J-E-T-S

I really thought they had it today. Great effort though, and that last play was hilarious. Can you imagine if they would have pulled that off!

Vayniacs…bingo. I think we may have a winner.

Chuck W (and Vayniacs),

I’m so happy that you found the SS useful for you selection process…especially since this was precisely the reason that I initially created the SS for myself – to make it easier to buy good wines. Appreciate the nice words and the feedback. As you stated, the QPR column would really be up to Gary providing that info.

Regarding the missing info that you mentioned â?? you are correct and we (Gary, Brian Woolley, Chris Mott & I) are aware. Weâ??re all working on filling in the missing info, but let me provide you further detail. I started watching WLTV regularly on Episode #57 and, after about 7 or 8 episodes, I realized that I was having trouble remembering all Garyâ??s â??highly recommendedâ? wines, which I knew would only get worse with more episodes. Thus, I started the SS, which included ONLY the recommended wines (none of Garyâ??s â??passesâ?). So this explains the missing info for some back episodes and for all of the â??non-recommendedâ? wines that Gary passed on. While continuing to enter info for all new episodes, Iâ??ve been plugging along at viewing and transcribing the â??backâ? episodes. I should point out that, for the episodes that I have not yet watched, I did spend a little time to at least add the Episode #â??s and Episode Title/Themeâ??sâ?¦that way you can easily scroll the SS to see if a particular episodeâ??s title/them interests you. (Note: Brandon M pointed out to me, as I didnâ??t notice, that there is a link feature for the â??Episode #â??sâ? on the SS â?? VERY, VERY cool feature added by WL IT guru, Sir Brian Woolley. This is a great way to get to a specific episode).

We are working on adding all of the wines to the spreadsheet. I will be doing this for all NEW Episodes inclusive of the â??Tasting Notesâ? (I started this w/ Episode #97). We will all be working on adding all the â??missingâ? wines for all of the past Episodes (prior to #97). Iâ??m not sure if we will be adding the tasting notes to all of the â??non-recommendedâ? wines in the past episodes, as that would entail re-watching and transcribing all of that info. BUT, at the very least, all of those wines will be in the SS with all of the other info including â??WL Priceâ? and â??WL Codeâ? (which also has the â??linkâ? feature).

Anyway, for the 3rd time, I implore all WLTV Viewers (Vayniacs, VaynerNation) who find the SS helpful to please leave a comment specifically thanking Sir Brian Woolley for all of his hard (and great) work on this project.

Question to the Bay area guys and restaurants,Wine Spectator has review of San Fran Restaurants, just wondering how accurate the article is.Also was that Homer Simpson or Eric Mangini coaching the Jets yesterday.
ed

Wow, my Colts just squeaked past your Jets Gary. Great game to watch!

Vayniacs, Vayniots, Vaynerpeeps, OenoVaynerphiles, VaynerLurkers,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,all make up one big happy VaynerNation! More swag, the better:-) I can’t wait to see the illustrations!!! I hope Gary’s 100th is as good as the blog chatter. It has to be better than the Jets/Colts game.

Denise/Julius —

I took that WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust) course in Providence, RI, offered at the Johnson & Wales Culinary Institute. I was actually one of the few students taking it just for fun, and not directly involved in the industry. We literally covered a different world region each week, and tasted at the end of each class. Some thought it was a little too classroom (soil types, climate, label laws, etc), but I thought it gave a great foundation for someone who wanted to get a little more serious about wine.

In terms of wine books, I have yet to find something better than Karen MacNeil’s “Wine Bible”. Comprehensive without being too dry.

Rick

Brandon, your weblink does not seem to be working?

BEAR DOWN…. CHICAGO BEARS…. what’up G?

Rick E – Did you take the intermediate or the advanced certificate course? I agree that sometimes it does get a little too scientific but you do get a good understanding of how and why the wines exhibit their various characteristics and flavors. I found it thoroughly worthwhile (I took the advanced course at the IWC in New York).

GV – jets played a good game, I think the bills and jets are 100% in the same situation, young teams that are both going to be gamers.

I had a value cab that I really like over the weekend, enough that I will buy more….. 2002 Excelsior Cabernet Sauvignon, WS gave it a 86, WL has it for 6.99,…red and blue fruits on the start chocolate and a lil tobacco on the finish,(are probally other flavors there but im not that good yet) good complexity for the $

The Riesling Report….

I actually had to buy my Riesling at the grocery store and had no idea what I was doing.
I bought the Chateau St. Michelle Eroica.

Not bad, pretty tasty, but I don’t REALLY know how to taste a Riesling. I tasted pear, apricot, and some spice. Finish seemed ok…nice bottle for a Saturday night…paid $19.99

B

Denise and Rick E

I just finished a book called the Accidential Connoisseur by Lawrence Osborne. It was fantastic! It was an entertaining and unique look into the world of wine. Highly Recommended!!

Rick E

Do you know of any more wine classes in Providence. I’m down in Narragansett.

Julius – I took the intermediate class, and am considering the advanced. Did you think it was worth it? Are you involved in the industry? I’d love to continue the education, but I’m doing it for fun–not to learn the liquor laws in Botswana.

Thanks Rick McQ for the book suggestion–I will seek out the Accidental Connoisseur.

Rick

Speaking of value Cab: I had the ’03 Casa Concha CS (of which I’m usually a fan) over the weekend and it was a real disappointment–there was a little nasty green cheap-Chilean-wine funk on the the nose that blew off, but the fruit just never came around. Too bad; I’m wondering if it’s just a bad bottle, or does the stuff just go downhill really quickly?

Brandon,

I have not had the CH ST MICHELLE EROICA before, but for me, German & French whites are a great value. Well more than USA, AUSTRALIA – EVEN NEW ZEALAND (Though I have had a couple good Sauv Blanc’s from here).

I would seek out something from Germany for 12-20 bucks and I think you will find more value for the price.

The Eroica is a nice bottle of wine. Andrea Immer featured it in one of her episodes of Simply Wine a few years ago. I pick it up from time to time and have never been disappointed. I can think of no varietal that disappoints me less often than reisling.

Thanks Guys…yes, I would have gone for a German but I got stuck at the grocery store buying it, so I didn’t want to venture outside the box.

B

FYI — Gary raved about the Monchhof Urzinger Wurzgarten Auslese 2002.
http://winelibrary.com/reviewwine.asp?item=8830

I picked up a bottle a couple weeks ago — we’ll see how it is. I’d appreciate a food pairing suggestion on this one if anyone has had it.

Brandon – Check out the write up on the Ch. Ste. Michelle Eroica 2005 in latest Wine Spectator – Wine Values of 88-94 pts for under $25 bones..

TimF, I too really liked this bottle, I had it with thai food, it was great. I would think it would go with anything spicey or heaivily seasoned.

I am a huge Vayniac!!!!!

Gary we miss you

If your looking for a Value Cab – Try Leaping Lizard Cab – It’s about $11.00 a bottle. For the money its hard to beat.

anyone else have a fav. budget bottle they like while we wait for #100??