I was dining in Hilton head sev yrs ago with aphysician I was thinking of joining. To impress me he asked for a certain northern rhone wine that he said he had visited on vacation. After we had all drank about half a glass, he told the sommelier that he didn’t like it, and it didn’t taste like the same wine he drank in France. There was nothing wrong with the wine, just he didn’t think it was as good after he had bragged about drinking with the owner at the winery on a private tour. The sommelier reluctantly took it back. When he ordered a new bottle, which he preferred because it was a wine he also had in his cellar, she poured it, and by “accident” spilled it right in his lap. My wife and I still laugh about this. Not suprisingly, I didn’t join his practice.

Gary-

Did you pour the Neo into the Brunello decanter when you were answering one of the questions about Port? More importantly, did some of the staff end up tasting the “meritage”?

QOD: A couple times at wine tastings I’ve been to, someone told me I was wrong about what flavors I was getting from the wine. How can anyone ever tell someone else what they are or aren’t tasting?

Ryan P.

OK..I’m not understanding the old world vs new world stuff. Could someone please explain to me the difference? Saw Ep #20. I don’t want to spend $125.00+ to taste the difference. Got any cheaper suggestions for old vs. new?

QOD: Was once told (by people in my party) I was showing my wine ignorance by coming up with strange descriptions when I tasted wines. Ex: one reminded me of the pink medicine I had to take as a kid, one, my Grandmother’s basement (Tho’ I did kinda like Grandma’s basement) another, my husband’s shop rags. Didn’t go to dinner with those folks again. Their wines sucked. Maybe I should have brought up cat piss.
GV, Loved the spoofs! Was it “West Side Story” that had the Sharks and the Jets? You’ve got them both! Keep on doin’ what you’re doing. I, myself, have learned so much and am gaining a greater understanding and appreciation for all these fruits of the vines. (And Grandma taught me how to make only jams; though I must admit, we have some really good Jams)
To Ed R: I’m sorry you feel the way you do. Get on board with us “unsnobs”…it’s fun!

C-H-E-E-R-S……CHEERS!

QOTD: I’m not sure if this really counts as wine snobbery, but I hate it when I’m at a winery, tasting, or store and I’m totally ignored or given slow service because I’m young (25) and don’t look like a high roller.

I typically won’t buy wine from wineries or stores that look down on younger customers (unless of course the wine is that good).

Gary,

I think I called it first when I said you are the replacement for Robert Parker. It is just a matter of time, my friend.

Wine Snobbery: Anyone who shuns red with fish, dessert wine with dinner, etc. Great wine goes with great food.

So how did you manage to arrange for Lorraine Bracco to come to your store? Did you woo her with your Sopranos WLTV spoof? 🙂

Tony, Thanks for posting the links to your column….loved the articles.

When you post new articles, could you post a link for all Vaniacs?

Wine Snobbery (sp) – Nov/2004
We were at a restaurant in Napa, Tre Vigne, celebrating a friends 50th birthday. There were 16 people for the celebration and I took a bottle 1990 Leroy Pommard Les Vignots. The waiter had a bit of an attitude that I would bring a French wine and proceeded to open it while examining the label. It had a wax cap and he struggled with it a bit, but eventually got it open. I asked him if he could decant it and he seemed annoyed at this. I was trying to be a good guy and I typically offer the waiter a taste of the wine if I bring a bottle into an establishment.

I will never forget the look on his face as he took a drink of the wine; he took a deep snoot full looked at the glass, exhaled, took a small drink, then finished off the glass and said “tastes like grapefruit”! He then walked awayâ?¦

Needless to say, the dinner did not go so well, but everyone else enjoyed the Leroy “grapefruit” wine and asked if I had anymore. Actually, it was pretty memorable wine. Probably the top two I have ever tasted.

QOD: I’d have to say that my favorite experience of snobbery was the one I witnessed a couple Thanksgivings ago. I have two uncles who don’t get along very well, so every Thanksgiving dinner promises an entertaining clash of wills shrouded in the guise of politeness. This particular Thanksgiving featured the most direct contest between the two that I’ve seen to date, and it was played out via wine. Do my delight, each uncle brought out a better bottle than the last, in an effort to trump the other. This went on for quite some time, and with the wines only getting better and better, I’d be damned if I didn’t get a taste of every last one!

That’s my favorite example. My least favorite example is the owner of a local shop which caters primarily to the most wealthy members of the small community in which I live. She knows very little about wine, despite the fact that she sells a ton of it, but covers up her lack of knowledge by becoming as snobbish as possible anytime she’s asked a question she doesn’t understand.

Hmm… I actually sounded a little snobbish in that last paragraph. I suppose I operate under the assumption that being a long-haired Mexican male college student with no money precludes me from being considered a snob.

– Will

Gary,
You have some of the most unsual descriptions for wines – “taste like skiddles”, or recently like the toy “strawberry shortcake.” My niece had the collection and the smell always got to me. Next you be referring to a jammy taste reminding you of the villian “Purple Pie Man.” Seriously, your descriptions makes this fun to watch.

All wines will be judged using the â??Peterson Methodâ? which was
developed for us by Richard Peterson PhD. Most other wine competitions bring wines
to the judges in flights of 10 to 15 wines at a time, then each wine is judged separately
and given an award or not. Under the â??Peterson Method,â? wines are brought to the judgeâ??s
table in flights of 25 to 50 wines, depending on the varietal and how many wines are
entered. Each of the four judges on a panel will first smell a wine, then arranged it into
3 categories according to each judgeâ??s own criteria. The judge then re-smells the wines
in each category and places them in a â??rankingâ? order. Finally, the wines are then tasted
and rearranged again in a â??rankingâ? order and awards are given. This system helps our
judges find the best wines without fatiguing their palates unnecessarily.

Gary,
I have a serious question (not that the WLTV party question should be ignored).
Vibrationâ?¦
I have a decent wine cooler and use it for the bottles that I want to age for an extended period of time. Recently the compressor of the unit has started to cause vibration when it kicks on. The vibration is noticeable even in the floor so I know that the wine is getting some/maybe a lot of vibration as well.
I have read and heard that vibration is bad for wines but how bad is it really? In the grand scheme of things am I hurting my wines? I have been in the market for a new and larger cooler all ready due to my growing collection and the number of â??05 Bordeaux futures I have purchased but I want to know how critical it is that I move my collector wines from the vibrating cooler now.
Does anyone have any advice or help?
I am looking at some of the compressor free units but the price is outrageous. I could dig a cellar in my back yard for the price of one of the 100 bottle units!!!

An experience sending wine back.

There is a restaurant that my wife and I used to enjoy. It had a menu with some ambition with no entrée over $35, balanced with a wine list that I would call affordable. The most popular red was Bonny Doon Big House Red with choices that ranged up to around $80. Their upper end mark up ran to 2-1/2 times retail. They stored their red wines in racks by the open kitchen. I need to mention the restaurant is in Dallas, Texas.

The last time we ate there it was a Tuesday night. The wine/beverage manager had posted a special with substantial discounts on the upper registers of the wine list. With the offer of a bargain I ordered their top Cali Cab (sorry I canâ??t remember the specifics). When they opened and poured I couldnâ??t taste ant fruit just alchohol with a faint tarry flavor – the wine was cooked and I said so. The waiter hustled up the bottle and left. I guess I was the first person to ever refuse a wine offered, and it was the first time I had ever sent one back.

He returned and asked me if I would like to try another. I ordered a different wine to take advantage of the offer, with the same result. On the third try I just went to their old stand by – Big House Red. The BHR tasted of some fruit, and smelled of some fruit, it was fine. The waiter then told me that the manager had tasted the two earlier refusals and informed me that there was nothing wrong with them.

I was shocked that they did the right thing, and then turned it into the wrong thing. The Bonny Doon BHR was fine because its inventory turned over frequently and did not dwell long in the sweltering â??cellarâ? by the kitchen. The pricier bottles endured probably 20 to 30 degree daily temperature swings as they waited much longer for some one to free them from their very warm cellar. Eventually the heat got to them. Iâ??m sure the distributor would have credited them.

We havenâ??t been back. I liked the kitchen, but hated their little hellish cellar.

Cheers

Very funny show. You have only been doing WLTV for what 7-8 months and its making waves. Man you must be doing something right. Keep up the excellent work because you have a lot more than 25 shows left in you.

No wine snobbery that I can actually remember. What kind of animal am I: how about an ASS:)

Hey Chris M. 90210 = Grain Alcohol

Greg S. wasnt a good weekend for Steeler fans either. At least we didnt get blown out. Then again my Stankees did again in another crappy post season. Damn what a weekend.

Oh gary was think about you concept of the Jets. I think the Steelers have the same one. 1st rd draft pick in 2007.

I’m a lurker posting for the first time (per Gary’s request)!
Love the show!
Here’s my question: Do you think the “wine essence” smelling kits are worth purchasing? GOL needs help because his knowledge of smells isn’t as good as mine. 🙂 LOL
Thanks!

Gary,
great episode. For the QOD, I would echo what a couple of people said above about being young and getting talked down to. Two summers ago my friends and I did a cross-country road trip for a month and a half after graduation and spent some time in San Luis Obispo, Napa, Sonoma, and Oregon. So many times we would get talked down to (esp. in Napa) or ignored in wineries because we were young fratty looking guys. It was really frustrating, especially since we really wanted to learn and enjoy the wine, and we were not there to get hammered.
And also, 25 episodes? What are you nuts? I look forward to when you taste those ports fully matured.

Gary, you say it is cool to have your name mentioned with RP from the article but do you realize the suprise and honor to get a shout out from you wishing me a happy 45th? After a crazy day at work I was catching up on my “Gary Vision” and was stunned! I love that Caleb (pronounced Kale-ub) sent you an email – we sometimes watch the show together and he works down at the winery with me when he can. He is great kid, 18, and heading to the Navy soon. I was wondering why I had so many unique hits on my site (sorry to those who do not use IE, slideshows and other plug-ins do not work with other browsers). Thanks Gary – you have changed my tasting life! Best wine that night was the 02 Caymus Cab.

TimF – I make wine and work at Edmonds Winery as-well-as volunteer as much as I can at three other local wineries. We plan on heading back to CA in April (bud break) to hit some of wineries we missed last trip. I wish I could make the trip out for Super Tasting but just too busy with wine duties. Just a tip if you come to WA wineries; many do not charge for tasting. The few who do charge usually apply the cost back toward purchase.

I have seen wine snobs in many places but for us it has usually been a pourer at a winery when we visit for tasting. Most recent snob issue it was a rep from a local wine club I met at a wine event.

Hi Gary,

within this episode you really did something that made me change from a lurker to a poster.
By showing how to decant a wine, you’ve put some of the Neo into the decanter with the Brunello in it!!

Great idea!
I had no problem watching the last 100 episodes without really feeling any need to comment your show.
It is great. It’s entertaining and I like it very much.
Nothing I had to comment, but by mixing those wines together you caught me.

Greetings from Germany

Stephan

Hey Brandon M.,

Regarding comment 28…that is totally annoying.

I forgot about being called a wine snob by my friends that like wine, but aren’t that much into it, and when I say I don’t like a wine they think I’m being snobby. But it’s not as often as it used to be, they’ve all started to slowly experiment by going to a wine shop rather than getting the same old-same old from Trader Joe’s or a grocery store.

See you later,
Go Bears,
T

Hello

SS Chris
In the spreadsheet you should change the column header from GV Rating to VayneRating.

And since youâ??re using vaynerPass, vaynerGo or vaynerYes should be introduced.

PS: when I see SS Chris I keep thinking â??Stainless Steelâ?. You should do something about it :=).

Tony S.: J’accuse! “Same old-same old” from Trader Joes?!? Trader Joes has some pretty good stuff. I just picked up a bottle of Sanford Pinot Noir (Santa Barbara 2004) for 23 bones the other day!

Gary;

Several years ago we lived in Jersey and I used to buy a lot of wine from you as you were just starting out your revamped wine store. Around the time of your grand reopening I remember your taking me down to the basement and showing the great collection of old wines you had acquired. It was awesome. Perhaps some day you will be able to ship to Indiana.

Regarding wine snob stories, a few years ago our one of our local restaurants had Bollinger NV Cuvee on the wine list for $40 per bottle ( somewhat more today,but still a good value), a great value in a restaurant. At the same time we were in Chicago and went to a very fine, highly Zagat rated restaurant. Their price for the same bottle of champagne was $120! All of their wines seemed to be similarly marked up. Needless to way, we passed on wine that night.

Gary,

I recently drank my last bottle of ’02 Saint Chinian Domaine Rimbert “Le Mas au Schiste” which I thought I got from “the Library” but I can’t seem to find a record of it in my orders so maybe not…but all of us were quite impressed by the terroir in this offering.

Anyway, I was wonering if you’ve had this or similar wines (in both taste and price range) that you could recommend for us…maybe even a WLTV episode on wines from the same area and varietal.

Keep up the great work and always bring the passion brotha!!

BEAR DOWN, CHICAGO BEARS… What’up G?