Great episode Gary. Why not make every Friday “Blind Tasting ” day?

Beautiful store, Gary! Thanks for the peek…. Also, congrats on nailing the PV — that one alone wins you a ton of points!

QOTD: I have two: (1) Veuve Clicquot yellow label — $55 at one store (ouch) and $35 in another, in the same shopping center, (2) Jackson Triggs vidal ice wine — $35 for 375ml vs. $12 at a grocery story (I even asked them to double check and they stuck by their price)

3 out of nailed is pretty darn good. Nice job. Would love more episodes like that and I need to try that myself. CHallenge the pallete (sp?)

QOTD- Have not stumbled over any huge bargains in my time, but anything at WL is usually a good price.

QOTD: Last year, from the same dealer, I bought two bottles of 2002 Paul Hobbs Beckstoffer-ToKalon Cabernet Sauvignon and two bottles of 2001 Shafer Hillside Select all for $145 per. Provenance was great, the poor guy just didn’t know what they were worth. Since the RP 100, I’ve seen the Hobbs run as high as $450 ( original retail was $265 ). I just saw someone pay $359.00 for the Shafer just the other day. Of course, that is ludicrous, but, what can you do?

Oh wait, I forgot. A few years ago I also got a bottle of 1985 Salon Le Mesnil and a 1988 Salon Le Mesnil for $75.00 and $50.00, respectively. If only I could find deals like that on a weekly basis!!!!!!!!

Loved the episode. You should do all of your tastings blind. It might also blunt some of the issues with suppliers.

Gary, Itâ??s Saturday morning and Iâ??m bewilded by the size of the store, which begs the question. How long does the average customer spend in the store? and Do they know what they are looking for?

More bling tasting !!!

Comment 22: By lou from downunder on March 9th, 2007 at 5:15 pm

I was there for 2 hours plus Saturday-

Hey Gary, this was a fun episode and I love, Love, LOVE the new format! Knowing how long each episode will be, and knowing I can stop, restart, jump around is wonderful. Kudos to your team!

Watching the set-up, and execution, of the blind tasting was loads o’fun…now my goal is to get up to Jersey and visit WL myself. We have a place here called Lukkas Liquors which is as big as a grocery store, but with 2 levels it looks like Wine Library is even BIGGER!!! (And bigger is always better–as far as selection goes). Back to the tasting–Gary, I’ve never seen you more nervous! It was so cute that you cared so much about what we would think if you guessed the wines wrong. It really tells us that you are a person of character and integrity, that you even CARED! It was obvious that the show wasn’t “staged,” and that’s what made it so fun, that we got to go through all the suspense and worry that you did about how you would ultimately perform.

One more thing: For customers and vendors harshly criticize today’s performance, and who believe that they would have done a much better job, I have an idea: Invite one or more of them along to your next blind tasting. All can taste under the same conditions, and if they do better than you at guessing varietal, region, village, chateau, etc., then you will eat humble pie and give them “X” (free shipping for a year? Or a bottle of some good vino? A trip to a Jets game with you?)

Thanks Gary, we all love youuuuuuuuuu!

To Cyrock1,
I just want you to know that I took no offense to your comment regarding my comment, but do appreciate the graciousness and spirit of your apology. What you should know is that I have “taken Gary to task” quite often (always in a good-natured way) and have always received a pleasant response from Gary. In fact, my comment of this episode elicited an email from Gary saying, “LOL thnx for the 85 Ill take it. well have to sit down and go man o a man o and see how we do 😉 .”

Comment #111 nailed pretty much everything I had to say.
1) This was single-blind, not double-blind tasting. I don’t *THINK* this happened, but Eric knew what the wines were and *COULD* have keyed Gary in. Again, I believe this was legit, but that’s the difference between Single-Blind and Double-Blind.
2) That must’ve been a poor Zin because I would have expected Gary to nail Zin like a cheerleader on prom night.

I loved this episode. This is something WLTV should do often.

QOTD: with the exception of a competitor-site (who will go un-named out of respect for WLTV) who puts some REDICULOUS deals up on wines, my PERSONAL experience is:
$47 2001 Panther Creek Bednarik Valley Pinot Noir (winery price) on sale for $19 (which is about where it belongs, IMHO).
$30 2005 Morgan Twelve Clones Pinot Noir (winery price) for $17.50 @ Costco; unlike the Panther Creek, this wine is worth it’s $30 price tag.

G,
If you had tasted as much wine Friday as you claim and then did that episode I am impressed.
My pallet would have been cashed.
QOTD: 1999 Merryvale Profile $69 at Samâ??s Club on line for $99

I had to watch this again….I luv the expression with the Purple Angel…That was priceless! I already trying to see if I can capture the facial expressions to use a Gravatar…LOL. Thanks again for choosing my wine, you guys are the best.

QOTD – I am an impulse buyer and everyting I buy I find for cheaper later on. shame on me.

Only 173 days left till, the one year anniversary of Chad Pennington being named the Jet’s QB….

Thanks Julius! I’m kinda new to the comment section.

QOTD: A case of 1966 Lafite that fell (lightly) off a truck.

Biggest Discrepancy was Phelps Insignia. Bought 2001 at CostCO for $40 a 750ml, but everyone else $120+. Only bought 2 bottles. Should have filled up the basket. Probably mispriced as their Cab. Conversely, my wife brought me high end Bordeaux from Paris duty free that was twice what I can buy it here.

Sensei,

Great epsiode and like many others, I would love to see more episodes where you taste blind. You did a great job and should try it again on a day when you are not approaching palate fatique.

I have to agree with Lars….Uffda!!…..Was very sorry to hear what you thought of the Nalle, I really like this winery and have 8 or 9 2003’s in my cellar. I have had the 2004 and do think the 2003 was better, but they really do make some nice wine. I hope you give the winery another shot sometime soon. I am not sure it was a fair test after the over the top fruit bombs you had just tasted and I think you were guessing they slipped a very cheap wine in the mix to trick you….

Grasshopper

Love this ep.

Have to mention the 2003 Leoville Barton & 2003 Montrose. A few retailers towards the end were at $70 while others were $140

Best Buys:
1988 Diamond Creek – $39.99 from Brown Derby – Listed everywhere else for $130-150
2000 Heitz Martha’s – $42.00 from Hy-Vee (Grocery Store) – Listed elsewhere for $100

Would much rather have the .MOV format that I can download and watch fullscreen, or convert to Divx for my TV. I hope the flash is only temporary. Otherwise, another great job.

Totally my bad. Found the QT option and a Full-Screen menu. Must be the BB Pool I’m running – too much stress already.

#144 yes!!!!

Qotd: Not counting obvious pricing errors or cost discounts,I purchased a ’92 Silver Oak Napa for $35 and sold that very wine at retail a year later for $100.

Thanks again for another informative episode!

This is the first time I’ve posted a comment and just want to express how educational all of the WLTV segments have been.

Last year I started “Wine Tasting Wednesdays” at the restaurant in which I work and they’ve been a big hit. All interested employees (and there are quite a few) assemble for a themed-dinner and wine-tasting a half-hour after the dining room closes. We haven’t tried a blind tasting yet and it sounds like a great idea for an upcoming theme!

Located in Washington state we’ve experienced some phenomenal regional wines. I had to run right out and sign-up for the Dusted Valley Vineyards “stained tooth society” membership list to ensure that I’ll receive all of the vineyard specific and reserve Syrah selections. I’m attempting to sample all of the new releases from the Walla Walla region, though it seems new wineries are appearing here every month.

Perhaps you could have an episode featuring bargain “second-labels”. I know I’ve been impressed with Nelm’s Road (Woodward Canyon) and Hurricane Ridge (Andrake Cellars). The Hurricane Ridge Cabernet Franc is something else!

QOD – On a tour of the Columbia Winery earlier this year I made it a point to inspect the “sale-table” displayed at the back of the tasting room. There I found the last large 1.5L bottle of “35th Anniversary” Otis Vineyard 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon (Yakima Valley). Bottle was already on sale for $49.00 with an added 25% off which was a special-incentive given to our restaurant tour-group. I’ve always enjoyed David Lake’s vineyard specifics and this bottle simply can’t be found anymore (perhaps available only at the winery to begin with); that was one of my better finds!

Thanks for the inspiring tasting. Keep up the great work.

I know it’s hellaciously late, but Gary nailing (more or less) the PV leads to the following corollary QOD: have you ever HAD a varietal Petit Verdot? Can’t be too many floating around … I’ve only ever had one, and from Colorado at that.

Only 172 days left till, the one year anniversary of Chad Pennington being named the Jetâ??s QBâ?¦ come on….

i know i’m a little late to be commenting on this blind tasting show qotd, but here goes…greatest discrepancy — and something that gives me a “i’m the (queen) of the world” rush everytime i think about it…bought at trader joe’s in southern california chateau potelle cabernet sauvignon 2002 for $20 bucks! sells on the chateau’s website for $60. i ran back to get more but, alas, they had no more; i must have appealed to my wine guy’s sense of compassion because he sold me a bottle out of his private stash. i rule.