Hi Gary – great episode again. A little disappointed in the Gaja – the $125 is actually the lowest price I’ve seen for that wine, and was hoping for a bit more to convince me to finally spring for one – you can find as good for half that price …

QOTD: count the number of first time comments – lurkers only – try to exceed the most first time comments you’ve ever had in any of the previous 199 episodes …

OFF TOPIC, BUT ON TARGET
Here’s a BIG FAT THANK YOU to the the WLTV gang for helping me get NCAA Bracketed!

THANK YOU, Gar’ for telling me to go for it (despite losing my shirt each year in the office pool!) You said I should try, and told me something about yourself which convinced me to jump in.

THANK YOU, Chris Mott, for your honesty and sense of humor as I sought assistance with what was becoming a WLTV/ESPN labyrinth.

THANK YOU, Brandon Warnke, for calling me at my office!! — and talking me through it as you did your own registration. Within 5 minutes, you unsnarled all of it! With a smile!

Y’all really are fantastic — I may be in Burbank now, but once again, you’ve made me proud to be a Jersey boy!

Bill V.

Okay, call me ignorant, but why did that one decanter have the huge dimple in it? Is it so the Coneheads could wear it as a hat? Seriously, what’s the deal?

First, I want to comment on comment #38 by Ken P. Great comment and I second your thoughts about our boy, GV…!

Good show as always, Congrats on #200 tomorrow… I’m leaving patients waiting out in the office to watch today’s episode!

Cholesterol….over rated. Keep the vigourous exercise going, lot’s of garlic, onions and essential fatty acids and don’t sweat the wine & cheese. ( not to be confused with an official Dr’s orders)

I’ve done the Gaja tasting. My thoughts are nice but lot’s of money that I’d prefer to spend on other bottles.

Who moved my cheese??? Can’t find the link!

GV,

Record some episodes while in france.

i only buy the Gaja in great vintages and appreciate you letting us listen “between the lines” so to speak about 03. i have 90 (one bottle left) and some 97 in the closet.

i have 2 bottles of 00 and 2 03 Beaucastel and often wonder about “downtime” for these Rhones. 5-7 years huh? so the 00s are ready now?

nice episode. no raves. nobody else would air 20 minutes like this dude.

Gary-
Cheese
and
A
Fabulous Oak Monster
all in one ep!
I love it!
These wines are a little
over my
budget but
someday…
🙂

Nice episode.
I was afraid you would love the Hugel Jubilee. I started getting into Reislings from Alsace. I tried the Hugel and couldn’t quite understand the ratings. The nose was the best part about it and tasting it I thought the wine was off-balance and one dimensional as well. I much prefer the Zind=Humbrecht Rieslings. You should stock up some more if you get a chance. I will probably buy as much as I can.

I am wondering about the Gaja and the Beaucastel. Much too young to be drinking now. I had a Gaja Sori Tilden from 98 that was incredible, but the tannins were still too pronounced. The wine was delicious nevertheless. I guess you get used to the tannins….

Skol

Gary-
Hope you have
a great time
in France!
🙂

Last year, I tried Gaja out of the barrel at a big wine tasting here in St. Louis (the Gaja hadn’t yet been bottled or rated or anything!), and even though my palate was EXTREMELY untutored at that time, it blew my head off! The producer actually had about 6 different wines on pour besides the Gaja, all with those unassuming black and white labels. Of all of the wines that I had in the high end room and at the entire event, the Gaja was the very best. I still rave about the experience of having been privileged enough to have tried it. If you can afford it, it’s definitely worth the price. I sure would buy it in a heartbeat if I could….

Gary-
I am assuming
(right, I hope)
that the
“Welcome to Episode
One”
is a reference to the
200th Ep
tomorrow?
I rewatched the ep
SEVERAL
times just to
make sure
that there isn’t anything wrong with my
hearing.
I hope Ep #200 is tomorrow!
🙂

Gary-
I like the
“Refer a friend/lurker”
Concept.
What if 2 people get free shipping?
The first lurker to comment on
Friday’s Ep
and
the Vayniac who gets the
most people to comment with a
reference to the Vayniac
who sent them to the
comment section.
🙂

Susan comment #61 gets my vote for most complicated comment of the night. Rock on, Susan!

Gary, lots of free advice tonight on cholesterol. Won’t be needing to re-up for that Blue Cross next month, I guess. It’s all been taken care of.

wow, nice wines. you treated yourself today. stepped it up a bit for a tuesday.

QOTD:
1) how about a finger lakes riesling episode?
2) how about a sweet special effect/graphic for the oak monster?

I think I’m going to dress up as an Oak Monster for Hallowe’en this year. Whatever party I go to, I’ll have to figure out a creative way to bring “The Thunder.”

Lurker out.
Stats: 6’1″, 175lbs, cholesterol w/out statins ~330.
Go: KC Chiefs, St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Longhorns.
Favorite Wine Moments: First time I had a good cab paired with good chocolate, this month’s upcoming Wine Night where we will drink all four Rieslings you featured a month or two ago. I’ve given all of our Wine Night members homework to watch the episode before coming.

Gary, thanks for the education and entertainment.

Guilty lurker. Gary, I come out of hiding to suggest one very key change. Wines should not be “seeked out” they should be “sought out”.

With respect to ideas for offers, I admit I am a sucker for free shipping. NOTHING else can kill a full shopping cart of wine like a hefty shipping charge when you are an online shopper.

The sewer description!! Yes! that’s what I call “merde” (french for shit). It’s definitely there, eh?

Gary, I’m stunned that you aren’t making a big deal about being one episode away from the big 200

a lurker since about episode #100 exposed! nice ewing jersey in the background! keep it up Gary!

hey Gary, very cool episode, thanks for bringing back the cheese!

Speaking of cheese, I saw you mentioned that we might be able to email someone to purchase cheese and have it shipped. Is this something we can do for any of the cheeses offered by WL? Or a special occasion for the cheese in this episode (which I’m very interested in!)? If the former, is this a functionality that can/will be added to winelibrary.com to add to cart or is there a list we can choose from and then email in orders?

Great episode!
-Nico

I like the idea of trying to get the best commenter/lurker ratio on record to gain free shipping. Maybe limit free shipping to a small time window or a certain # of code uses to cut your losses. A $50 min order or something could help too.

GREAT Ep. as usual, Big G.! With my budget I won’t be able to taste any of them, but the variety of German Reisling, Cali Chard (obviously not a favorite of mine, but the Oak Monster loves to get his hands into it!), Barbaresco, and Chateaunuef du Pape made it a well-rounded reference.

QOTD: Ok- I like the idea of counting total comments, but the important thing is counting the total # of lurkers. Also, as others have mentioned, each lurker should mention the name of the “regular” that referred them (if any). If there is a certain “regular” that brings in a rediculous # of lurkers, then they should be commended. If a lot of “regulars” bring in a huge # of lurkers, then free shipping on __ until __.

OH- and I’m DYING to see what you have in store for tomorrow’s 200th EPISODE -ESPECIALLY because you haven’t mentioned anything about it…as if you don’t know you’re hitting another GIGANTIC milestone. Congrats in advance, and more congrats are due from me tomorrow. (We’ll hit 250 in the comments…I can FEEL it!)

Gary the alltime best oak monster wow!!! Love the Cheese pairing, great episode, Bring it for 200.QOTD I can see where free shipping would get alittle out hand for you guys(and only be offered on special occasions). But maybe for the Lurker record that is going to be set next week and from time to time you could offer 1/2 price shipping. Because then “with you and a little bit of us we would be changing the shipping world wouldn’t we???”