wines smelled like alcohol with some undertones of fruit. The Opus1 set me on a path to buying better wines.

Hi eperrier, I personally don’t think people “pan” Opus 1 because it tastes bad, I think most people pan it because it is just way too overpriced for what you receive.

Gary, some of the folks are being too harsh. I have tasted 3/4 wines you reviewed and agree with all but the Cain Lateral that I didn’t taste yet but based on your review will probably stick with the Cain 5 as well. Best wine I have been given, none, as most of the wines people bring are not as good as anything I already have though I’m always appreciative of the effort. The best I have given, 1997 Insignia to our best friend for their 25th anniversary. They drank in on their 30th and I think they killed a baby there.

love the new simpler cleaner format for wltv. catching up after missing vids this week. reading the comments though, as to gary’s drinking underage, and the fact that this is a family built business, and that the family immigrated at some point in the last generation, i wonder if gary maybe was brought up more in the european fashion, where youngsters are encouraged to drink wine as they join the adults in meals (as well as coffee, another supposed adult drug that shouldn’t be consumed too early). it’s a much better system than the 21 years in the states or our canadian 18 or 19 years (depending on where you are). we’d probably all have a better appreciation earlier in life! 😉
QOD: canadian ice wine is a big gift giving wine here. not my thing but it’s better than le piat d’or (which i think is our equivalent of that rossi jug ‘o’ wine gary tried one vid as a gag).

Best Bottle received: DP 1998 for a graduation gift.

I usually don’t give wine as gifts because most people aren’t as happy about receiving a nice bottle of wine as I am. I rather spend the money on something they will appreciate.

My QOD: Gary, is your wife into wine as well? My wife could care less about wine and never drinks wine. She is very supportive of my hobby, but doesn’t join in. Does your wife share your passion for wine?

Adam

Tim F. – As I live about 2 hours west of Chicago – I am in the city about 2x month. I usually stop at Binny’s in Naperville and snag a couple bottles of something from their “sale” of the month that they publish. Usually nothing very good – But they did throw out the 2001 La Mission for $60 a few months back.

Anyways, I have to order most of my wine as there is not a legit store in my town of 500,000 – Where else in Chicago besides Binny’s & Sams is any good? I think both have decent selection, but I have found that I can order in from Wine Library, POPS, or Wine Exchange and pay freight and still beat most local retailers.

Sorry for throwing this out there Gary, But I think that this is actually a PLUG for you as I truly believe that the world is becoming a smaller place (ex. 2005 Bordeaux) and shipping things around versus paying gas to drive there may make the most sense???

Jason R – Here’s a link you should check out http://www.drvino.com/chicagowineshops.php

I particularly like Randolph Wine Cellars (in West Loop, attached to The Tasting Room, where many wines they retail are sold by the glass) and Fine Wine Brokers (in Lincoln Square, specializes in harder-to-find wines), although I certainly haven’t been to all of the stores on this map.

OK, enough Chicago store plugging. GaryV, I’m committing right now to AT LEAST one case from WL to be ordered on Nov 20 after much-mentioned and foregone conclusion Bears victory over Jets. I will BEAR-UP and say that my order is coming even if by some miracle the Jets win!

Gary – Enjoy the holiday!