woohoo! top 100!

QOTD: 2006 Crater Rim Akaroa Pinot Gris. A late harvest Pinot Gris from New Zealand, it was all marzipan, nuts, cooked butter, tangerine and pears with BEAUTIFUL minerality on the finish and stonking clean acidity. A brilliant wine.

WOW great match up today I could feel the thunder.
QOTD- 2002 Arrowood Cabernet Sauvignon, I didn’t go quite that crazy but I was very happy with it so I bought a case. ( this is the first full case I have bought of any wine so it must have made an impression)

QOTD: Meerlust Rubicon in the estate’s cellar during our trip to South Africa.

Getting into the one-on-one tasting battles. Keep it up

hey gary it was the MASI Amarone…i,d die for it

QOTD: Easy. 2002 Fairview Pinotage. I bought every bottle in the state (both of them), and they were both breathtaking. Second best wine I’ve ever had, but also cheaper than most wines I’ve had.

You definitely got me fired up GV!

QOTD: Elizabeth Rose Pinot Blanc from Bonded Winery #9 (Also put out Napa Wine Co, and sell lots of juice to “cult” wineries unknowingly to all of those freaks paying up the wazuu for those wines- get a life and start expanding your palates kids!). What an out of body experience!

There hasn’t been a wine in my newbie drinking career that completely surprised and knocked my socks off like the Phillips Hill evidently did to GV! Wonder if I could locate that around here… of course I looked and they can’t ship to MA, probably because we’re still Pilgrims.

QOTD: Recently it was the Cascina Morassino ’96 barbaresco.

QOTD: Wow…that’s pretty easy. 2005 Kelham Vineyard Chardonnay. I absolutely lost it when I tasted it for the first time. Great stuff for a guy that hardly owns any Chardonnay.

yes indeedy Petey…I do have one of those. I still can’t believe I gave my little Sis my 2nd edition though 🙁

2004 L’Oustal Blanc Minervois Naïck 4

Truly outstanding wine, at a steal of a price.

So sick of wines that I can’t get in PA!!!

QOTD: Last wine I really, really dug and couldn’t get enough of was carmenere served in a Chilean wine flight at a local tapas restuarant. I loved it so much that I’ve bought every bottle of Carmenere that I’ve come across since hoping to have the same kind of experience. The 04 Terrunyo (Concha Y Toro) did it for me too.

I cannot get into pinot noir… always seem to love the nose but find the mouth feel boring and thin. Maybe I’ll have to work around the shipping somehow to get some of this and see what the fuss is about.

Great Show!!!

QOTD: The wine that totally rocked me and left me just wanting more was the Nickel and Nickel Lightning Strikes. Its a Cab/Syrah blend which is abnormal for them being that they are single vineyard, single varietal wines. This one just happened to be a mix up and instead of scrapping it, they decided to bottle it. Incredible mouthfeel with the best of both worlds from cab and syrah varietals.

–RH

Cool format – love the thunder for the california pinot -gary’s the bomb -Mollydooker Velvet glove

Can’t you just picture it… GV, 80 years old at the track yelling about the horses (how none of them stack up to 1995 Kentucky Derby winner “Thunder Gulch”), wine, and his prostate!
QOTD: Haven’t had a wine knock my sox off quite like that, yet.

I like the format. I think it kind of funny how the bottles that rock are so limited in production.

QoTd
Yes, a WA malbec was so seductive I bought a case.

Great Show GV…
QOTD I was at a wine tasting and it was Arnoux Vacqueyras from 2004 it was Awesome…

Nice show Gary !
QOTD: recently, I had a Château Lamothe 1986 from Sauternes. It was the second bottle I drank and much better than the first one I had one year ago.

1999 San Leonardo

I had a Vero by Drouhin 02 that was close to a Hagler vs Hearns unfortunately the 2nd bottle was more like Tyson vs Spinks.

I had a Vero by Drouhin 02 that was close to a Hagler vs Hearns unfortunately the 2nd bottle was more like Tyson vs Spinks.

Impressive show…wish we were trying those wines.

QOTD: We have a couple of wines we really like but probably not THAT much. Hope we find some though.

Gary,

I have generally considered it to be a negative when I find “cola” in my Pinot Noir. That and root beer and sassafras flavors, which one can seriously get in California Pinot and sometimes warm Oregon years says to be me “over-ripe” and over-extracted. Where has the delicacy gone? A generation are growing up thinking that Pinot needs to be “BIG!”

I think you’re doing a cool thing, but “raisin” in pinot noir? In old vine zinfandel or port it would add complexity, but in this case, it goes along with the “cola” note in its messaging. If you like this wine, terrific, BUT what do you think Pinot should be about? For most pinot-heads, it’s not size and richness as much as the seductive aromas and finesse that come with a long hang time and interesting soil. Too much California Pinot these days tastes like Syrah to me and the public is growing to expect that. Be sure to clarify for your viewers, Gary not only what is there, but maybe what is missing from big pinot noir. I commend what you are doing overall. I like your honesty and enthusiasm.

Love the Pinot from Anderson Valley. Great episode.