Gary – Great freaking episode. I love when you get up on that WLTV soap box and give us loyal Vayniacs a sermon on how your opinion doesn’t matter. It makes the whole WLTV thing a great experience that I love to share.

By the way, you met a friend of mine at Tuesday night seder, Jeff Spencer. He’s an anesthesiologist at Northern Westchester Hospital, where I do surgery (orthopedic). He told me how the introductions went at seder, and I just about freaked out. He is one of the many friends I have told about WLTV to spread the word. I’ve gotta get to the store one day to meet the man, the myth, the legend..

QOTD – Vijay might win it again.

Nice, I love barolos. that cheese sounds scrumptious.

QOTD: mickelson.

Awesome episode, I simply love barolos. It looks like I need to add a few new ones to my collection. Wish I could have been there last night at s and w. Anyway everyone needs to experience the wine library store it is simply the best place I have been. It simply blows sesame place, great adventure and disney world away when it comes to excitement. Classic kid in a candy shop type of feel.

Great episode Gary, and nice rant! I agree with everything you said. The bottle variation, the wine hypocrisy, the importance of trusting your own tastes.

HOWEVER – I have found that as a “regular guy” type of wine consumer (that is, I don’t have the option of buying a case of everything) the scores and reviews of professional wine critics are impossible to ignore. Not because I think they know more than me (even though they certainly do) or because I trust their judgment more than my own, but because I simply do not have the means to taste every wine before I purchase, especially since I tend to only buy one or two bottles of any given wine. So when I find myself staring at a shelf of Barolo’s (whether an actual shelf in a shop or an online inventory list) I must decide whether to spend my fifty bucks on a wine with no score or review or the one right next to it that Robert Parker (or Gary Vaynerchuk) says is great. I may not have the same tastes as the reviewer, but at least SOMEONE likes the wine. The other bottle is a pure gamble. A decent wine shop will have knowledgeable staff, but online or at the local grocery store it’s just you and the shelf tags.

Great episode Gary, and nice rant! I agree with everything you said. The bottle variation, the wine hypocrisy, the importance of trusting your own tastes.

HOWEVER – I have found that as a “regular guy” type of wine consumer (that is, I don’t have the option of buying a case of everything) the scores and reviews of professional wine critics are impossible to ignore. Not because I think they know more than me (even though they certainly do) or because I trust their judgment more than my own, but because I simply do not have the means to taste every wine before I purchase, especially since I tend to only buy one or two bottles of any given wine. So when I find myself staring at a shelf of Barolo’s (whether an actual shelf in a shop or an online inventory list) I must decide whether to spend my fifty bucks on a wine with no score or review or the one right next to it that Robert Parker (or Gary Vaynerchuk) says is great. I may not have the same tastes as the reviewer, but at least SOMEONE likes the wine. The other bottle is a pure gamble. A decent wine shop will have knowledgeable staff, but online or at the local grocery store it’s just you and the shelf tags.

QOTD: Vijay Singh

Gary…
I love when you get on the soapbox. Great episode.

QOTD: Chi Chi Rodriguez

and BTW…ladies out there in lurker land…I met Gary in the store today….and he’s more handsome in person than he is on the show! 😉

noobs, eh? Sounds like you’ve been watching some PurePwnage. Good man!

Hey Gary,
Karen is right. Friday in Lent: perfect for wine and cheese. How about offering a package deal on the Prunotto Barolo and the cheese!!!PLEASE!!!
QOTD: Jim Furyk. He’s in the hunt, experienced, and he needs a greeen jacket (although Tiger has a shot too). the guys at the top of today’s leaderboard will all fold tomorrow. Expect to see Furyk and Vijay in the final two groups, maybe with Tiger thrown in there and a newbie, who will el-foldo on Sunday.
JW

Prunotto is a wonderful producer. good choice. i will root for Brett this w/e. young American. sounds like last night was awesome. almost makes me miss NYC.

QOTD- If I wait to answer until Sunday night I will be right. You cannot bet against Tiger, even though he is off to a slow start.

Wine that tastes like the “poop of the earth” is a pass for me.

Right on with your soapbox rant. I pay attention to ratings but just as a guideline. I like what I like and I try as much as I can to expand my knowledge base. This show is a great reinforcement of that theory. Keep it up.

QOT: Vijay Singh

Btw, great soapbox rant!

Why not Tiger, I love that guy. Who else can take the green jacket!

one more

one more

ha ha, 69!

#50 STEVO!!! Keep Riding GV about the 540,, we have yet to hear dittly scat about the bet, what he won, the tremendous, tremendous, tremendous, tremendous, tremendous outpouring of support he got that episode.. TREMENDOUS 2: astonishing by reason of extreme size, power, greatness or excellence

I’m sipping Hartford Zin 2004 and a little aged cheddar

GO TIGER!! Gerrrrrrr!

Great episode. I loved the narrative in the middle about trusting ones own palate.

QOTD: I have no idea.

Sweetbreads?? Ugh dude…
I give you credit for just trying them for the first time.
(being a meat cutter i cant bring myself to try them knowing where they come from)

QOTD: anyone but tiger. 😛

QOTD – Els is due. And he’s made some fine wines!

Really enjoy the cheese/food pairing episodes. Thanks GV.

Gary,

At face value, one might think this tournament is still winnable by half the field making the cut. In reality, because the conditions are as hard as they are, with just three players under par, I expect the winner to be somewhere between even and 4 under par.

There won’t be many low scores, and the winner will have to play solid golf in tough conditions. But truthfully, this entire tournament seems to be set up to favor players who have allready won.

So, allthough it’s possible someone at say plus 5 could make it into the final round Sunday if he shoots a great round tomorrow, the unexperienced players tend to fade away into the azaleas.

So, my guess is that only a handful of players can really win, such as Tim Clark (finished second last year and tied for the lead), Vijay Singh, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, or Jim Furyk.

I’m going to have to go with Tim Clark though this time, because he is awfully consistant this week, and has figured out how to play this course.

But always remember Vijay, Tiger, Phil or Jim, or all of them could end up in the thick of things come Sunday. Or hey, what about former champion Mike Weir…..

I think it’s too early to predict who’s going to take the jacket, after seeing the last 12 masters.

QOTD: Me. I will win the Master’s. Because the whole time its going on, I’ll be drinking the good stuff. And maybe Vijay will make a few shots.

Kahuna, you are out of control!!!!
Great pairing!!!
Oh yeah, Gary, nice Barolo tasting.