QOTD: Doesn’t matter to me one way or the other as long as it is good.

Great. Now I’m going to have to stop watching with my 6-year old in the room. She hears “bulls%@t” enough around the house, I don’t mind when Sasha let’s one slip, but no Santa Claus? Next thing you know she’ll stop eating fruits, vegies, and other stuff because she won’t believe its helping her expand her palate.

Great. Now I’m going to have to stop watching with my 6-year old in the room. She hears “bulls%@t” enough around the house, I don’t mind when Sasha let’s one slip, but no Santa Claus? Next thing you know she’ll stop eating fruits, vegies, and other stuff because she won’t believe its helping her expand her palate.

QOTD: If the lesser pedigree tasted better to me than the estate wine, I definitely would choose that wine, not the prestige.

Brutal Gary. Why would he do this to himself and his Brand?? Nice guy though, I totally know where he’s coming from banging his head. Cupcake?? What a joke but it sells.

Family Estate grown and btl’d all the way baby.

Andres R, about Jim Cramer, I’m not sure GV is fond of his appearance:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/05/jon-stewart-eviscerates-c_n_172057.html

How smart can he be?

So out of curiosity, I was drinking a Freisa tonight, and wondered if Gary had ever tried one. So I punch it in, and sure enough, you haven’t. When are you going to do one on the show?

Liked the guest, but sometimes the guest is more interesting than the wines. I know he’s trying to make a living at it, but it’s probably rough competing with supermarket wines. Hahn has been a great $12 play for me at the store of late, even if it is a little more fruit-forward than I enjoy.

Question of the Day: Do I care that much about Estate fruit? It depends. If I know the producer, and know they have a reputation for quality anyway, then probably the Estate is a higher level than their regular wine and I consider it a mark of quality. If not, then I really don’t know anything about the wine just because it’s estate fruit. No romance here. If the wine sucks, we should say so, even if it is estate fruit. I wish you(the guest, I’m sorry I forgot your name) the best, and hope to see you here in illinois soon, so I can try your wine. It’d probably beat the pants off of the crap they are using for the WOTM club at the local store.

QOTD: You have to give respect to those who get their hands dirty – particularly when it’s a family estate… lots of tradition…

Romance aside, I’m of the camp that good wine is good wine. The science or the romance might imply one technique is superior, but the art of it adds that hefty dose of variance that makes each palate unique. Therefore, there is no valid blanket statement. The only way to judge is to taste.

Wait, what’s this about Santa Claus? He’s real right?

Gary, I was not sure about this show in the beginning but our guest really grew on me and I appreciated his take on the wine industry. It was eye opening in some ways for me. Thanks for keeping this whole thing so real for us.

QOTD: I def prefer the Estate bottled wines in theory but I am sure that I am hating some of those and enjoying the production line wines. Preferene= Estate bottled. I don’t want to those the wonder that Santa just might be real! 😉

Very interesting show. I really like seeing the wine world from a straight business perspective. Joe knows his wine but he seems to know how to please the masses even better. If he can build some brand name recognition, I think he will have powerhouse product in the future.

QOTD – I’m looking for quality wine, period. I feel that many wine makers with a great back story of the terroir and having their hands in the dirt are just using creative marketing from a different angle. I actually respect someone like Joe for being honest.

Great Episode.

Looking forward to trying the wine with pizza.
Please let me know where in MI you sell.

QOTD: Don’t care. I go by taste.

Gary,

Thanks again for having me on. To all of you who have commented on the show, I thank you as well. It was a lot of fun and I am sure some opportunities will come from it.

One thing that I wish that I would have mentioned during the “getting your hands dirty” part. I did take a 5 week sabbatical last fall to move to Sonoma and work as a harvest intern during crush. I did manual punch downs, dug out tanks and cleaned many, many tanks and barrels. It was at a custom crush house so I was making wine for several other “wineries” (read tasting rooms with great addresses). I did this as a lifetime experience adventure more than anything. I also wanted to make closer connections with wineries and vineyard owners and gain experience in tasting very very young wine.

To those who are looking for my wines in your state; I hope to get them to you. It never hurts to ask a retailer to bring some in. They won’t get stuck with them.

The best of everything,

Joe Zaucha
JZ Wine Company

Great show Guys, very interesting and the dynamic between you two was interesting. A little like Mike and the Mad Dog.

Question For Gary, I live by the Wine Library, what is the best pizza within 15 miles?

Hi Gary,

Love the energy but I have sincerely disagree with you regarding Pizza Vino Pinot Noir. I have not tried the wine but just hearing the fact the wine is from California and retails between $9.99 – $7.99 indicates to me it’s a good deal. Why do I say this?? Simple- Redwood Creek, BV, Woodbridge, Rex, Pepperwood… all of the under $9.99 retail Pinot Noirs are being produced in France, Germany, Italy, and Chile but sold under an American label. Amazing?!?!

So, for under $10 I am very interested in trying Pizza Vino for the great American soft fruit Pinot’s offer from the new world.

Keep tasting,
Alan

I’m all about awesome marketing ideas Gary, and this guy has some clever labels.

But this guest for your show lacks some SERIOUS thunder.

And it was obvious the wines lacked serious thunder too.

Brock

I’ve had perfectly wonderful experiences with Duboeuf Beaujolais, cheap-ass Montepulciano from god knows where, you name it. Good wine is good wine, and the part of you that decides that can’t be reasoned with.

An interesting look from a different angle. The label should move the Pizza Vino no problem.

QOTD: As long as it tastes good, it doesn’t really matter – except for a couple of winemakers I know personally, I’ll always buy their stuff and it is always good.

Very cool guest. Enjoyed the honesty and industry tidbits. Great labels that catch your eye and say “fun”. Can’t wait till they reach Pittsburgh. May have to take a little road trip before then just to try.

QOTD: Doesn’t matter. Whatever tastes best wins.

This is my first post on here, yay. Actually from Cleveland and have had the pinot before. I remember thinking it was an 85ish wine, thought also I was able to pick it up for $2.99 a bottle at Jungle Jim’s (giant, I mean has a monorail inside, giant international market). When I tasted how good it was for the money I bought a bunch more. This was maybe 2 years ago so possibly the wine was holding up better then.

I’ll be honest and say if it hadn’t been on clearance, I probably would have passed something like this up real fast. Kitschy marketing usually makes me think there’s something to hide or that the money is not going to make good juice. This is definitely just a generalization and if I had tasted something or had good knowledge of the quality beforehand, I’d certainly be happy with a good negociant wine over and ok estate bottled blah blah blah. It’s all about what is in the glass for me.

Way to represent Ohio! I have seen all of those in my local grocery store, & will have to try the cab. Too bad y’all didn’t get to pair it with the pizza.

Regarding the Buckeye, we’re the Buckeye state, how can OSU trademark that? I’m a huge OSU fan, but that would seem to be overstepping their bounds. Unless the scarlet & grey on the label was an issue.

QOTD: I would rather have the quality & lower price.

I have to say that I prefer the estate grown and bottled wines. I’m certainly willing to pay more for them.

Why didn’t you eat the pizza with the wine? Isn’t that the main play?
I am not going to pair an an 89 0r 90 wine with pizza

QOTD; There is so much wine on the market and you have to have some guidlines to use to make your selection. This is why I am watching Gary.

actually , this was a pretty good show. the good thing is that this guy is not trying to be someone else and i respect his honesty. there are a lot of wine growers selling bottles at 30 40 50 bones or more that are making wine for the ” american ” palate and brush it off.
on that note, in the store, i would never pick this up BUT i think of my dad or other “guys” out there would buy it just on the packaging. they would say ” PIZZA, i am eating pizza tonight, this goes with that. ” it is the least intimidating lable, it says easy, nothing to think about, no castles . perfect. and it is funny.
qotd – when it comes to lower end wines, i don’t really care at the end of the day. faiveley makes a good bourgogne and it is from purchased fruit. when i am spending say 30 and up, i start to think more about if a guy raised it from start to finish.

Good episode GV and JZ. It reveals a lot of insight to the different aspects of this diverse market. I know many winery owners which are producing great estate wines but are just unable to sell them due to lack of marketing and/or distributors. The low cost approach that JZ has taken is very appealing financially. It wont be long until someone creates an “eBay” for purchasing bulk wine.

QOTD: I’ll drink anything, as long as it keeps expanding my palette

Pizza gets a bad rap again. It’s about as real a food as any. Why drink cheap wine because you’re having pizza?
Good information though, and a great guest. He reveals alot about the industry’s dark side. It’s like music made for the masses. Some of it is fun.