My biggest surprise right now is how annoying and overpriced California especially Napa and Sonoma wines have become. I barely drink them anymore because I’m bored big time. It was fun seeing the reveiw of Chilean Cabs drank through many a case of Concha y Toro Diablo and have always fund great value.

Great show Gary – hope you have an AWESOME Vay-kay!!!

QOTD: The sheer scope of what it out there once you take off your blinders continues to amaze me the most.

Gary, I got your book yesterday in San Francisco where you will be next week. Looking forward to you signing it! I haven’t seen the show yet, but I am loving all of these Chilean wine episodes! Hands down the most underated region in the world and there is no euro to dollar crap to worry about! Keep it up, I don’t think anyone appreciates paying top bill for an iffy 90pt wines.

I am surprised that there is no noticeable effort to change the interstate wine shipping laws.

The show is great. I like the way you change the show up and do things a little differently. You don’t have to have a “Formula” for a show.

The heads to heads are fun and very high energy.

Looking forward to the “Link it up” t-shirt.

QOTD: My biggest suprise has been the continued challenge of finding reasonable priced (affordable) wine that is enjoyable for regular drinking. Prices continue to increase even in the less than popular geographies where decent bargains could be found. They’re still out there just harder to find.
Thanks Gary, Enjoy your vacation.

I was struck by the intensity of chocolate flavors in an entry priced amarone.

QOTD: Shocked (but not too surprised) by escalating prices, of course…but improvement in “lower-end” quality as well, as demonstrated in today’s viewing! Have a great vacation, Gary, and hey, if Conan (or anyone else) questions your use of the phrase “sniffy-sniff”, just ask them if they would prefer “smelly-smell”?? That should give them pausy-pause!

QOTD: I’m still surpised at the inability to take white wines seriously.

QOTD: That winedrinkers in the U.S. continue to let the wine critics in Parker and the Spectator do their judging and scoring for them — and that too many American wine retailers continue to use scores to do their marketing for them. “90 points for ten bones!: Feh.

QOTD: I was/am struck by how bland and boring hte LCBO has gotten. How many Chardonnay’s does one store need? Zero Chennin Blanc for the masses, took me 45 minutes to find a Xarel-Lo blend. I wish there was some competition up in these hiziziles! 🙂

Thanks for the Chilean feature this week. Enjoy the vacation, you’ve BOTH earned it.

QOTD: That there still isn’t a Mott Link it Up! T-shirt…

Happy vaca to you and Lizzy! Ditch the wireless connectivity until you’re home! 🙂

Yo Brother!!!

I’m back from bike week. What a blast!!! It is sick down there. We landed up doing a photo shoot. I’ll be in Easyrider magazine riding the Harley smoking a cigar…lol

Catching up on the shows because I had no laptop. I liked the blind tasting. Very cool. But after wacthing Conan I thought he dissed you a little there making too much fun at everything. I would boycott his ass from now on until he takes you more seriously. As far as the other two shows I think you got the respect you deserve from both Jimmy the mad money Crameraimer and the big idea himself Deutschmaster Donny.

They both showed you respect and as someone you are. A class act!!!!!!!! But Conehead O’Brian on the other hand made a joke out of every thing you did. I would have dumped that big ass glass he poured for himself mixing all those wines together all over his orange head because that’s how I roll.

What the hell was that all about? He found that funny? I didn’t. And what was the next to the last wine????

Anyway besides that I think the shows were great. You looked great!!! Congradulations!!!!!!

QOTD: I hate spending a lot of money on a bottle only to find out the ratings were mearly to sell the thing and have nothing to do with the truth as the rating to price ratio comparison. And then spending $20 on a bottle you want to go buy 3 cases of because it’s the home run of the year and tastes like a $50 bottle.

How do you equate the rating to the true value of the wine? It seems fabricated on 80% of the wines when you read these ratings out of WS, or RP.

You should come up with a Vaynerating. A system which people can use to equate the rating of the wine to the price value.

Hummmmm….. I better get a royalty from that new book. “The Vayner Guide”
Or how about that monthly newsletter. The Vayner Ratings.

🙂

Gary! Good job!
Wayne

QOTD: I’m still dismayed by the corkage fees charged in most restaurants. I was pleasantly surprised the other day in Baldwin Park (Orlando) when the owner of the Grouper said why should I charge you a corkage when you are coming to my place to eat my food? If you want to bring a vintage wine in that I don’t stock, where’s the problem? Wish that attitude would spread.

Speaking of Chile, have you tried Santa Ema Reserve Merlot 2004? High oak but really terrific (I like the vanilla bombs myself). Shared 15 cases of the stuff with friends in the last year as an every day drinker. Current vintage 2005 not quite as good.

QOTD: I’m surprised that more wine geeks haven’t followed your lead and put their reviews online. It ain’t easy following the Thunder show’s giant footsteps, but we should be forming a network of wine loves online – a perfect format to take over the world.

SHOCK – the jets stink – no serious the 2005 bordeaux’s have blown me away !!!

First episode I’ve ever seen before… and I’m not much of a beer drinker, but I have to say this is pretty awesome! I’m gonna try one of these bottles tonight before I go out instead of drinking the normal Goose Island microbrews.

thanks Vay ner chuk!

Great show. Have a great vacation!

QOTD: I have been “shaken” (not surprised) by the rising price of wine but at the same time am also pleasantly surprised at how wine merchants are bring out the less expensive wines from South America, South Africa and Australia.

QOTD: 1.)How vital water is! Janis had a page about how many bottles of water it takes to produce a bottle of wine…otta start my hording bottles now! SCARY SHIZ I TELL YA
2.) Also, realized that wines are degased before bottling, I’ve had a few spanish wines that are not degased and left with a palate cleansing lift like great German Rieslings…it made me think that’s all.
3.)How few people know their palate. It really makes me think we are a confederacy of non-tasters, or play-off-ers shaking their head. In one ear and out the other! Quite a shame.
And as always Thanks for Spreadin the ThuNdEr!!!!

QOTD:

1. How much bad wine there is out there – unbalanced, or otherwise.

2. I had a wine that was structurally just fine, and that is a really popular rhone at the local wine store (Remizieres Crozes-hermitage 06, I think), and I hated it because the quality of the fruit just didn’t smell good to me. I couldn’t describe it, though.

3. How many wines have detectable amounts of methoxypyrazines, once you know what to look for.

4. How difficult it is to spit cleanly from a reasonable distance.

5. (this was really a shocker): How few people on eBob have heard of Alder Yarrow or Vinography, and how quick they were to slam him for his article on Screaming Eagle’s early departure from a trade tasting.

QOTYesterDay: I’m shocked at how many good 2005 Bordeaux values are available right now (not the top classified growths, but Premières Côtes de Bordeaux and cru bourgeois). You don’t have to spend a fortune to get very drinkable wine.

QOTD: I’ve been drinking wine and expanding my palate for 10-15 years yet I keep discovering how little I know. I’m enjoying the learning process.

QTOD: I’m surprised by how many people are becoming wine savvy these days. I’m fairly new to good wine, definitely new to great wine but know a bit, and I’m surprised at how many people seem to know more than me.

When you do find that diamond in the rough, like an ’01 Cosentino The Zin, that they had on sale at your local wine shop and you go back a week later thinking this is some great stuff that has been overlooked and you find a claim for the entire last case. Well that my friends is just a damn shame. You gotta be quick.

QOTD:
Just this past week I tried the same wine, with two different meals a couple days apart (Chicken Alfredo one night, and then an Orange Pepper and Cheddar Omelette earlier this afternoon) and witnessed firsthand how different the same wine can taste depending on the circumstances. I know it’s something that you always mention, and that I have experienced before but never to this degree. It blew me away and excited me even more about the vino.