Gary…where is your wedding ring? Women always notice that….

QOTD: definitely basket

Love the sound effects of the peppermill.
QOD – Wine basket all the way!!
Will have to try the Hermit Crab. Thanks for the comments on wine ratings. While I don’t believe in them all the way, it is a good place to at least start.

Englishman

GV,

You are the Joe Namath of wine! I wait for your episodes the way my wife waits for Grey’s Anatomy and that freaking Lifetime channel. Who’s better than you GV? No one!

QOTD: Don’t be such cheap bastards, give both a basket and a kit and reap the rewards of being a generous, philanthropic purveyor of wines.

I’m off to do the work of many!

Basket!!

QOD: Basket.

Hermit Crab sounds interesting, so does a “peppered” wine. I’m such an easy sell. 🙂

how did you know my birthday is on the 20th? i would love if you sent me a wine making kit 🙂

two great episodes back-to-back. nice one!

qotd – wine kit. thinking about growing some vines in my front yard in jersey. ; )

btw, you guys ever think about enhancing your search on winelibrary.com? I had a heck of a time searching on “Navarrita” because I didn’t spell it exactly. How about a “did you mean”? I’m sure you’ve thought about it. Also, it would be nice to have an advanced search where I could search keywords within the tasting notes. Like being able to search wines that had “honeysuckle” in the notes. Index that stuff! cheers.

I AM IN FOR THE WINE MAKING KIT – I HAVE NEVER HAD A WINE BASKET WORTH A DAMN – TYPICAL GROCERY STORE FAKE WINE.

I AM BEEN PONDERING MAKING MY OWN FOR A WHILE. NOT THAT I WOULD NOT STILL BUY A TON, BUT I THINK THAT IT WOULD BE VERY EDUCATIONAL IN THE PROCESS AND HELP FURTHER MY PALATE

Gary.. Basket, really. I tried to make wine, what a joke!
I can’t wait to try a few of todays picks…

Good episode Gary…You know disagree about your take on wine ratings a bit…I think it is useful to consumers iffffff…(Heres where it gets tricky) the review itself is helpful. I think the one thing in a review that would be beneficial for the wine consumer is the overall stucture of a wine instead of flavor profiles so much…sure some of that is needed. I’m sorry if a wine has great flavor of fruit and anise and sage but is thin in the mouth, what good is it. Structure is left out way toooooooo many times with wine writers. Now I think you do a good job telling peple about the structure of wine you taste. I am mainly refering to print or point of sale on store shelves.
Good show…..denverwineguy.com

Winemaking kit all the way.

Basket! Good show. Everyone has a different palate. The reviews can be helpful to determine if the wine is balanced and well made…but otherwise, trust your own palate and style when picking wines. Although, a good review may prompt someone to try something out of their comfort zone 🙂

Enjoyed your episode today. My preference is a wine basket to a wine making kit. I have never had a good bottle of home made wine.

Just wanted to tell you that your point on points is excellent. Just went to 25 tasting rooms in Paso Robles and Los Olivos. Every pourer had to tell you how many points their wines received before they poured them. The points rarely matched the wines. I do want to thank Gary for the episode on Tensley wines. Went to Los Olivos on a day they are normally closed but Jennifer was there and she was sweet enough to open a new bottle of Colson Syrah, what a great wine, signed up for their wine club imnmediately. Cairn wines also made by the Tensleys is in the same room and they had an interesting take on Rhone varietals. A real surprise was Arthur Earl wines producing a really good Mourvedre and an interesting Barbera/Nebbiolo blend. In Paso Robles at the far out wineries, Oppolo stood out as did several Justin wines including a Chardonnay that was truly Burgundian. Thanks for the Tensley recommendation. It got me to Los Olivos that is definately a place to get back to.

thanks for the mostly white review; that has become my favorite in the 10 years I have been down in Florida; especially “pool” wines enjoyed with friends and nothing else. Love the hermit crab; have for year; agree with comments on white rhones (which are usually a bit more complex overall than that). Most people starting out drinking wines seem to usually either drink the forgettable whites/blushes; or are told that only reds are the serious wines; what a joke! It is nice to see whites get some of the attention they deserve on your show!
I make wines; from sterile must; so I would choose the kit!
cheers Gary.

Gary,
Good episode today. I take ratings with a grain of salt. There have been many wines that I love that might rate 80 and there have been ones that I have liked that might rate over 90. Besides, when I read a review of a wine I pay more attention to the narrative than the score anyway. I keep a journal of the wines that I have so that I know in the future what kind of wine it was. I never use any kind of scoring but I comment on the appearance, nose, palate, and finish. Also, I find it kind of odd that the name â??Hollyâ? is still associated with Hollyâ??s Blend since the Marquis duo has nothing to do with the wine anymore. As far as the Vina Alarba is concerned, Iâ??ve never had that wine but the Old Vines Grenache has been one of my favorite QPRs in the past.
QOD: Basket of wine. I’d never make my own wine and I’m sure that it would $uck if I did.
PS. Read my email that was sent today.

Great episode. Have to really agree about ratings. Just did tastings in Paso Robles and Los Olivos. Every pourer had to tell us what the ratings for all of their wines were (except Tensley I already had theirs from Chris’s spreadsheet) Except for a few the ratings didn’t match the wines. Standouts were Tensley (caught Jennifer there on an off day and she was nice enough to open a bottle of Colsen Syrah for us) and Cairn (same tasting room as Tenslsy is the winemaker for both), Arthur Earl Italian varietals including a Barbera/Nebbiolo blend and a non-Italian Mourvedere, all of these in Los Olivos though we went to 15 of them and Oppolo and Justin in the “Far Out” area of Paso Robles, standouts were a truly Burgundian Chardonnay and Tempranillo at Justin, all of the Rhone varietal blends at Oppolo were good. Thanks for turning me on to Tensley. Nice folks and great wines and I had never been to Los Olivos before. Now they just need bathrooms.

Finally wine basket is a preference to wine making kit as I have never had a good homemade wine.

I like the scoring system but often wonder if the flew out the Spectator bunch for a weekend on the town before they rated…The WORST sentence to hear is, ” It’s a good wine FOR THE MONEY”….as if paying less will make it taste better.

Another great episode. Wine basket by far…

I voted…and still trying to shake off the visual of GV sniffing Barbie.

Good episode. Like everyone else, in print I am drawn to wines with a rating score. Yet, I look closely at the tasting notes before spending mucho dinero. Also, I’m trying to calibrate my palate with those vaunted rating gurus, so that I’ll know how their tastes align with mine.

QOD: Wine basket. Making wine sounds tough!

Oprah + Vaynerchuk (a match made in heaven?)

Nice episode…to me the Parker ratings are either right on or huge disappointments…when I do shop for rated wines, I seem to have much more luck with Tanzer. He seems a bit stingier with giving out 90’s, as opposed to Parker.

Wine making kit – would like a basket, but, how often would anyone think to give a wine making kit. I think it would be a great experience to make wine – I’m a nerd that way.

Gary, your family was in to have dinner at the restaurant where I work last evening. I’d noticed the last name in my reservation book once before a few weeks ago and was disappointed that it was may night off. Anyway, I chatted with your Dad as he was leaving. He asked me if I’d see the episode when you described his debacle over loosing his cell phone while taking off his hat in the ocean..of course I did, I’m a Vaniac! Actually, he was so upset about it that although it was a funny, classic story, I felt bad for him – and I can’t imagine how much it would stink to loose all the #’s and info that we store in our cell phones! Anyway, it was neat to see your family – hope they had a good time, good food and good wine!

Great show Gary. I think I’ll have to pick up that D’Arenberg, not that I care what YOU think, but it is helpful when someone I trust likes something. As I’ve commented before, I totally agree with you on the “drink what YOU like, not what OTHER people like” attitude. It’s more fun to experiment and stuff. Seriously, I’m in the wine business, and I couldn’t tell the score of any wine…I simply don’t care what RP, Spectator, etc…thinks about certain wines.

What I DO trust, is the opinions of my co-workers, friends and my own. I love it when I’m pouring at a tasting and I’m pouring a wine that is supposed to be a “great” wine, and having tasted it before the tasting, I find this wine to be mediocre (at best). And I’m not being a snob, but the wine is clearly not what it should be. And everyone rushes over to taste it and they’re gushing all over it, and at the same time, passing up on wines that don’t get much hype when they’re great wines. Ridiculous. That’s why I like blind tastings.

OK…so, when you played with your Barbie dolls, was seperate from when you played with your Strawberry Shortcake dolls, or did you play with them at the same time?

QOD: I have no desire to make wine, so I think I would take a wine basket. OK, well, take it easy and have a good day.
See you later,
T

GO BEARS!!!

kit!

Wine basket

Never had a desire to make my own wine (although I have made my own beer for years), however, there are so many good wines out there left for me to try, never wanted to try to make my own. Had some friends in Boston whose parents made their own wine and it was scary stuff – that may influence my decision a bit.

Louisiana George