Hey Gary great show today-just enough. Rather than what I just drank i want to tell you what I am drinking in a few weeks for my 40th B-Day. One of my chef buddies is preparing an 8 course feast and we are opening:02 latour meursault les genevieres/02 latour puligny montrachet les truffieres/97 d’yquem(crazy to do in the middle but i love it with foie)/01 falesco montiano/97 ciacci piccolomini/77 dow port. Hope the bottles show well.

Nice tribute today –

Wines I’ve been drinking lately are: Nepenthe The Fugue, Liars Dice Zin, Thorne-Clark Barossa, St. Francis Claret and tried the Little Penguin Shiraz after seeing the episode. Not too bad for the price I guess.

I’d also like to know some more about decanting and specifically how long is too long?

Had a great bottle of wine , that a friend in the business brought over, called Visions of J. A really fine wine, that I understand won 3 glasses award.

What are some characteristics of wines from Italy that differ form those of California? Do you think one is preferred over the other in the general public?

By the way, I miss the sidebar on your site that had a list of all the wines on WLTV. I liked to use that as a quick reference to go back and taste the wines I have purchased while watching your past comments. Please bring that back.

Gary-
Good show, it was generous of you to share your memories and thoughts today.

Last few wines I have had:
Bloom Riesling Mosel-Saar-Ruwer 2004
Scherer Pinot Blanc 2004
Robertson Winery Shiraz 2003
Boekenhoutskloof Wolf Trap Red 2005

Question:
I’m fresh out of college and would someday (tomorrow?) like to work wine retail, especially at the level you are. The local CC has a solid culinary school and I am looking at taking their wine/beverage management classes. I am reading or have read all the “important” wine books. I go to the local tastings and drink wine everyday. I try to learn as much as I can so that I can share my knowledge when friends ask about wine. How can I get started? What are some of the things that I can do to get my foot in the door? I am willing to volunteer at a wine shop and scrub the floor.

Suggestions:
1) Still waiting for your blind tasting. Hopefully, you’ll do one before episode 100.
2) Your sign off (I hope you can read it. I got this off Wikipedia):
Ð?ек живи́ â?? век Ñ?Ñ?и́сÑ?.

* Transliteration: Vek zhivi â?? vek uchis’.
* Translation: Live for a century â?? learn for a century.
* Moral: Never cease to learn new things

Thanks for remembering with us.

What tools do you suggest for learning to sense flavors/nose in wines. I recently bought Bacchanales as a much cheaper option to Le Vin du Nez. Have you tried either, have an opinion between them, or other suggestions.

Hope to train my nose and pallet to pull flavors out the way you do on each glass of wine.

Thanks for doing what you do and educating the masses. Keep up the great work!

Louisiana George

Answer some questions about cellaring. I am looking at a stand up unit that holds 80 to 90 bottles. Any recomandation would be great.
Also great call on the
Di Majo Norante Sangiovese Igt 2004
By the way here is your new sign off:

Falcon’s Baby!!!

Oh…I forgot, were you ever going to make a decision about the spreadsheet Chris put together detailing all the previous epsiodes? I would be interested in having that.

During the Jets game my wine was the 2002 Henri Gouges Burgundy. The wine lable matches the Jets uniform colors. This wine is better than most pinots and was ordered from WL.

Gary, Nice show. My question: Have you had any wines, specifically riesling, from Michigan that you recommend.

QOD:
2004 Lagar de Cervera Albariño Rías Baixas – absolutely killer with tortilla crusted talapia
2002 Schramsberg Vineyard Brut Ros̩ Рbig fan of schramsberg
2001 Mason Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon – ok wine but nothing special
2005 Cliff Lede Sauvignon Blanc Napa Valley – my favorite domestic sav blanc
N.V. Jean Laurent Champagne Blanc de Noirs – good bottle
2004 Elyse Zinfandel Howell Mountain – this got a huge Parker score (93 or 94 I don’t remember) but this is my least favorite Elyse wine. It tasted like dirt mixed with cough syrup.

To Matty Van on comment 7 regarding heat.
Wine cooks at long storage 75-80 deg. A friend with a wine store gave a bottle of Barolo that sold for $100 as repayment for a favor. He told me not to expect too much it had been on the shelf for over a year. Boy! was he right. It was nothing, a mild tarry cola flavor, no nose. The wine had never been super hot, it had been exposed to fourescent lights. With that experience and few others with cooked wines I finally sprung for a little “cavette” that holds 30 bottles. At least now I can a few that I cellar for longer periods. An additional benefit of a wine storage unit is cheese and chocolate also love to be stored at 55 degrees.
I got mine at Home Depot for less than $200. It has a crappy “spinal tap” thermostat. I rigged up a small bottle with a cork that I pierced with the thermocouple from my Poldor kitchen time thermometer and dialled in the thermostat setting in about 5 days. Surprisingly, the setting to gett 56 degrees was nearly 0 on the dial with everything else being colder. I think the maker puts in a different shelf arrangement and calls it a beer cooler.
If you have a collection of wine, and don’t have storage worthy– all you have is collection of labeled bottles.

Chin chin

I forgot QOD:
1998 Fabiano Amarone Della Valpolicella with roast leg o lamb.
2003 Banfi Chianti Classico – I actually like the 03 better than earlier vintages
Nora Albarino – tried this for the first time and now I am HOT to learn more about Spanish whites. I recently ordered some Godello from WL. Looking forward.
A side note on my recent order — every item was a WLTV recommendation.
Chin chin

G- on 9/11 I was on my way back from Europe and my plane was rerouted to St. Johns, New Foundland. It was a surreal week. Thanks for taking a moment to make us think about how significant that day was.

Wines This Past Week:
Shotfire Ridge 2004… a staple.
Sharpshooter 2004… yes, I’m starting to drink it and I think it’s come around quite well.
Los Vascos Reserve 2003… a’ight.
Opus 1998… great, but over priced.
Vinho Verde (but I can’t remember the house or vintage)… I really enjoyed it over Labor Day!

Questions:
Why aren’t the Jets the New Jersey Jets?
Why don’t you invite me to taste some wines on WLTV?
How often do you get a hangover? Any recvovery techniques you’d like to share?
When the Bears beat the Jets are you going to (a) cry, (b) throw the tv out your apartment window, (c) realize your life long mistake and switch your favoritsim to Da Team, or (d) all of the above?
Why is driving in NJ (eg. around WLTV) such a nightmare? Do you know that over Christmas I saw an elderly woman run over a parking cement barrier in your parking lot? Wish I had that on film.

Keep up the good work G.

Really enjoyed this epsisode – leaving for Napa/Sonoma tomorrow, now thinking of visiting Delectus because of your tasting. Last bottle we just had – Pax, Castelli Ranch, Russian River, Syrah 2003. WOW! We rated it an easy 94 – loved it!!!

Classy episode. Thanks for your thoughts. Living in Northern Virginia, I was in Florida when the planes crashed, unable to return to my family kept awake at night by fighter jets flying over the house. Not near the terror as so many people felt, but difficult to me none the less.

One of the things I respect about you is that you never seem to talk bad about anyone. You apologize when you do not score wines well (but state you call it like you see it). You did not say anything bad about the Wine Enthusiast, but I (think I) can tell you do not care for their ratings (or publication?). When tasting wines, I get a sense of honesty from you, not just that you are trying to sell your stock. Thanks.

Crow tastes terrible, but I have eaten my share. Dolphins lose, Jets win, Bills almost pull off upset- would have love to see the Pats lose. Looks like the World Series will be a subway series. Congrats to all the NY teams.

Drinking lately: 2003 Mackenzie Cabernet (10.99/bottle, bought purely because my daughter is named Mackenzie). Solid at that price point, but nothing special. 2004 Piping Shrike- remember loving the 2002, 2003, but the 2004 was nothing special. Not worth the $17 or so I think I paid for it. Thoroughly enjoyed a 2003 Moon Mountain Cab a few weeks ago, so I tried a 2004 Moon Mountain Chardonay- I do not drink a lot of white wine, but I like this wine a lot. I actually like the characteristics most people talk bad about today in chard- oak, butter, full body. This wine was none of those, but very enjoyable. Around $13.

Classy episode. Thanks for your thoughts. Living in Northern Virginia, I was in Florida when the planes crashed, unable to return to my family kept awake at night by fighter jets flying over the house. Not near the terror as so many people felt, but difficult to me none the less.

One of the things I respect about you is that you never seem to talk bad about anyone. You apologize when you do not score wines well (but state you call it like you see it). You did not say anything bad about the Wine Enthusiast, but I (think I) can tell you do not care for their ratings (or publication?). When tasting wines, I get a sense of honesty from you, not just that you are trying to sell your stock. Thanks.

Crow tastes terrible, but I have eaten my share. Dolphins lose, Jets win, Bills almost pull off upset- would have love to see the Pats lose. Looks like the World Series will be a subway series. Congrats to all the NY teams.

Drinking lately: 2003 Mackenzie Cabernet (10.99/bottle, bought purely because my daughter is named Mackenzie). Solid at that price point, but nothing special. 2004 Piping Shrike- remember loving the 2002, 2003, but the 2004 was nothing special. Not worth the $17 or so I think I paid for it. Thoroughly enjoyed a 2003 Moon Mountain Cab a few weeks ago, so I tried a 2004 Moon Mountain Chardonay- I do not drink a lot of white wine, but I like this wine a lot. I actually like the characteristics most people talk bad about today in chard- oak, butter, full body. This wine was none of those, but very enjoyable. Around $13.

Hey G-man (do u late that?)
Bravo, good show yesterday (9/11), balanced the fruit and acid especially with your tribute.

Over the weekend I enjoyed the following (I know because I keep the bottles for a few days to savor any magic and to reflect on any lingering finish I can recall, but it drives my wife crazy mad):
1976 Dhron Hofberger Riesling Beerenauslese wow! still has it
1980 William Hill Mt. Veeder Cab let’s move on
2000 Louis Bernard Cotes-du-Rhone Villages good but overated by spectator
2003 Serge Laloue Sancere Reserve: flat out outstanding, knowing your love of Sancere what do think of this one?
2003 Corte Rugolin Ripasso – the real deal of baby amarone’s
Chateau de Laubade Armagnac XO- beautious all the way, the flavors are still with me from Saturday

Q’s for U’s: What’s your take on all this global warming hype? Have any of the great terrior vineyards begin to see changes? Should we be looking for wine investment property in Canada? Any thoughts for the lay man on last week’s reshuffing of the Grand Cru system in Saint Emillion and what this means to the world?

Keep it up. look forward to Tuesday’s output. Peace out

Hi Gary,

Wines this week; 2003 Rosenblum Syrah – Yolo County, 2003 Penner Ash Pinot, 2005 Kim Crawford Sauv Blanc, 2004 Willamette Valley Whole Cluster Pinot. 2002 Alta Catena Malbec and 2003 Ridge Geyerville Zin. Last two at a business dinner. All were excellent and would recommend highly. Do you think I drink too much!?

I know you tried this before, but thought you should do an episode where you tell us a week in advance or more of what you will be tasting and allow us to get them and taste with you. i think it would be very educational if you walked us through step by step while tasting and then explained the nose and flavors you are experiencing. I think it would help us all learn how to taste and identify aromas and flavors. Maybe just two or three bottles maximum. Would be fun!

Another suggestion – Could you incorportate more food pairing into your tastings? My Wife and I love to buy cheeses and pates to go with our wines and also love having the right wine for the food we are eating, makes a world of difference. Adding more pairing ideas would be great.

Thanks,

Bruce

Gary –

Love the video blog. Us web marketers would love to get some input from you over on winemarketer.com where there is a little thread about you. I tooted your horn a little, but asked some great questions.
http://www.winemarketer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29

Gary, great episode. The Pentagon plane flew right over my office building on its way to the Pentagon two miles away. It was a terrible day, and almost as bad as the terrible leadership that has divided our country since.

One small suggestoin for improvement of this site. A LOT of people ask you questions in these threads, but you dont answer very many. I think you should either encourage others to answer them or make an effort to spend a bit more time interacting with the customers. I’ll answer one of my own: I would NOT commit infanticide on a 2003 Leoville Las Cases if I owned any. A premier bottle like that should spend at least 10 years in the cellar.

GV, Touching words of remembrance today, and a solid EP. QOTD: Recent wines were 2000 Torbreck Steading (alas, my last bottle), ’86 Chateau Talbot (WOW), ’97 Olrepo Pavese La Strega e la Gazza (Gary please do a show on Barbera), ’97 Catena Alta Cab Sav (very nice) and daily reds ’04 Laurent Plum Bleu (floral, beautiful, great value), Castano Hecula (thanks GV/WLTV, thumbs up), Jumilla Panarroz (just say no on this one).

Hey Gary,
Great episode today.

I’ve asked the same question for a while now, so just check the last 2 videos for my question. Keep up the good work!

Adam

Hey Gary,

First time I have e-mailed you but I am a pretty good customer of yours. [At least I liked to think so; feel free to look up my name. I have had the pleasure of adding over a dozen customers to your list.] I have been collecting for 7-8 years. I usually store appox 500 bottles. I drink with friends and clients appox 150 bottles a year.

I do not have an unlimited budget but seem to have created a high end pallet. I use wine to help my business [marketing] and enjoy educating and sharing wine with my friends and customers. I have spoke to Ian several times for specific items and ideas. You said you would respond to a couple of questions so letâ??s see if you can do it. [I am not big on e-mail so I probably wonâ??t be bugging you again.]

First I want to say greetings from the great state of Floridaâ?¦..I am a proud [even after last week] Bucs season ticket holderâ?¦the next time the Jets visit you are welcome to my tickets. We got the Giants this year and no offense but I rather play the Jets. As bad as you guys were last year you still beat us with a 70 year old quarterbackâ?¦former Buc no less.

I love big wines complex wines but I donâ??t want to wait 20-40 years for them to develop. [First growths] My favorites are Cabs, complex Pinots, White Burgundies, and Tuscan wines to name a few. What do I drinkâ?¦..well some of my all time favorites I can get from youâ?¦.[I have to get on the winery private list.]

Pride [all reds], Lewis [all wines], Spring Mountain, Joseph Phelps [cab/insignia, over produced but usually still wonderful], Steward, Quintessaâ??s Faust, Robert Foley, ECT. As you can see I love mountain grown fruit. The elevation seems to produce things that other wineries can not duplicate. Is this just due to being above the clouds for temp and sun purposes?

Can you review some of the wines I have been buying from you and make any suggestion from small little known or up coming wines? I know this type of wines is not cheap. I did get three bottles of an Australian Cab â??Gralynâ? that you stated was the best Cab you ever had. Due to your high recommendation, I chose to cellar them for at least 2-3 years before I try them.

Any recommendations on where I might want to go with my collection? My goal is to continue to collect for years to come but keep the bottle count at 500-600 bottles. I want to continue to upgrade and cellar my collection.

Final question and this one is specificâ?¦..bought a case of Palomero 04â??. High rated Spanish wineâ?¦â?¦I tried one bottle and I donâ??t know if it was because I am not used to the Tinto Pino varietals but it was one of the most tannic wines I have ever had. The tannins were so over powering that I had a hard time recognizing some of the other qualities of this wine. Is this wine not ready to drink? Do I cellar it for 10 years? Am I an idiot?

Garyâ?¦..you seem a lot like me and we are about the same ageâ?¦.I donâ??t want to through a bunch of obvious complements as your success speaks for itselfâ?¦..but some day we will share a glass of wine [or maybe a beer] together. Take care.

P.S. Isnâ??t football season great!!!

Gary – nice job today. In an environment where everything can tend to become over-sentimentalised and almost jingoistic, your measured and dignified tribute was all the more powerful for that. I wish some of the networks would find similar grace and humility from somewhere; you never know, world leaders might even then do the same! (yeah, fat chance!)
Wines consumed in the last week or so that have been most enjoyable have been Lindemans Pyrus 2001, and Gallo Barelli Creek Zin 1999. Not great but very enjoyable. Also had the much-raved-over Mollydooker Boxer, which is a bit over-the-top right now. Bay FAR the best, however, was a McIvor Creek 2002 Shiraz from Heathcote (Victoria, Aust.). Great, great wine. My girlfriend and I score wine on a 20 point scale, and we scored this at 20. The first one ever. This is not available in the USA, and I bought it at the winery on a recent visit to Australia last July. Truly, truly wonderful stuff.
So . . . . as far as I can see, the only wine you have at Wine Library that is even remotely like this is the Sanguine Heathcote Shiraz 2003. This has been well reviewd in Australia, and appears on your site with a Tanzer 91. I would be THRILLED if you were to include this on you next (or a soon-to-be-appearing) episode. I think it would fit in well. I have done quite a bit of tasting round the world (France, Italy, Australia mainly) and the few days in Heathcote were probably the most enjoyable of all. Fantastic wines with real character. I am sure the Sanguine would show well!
Best regards!

To Scotty (comment 51) . . . I am soooo jealous! I got Pizza and Sangria on my 40th this past March. Please post back after you recover from your party and let us know how everything was.

Question for you Gary. What do you think about the replay of the California Cab versus Bordeaux retasting that was done recently. They actually attempted to retaste some of the wines from 1976 and many had faded into obscurity and the consensus was that Clifornia won again but I can’t believe you can really compare the two types. Just would like your opinion.

Drinking lately have been on a Zind kick
Teldeschi 2001 Alexander Valley Zindfandel… very jammy upfront fruit long lingering finsh, very typical Cal Zind
Turley Rattlesnake Vinyanrd 1999 Zind.. totally over the top nose and dark berry taste with great finish. One of the best Zind’s I’ve ever had
Also the Saints and Sinners 2005 Viognier from Gray’s recommendation. On my second bottle and it is a great food wine, thanks Gary!!

Somber comments on 2001 were appreciated here.