first?

missed it by one!

go gary!

top 5?

Gary-
Love this episode!
I give this one a 98!
Is that a dressy jacket I see? WOW!
I feel important:)

Hey Gary,

Are you planning on transcibing the WLTV reviews onto the written reviews of the wines in your catalog? I know you have a link to the WLTV episode, but sometimes I want to just zero in on a particular wine.

Thanks,

Dan (in Houston)

Gary, Thanks for the the Old World wine tasting. “A walk thru the European woods of 1500”. That Gary is why I keep coming back. That is more meaningful and illuminating than any Wine Spectator review. A walk thru the woods of old europe of 1500? I have to have that experience. Drinking the Cantina Vignaioli Elvio makes living an adventure. Thanks for bringing this kind of insight and education to your viewer’s lives. Like you said, many who watch, had never tasted or even heard of Barbaresco. A walk thru the woods of Old Europe. Now they know.

Joe

thanks for the great episode. You’re gonna take over the world like Pinky and The Brain. I promise I will try a Barbaresco, I feel like an idiot…

Gary:

Great Show! I love the Italian wines from Piedmont.

top 10?

Gary-
Thanks for challenging all of us to try so many wines!
We all can use a good drink outside the box lecture now and then.
I think your hair was much better today!
I already suggested one sign off, on the original episode that you asked for suggestions for a sign off.
STUFF SOME FUN INTO YOUR WINE.
Here is another:
KEEP THE FUN IN THE WINE.

i would really like to see what these wines would do with 18-24 hours of being open–seems like the dry tannin would dissipate…perhaps revealing something different. as for storing reds, well we (viewers) discussed this the other day. most (90%) of red wines that most people watching this will be drinking will taste like crap the next day if you simply cork and leave on the counter…i have done this by accident with a very complex bordeaux before and it was amazing how well it tasted after 2+ days!!! anyway, you want to vacuvin, throw in the fridge, then break out 1.5 hours before you are ready to drink the next day and do not open until you are ready to pour. this works beautifully…however, if the wine is not showing well to begin with (not a bad wine, but a bad bottle) this will not help and you might as well just go ahead and drink it.

QOTD: oh wait, there was no question!

my QOTD: (to everyone) do you like the “stuffy” nature of wine as gary put it…do you drink wine because it makes you feel as though you are part of something sophisticated…or does it make you feel high brow…or is it simply something you enjoy drinking and wouldn’t mind as a completely casual occurrence as gary proposes?

well, to answer my own question: i don’t think wine should be snobby, but i like the ‘art’ of wine. i like the fact that different people like and see different things that they like in wine. i like the fact that wine is most often an acquired taste…and the careful dissection and discussion of wine is a skill that comes with experience and practice. i like that there is a lot to know about wine…from how it is made to tradition to terroir. in short, i kind of like the stuff, high brow nature of wine…perhaps that is because i am a very normal guy, making a VERY normal salary…like chess, i think wine is for the sophisticate, and like to feel as such when i drink it. wow, that was long…
this is zerokreap, signing off….gary smells!

i meant to remark that the bordeaux i referred to was an exception, not the rule, as my previous statement suggested

Did GV use the word “romantic” 3x in this episode? Hmm, he has a meeting later today… I’m thinking he has a “meeting” tonight… he has a mid-week date with his better half!

GV, Great detail on the tastings today!

I love Italian wines how bout doing a show on 01 brunello’s i still remember joe willie on that fateful 1969 day i was a johnny u guy was a tough day to go to school when they have on line personality awards you’re a winner

To answer today’s QOD from zerokreap… simply put, I drink wine for the medley of flavors a particular bottle may or may not have and the mystery that is each varietal, region, vintage, and individual bottle. What other food or drink is such an enjoyable puzzle?

yeah GOL, that is what i am talk ing about…mystery…romance…that is what i enjoy too…a little escape from my day to day

Another great episode GV. It was pretty apparent that you were really into today’s tasting and it seems that you are really big into monster Italian reds (you have noted your love of Amarone and Barolo in the past). That being said, I would love to see an episode on some other great Italian reds that aren’t in the big 3 or big 4. What about some rosso de montefalco or teroldego or maybe even some super tuscans or primitivo? I am a really big fan of Italian reds and I think that in order for everyone to truly fulfill your motto (try every wine out there at least once), that these would be great to do in a future episode.

Gary,

Loved the excitement level today!! Also excellent use of descriptors, like Joe mentioned, I gotta try this wine and experience that “walk in the woods”. Keep it up Gary and you will be changing the world of wine.

Gary,

Loved the excitement level today!! Also excellent use of descriptors, like Joe mentioned, I gotta try this wine and experience that “walk in the woods”. Keep it up Gary and you will be changing the world of wine.

Gary:

I agree with Ronguy that your scoring system, one that factors price as a varible for scoring, could cause dissapointment and confusion. I have commented on this at least twice before. I, for one, would much prefer that 90 points = excellent (no matter what) and 96+ points = “Out of this world, once-in-a-lifetime” type of experience. Let the consumer decided if the absolute ranking is worth a certian price. I know that if a “real” 85 point wine, costing $6, was ranked a 92 by you because of the low cost, and I drank it expecting a REAL 92 point experience….I would be very dissapointed that I wasted the evening with it. And when I see a 95 point ranking – I expect a blow-away experience….I’ll judge whether I want to spend a certian $$ on it.

Net, net: if we keep price out of the scoring – – we ourselves can judge value on our own – – and have dissapointments erased.

What do you think?
Joe

Gary,

I think it makes more sense to people if 90 points equals 90 points at any price. Although I understand the motivation – “this is a great wine for $10; but that isn’t a great wine for $40” – it’s easier overall for 90 point to just be 90 points.

Actually, I pretty much ignore your scoring system. No offense, but it doesn’t match anyone elses, nor does it really make a lot of sense. Here’s what I’ve taken away on your scores from watching you from the beginning:

85-87: Crap wine, a poor effort, not into it, unbalanced, sucks.
88: A decent, but not all that great wine. OK.
89: Pretty good, not mind blowing, but this is a good wine.
90: A really solid effort. Typically recommended, but some ambiguity. 90 points is probably your most used score, sometimes you love 90 pointers, sometimes you’re luke warm.
91: A really solid wine, to even great. At this point you start to be “a fan of this wine”.
92-93: Really great wines. Wow! You’re typically pumped about wines at this score and higher.
94+: Fantastic wines. You’re bubbling over with enthusiam about the wine.

So, like I said, I don’t give too much credence to your scores. Like joe said, its your DESCRIPTIONS that keep me watching WLTV. Well, that and your facial expressions. And your honestly. And enthusiasm. But not your scores. In fact, here’s how I score you (price independent):

Enthusiasm: 98 (a few off episodes)
Honesty: 100
Descriptions: 93 (some are better than others)
Facial expressions: 100+
Scores: 81

I know we all went around on scores many episodes ago, and personally, I would say to just drop them. They don’t mean much to me and they just give people something to argue about.

BTW, I got back from my wine tasting weekend. As you may know, I’m a landscape/nature photographer, and I spent a lot of time in the vineyards shooting the ripe grapes (here’s a link: http://adunnphotography.com/galleries/new.asp?date=9/5/2006). I’d never actually tasted ripe wine grapes before. I thought they’d be bland given that they’re not for eating. But wow! Wine grapes are amazingly sweet and tasty!! I’ve really never tasted anything so good. I spent hours walking through syrah and cabernet and zinfandel vineyards tasting the grapes and fell in love with wine all over again. It’s absolutely magic how you can take something so sweet and pure and delicious and turn it into this amazingly complex and delicous but totally different liquid.

I also tasted some pretty decent wines while I was there (and a lot of 85-87 point GV score wines 😉 ). There are some people doing some interesting things in the Sierra Foothills, especially with Rhone varieties. Just avoid the zins like the plague!

As always, keep it up Gary!

P.S. It was on August 9th (comment #15) that I first asked about heat and wine. It’s now 18 episodes and exactly 4 weeks later. The longer I wait for the heat episode, the better I KNOW it’s going to be. I hypervenilate just thinking about it! I think when you finally do the heat episode, my head will literally explode!!

Gary,
I agree point system based on dollar value is confusing, maybe you should continue saying it’s a good everyday wine or would make a excellent house wine. I know you covered CDP’s, any chance you will cover Northern Rhone? Not to mention I fully expect you to use one of my sign offs.
ED

one thing that I just realized is were up to episode 85 and how many entire regions and types of wine have not been a topic yet, just goes to show how much there is out there to try.

QOD from zerokreap – I dislike wine snobs, it is why I dont hang o ut on wine spectators message boards. Wine is something we are supposed to drink among friends and have a good time with…and thats it. To me my thirst for more wine knolledge is just so I can pick out the bottles that I and those around me will like, and I like discovering new things.

Outstanding episode Gary. I was in WL this afternoon and spoke with “Jim” on the floor. I picked up some of your recently reviewed and recommended wines today and am looking forward to tasting them. I was hoping to find a nice Barbaresco while there, but no one I saw there knew what you were tasting today, so I decided to hold off. I may pick up a bottle of the ’98 Cantina Vignaioli . . . Castellizzano next time I stop in.

Lovely pics Tony!

Zerocreap, thanks for taking the initiative and coming up with such a thoughtful QOD. I actually started drinking wine because I couldn’t stand beer or coffee, and I didn’t want to be a total loser in social situations. It started with the old B&J wine coolers, moving on to Beringer White Zinfandel and Rieslings. Eventually I started stopping in at wineries while on vacations, and then one day I tasted a well-aged Bordeaux. I was completely hooked and amazed how many variations there were in wine, and even how a wine can differ in taste from hour to hour, day to day, and bottle to bottle. The alchemy that is wine is truly unique in my opinion, and I can see myself being continously surprised and delighted with new sensations over my lifetime. I don’t think I drink or collect wine for “snob appeal” but rather as a student and admirer of the enigma that is wine.