I am completely against the oak monster. I too have found many wines “ruined” by over-oaking.

oak monster is a dictator, not getting my vote ever.

so anti oakmonster, particularly when i buy an expensive chardonnay and Oakmonster Ali comes out and beats my ass for 12 rounds… Not cool

DUDE! Not only are you wasting copious amounts of wine but you’re breaking glasses now! How do you sleep at night? The Ice Wine episode was bad enough…

I vote against the oak monster. If i wanted to taste that much oak I’d skip the whole spending twenty dollars process and go to the park and start chewing on a tree.

I’ll have to vote against… I used to LOVE the oak monster when I first got into wine about 12 years ago. Now I see it as really annoying. Don’t get me wrong, I still like a little when it’s well integrated.

The Oak Monster and I are like “Rob & Big”! One day, the Oak Monster and I will be on the cover of a “Good Friends” cereal box smiling back at the world! I know that he can get alittle annoying at times, but who doesn’t? This is exactly what I was trying to tell him last night when we hit the Gaslamp in San Diego…he was hitting the Jack pretty hard and kept asking me, “Why doesn’t Gary like me?” I really didn’t know what to do, so all I could mumble out was, “maybe Gary just doesn’t like trees…” Gary, why no love for my man, the Oak?

I’m against the oak monster!!!!

OMG!! Vivian is soo freakin’ adorable. I almost forgot what I was going to say about the episode. My sister has the greatest little 5mo. old Wilder, I feel the love!
Torn on the oak monster, atypical for me when it comes to politics, etc., but we enjoy some oak with a side of butter when it comes to our everday chards. Yet, we do really dig some macons and burgundy satellites as ofren as possible. Otherwise, I’ll give the oak doggie a fat p-a-s-s! And I did chew on his his ass a little bit with the ’03 Pedestal and enjoyed it. I’ve consistantly been happy with duckhorn, shafer, tamarack, and frias, to name a few. And actually, as a good value, the Santa Ema Rsv. merlot from Chile for 8-10 bones is a tastey easy drinker.
BTW! GV- Had a 1949 Rioja -Bodegas Bilbainas recently. Wow, it had been in the deep freeze at Bern’s and it was tremendous. Bit of funk that blew off after a little airing out. great color! and it drank really well. gorgeous, silky texture, still had atouch of fruit and some grip. Oldest vintage I’ve ever had. Was a pre-beat the holiday b-s vday dinner for us. it was great food as well!! – Personal invite- If you’re in the tampa -or florida for that matter- area, give a shout or whathaveyou! I’m sure you’re famaliar with the joint. Really an experience with the right peeps taking care of you and the the wine list is, literally, second to none. That Rioja was in amazing condition and about $35 a half bottle. They have so much incredible old sh*t, and it feels like an old school bordelo with butlers! And the food is world class. And no, I don’t work there. Can’t wait for 408!

the oak monster should pull out of the race

I vote against the Oak Monster, only because, you know, I like the taste of the fruit in most wines. Call me crazy 🙂 I too prefer women with not a ton of makeup – and I even grew up in NJ!! How’d that happen?!?!

Don’t hate on the Oak Monster!

Actually, I’m only voting for him because he seems like the underdog.

QOTD: The oak monster should work with a pipette and pincer for me…

Bar-oak Obama? I guess I’d have to vote against.

I hope I’m not bark-ing up the wrong tree here, but seriously, sometimes the wood is good. (Kahuna, calm down!) A little oak never killed anybody — isn’t oak what they’ve been making barriques out of, for the past, oh, 500 years or so? When it’s gimmicky, yes, it can be a bit much. But sometimes there’s nothing more fun than sinking into a buttery, oakey California chardonnay – chilled way below room temp (sorry, GV). And then again, other times, a crisp Pouilly-Fume aged in stainless steel or concrete hits the spot. So I guess it depends on the mood.

I love my Oak Monster tee. Thanks again, GV!

OAK? isn’t that what the HARDWOOD FLOORS in the kitchen are made of?
Isn’t that the ONLY place it belongs.

Oak is best used as a subtle addition – a little hint in the mid palate. Like others – initially enjoyed lots of oakey CA chards – but now I like less and less.

Oak is best used as a subtle addition – a little hint in the mid palate. Like others – initially enjoyed lots of oakey CA chards – but now I like less and less.

QOTD: I’m ONLY ok with the Oak Monster if we hold hands and frolic together (like you and he did in that picture so many episodes ago) through a meadow of flowers and ripe fruit where vegetables grow too, and he “plays nice” and is tame and reserved. If he acts up in ANY way and gets all big and bold, I vote NO on the Monster and shun him from my Pal Party.

I’m voting FOR the oakmon because 1) hey, I like that stuff when I’m drinking for a buzz, and 2) because when I drink me some old-style ‘nooak’, I need a gauge. It is really all about the research.

Constant research.

I absolutely, 100%, hate the oak monster. Nothing is more maddening then only mainly smelling and tasting wood , but barely or unable to taste fuit and mineral componets. I view heavily oaked wine as being poorly made, because they are using oak to hide thier flaws. I hate overoaked Chardonnays the most. If I want to taste wood and alcohol, I will drink scotch. When I drink wine I want to taste fruit,vegetable, mineral, tobacco, leather, and ,perhaps chocolate components of various wines. Gary, I love seeing Merlot episodes. I have been on the Merlot bandwagon, since the early 80’s and have never gotten off. I am glad most people do not like Merlots because it has really kept the price down. I have quite an extensive list of cellared Merlots. Gary do a show somtime on just Pomerols.

oak monster suck man…….

QOTD: I vote in favor of the oak monster, because in a well-made wine such as the Pedestal, time will tame him and those oak flavors will blend beautifully with the fruit.

GV, you mentioned that Pedestal is a partnership of Michel Rolland and Allen Shoup. Yes, that’s the business partnership. The winemaking partnership for Pedestal, however, is Michel Rolland and Gilles Nicault. Gilles is the director of winemaking and viticulture for all seven of the Long Shadows wines.

By the way, the ’05 Pedestal is now available. Maybe a comparison with the ’04 is in order? Indeed, I’d like to see you make more comparisons on WLTV of different vintages of the same wine.

Off your rocker on the Grapes of Roth bud! 🙂

Oak Monster has it’s place, just like anything else.

I say oak in moderation because it can bring so much to the wine. Love the vanilla flavors it brings to the table. It is wonderful as long as it doesnâ??t overpower the fruit. I vote for oak.

QOTD: I vote against the oak monster. Oak can really enhance a wine, but you should still be able to taste the fruit. When all you can taste is oak, what is the point. I understand some of the mass produced junk out there that uses oak to hide it’s crappy fruit, but when you have great fruit, let it show through. BTW- I consider myself more of a new world fan too.

Love BABY- TASTER Vivian.

QOTD: I’m for a little oak, just not the entire tree.