LOVE THE BLIND!!!! go blind peaassse unless its an educational episode… I like learning new things about wine

Another lurker checking in. Blind shows are fun but doing them all the time would be too much.

As a lurker,with my shirt on,blind all the time would be tooooooooo much but the episode and past blind episodes were very informative and a great. Keep them coming!

GV -I’m totally with you on the first two…. and then some. Generally (read: when it’s my money) I pass on all wineries that belong to major international concerns. I know that their priority is to the stock holders, etc., blah blah blah. I know there’s far too much wine out there being made by people with real passion for quality, taste, and a commitment to deliver to their true fans.

Barnett, also bummed me out, but only because the Rattlesnake Hill was way overpriced, and just didn’t wow me.

to be contnued…

QOTD: I like the blind episodes but i think they work best for wines the viewers are familiar with like Napa Cab. It would be tough and less interesting with wines from lesser known areas.

gary, LOVE the blind. maybe you could do blind fridays? Going all blind might turn off newbies who want to learn about wine…

Gary I fear that your beard is going to grow long like Motts but then I guess you can paint the beard white and Play Secret Santa at Wine Library! Now that would be a fun episode!

Blind taste test rocked! It was fun to see you try these wines! I really wish you would try a Cabernet called Vine Cliff from Napa Valley… want to see how you would rate that!

QOTD: YES!!! Blind Taste Tests all of ’09 that would be pretty cool! How about just the first quarter at least! Cause I really enjoy when you have your guests!

All blind all the time!

I like the education episodes too, but YES, “Blind in ’09″…at least once per week.

I vote for blind weekends.

Love the show.

This was a fantastic episode, but…

QOTD: NO!!! I love variety, and if you had to do every 2009 show this way, you would severely limit yourself. I think once or twice a week at MOST.

Steltzner does a great job on their Cabs in particular – Stags Leap estate fruit always delivers for anyone fortunate enough to get fruit from the area (Pine Ridge, Clos du Val, et al). SLD Cabs actually ran under $20 ten years ago, and it was an incredible amount of fruit in that bottle. Unfortunately, with Reserve bottlings, many wineries tend to definately oak the Hell out of the stuff, but I’m hoping that this is a trend that can be moderated.(My personal caveat is to generally avoid Reserve bottlings of blue chip wineries) Steltzner Claret, though not quite as remarkable, usually delivers good wine/ decent value at a much lower price point.

My earlier point about conglomerate-owned operations is illustrated (inveresly) by Peter Newton’s and his wife’s dedication, and genius. You might have told the Vayniacs that Newton was the founder of Sterling Vineyards, waaay back in 1964. And he made a gorgeous winery, and built a great brand, and made very good wine – and sold it to Coca-Cola in 1977, who made money off of it, and turned around and sold it to Seagram, who then sold it to Diageo… and these days, this nonsense goes on by the week. And while they have skilled hands at the helm, and billions at their disposal, ultimately, it’s just shuffling a bunch of checkers around a board to them, and where they’ll make more money this week as opposed to last.

All of Newton’s wines, and vineyard and cellar practices are about reaching the pinnacle of quality. It shows in every one of their wines. I actually had one wine from them, which we’d purchased the entire state allotment of – and I was hesitant on this move, cause I wasn’t mad for the balance of that particular wine, but at our special offered price, the public bought the entire pallate in like, a week or something – much of it bottle by bottle, but a healthy amount going for 6-pack cases. It was after THAT that we got first dibs on that ’02 unfiltered Chard- and we started racking up the REAL exclusive on awesome stuff. Every person who tasted that wine was blown clean away! I felt really proud to have products like that.

I haven’t had Cliff Lede wines as of yet, but am def. on the lookout.

Thanks for another great ep!

I am so out-voted here. Do LESS BLIND.
Actually, looks like I’m the only one who does NOT like this format.
Oh well. I’ll stay tuned.

Love the blind format, but like others, think maybe once a week would be good. Every day would be too much for you and us!

Just a quick note. The 2005 Cliff Lede (pronounced “laydee”) was rated 92-94 by Wine Spectator.

Hi Gary

I liked the show thanks??? All those big, expensive Napa Cabs has me wandering about Napa Cab. Are these the reserve or premium labels for these wineries? Do they have normal realise wines at normal prices?? In Australia not may wineries would release a standard estate wine at $40-$60 and expect to sell it, maybe Pinot’s a bit different…

QOTD: Like blind, but also like it when wines are selected for a more ‘educational’ focus. Certainly more blind is cool, but keep the mix up.

Cheers
Andrew

QOTD: Once a week.

QOTD:yes

Nice show Gary!
I do love the blind format but the entire year is quite a commitment.

QOTD: YES!!!

QOTD: Yes, blind all the time.

once a week for sure, but i, like so many others, think a whole year would be a bit much.

One blind episode per week in ’09! There is a lot of value from non-blind shows where there is more information shared…AMM

I vote every 3rd show is a blind tasting. Maybe every Wednesday.

A lurker coming out…

Yes, I love the idea of lots of blind tastings…but please also keep sharing information on regions, grapes, etc. Perhaps you can do focused wine tastings, but share information about the region/grape beforehand.

Thanks so much!! Love the show!