Football season, school, work. bout it for me. Go packers! (they need to stop loosing 🙁 )

Good show Gary. I definatly have to get a secret pack next time…What have I been up to? Lots of Chicago sports…Bear win and gearing up for the Cub in the playoffs.

Hey Gary,

I was wondering if you are able to ship wine to Michigan? Please e-mail me I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks

Alex

I’m hoping to get the next secret pack as I missed this one, and unfortunately I can’t make it to the SUPERtasting OR the Thunder Cruise next year…sadness prevails.

QOTD: Even though you hate me for being a fan of such a DIRTY team like the Pats, I have been spending time raising my first son Braelon (who just turned two months old!) with my wife Courtney and would LOVE a shout out in a future episode for our new arrival (we watch together all the time!) That would be radical! Fatherhood is an amazing thing, but keeps me busy everyday!

Thanks, keep up the great episodes!

Matt (ChiroGuyDC)

Gary, I did not get the secret pack but I have tasted the 2005 Saison Des Vins Syrah L?hiver and you totally nailed it. When I had it a couple months ago, Slim Jims were one thing that really stood out in my palate.

Wanted this secret pack but I think it cannot been sent to Canada.

QOTD: Working, gym, listening to Kayne West Love Lockdown, watching all of my favorite tv shows (Dexter, Prison Break, Entourage, Californication, Heroes… waiting for 30 rocks) and for sure, continue to expand my palate by drinking a lot of different wines, some sauternes and a bunch of belgium beers.

QOTD: A coworker of mine recently left our office to move to Japan with his family, and instead of hiring someone else, I just had to pick up the slack, so it seems like I’ve just been working all the time lately.

I’ll probably be at Wine Library on the 11th.

Gary,
Great Secret Pack choices–unfortunately I was not able to taste them
tonight but will put together a party this weekend.
Life is back to normal: too much work, high school tennis (as a proud
parent), and wading through fall mailing list allotments (and wondering
where I can stash more wine that I don’t really need).
All is good.

QOTD: Gary really liked the Albarino the most of the secret pack the syrah and the Montefalco I wasn’t as high on and the dessert wine I still need to try but I want to wait until I have the right dessert to pair with it….love the secret packs and I hope the next one is just as fun….it is the most adventureous wines I get to try…..

Since Gary says he’s reading all these comments…

My show idea: Gateway Wines

Just like they say certain drugs are “gateway drugs” that lead to “hard drugs”, I’d like to see an episode on a few wines that could be “gateway wines” for those of us with “young palates” and prefer wines on the sweet side. Wines that can help build a bridge to expanding our young palates.

As you say, “try new things”, but a lot of wines I try just seem “too rough” and I don’t like them. I need some baby steps to build up to the big boy wines.

Great package, G. And the wines were nice, too.

Seriously, had my state of IL not gone to the dark side, I certainly woulda in on this one; or, at the very least picked up a few individually.

QOTD: Planning my wedding, watching the Cubs (and Bears), and sipping on the vino. Good to hear you’re slowing down a bit. Catch your breath man…you deserve it.

Jets suck, go Ravens!

QOTD: Ive been the grind of work, gym and home but there are some high lights my brother and his wife had a baby girl Elise which is awsome but now puts the pressure on me to have a kid but i have to get a woman fist. other then that im amped that hockey starts this weekend cant wait to see how the Sabers do btw how about them Bills 4-0 but this week is going to be the first loss. last but not least ive been going to this place in Amhert its a suburb for buffalo called Premire and getting lost in the wine section and trying wines ive never had like the PV and oh my its good had an aussie one called Redd Mudd it was awsome but then again its the only one ive ever had. thats about it my friend Love the shows keep up the good work

Since I’m alone this evening, I opened only the Syrah to taste along. I’m not liking the nose at all. I do get hints of the Slim Jim if I let it sit for a bit, but when poured, it’s kinda’ nasty funky, like the smell one gets from a basement drain when backing up … you know, those nasty sewer gases. It’s quite a turnoff. I get only very slight fruit because of it.

I have to admit, I can’t recall any Syrah I’ve ever liked, and this one doesn’t change my mind. Your description is pretty accurate, but there is a bitterness that turns me off. Can’t say it’s the tannins, because I love Cabernet Sauvignon, and most big, bold Italian reds I’ve tasted. I’m not experienced enough to describe it, but it’s almost the mixture of vegetation and bitterness, instead of fruit and tannins, that doesn’t appeal to me in Syrah. And this nose is nasty!

Really excited, though, about opening the Sagrantino!

Hey Gary, I thought it was a great show. Sadly I was unable to join you since I go to school in a state where you can’t ship wine to (MN), I am also from a state that you cannot ship wine to (PA). I was wondering if you could have a secret pack near Christmas and if you could have some of the secret packs available for pick up, because I could probably drive on up to the store when I am home for break.

So, I am a newly returning member of the Vaner-nation. Last fall I was very sure to watch every day, and I was getting close to catching up with the episodes I had missed; last fall was actually my first return to watching WLTV, as I did watch a number of episodes when you first started doing so (around #20 or so), but I was not yet of age, so it sort of made me sad learning about wine, but not being able to actually taste it, at least legally). So when I turned 21 last fall I started tuning in.

The only reason I stopped watching was because this past spring I studied abroad in Rome. My internet connection wasn’t great, but I did continue watching for some time, but then there school got crazy, and you almost stopped doing the show. So I took a break. BUT now I am back in school, and back in the mode for drinking some wine and most importantly expanding my palate.

I just got your book “101 Wines” today, and I am enjoying it, and I hope that I might be able to get a hold of a few of them out here, who knows.

But life is good, and I am really excited for this coming January because I’ll be living in NYC for 3 weeks. Do you have any awesome suggestions on some must try restaurants or wine bars that you think a college kid (ckc) like myself could actually afford and not look stupid going to with some friends? That would be awesome.

I hope that I get a chance to visit the store when I’m home on break, maybe I’ll run into you, and maybe I’ll be lucky enough to pick up a secret pack!

Ciao!

Heyya Gary!

Great show, unfortunately I missed the secret pack, maybe next time.
Work has me consumed quite a bit for now at least. Getting married in 19 days which I’m REALLY excited about. Flying back east for that. She’s moving out after the honeymoon.

Other than that, not a whole lot.

Let us know how to get the newest wristbands! I would enjoy getting one.
Glad to have you back, I always enjoy the non-taped shows.

The Secret Pack sounded phenomenal.

QOTD: Attending the Santa Fe Wine and Chile Fiesta, adopting a stray cat (the one who fell in through our roof), planning a Mariachi birthday party for my mother, getting ready to leave Wednesday for Crushcamp in San Francisco, and Russian River Valley.

QOTD: Preparing myself for the Cubs in the playoffs, gonna be a lot of fun! Good show, the secret packs are fun to watch.

Also, congrats on Favre tearing it up, but my God, were those uniforms ugly!

Gary,

I have been watching all the videos you have been doing like Eat, Drink or Die and I enjoyed the keynote talks. How about giving a shout out for a long time Vayniac (Me). It is great that you will be hanging around WLTV instead of globe trotting.

Gary Great Show!!!
I love every episode I have seen, which is not many considering you have over five hundy, plus I just discovered the show around three weeks ago.
Anyways I’m 24 years old and I’m just starting to get into tasting wine. What I think is so great about wine is that you can find good stuff you like for under 20 bones. I know that this is absolutely nothing new to you, but I think that is the greatest thing. When I was like 19 or 20 I tried some kind of Merlot that was horrible to me and I just figured I didn’t like wine, but literally last month I went to a tasting with some friends, tried some very good wines that I liked and some others I didn’t like, but I learned that it is okay to not like everything you try. Now, I’m taking your advice and tiring different things and finding what I like, what’s good to me.
By the way I live in Sonoma County, CA and grew up in Lake County, CA so there are plenty of local wines to try. I have not found any episodes with Lake County wines on them, I would love to see you try Thirty Nine Degrees 2005 Petite Sirah. Also, I would like to see you try my favorite wine I have tasted so far, A Catena 2005 Malbec from Argentina.
And Finally I am tempted to order this Thunder Cruise Secret Pack, I am jealous of all the people that got to try these wines with you and dazzle their palate. Do you ship out to California and what are the chances I get the pass to go on the cruise? Sorry for the long Comment but I just want you to know how much I appreciate WLTV.
Thank you, Ben

Things are fantastic….just got done cycling the rim of Crater Lake…now just about to delve into harvest out here in Dundee, OR….gonna get Loco

QOTD: Just got back from a trip to Walla Walla. Best experiences were at Spring Valley and Cougar Crest. Really liked the Cougar Crest 2006 Estate Viognier and the 2003 Estate Syrah Reserve. They are pouring their primo wines through the pump machines for an additional $5. My friends and I hit up this winery specifically because of the tastings you did Gary. The 2003 Estate reserve Cabernet Sav was also amazing, but the one that blew me away was their 2003 Estate grown Port. I will join their wine club specifically for this port. Never did I expect a port from Washington state to be this tasty. Their 2005 Estate grown Cab Franc was also of note. There were many really good wines we tried on this trip, but Cougar Crest rocked the hizzy with their tasting room, number of good wines to try, and you gotta love that statue of a cougar right their in the room. I would love to see you do a show that focuses just on Walla Walla. If you do, seek out the Spring Valley wines. The Uriah, Frederick, and Derby wines from Spring Valley brought some thunder.

My cousin, Rob Hord, had the best joke of the trip. He went out one night and saw a great looking lady that was obviously a bit older than himself. He asked her if she went to Washington St. She didn’t understand and asked him why he asks. “Because you are a cougar baby”. Apparently she slapped his ass. A joke I could not forget as I posed for a photo next to the cougar statue at Cougar Crest.

Wine trips to the Walla Walla region are definitely worth the pilgrimage.
Gary, you show brought the thunder to my friends and I and we thank you.

-Jon Olson, Austin, TX
[email protected]

QOTD: Just got back from a trip to Walla Walla. Best experiences were at Spring Valley and Cougar Crest. Really liked the Cougar Crest 2006 Estate Viognier and the 2003 Estate Syrah Reserve. They are pouring their primo wines through the pump machines for an additional $5. My friends and I hit up this winery specifically because of the tastings you did Gary. The 2003 Estate reserve Cabernet Sav was also amazing, but the one that blew me away was their 2003 Estate grown Port. I will join their wine club specifically for this port. Never did I expect a port from Washington state to be this tasty. Their 2005 Estate grown Cab Franc was also of note. There were many really good wines we tried on this trip, but Cougar Crest rocked the hizzy with their tasting room, number of good wines to try, and you gotta love that statue of a cougar right their in the room. I would love to see you do a show that focuses just on Walla Walla. If you do, seek out the Spring Valley wines. The Uriah, Frederick, and Derby wines from Spring Valley brought some thunder.

My cousin, Rob Hord, had the best joke of the trip. He went out one night and saw a great looking lady that was obviously a bit older than himself. He asked her if she went to Washington St. She didn’t understand and asked him why he asks. “Because you are a cougar baby”. Apparently she slapped his ass. A joke I could not forget as I posed for a photo next to the cougar statue at Cougar Crest.

Wine trips to the Walla Walla region are definitely worth the pilgrimage.
Gary, you show brought the thunder to my friends and I and we thank you.

-Jon Olson, Austin, TX
[email protected]

I apologize for my type-o’s in my previous message. 😮
-Jon

Great, great episode! Tasted along, loved all the wines, for many reasons. Took notes as we tasted with you, however, our notes were taken before we heard your comments on the wines. Fun!

You asked for it…

All wines tasted at room temp. Hubby and I are combining notes.

Albarino –

Sniffy sniff: Fun nose! Lemmony, creamy, apple, pear, and some oakiness.

Taste: Silky on the palate. Progressive grapefruit…meaning, more grapefruit as it goes to the finish. Some smokiness. Like this wine. We give a 89+.

Syrah –

Sniffy sniff: Deep berry, with the skin of a plum, deep jammy, a mustiness. Hubby says it’s like walking into Aunt Ruth’s jam cellar. Some heat (sorry, Gary, no ‘Slim Jim’ on this one…)

Taste: Nothing like the nose. The initial taste is a definite forward pucker, good tannins, some bitterness, but not offensive. Oak, tastes like chewing on an old bicycle tire. Definitely a food wine, not a stand-alone. Nice finish. We give it an 88+.

Sagrantino –

Sniffy sniff: Old world, lovely berry dust, some currant, a little petrol. Hubby says it’s like going to his dad’s old garage where musty ledgers were kept. Some heat, some inner tube…LOVE THE NOSE!

Taste: BIG tannins, whew! Sour cherries, rubber. Definite food wine. After hearing your comments, could pick up the dark chocolate. We give an 88.

Le Gourmand

Sniffy sniff: First, the heat! Then, milk chocolate licorice, orange cassis, and again, some rubber. A little petrol. LOVIN’ THIS NOSE!

Taste: Candied caramel, sweet cassis. Wow! For us, this is too sweet for chocolate. Would be great after a wonderful meal, with a to-die-for cheese tray. We tasted it with a fontina. It was lovely, but a more full-bodied cheese would do this justice. We gave it a 90.

Thanks, Gary! Lots ‘o fun!