I couldn’t care less who makes the wine. The only question is: “Does it rock my world?” And if the answer’s “Yes!” then I’m buying. The only problem is that “sense of place” is something I really enjoy, and it often gets lost in budget cuvees.

Great show.
I like this guy’s approach of giving people what they want…putting out what sells. He has his clientele and is not trying to compete with some $400/bottle Bordeaux – and he shouldn’t have to…just like McDonald’s shouldn’t be forced to sell fillet mignon and duck a l’orange.

QOTD: I would buy what tastes good to me and at a good price.

this dude is selling in the poorest big city in the us, cleveland.. great product for that market, awesome job on this one, wish they sold in texas.. i hope it goes well in the next few months JZ

-ML

I was a first time viewer of this show and thought it was well done. Gary, do you always interrupt your guests that much? I thought JZ handled the interruptions very well. Clearly he is very knowledgeable about wine and I believe he’s got something very good here.

Loved the labels!

Good Luck JZ

Without the acid to back up residual sugar, you got smarmy candy slime in your mouth?..THE thing with Riesling is the balance of the acid. GV is rite on.

Any Pinot Noir or Riesling from Lodi has got to be junk!! I live here. Way too hot.

GV was uncomfortably gracious.

BTW – Good luck marketing “Buckeye” branded wine in Michigan. I know that me and my A2 crew are pretty unlikely to pick this up without the intention of breaking it.

Bottom line, I’m sold by the package!

I personally know JZ. He exactly as he appeared on the show—honest, knowledgeable and has good business sense. He has good, decent wines that are not meant to be rated 90 pts, but easy to drink and enjoy at their price point with good, simple food. It was a great episode and fun to watch. He is definitely a Clevelander through and through!

Folks, I’ve had Pizza Vino Cabernet – and it’s no joke. Great finish, nicely balanced. Some nice fruit throughout. I’d buy it again if I found it in my area.

Excellent show – great guest, lots of fun.

Yawn… this episode was not as exciting as most. some interesting content, but a little stale. QOTD: i would choose either, i like to have a little of both.

I thought it was a great show. JZ is very knowledgable about wine and his labels are clever. I enjoy the Pizza Vino cab and recommend it to friends. Looking forward to trying Teacher’s Pet…what a great label!

I thought it was a great show. JZ is very knowledgable about wine and his labels are clever. I enjoy the Pizza Vino cab and recommend it to friends. Looking forward to trying Teacher’s Pet…what a great label!

Great episode JZ was a really cool guy. I wish i could get his wines out here in CA they sound perfect as the every night drinkers. I would have also liked to see you pair them with the pizza to see how they paired but I know the time wasn’t there.

QOTD:
-Would rather go for which ever tastes the best 🙂

I know Joe personally through the wine business here in Ohio. For all of you followers that have posted you wish you could get these wines…move to Ohio. JZ wines are in retail chain accounts,small wine shops, restaurants including Pizza Hut Bistro. Joe I wish you had told him that you and your cousin had personally made over 15 pizzas to get the “just right” pizza for your label.

Continued success!!!

I really enjoyed seeing someone look at this industry as a business rather than as a passion for a change. It might be too mercenary for some but I have observed too many people poor their money into this industry without a sustainable strategy.

I wish JZ luck and hope he finds the ingredients (literally) to his success. Thanks for coming on the show. I hope it encourages the Vayniacs to roll the dice and try one of your wines to see for themselves. At the price point it is worth a folly. Just think… if half the viewers each grabbed a bottle and 1/100th thought it was okay… might be a nice bonus.

Gary – you gotta answer…. why no pizza!!!!!!!

QOTD: I am not too concerned how the wine got there. QPR is king!

I like that Gary told it like he saw it and that the guest (sorry I forgot your name) didn’t mind. If I see your wines in my local market I will probably try at least one even though they’re not marketed to me.

qotd: It’s all about quality for me when we’re talking about acceptable to good everyday wines. I buy many inexpensive wines from negociant producers, and I think many of those producers are doing a good or great job in many different regions.

I totally understand….your guest is selling to the consumer. I work in a wine shop and most of our consumers have value palates, Barefoot, Cavit, Woodbridge. He’s on the right track. Acid schmacid. Consumers want easy drinking value plays. I’m a ‘wine snob’ and I won’t touch Barefoot, Cavit, Woodbridge, Crane Lake, Night Harvest, Sutter Home, Yellow Tail, Frontera, but they sell quickly….

Interesting show. It’s not so easy being a businessman.

QOTD: If you have a good winemaker you’re golden. I go by reviews more than pedigree.

I’ve had the Pizza Vino cab, and it totally delivers on the implied promise. It’s a great pairing with a pizza, and you can still afford it on top of delivery charges in this less than stellar economy. I wish you’d had a little pizza with it while you were tasting. The two are meant to be together.

My e-mail address is prison spelled backward. I have worked California prisons for 30 years. During my tenure with the Department of Corrections I have acquired some fairly different wine (or pruno) receipes from the inmates. I would like to send you a bottle of my home brew for your tasting and critique. Please let me know if you are interested.

A very good episode and good guest, I commend him for his honesty and business spirit.

QOTD – I am about the wine. If a wine can be of good quality it does not have to be from a single vineyard, but I suspect it is harder to equal the quality. It can be done but wonder if the effort is worth the difference.

Great show, great guest. JZ knows his stuff and must love his job. I’ve tasted all of the wines and enjoy them all. Love the PV cab with pizza and the Once Bitten on a hot summer’s day!

QOTD: tough question…for me its all about expressing terroir, so the question becomes can a negociant wine be qualified as good through its expression of terroir or just good because its a well made wine? Ultimately Ill take the wine, whether negociant or grower, that gives me a sense of identity.

Learned a lot from this ep, good one.

QOTD: I am big supporter of small production everything (cheese, meats, farmers market, and most of all beer) and I would always give a bump to the little guys. I will be honest though, I would lean a bit more to quality and value in wine than in beer where I am a rabbid consumer of the local small town brew, even if it sucks, which is very rare.

QOTD: I’m down with the negociant style. On a Tuesday or Wednesday, I want something in the value category to fill my grapejuice urge. On a Friday or Saturday, I might splurge and get into the Reserves and single-vineyard action. The other days I’m in-between. When you drink eight days a week, you gotta find a budget. I’ll be looking for the Pizza wines. Nice show, good appearance though I’m a little disapointed Gary – you didn’t plug the guy well, who was he?