ecola too!

another great episode. i also love the naked… INOX? (learned something new) movement. A pretty good unoaked Cali. Chard., that has a cork, is Foxglove… ripe and clean with great aromatics,though it has a bit of heat.
I noticed that you rinsed and dumped out the Tolosa even though it was into a “naked glass”… Habit?
Sorry you didn’t hit 700 comments… I’ll hook you up with some White Castle when i make it to the east coast again, otherwise it’s In & Out out here on the westside. Here’s a holla at you anyways cuz I’m a “big nose fan”… peace

watching this episode with a bottle of vinium moravia 2005 chardonnay, late harvest, on my table was a real plesure 🙂

I usually drink a glass of wine as part of my evening slow down and relax routine, which is usually after the rush to get dinner out. Since I drink alone, bottles typically last me several days (2-4, depending upon how quaffable I find them to be 🙂 Unless I’m trying a wine that I’m already familiar with, on opening night I like to try a wine on its own, so that I can experience its odors and flavors without any distractions. Upon opening, if it’s apparent that the wine needs food or would be great with food, this is something that I’ll get into on succeeding nights. Also, whenever I buy wines that I don’t like, I always give them 2 more chances:

1)A night or two off and/or a decanting experience, to see if oxidation can work its magic and transform the wine into something much better,

2)A pairing with food, in order to see my relationship with it can be salvaged.

Bottom line: ~80% drunk alone, ~20% with food.

QOTD

95% with food
5% without (at wine tastings .. baguette & carbonated water)

The food is mostly the eveining meal though at other times a nice tasty snack like crackers and a nice Appenzeller cheese or Antipasta.

Special wines like port or Eiswein / trockenbeerenauslese (stickies) and drinks likes whisky can be easily enjoyed alone.

QOTD: I can honestly say about 90% without food and 10% with food, although I am trying to bring food into the wine experience a little more every day.

I wish you guys would ship those wines down here to Maryland

100% with food.

Good morning Vayniacs! I’m going to work.

20% with food, 80 without. naked is where it is at

Yeah, 85% of the time without food, …

QOTD: Tough one. When I taste wine at work, it’s without food, but that only represents about 5%. I always have wine AROUND food, as when the meal is over, I usually continue drinking it. On many occasions, my wife and I will drink a bottle with dinner and then another after. I was at my boss’ house the other day and he and I drank 1 bottle before dinner, one with and two after. I’m going to say 6o% with food / 35% without.

Naked Chardonnay:

It’s always so funny to me how the wine industry in the New World is so trend driven. Gary, if you read my diatribe in the Ennis Wine Times, you’ll know where I stand on this. I don’t feel that these wines are innovative in the slightest. In fact, “retro” would be a more appropriate word. Chablis has always been like this, however, trend-driven markets tend to prefer the idea that they are drinking something “new.” That being said, this move is a very welcome one. California being California took the whole “oak” thing to a major extreme that you never really saw in Burgundy and even though I still believe there is a time and place for such wines (just like there is a time and place for Chateau Blanc – White Castle!) this is a welcome change. My only fear is that this will become the next “latest craze” and that any chardonnay with the slightest hint of oak will be totally rejected. As a lover of classic burgundies like the Cortons, Fuisses, etc, that would be a shame. Sometimes it seems like the New World wine industry is like a kid at a party where you put a blindfold on him, spin him around, and tell him to pin the tail on the donkey. Only the donkey here is market share. It seems that Europaean winemakers (particularly French) make the wines they make because these wines are who they are, just like you make the show you make because it’s who YOU are. Keep it up, man!

QOTD – 85/15 WE always have a couple of glasses while cooking dinner so that contributes to the 15 w/o food, plus you know a nice glass of sauv. blanc in the afternoon on a weekend. YUMM

Great episode, Four Vines is putting out some great stuff, their recent Zins have been killer.

HOLLA DOG!! ANd yes, I just said that. haha

J DUB

Another futures show Gary! Big thumps up for this action.

QOTD: 80% without food / 20% with food

Gary,

Great show – very educational. I always learn and enjoy watching. One of todays lessons was how loyal and crazy a few Vayniacs are posting 100s of comments – one word at a time to help you reach your goal. You gotta love their passion.

Ignore the critics! You can wink and milk your breasts whenever you want – its your show. 😉 I was rolling watching that and envisioning you throwing papayas at the perfume girls.

QOTD: 50/50 probably. I like to taste a wine without food first, so I’ll open it before a meal and drink a glass, then with the meal, and continue drinking after. Other times I will pair it with cheese, fruit or vegetable hors d’ourves. But I prefer the new world which can and does often stand on it own. I have found I like the old world better with food.

Cheers and good luck getting to 700.
John

Appreciate the episode Gary. I normally avoid Chardonnay like the plague, but a few of these sounded pretty interesting, so will try to seek them out when shopping.

QOTD: Wine is food (for me). Unless I am visiting wineries doing some tasting, I almost always have food with wine (and vice versa).

QOTD: 90% w/ food

Nice episode. You make me want to go out and buy a naked chardonnay and GrapeNuts. Love the grapenutty grainy taste in a wine. Also love those grapenuts when they get mushy.

Gary, I’m going to keep bugging you with periodic posts about doing a port episode starting today until you do one. I used to hide the fact that I liked port (I felt I needed a smoking jacket and a pipe). Now I think that I don’t need to change, the image around port needs to change, dang it! And that means you MUST do a show on it. You’re all about the image change.

Also, GO JETS! Let’s hope the D doesn’t fall apart before we even play a game.

QOTD: 40% with food, 60% without. Isn’t wine a food group?

Well what do you know, Four Vines is sold out.

QOTD: 90% with food, 10% without

Been a big fan of no oak chard a long time. I agree with you, it is the future.

Question of the day – with food 80%, without 20%.

One of the rewarding aspects of Gary’s show is that you learn something everyday. What I happen to like is balance and complexity. If I were to rank my favorite Chardonnays at the top would be Corton-Charlemagne, Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet, Pouilly Fuisse and Chablis. Oak adds a dimension to most of these wines but doesn’t overpower the other flavors present. If you make a big buttery vanilla bean with mango and pineapple Chardonnay and don’t have some acid balance then it is too much. I think the backlash is about any extreme is undesirable. I happen to like the Malolactic flavors especially with Lobster and buttery sauces like Hollandaise and Bearnaise. I don’t think Oak is bad per se but too much of anything is undesirable. I had an inexpensive Argentinian chardonnay from Catena called Alamos. It instantly transported me back to the fat California style of a twenty years ago. Yes, the wine world is changing.

There are many varieties of oak and barrel sizes. The amount of charring to bring the vanilla flavors. Even the way the oak is split or sawed. Some wines get the oak chip treatment instead of from the barrels. New oak barrels are very expensive. Except for the top Chateaus in Bordeaux most will rotate their barrels and use as much new oak as they can afford but typically might be 1/3rd new oak. Oak adds complexity as much as blending does. Oak in itself is not a monster but a flavor component.

Fully ripened fruit brings big alcohol levels so maintaining balance is not as easy as it sounds. I appreciate when Gary gives us his heat factor and reads us the percentage on the label.

The comments section is just as informative and shows a profound knowledge of wine tasting. I think the immediacy of this medium is part of the change. It travels around the world at the speed of light and gives us passport to the wine universe. Thanks again Gary for accelerating change with your valuable insights.

90% with food. 10% Naked especially with Champagne.

QOTD: 90% with food.

95% with Food – 5% by meself…

Dude, you dropped another “Whether you like it or not”!! YES!!! Glad to see I can swing my weight around here on the production side! 😉 I love that sig out more than “Seacrest…OUT!!”

But you got to do that one at least once…right?? “Vaynerchuk….OUT!!” NICE!

GREAT SHOW GARY
QOTD: CAN’T HAVE FOOD WITHOUT WINE, BUT SURE CAN HAVE WINE WITHOUT FOOD!!! RATHER DRINK THAN EAT!
90% SOLO 10% WITH

GREAT SHOW GARY
QOTD: CAN’T HAVE FOOD WITHOUT WINE, BUT SURE CAN HAVE WINE WITHOUT FOOD!!! RATHER DRINK THAN EAT!
90% SOLO 10% WITH