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!

great show “Panthrochuck”
gonna postpone the secret pack tasting, but i’ll tune back in
when the time is right. nice to see all the diversity in one pack.
looking forward to the next one.

QOTD: spending too much money on wine. looking forward to going to
Bordeaux for the first time next month.

I can’t believe I didn’t order the secret pack this time. I kept thinking “I’ll take care of it tomorrow” and never got to it… It’s definitely my favorite thing about WLTV.

I actually picked up the Rivesaltes a few weeks ago at the WL when I stopped by for some cheese and to pick up an old internet order.

I liked it but, to be honest, I was not too impressed. Maybe I expected more texture/viscosity, like in a vintage port or an older banyuls, which I generally think can be helpful with a rich chocolate dessert. Perhaps I wanted it to be sweeter… I bet a Roaring Forties or roquefort pairing would have been the right way to go (instead of dessert). I’ll buy another bottle next weekend… and see if Everett can hook me up with some good Fromage (your crew downstairs is a great asset to WL, btw).

On a separate note – I had been procrastinating on a visit to Terroir for months, and ran to the place last weekend, after I saw your interview. Had a phenomenal time with my wife and the 11 glasses of wine we ordered. Thank you so very much for the recommendation. I wish you did more interviews/reviews of restaurants and wine bars… and please keep WLTV viewers informed of what you are doing at Eat Drink or Die or any other side project. Turns out they are very helpful and informative too!

Shana Tova

Hey Gary:
Thanks for a great appearance at Books and Books!!
Its great to know you talk the talk and walk the walk…
We can’t wait for your next visit.
HOW ABOUT THEM JETS!!??
I took a lot of flak, but they are the greatest!!
Victor from Hempstead.

Hey Gary!

QOTD: Been working hard building the personal brand, kicking butt in my job, and teaching drum lines. Just launched a new personal website inspired by garyv.com. I’m a huge fan of that site, by the way – those vids fire me up! Keep them coming!!!

Hey Gary,
I’m so glad you mention the Le Gourmand. I’m a cook and recently discovered that Rivesaltes. It’s been a hit people I serve it to and goes extremely well with Caramel and toffee desserts. I sadly missed the secret pack but will definitely grab the next one.

Hey Gary,
I’m so glad you mention the Le Gourmand. I’m a cook and recently discovered that Rivesaltes. It’s been a hit people I serve it to and goes extremely well with Caramel and toffee desserts. I sadly missed the secret pack but will definitely grab the next one.

Hey Gary,

The last few months have been real tough for me to stay up to date with the shows. I missed out on this secret pack. Though I am going to pick up the “Le Gourmand” and try it out with some chocolate.

As for myself I’ve been swamped with finishing the development of our product. We’ve been meeting with distributors and retailers trying to stir up some business and things look good. I am a bit bummed that we are going to miss out on the product push for the end of the year.

I’ll keep you posted on our progress over the next few months. We’ll need to host a party for you and the Vayniacks.

Cheers!
~ Rick

Great show gary!
I think Syrah is gonna surpass Cabernet in California and Washington. It’s being my wine to go these days and there are many great producers and wines out there at a very fair price. I like them very much…

GV – I notice you’re often doing a pour out for all the Vayniacs who are no longer with you or can’t be with you. How about a little pour for all the Vayniacs who can’t purchase the secret packs because our state won’t let you ship to us. Bummer. I guess I’m going to have to move to NJ. Which may happen sooner than later…we’ll see.

Couldn’t resist peaking- Will have to wait to taste secret pack in Florida
in 3 weeks when I go on holidays and have these wines and others waiting for
me at my hotel! Yes Canada! You can order delivery of these wines to your
American hotels you visit while on vacation &/or business!

QOTD: Getting ready to learn Greek starting this Thursday!

Hey Gary!

For me, everythings are fine! Got 30 last sunday, got married 3 weeks ago, got our tickets for the thundercruise (our honeymoon), a cellar full of wine… Dude, how can life be better ? 😉

Cheers from Germany,
Nico

G.V.

Thanks for the Secret Pack. Three of the four grape varieties I’ve never tried before, so I’ll be expanding my palate…cuz that’s what we DO…here.

Thanks for Laveranues Coles for being on my fantasy team…ri_donk_ulous!!!

Thanks for the Bern’s update.

Please refrain from referring to Mott as Goldilocks. He’s bigger than you and could put a hurtin’ on your neck. lol

love to see a show when you like all the wines.
now when you are back gotta have some CROATIAN wines!
please!!!

I have had the L’Hiver Syrah recently and thought it was excellent; then I remembered how much it cost and was even happier!

What have “I” been up to?

Working in my yard to prepare for next years veggies(want to get it all done before the Rainy Season starts)

Been short on funds as of late so I have been dipping into my Cellar….man I forgot what good stuff I have in the “closet”

I would have loved to have gotten a “secret Pack”….but…alas….I live in Washington State and you do no ship here…..on a side(and happy)note…thanks to you GV I have been trying new wines…we do not get all the same wines here on the West coast that you taste,but I go for the same regions and try a few.

Oh and GV….although I loved Coles and Farve on my Fantasy teams(those that I started them!!)…..You and your Beloved JETS are still going to go down in Defeat to My Hometown SEATTLE SEAHAWKS on Dec 21st…Hope you are here to feel the Pain at Qwest Field in person!!

Happy New Year/L’Shanah Tovah to you and the Vaynerchuk’s….look forward to seeing you at the Super-Tasting on the 13th….

you had me at white chocolate

QOTD: Loving life and getting my face rocked by the Pittsburgh Symphony.

sounds fun. ..dont have the secret pack but it sounds interesting.
great vid, though. thanks gary go jets !

Secret packs always great shows, and it’s always even more fun when the Jets win…and the Skins beat the Cowboys down. Serious thunder on some of the hits. Looks like Zorn has the potential to be a 2005 Bordeaux…Philly may bring us back down though.

I love how Mott linked up the “Wine Library Supertasing” under today’s episode. Don’t tase me, bro! Don’t tase me! 🙂

QOD: I’m doin fine, but I’m glad you’re gonna be hangin in Jersey for a couple months. The show needs to get back to the roots a bit. You’ve got great things going on with the Jets, bring them back more and just be current and communicative with the vayniacs!

Other than that, happy new year and keep it up!

Secret packs sure look nice. Too bad my state is uptight and doesn’t allow wine shipments. Time to expand WL to other states?! 🙂