Gary, way to come back strong from vacation, you shook off vacation haze well/

QOTD: Marquis Phillips Shiraz. The host hasn’t gotten the word that the Oak Monster is to be rejected.

For Cholesterol – just go on Lipitor. It is so easy. One pill. Will knock off 100 points. I went from 269 to 170. Now I eat Steak, butter, lamb – – everything. Why suffer? You can have it all, with great health

If you must buy fish oil don’t get it from Walmart, Yuck. As for the Italian wine you better not forget Schioppetino. I like the one made by Dorigo. QOTD it wasn’t this week but the Barefoot or Barefeet merlot. Oh, God, that was disgusting.

Hey did you see Asimov’s blog yesterday in the Times..
Check it out Gar.

QOTD: I had something called High ALtitude, a Malbec/Cab from Argentina that I was stoked to try. Awful. I swear I smelled catfood. I then tried Guenoc Cabernet Sauvignon from California for taste comparison. . .also bad, but not as bad as the High Altitude. THe Guenoc tasted like canned black olives that you eat right out of the can. Maybe with a lick of the can to go with it.
SO sad. I did comfort myself by sipping and watching old episodes of WLTV, though. . .

As for Cabernet Franc, I had the Lang and Reed 2005 that I thought was great! How do you think it compares to the Mabileau?

Hey Gary. Another great episode. Keep them coming. This week I bought a 1998 Rioja for 45$. A wine merchant that I just discovered raved about it for two weeks so I broke down and bought it; a Vina Tondonia reserva from R. Lopez de Keredia. The color was tranparent as was the flavor, like it was watered down. Like your drinking Cool Aid that is supposed to be made with 5 scoops and the person who made it for you only used 2 scoops. Real dissapionting.
SteveD

I went to an Austrailain wine tasting on Tuesday and tasted 150+ wines. Some were excellent, some were bad. I think the worst might have been a Pinot Noir from the Barossa Valley. What the hell is anyone doing growing Pinot Noir in the Barossa Valley? I think it was 14% – WAY over the top, there was no elegance or subtlety like you’d find in a good Burgundy – almost like you mixed a bad Pinot from Chile with an Aussie Shiraz… Uugh!

Good wines at the tasting, but NO QPR. The only real profound efforts were â?¬70+ per bottle. Disappointing in that sense.

If I was a grape (not a wine) I would be Pinot Noir because I’m so difficult to deal with. If I was a wine I’d be an austere Left Bank Bordeaux.
Metal Dave

QOTD: 2005 Torbreck Woodcutter’s Cough Syrup. Chem-lab nightmare stuff. Smelled like the inside of the First Aid kit that’s been behind the seat of my dad’s pickup since ’83. Had to have been a bad bottle because I don’t think anyone would make wine like that on purpose.

Anyway, ever consider doing a show on Okanagan Valley (British Columbia) wines? And I ain’t talkin ice wine either…:)

Gary… VERY IMPORTANT ****************

It was cool to listen to GN’R in the late 80’s and 90’s, and guess what.. for us young 30’s, it is still cool (IMO) to listen to them, just nothing after Illusions. Maybe a couple Spaghetti songs, but THAT’S It!

No Laundry Basket Head (what’s that guitarist’s name?) 2000’s GN’R!

Rock On!

QOTD: My worst wine this week wasn’t that bad, because I’m using Gary’s recommendations more and more, but this “worst wine” WAS rated 91 by Gary. Oh, well. It was the QUINTA DO VALE MEAO MEANDRO, tasted in episode 153. Gary’s comments, “lot of New World explosion, but very Old World structure, not a fruit bomb, it’s very complete, mid-palette is pure, tannins are sharp, really strong wine, a little heat, but that goes away quickly to a nice velvety finish.”

I agree with everything Gary said except that I found the “heat” to get worse over time. The wine blew me away with the first few sips, but by the end of the first glass it was tasting a little too alcoholic and cough syrupy. Normally I like explosive, complex wines, big, alcoholic wines, but with the Meandro there were so many flavors going on, and so much alcohol, that it tasted a bit fake after awhile. I’m starting to appreciate modest alcohol in my old age. (The Meandro says 14.5 on the bottle, which is only a little high, but it seemed like more.)

Gary’s description was dead-on accurate based on the nose and a few sips. It’s sometimes hard to predict whether a wine will get better or will get tiring as you drink it. (The food pairing can affect that dramatically, of course.)

Gary, repetez, si’il vous plait. Mah – bee — loh. Pas Mah-bil-lay…non, non. Mah bee loh. Bien!

Any Cab Franc episode is greatly appreciated, thanks!

Worst wine this week Covey Run Merlot 2001, I dont think it was meant to last this long cause it had a funk.

If you do a Finger Lakes episode, you should get your hands on a Ravines Cab Franc 2005 from Keuka Lake area.

Nice episode Gary. I see you are glad to be back and firday is always good. I will seek out that 2005 it sounds like my style.

QOTD: 2 dollar bottle of charles shaw Merlot LOL from trader joes. Gary if you havent had this go get it and let me know what you think about it 🙂

Allright so this is uber late, but better late than never. Better late than never, like my shared love of GNR, post many years later. Do you find yourself wistling to “Patience”? Scary man, really scary.

QOTD: Did a tasting at a store where we had a pretty nice slightly dry Prosecco (Botter), followed by Ironstone “Obsession”. “Obsession” is made of the Symphony grape, if you don’t know this grape its okay. This wine is so freakin’ perfumey you think some broke a bottle of Jovan musk over your nose. Maybe it has potential with desserts, but maybe not.

Gary, just discovered WLTV this week, I think it’s great and find the shows to be very informative! You seem to really know your stuff, in spite of being a JETS fan. Sorry Gary, just a joke.

QOTD – I have actually had good luck with wines the last couple of weeks.

GO PATS!!!

Bourgueil, huh? Sounds like something I need to try just to see what a pickle-juice wine tastes like!

QOD: It’s been a light wine week, but my biggest disappointment was a 2002 Casa Lapostolle Cabernet Sauvignon. I think there was some potential there for a decent QPR wine (I think the bottle was around $12). I decanted for an hour and it definitely smoothed during that time, but it was still very tannic, acidic, and had a lingering sour finish.

Gary, a few things. First, nice tan, man! Second, guess you’ll not be having just cheese and wine for dinner anymore, shame, that’s delish! Third, you found your dad’s cell, I guess it’s history? I know someone who dropped his cell in the toilet, but was able to salvage, hit it with the blow-dryer, and it worked. Although, considering it came out of the toilet, I don’t know why you’d want it to??!! I agree with CampingLisaB, you are cute like Peyton Manning, only more so! Enjoy the SuperBowl, GO COLTS!!!!!!

Gary– Glad you’re back. Worst wine… hmmm, oh yeah, Castle Rock Pinot Noir, given to me as a gift at Christmas. I was home alone and didn’t really want to pop open something too swell, so I thought I’d give this one a try. No good. BTW, the Amisfield pinot was really good.

QOTD – Amwell Valley Vineyard 2005 Hunterdon County Lanot Noir (supposedly a PN, winery is in Amwell, NJ). I know it would be nice to support the wine industry in NJ but I haven’t had one I liked yet. This was pretty bad.

Guns N Roses rock! Best band ever, except for the self destruction and five year career. Anyone ever try Nightrain wine? I did but I don’t remember it.

Found out about WLTV from the mention on Asimov’s blog—great stuff, thanks! I am having a really good time working back through all the old episodes. Cool coincidence with this episode–I drank a Chinon at the same time, I have also been loving the Loire cab francs. The next time you taste roses try Jean-Maurice Raffault’s Chinon rose, it was my favorite last summer.

Will you do a show on jerez? (if you haven’t already)

Gary,
I loved TV tag!

GO PATS!
Oh carp… that’s right… we’re not in the Super Bowl this year.
Oh well, pitchers and catchers report in 14 days. Go Sox!

QOTD– Fat Bastard Chardonnay!!! Worst ever!

G’N’R…..how about some dire straits…..Money for Nothing…Stuck in the head! Good show hadn’t heard much of Bourgueil wines. I’ll have to try it out

QOTD: Ramos Pinto Duas Quintas Douro 2002…..nasty stuff!

Nothing wrong with listening to Guns and Roses. A band does not have to be classic rock to be CLASSIC!!!! Rock on Axel and Slash!!!!!

You have a real rough life…enjoy the Super Bowl.

I have had the Mabileau, but the gray label one. Can’t remember the name. Nice stuff.

On a personal note, with my name being Eric, I love being referenced throughout the episodes. Feels like you are talking right to me. Nice. Even though he spells it wrong.

QOTD-No bad wine this week. It was a beer week. 🙂

QOTD:

Camaraderie Cellars Cab Sauvignon 2001 Washington State, 93 points (from some major wine mag I do believe)…
It sucked Donkey. It was really big, aggressive, but with all the wrong flavours. My palate is still young, but I do believe there was an over abundance of oak… it literally made me gag.

So, instead of throwing out my $30 bottle of donkey testosterone, I let it decant for five days. It was a cool experiment. By the end, the monster had left the building and I had a bearable glass of grape juice that gooned me after two glasses…

SIDENOTE:

I’m a Canadian, west coast, and I had this amazing budget Pinot Grigio, screw top, from the Okanagan Valley (Mission Hill is the winery). It blew my mind. I hate, or I thought I hated, white wines and this one changed my mind. In the states it’s probably ten bucks. A really worthy buy. They have a reserve Pinot Gris which shows similar characteristics, but finishes weak and you’re spending 5-10 bucks more.

Gary,

Do a Canadian wine episode, please!!!
Love your show.

– S (a lurker no more)…