Aren’t the Chianti Classico Reserva suppose to be the highest quality Chianti? Why such a poor showing on the Banfi? It makes me doubt the labeling.

Fav. quote: You know they just made a solid bottle of wine, but what the hell? For 30 bucks, come on, do something!

Fav. shows: Seinfeld, Arrested Development, Curb your Enthusiasm, Family Guy

~Ryan

BRUCE S. Please tell us you’re joking…..ALF?…..ALF?????

I’m all for individual rights and freedom of speech, but ALF crosses the line.

GARY, you may need to ban Bruce….as the greatest soup artisan of our time once said, “NO SOUP FOR YOU!!”

RAY N. I’m with you on going out AFTER Miami Vice in the early 80’s….but it was Friday night, not Saturday.

BRUCE S. Please tell us you’re joking…..ALF?…..ALF?????

I’m all for individual rights and freedom of speech, but ALF crosses the line.

GARY, you may need to ban Bruce….as the greatest soup artisan of our time once said, “NO SOUP FOR YOU!!”

RAY N. I’m with you on going out AFTER Miami Vice in the early 80’s….but it was Friday night, not Saturday.

BIG BILLY from BIG D, Thanks for the heads up on older video for “Castello Della Paneretta Chianti Classico Riserva (WL Code 6479)”. This was for a special pre-sale offer email.

I will watch this video and enter it into “The Chuk’s Greatest Hits” Master Spreadsheet.

Gary, Man Im really late getting to this episode; but thats what I get for hoping it would quit raining so the drag race in Maple Grove would get in this weekend. Then the Chianti Slamming/eye opener didnt help my mood but I always appreciate you opinion.

Thanks for the honesty of the Chianti’s. This is my nornal “go to” wine since my wife likes it. I do have to agree with you on the Ruffino Gold. Bought it once and really didnt car for it but the Ruffino Classico Reserva I still love. Gold was worth the extra cash. Like I’ve said before I need to branch out to some bigger Italains.

QOTD Im suprised no one ever said “Night Court” Marky Post was and is HOT not to mention the show was a complete riot. I pretty much think TV now sucks! Dont get to watch to much but when I do; its the new show on A&E “Driving Force” or “Crossing Jordan”. Guess I could be a real suck-up and say WLTV is my all time favorite!!!! but come on people.

My question is: Do you think the reason people like the Australian reds is because of the sugar and alcohol content? Just trying to reference an article on Wine library that I just read.

Dan

Gary, Man Im really late getting to this episode; but thats what I get for hoping it would quit raining so the drag race in Maple Grove would get in this weekend. Then the Chianti Slamming/eye opener didnt help my mood but I always appreciate you opinion.

Thanks for the honesty of the Chianti’s. This is my nornal “go to” wine since my wife likes it. I do have to agree with you on the Ruffino Gold. Bought it once and really didnt car for it but the Ruffino Classico Reserva I still love. Gold was worth the extra cash. Like I’ve said before I need to branch out to some bigger Italains.

QOTD Im suprised no one ever said “Night Court” Marky Post was and is HOT not to mention the show was a complete riot. I pretty much think TV now sucks! Dont get to watch to much but when I do; its the new show on A&E “Driving Force” or “Crossing Jordan”. Guess I could be a real suck-up and say WLTV is my all time favorite!!!! but come on people.

My question is: Do you think the reason people like the Australian reds is because of the sugar and alcohol content? Just trying to reference an article on Wine library that I just read.

Dan

Great episode, I drink Chianti all the time. I’ll have to give the Canonica a try.

QOTD: Favorite of all time: HBO’s Oz
Favorite right now: Prison Break

Gary,

I know you were just rating the wines in front of you but every Chianti lover out there knows that the 4 wines you tasted are not great. Antinori makes 2 other Chiant’s that are much better, Banfi’s Riserva is a joke, like many other posters said Ruffino is mass produced and way over priced. The only wine I enjoy is the Canica. If you want to do a real Chianti tasting, try Felsina Rancia & Antinori Badia A Passignano which you have in stock. People who aren’t familiar with Chianti please do not judge it by this tasting.

As far as a favorite show…. how can you beat Seinfeld.

Gary,

I know you were just rating the wines in front of you but every Chianti lover out there knows that the 4 wines you tasted are not great. Antinori makes 2 other Chiant’s that are much better, Banfi’s Riserva is a joke, like many other posters said Ruffino is mass produced and way over priced. The only wine I enjoy is the Canica. If you want to do a real Chianti tasting, try Felsina Rancia & Antinori Badia A Passignano which you have in stock. People who aren’t familiar with Chianti please do not judge it by this tasting.

As far as a favorite show…. how can you beat Seinfeld.

Gary,

I would have really liked to see you taste and get your thoughts on the Castello Della Paneretta Chianti Classico Riserva 2001. Since you were doing Chianti anyway, what the heck? You sold me on it months ago so I went for a case. I thought it was just ok, for the price. I’ll drink it with pizza or simple Italian food. In the future, if you recommend something special and then do a tasting of that grape/wine later on, you need to include it.

Gary,
Thanks for this enlightening episode.
I always had this feeling that many Chianti are overpriced.
Coincidently, I drank Chianti with pizza this Friday evening!
Favorite TV show-Curb your enthusiasm, of course.

Gary,
Thanks for this enlightening episode.
I always had this feeling that many Chianti are overpriced.
Coincidently, I drank Chianti with pizza this Friday evening!
Favorite TV show-Curb your enthusiasm, of course.

OUCH, those Jets were not at there best, similar to your Banfi review today!

Gary,
EP was great up front, interesting and surprising on the midpalate (esp the Ruffino, which seems to be everywhere), but lacking on the finish due to no viewer Q’s. Overall thanks for giving us the straight mud on the Chianti’s. Count me among the other viewers who hasn’t found a satisfying one for the 12-20 range, so over time I just gave up. No doubt there are great ones out there, and it looks like Tampa Steve has some good recommendations – thanks. Once again I’m right with JOE regarding his Barbara comment. Love the quality for the price better and goes great with food. Gary I hope you do an episode on Babara some time. QOTD: Love “24”, though I never have a chance to watch it and I’ve missed so many now I practically need to go back to the 1st season. New interest is “Lost”. As a kid my faves were Gilligan’s Island, Kung Fu, and Star Trek (the original). How’s that for a well-balanced TV dinner…

Gary,
EP was great up front, interesting and surprising on the midpalate (esp the Ruffino, which seems to be everywhere), but lacking on the finish due to no viewer Q’s. Overall thanks for giving us the straight mud on the Chianti’s. Count me among the other viewers who hasn’t found a satisfying one for the 12-20 range, so over time I just gave up. No doubt there are great ones out there, and it looks like Tampa Steve has some good recommendations – thanks. Once again I’m right with JOE regarding his Barbara comment. Love the quality for the price better and goes great with food. Gary I hope you do an episode on Babara some time. QOTD: Love “24”, though I never have a chance to watch it and I’ve missed so many now I practically need to go back to the 1st season. New interest is “Lost”. As a kid my faves were Gilligan’s Island, Kung Fu, and Star Trek (the original). How’s that for a well-balanced TV dinner…

Gary,

I heard an interesting thought over the weekend. The though was that Napa/California is killing wine due to the high prices and over priced wine coming out of Calf. I want to know what you think, are Calf. wines overpriced and do you think they are going to kill the wine market?

John

Hey Gary,

Though it was a loss, at least the Jets made a game of it Sunday. Pretty exciting at the end as they try to mount a run. To the contrary, my Lions looked like petrified turd in Chicago. 34-7….OUCH!

Gary,

You mention all the time that attitude, weather, etc all have a bearing on how the wines taste. Do you think that if you taste on a different day the Chiantis may change?

Current Fav show: House
All Time Fav show: Sports Night (so good, can’t even tell you. Aaron Sorkin is great)

Gary,

You mention all the time that attitude, weather, etc all have a bearing on how the wines taste. Do you think that if you taste on a different day the Chiantis may change?

Current Fav show: House
All Time Fav show: Sports Night (so good, can’t even tell you. Aaron Sorkin is great)

Hi Gary,

I have a comment concerning the comments portion of each episode. It seems that more and more, this section is getting innundated with off-topic stuff that may not be interesting to many people. I know this is supposed to be fun with the sports banter, QOD, etc., but I am here to learn about wine and I find it tedious and somewhat annoying to have to scroll through posts that have nothing to do with wine. Is there a way to create an off-topic section? Many chat rooms do that so that the main subject (in this case, wine)is not disturbed. Just a thought.

Chianti is the wine of choice for my Sangria. I make great Sangria, if anyone wants the recipe let me know.

On the DVR now is: Family Guy, Little Britain, Trick my Truck, and Daily Show. Waiting for new season of Bullshit, Austin City Limits, …Yes others in house watch House, The Wire, Colbert Report…I only have so much time.

All time fav TV show: Just can’t do it my fav’s change as my taste and the times change so can’t pick one.

Chianti is the wine of choice for my Sangria. I make great Sangria, if anyone wants the recipe let me know.

On the DVR now is: Family Guy, Little Britain, Trick my Truck, and Daily Show. Waiting for new season of Bullshit, Austin City Limits, …Yes others in house watch House, The Wire, Colbert Report…I only have so much time.

All time fav TV show: Just can’t do it my fav’s change as my taste and the times change so can’t pick one.

Have had some great Chiantis over the years but these choices to me were not in any but mass consumption league except for the Canonica. There are better wines than these in your stocks and better years than ’03.
TV shows depend on decades to me
50’s Cid Cesar Your Show of Shows
60’s Star Trek
70’s very early SNL
80’s Hill Street Blues
90’s Seinfeld
00 Curb Your Enthusiasm, Bullshit, Weeds

The family guy is mindless drivel. Latest, greatest is King of Queens, but Seinfeld is tops overall (from an NYC native).

I’ll always prefer Veneto wines and maybe I don’t get the Chianti thing being more than a table wine, but I like the overlooked 2004 Bellagio (straw basket) which is made by Banfi and usually found as the entry level in finer Italian restaurants. Definitely not like any other ‘Straw Basket’ I’ve tasted and resembles more like a better Valpolicella.

The family guy is mindless drivel. Latest, greatest is King of Queens, but Seinfeld is tops overall (from an NYC native).

I’ll always prefer Veneto wines and maybe I don’t get the Chianti thing being more than a table wine, but I like the overlooked 2004 Bellagio (straw basket) which is made by Banfi and usually found as the entry level in finer Italian restaurants. Definitely not like any other ‘Straw Basket’ I’ve tasted and resembles more like a better Valpolicella.