Gary

Nice episode.

QOTD: I recently had the 02 Hillside Select. It blew me away. One of the best bottles of wine I’ve ever had. It is just want you would expect from a perfect California Cabernet – 99 pts. Other good bottles – 97 Togni – fantastic nose and wonderful complexity – 97 pts; 02 Verite La Joie – totally different more old world taste, I’d suggest for any Bordeaux drinkers looking for something stateside – 95 – 96 pts; Anderson’s Conn Valley – Eloge, Right Bank, Cabernet Reserve in 05 – great wines that are a little less hard on the pocketbook.

Oh Yeah, give dat Puppy (W&S) at least a 90…. 🙂

Wow! My kind of episode. I love the value plays as well, but since I am blessed enough to be able to afford some of the $50-100 bottles of wine, this show was awesome to me. Thanks, GV!

QOTD: I had the 2000 Quilceda Creek Cabernet recently and it was very nice. Blackberries, blackberries, blackberries with some baking spices and licorice and a hint of dark chocolate. Very nice indeed. I scored it 92 points.

QOTD : 2005 Gemstone Proprietary Red (Napa) ; 2004 Xtant “Extant” (Napa)

QOTD: Reverie 2002 Reserve Cabernet, Diamond Mountain. Absolutely stunning. Blackberry, cassis, blueberry, cassis & Dark Chocolate. Glad we sat on this for a few years.

great show, GV. Love seeing you get pumped about a wine like that…

QOTD: I can’t say that I’ve had a culty wine in the last 6 months, or the last…ever? Perhaps the closest thing would be a growers Champagne (Larmandier-Bernier Vieille Vignes 1er Cru) that was an absolute beauty: lemony, concentrated green apple, minerally/chalk, and hints of honey, with ripping acidity. Rather rich, almost mouth coating, yet deliciously refreshing, natural, focused. Wonderful.

Kosta Browne but forget the specific appleation. Best Pinot I can remember.

QOTD >>> I’ve been very fortunate to sample a number of cult wines and will admit the excitement of drinking a wine very difficult to get affects positively my enjoyment of the wine. It’s just hard to blast a wine that the thundering herd tells you you should enjoy. That being said I’ve done blind tastings where a cult wine or two are mixed in with every day wines and one of the cult wines came out almost dead last in the room. ouch. (The other cult wine in the bunch won).

I am on two cult wine lists (Sloan and Betz), and have access to Quilceda Creek and Leonetti wines which I get as much as I can of. The Quilceda cab is consistantly great, big fruit and firm tannins – rating ff (friggin fantastic), the Leonetti makes a great merlot (and cab), and is one of my favorite go-to bottles year after year – rating uff – (usually friggin fantastic), Sloan is off the chart expensive and is a BIG california cab. rating atetebg (almost to expensive to drink but great), and Betz is an up an comer from WA that makes about 8 different styles of wine. All selections are good and I love to break these out for dinner with friends because very few people have had them. rating – ff – (see above). I usually seek out wine that is hard to find or get (and not always pricey) and have only been disappointed a few times. If you do the research you can usually avoid mistakes.

Great show as always, Keep it up. Man you are CRUSHING IT. later

Hi Gary,
Thanks for the shout on this amazing episode. i am grinning from ear to ear.

I’m 28.

QOTD A friend of mine has been on the Saxum list for years before we were able to break open a bottle of the 2006 Bone Rock from the James Berry Vineyard. It was 93% Syrah and 7% Grenache. By far the best tasting wine I’ve every had, with a velvety mouth feel of dense ripe fruit that seemed to last forever. At 15% alc. it felt a little hot on the back end as it adjusted to room temp. but still delicious. I never knew wine could develop into something so robust. But coming in just shy of 300 bones I will have to savor the memory.
I would give it 94+ points.
-James

Hi Gary; I can’t really afford cult wines but a good wine I had recently was 2006 Papa Luna, Ctalyud DO from Spain. 70 yo old Vine Grenache with Shriraz and Mazuela & Monastrell – unfiltered. Black plum and liqourice aroma’s – big wine, spicy notes, lots of acid on the palate, it has years left in it. Seek out! A beautiful beast…

Great show. Love that you found a good pinot, and I hope I can find a bottle of the Kanzler to try somewhere.

Similar wine I’ve tried relatively recently: Merry Edwards Russian River Pinot Noir 2006. It came highly reviewed by a friend, but it really didn’t blow me away. It was tasty, in a New World style, with forward flavors of strawberry and raspberry and some nice floral tones. A little thinner than I’d like for forty bones, though. 88 points. I have a couple more bottles in the cellar, and we’ll see if time changes my impression.

so how was the sierra carche last night?

2005 Bodegas y Viñedos de Murcia Jumilla Sierra Carche – Spain, Murcia, Jumilla (7/28/2009)
extreme bottle variation????? that could be the case … first off, JM must have been smokin’ crack to rate this wine 96 pts …. initial aromatics are muted … loads of tart cherries on the palate … the finish is ok but not earth moving … 90 minutes later- much improved … more pronounced aromatics … more fruit on the palate … and the finish is starting to linger … this wine is starting to come together nicely … imho, a very good wine … 88 pts as of now (88 pts.)
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I’m in on the crush cruise. Not sure I’ve had an official cult wine but some of the small producers in Sonoma are awesome!

We ARE changing the wine world!

Fun show!

I’ve enjoyed a 2005 Concannon Petite Syrah this week-end with my parents. It was great! Leathery, gamey, raspberry fun! 92 points on the sam scale!

Cheers!

Never had such an expensive wine in my life and if I get married and buy one to commemorate my marriage and have to wait for 25 or 30 years to go by before drinking it might be too late.

Good show; that Dancing Hares sounds very interesting based on your reaction. I am pretty sure I can’t find it here but will searching for it, in time am certain I will get it somehow.

Thunder Cruise Two: Oh I want to…

QOTD: the best over-hyped wine I’ve had in the last 6 months, must be the Adelio Ariano Tannat 2005: my thing with this wine is that although it’s 100% tannat, it went smoothly and the retro taste was persistent, and I like that, probably less than those giving it bells and whistles but good for a steak or porchetta meal. I’d say 88 to 90 points if you’re into scores.

2005 Sea Smoke Southing — we drank it right before New Year’s Eve this year. A big yum. Scored it a 94. Here’s my note: Popped this baby last night and drank immediately with friends. Elegant Pinot Noir that leaves a mark. Everyone loved it. Potentially the best PN we’ve had. Bold but restrained, delicious fruit, long finish. Just beautiful. Delighted that I have another bottle.

Sorry, can’t afford cult wines.
Nice to hear Mott comment that the Kanzler was balanced. You’ve come a long way baby!

Gary, you’re great, but me thinks you don’t really enjoy Cali Cab that much; you’re lukewarm or critical of them more often than not (Shafer excepted). There is some great stuff coming out of Napa right now. Your Father was correct when he said Napa is better than a lot of that austere, overpriced and overrated Bordeaux (not exactly his quote)!

Budget Buster Potential?

nice entertainment, I have yet to find a wine over $40 that beats something under $20 – if you know what you want. I’d rather fill my 401K and drink a $9000 bottle of wine on my 90th birthday than drink $60 wines weekly until then. haha. But not willing to drink less than $10 bottles either. haha.

nice episode, Gary.
QOTD: When I go expensive, I go PORT! well worth it. Tawny Ports are best over $100. Taylor Fladgate 40 Years Old Tawny! $170 and worth every sip.

I do most of my tasting at work so I almost never get to taste “cult” wines. I did recently taste the 2005 Ornellia at a luncheon; it was good but not worth the $225/btl.

I can honestly say that rarely do I taste a wine over $100 that I think is worth it. It’s been a long time, but I remember one being a Bordeaux and one an Eschezeuax(don’t remember the producers).