My “go to” wine guy here in Plano turned me on to his small stash that he never puts out on the floor, the Southing was delicious, and I ended up buying as many as I could get my hands on…truly I think this was one of the only shows where I have seen you give amazing reviews!~

You really know how to hurt a guy!!! Makin’ us
Vayniaks watch ya drink dat heavenly juice while
we sit here drolling all over ourselves!!! 🙁
Cruel……cruel…..cruel…..

QOTD: Ridge Geyserville Zin 1996 (a tad over da
hill), Albert Mann Pinot Gris 2004, & a Canadian
Cabernet Franc Ice Wine 1999 (my 1st try at dat stuff)

Gary,

You answered the bottle shock question by talking about travel shock. Bottle shock normally refers to wine having been recently bottled and needing to settle down. Travel shock is the term for issues arising from being shaken during transit.

Have only had one glass of Sea Smoke ever and was greatly impressed. Never tried to buy any though but this review makes me want to look for some.
Bottle shock hasw happened to me with wines that were shipped in. One of the wines was popped after 2 days and another after 2 weeks and there was a marked difference in the two. These were Sauvingon Blancs so not expecting any age difference and certainly not in 2 weeks but the fruit was juicier and the nose more classic in the 2 week bottle. Hey not scientific but my experience at trying to test out the theory.
Spent the weekend in Hazelton, PA doing business. Couldn’t find a good glass of wine anywhere.

Those two wine tasting events are died on. A group of freinds of mine and I have had multiple “wine dinners”. 6 total people, cook together, eat together and drink some good wine together.

Looking to do a blind tasting party for Pinot Noir, need to check on people and myself to pick out the cali, oregon and the french, should be a good time.

QOTD: Has microbrew summer, gin and tonic, and a couple scotches…wine tonight forsure!!! 🙂

unlurking

I did the 2004 Sea Smoke Southing and the 2004 A.P. Vin Rosellas at Farallon last October. One of my guests pronounced the Sea Smoke “the best thing [she] ever put in her mouth.”

Damn Big G! It’s always fun when you lose your freaking marbles. I Love it! Inspiring stuff my friend. Self Help Book with a sprinkle of Wine coming soon.

QOTD: I drank Kendal Jackson Grand Reverse Chard. Not too bad.

I lurk therefore I am!

Great Show

QOTD: Susana Balbo Malbec 2004….um um tasty

QOTD: Water 🙂

This weekend we did a little “French – Italian Wine” tasting. We are just starting to experiment with the French – Italian wines. We have been to Napa and Sonoma a few times and wanted to expand out pallet without eating grass, dirt and cigars. This seemed like much better way to accomplish the “Pallet expansion”.

My wife and I had an out of town guest for the day & evening, and my folks over for a dinner/tasting party and before we knew it, the next door neighbor came by and the couple 2 doors down were all sitting around the patio drinking the “Juice”. It was a lot of fun , the day started started @ 4:00 with gin/vodka tonics and moved to the vino. The evening ended @ 11:30 with tarimisu, canolli, coffee, and Sambuca, a good time was had by all!
All wines were decanted

#1 Chateau Beauchene – Premiere Terroir -Cotes du Rhone – 2005 (10- 15 US Bones)
overall a 6-7 rating out of 10 –
Mellow, well balanced – pleasant finish
Initially was higher untill the others were brought out
should let this open up at least 20 minutes before drinking

#2 Maison Bouachon – Les Rabassieres – Cotes du Rhone 2003 (15-20 US Bones)
7 – 8.5 rating
More balanced, a bit lighter, Pinot Noir-ish

#3 Chatau Pierrousselle – Bordeaux 2005- VINIFIE ET MIS EN BOUTELLE AU CHATEAU (10-15 US Bones)
7.5 – 8
Big, Heatry, Sharp Tannins
Very “Cab” like in taste
Serve with a great steak!

#4 Clos De L’Oratoire Des Papes – Chateauneuf du Pape – 2004 (25-30 US Bones)
8+
Favorite of the group.
Light, soft, but not wimpy, very nice balance and finish

For #5 We opened an Itailian – had it with dinner – grilled Tuscan Lamb Chops
Arceno – PrimaVoce – Toscana – 2003 (10 -15 US Bones)
7.5 – 8.5 rating
It was a great food pairing. The basalmic wine marinade for the chops married very well with the wine.
Little Pepper, Vanilla, and a bit of licorice

What a way to end the weekend!

Thanks for a great show. I have preferred the Botella over the Ten and Southing. You helped me understand why.

Love to host wine tastings, especially with friends who we’re trying to get more interested in wines. For real newbies we try different grapes of the same color. For friends who are more into it, the same varietal from different parts of the world. Best results were on consecutive weeks where a Mom (our friend) had 2BC as her favorite of the night, followed by her son, my son’s friend picking the same thing a week later. Most fun when you mix in what someone has previously declared their absolute favorite, and see if the pick it. Our daughter even made us a custom hosting set for future events.

QOTD: An Australian Liebichwein “The Potters” Merlot – 2003.

I drank an ’02 Marcassin Blue Slide Ridge Pinot Noir this weekend. Pretty amazing stuff. I was shocked to see it on the wine list, and when I ordered it from the waitress, the restaurant manager came out and said it was the ONLY bottle they were allocated! If I had known, I would have called ahead and had it decanted several hours before, but as it was we were able to decant for about an hour before initial pour. It BLEW AWAY the damn good bottle of Siduri Santa Rita Hills we drank just before it. Explosive nose; lots of fruit but in balance with the acidity and tannins; and a 45-50 second finish. Very special night with 9 friends and family members – was happy to be able to introduce them to the world of Helen Turley.

QOTD: I drank a 2000 Chateau D’Issan Margaux
I was friggin awesome.

No food with it, just wine. Oh the bottom of the last glass was with a giant handful of Doritos. That worked pretty well with the wine.

Awesome show. Food, Friends, Wine. Did it this weekend. My internet has been down for 2 weeks. I am a bit backlogged on WLTV.

QOTD: 2004 Beckman Syrah Clone #1. It was yummy.

Gary great episode:) I have been lurking for about a year and this is my first post. Im a college student at CU Boulder and recently started to get serious about drinking and collecting wine. Your shows have been a great education and entertainment. I’ll be joining the forum soon. See you there.

Mumm Red

Hey Gary,

Haven’t posted a comment in quite some time and wanted to send a great big thanks for busting into your own wine stash and representing with the Sea Smoke! I received my allocation but haven’t had the chance to try any as of yet so I considered your latest show a “must watch” (I had actually posted a comment inquiring as to whether you’d tried any of the Sea Smoke offerings about three weeks back)!

As a loyal Vayniac I made sure to post a notice at work to let everyone know about your Conan appearance! We had just experienced out “international wine night” at work (pick a country and bring both wine and authentic food/dishes from that country) and the group was really excited to see the guy that sold me those great Greek wines!

SIDE NOTE (not “SIDEWAYS” so don’t get mad you Pinot fans) – if any interested parties are scanning this note and like Pinot Grigio or fruity/dry white wines be certain to try the Greek Moschofilero White – it really impressed at our restaurant staff wine-night with a lot of sweet fruit and melon flavors but a dry finish – great summer sipper! I bought mine here and so can you!

I just received my allocation notice from the Loring Wine Company (LWC) which only produces Pinot Noirs and also sources form the Santa Rita Hills and surrounding areas (also some Oregon sites) – any thoughts? Sounds as if theirs is a much more “new world” style (91-93 point ratings in 12/15/06 Spectator ). Are they fruit bombs or just grenades? Eight vineyard specific Pinot Noirs sounds great but the $50 per bottle price will likely keep me from sampling them all…

After your recommendation concerning wine parties it strikes me that once again it’s time for a “blind tasting” at our monthly wine-night party!

QOTD – Not certain what will jump out at me this weekend but I have a feeling that it will be a Pinot Noir (I have a few extra bottles of the Tohu Marlborough Pinot Noir).

Cheers!

Great episode, definitely some quality Pinot’s!

GARY, DID YOU DO LEWIS CELLARD YET? I
LOVE MY LEWIS CAB!

LOUIS

This would probably not be something my girlfriend would drink. She seems to stick with the dessert wines.

Great Show Gary!

-C

I don’t want to get too semitic but the Jewish holidays are right around the corner . . .

It’s time to break out the ’05 Covenant and Covenant Red Sea. How about it?!

QOTD: Four Vines Zin and The Other. I’ve been a fan of The Other as a great budget white, but it seems over-oaked to me now. I’m getting too used to the clean taste of wines with less oak.

I thought your questions today were quite good. I’m a big believer in the “bottle shock” theory of red wines. White wines not so much. (Actually, I think the questioner meant “travel shock” rather than bottle shock.)

Anyway, I’m positive that I’ve tasted the problem with red wines immediately after shipping — but I’m a “born again” skeptic, so I know that we cannot trust our own senses. If it doesn’t pass the double-blind test, it’s a mental phenomenon.

Gary, maybe you could do a blind test of a red (Cab?) and a white: one of each freshly shipped, one of each in a cellar for a few months. All should be theoretically ready to drink. I predict a big difference in the red, no difference in the white.

QOTD: This weekend (Sat night) past, blind tasted two 1996 bordeauxs: Chateau Pontet-Canet, and it’s second label Les Hauts de Pontet. Very interesting and challenging-not as easy as I thought it would be-very humblingâ?¦ I got them right; after much soul searching and pontificating numerous wine speak adjectives to my wife for feedback clues. She gave me none, thinks I am crazy-but we had a great time. Blind tasting is very good for truly understanding and loving wine to the fullest extent.

Thanks for the Sea Smoke tasting- I have three bottles Southing (did you pronounce that right by the way??? Soothing is different than Southing is it not???) in my cellar. Look forward to it now after your video. Do you think it has aging potential?

QOTD – It’s all about the Cougar Crest Cab Sauv.