Best Episode EVER.

Guess I’m in the minority on this one yet again. The ole plane jockey was windier than the skies over Normandy Beach on D-Day. I guess I’ve known a lot of guys like this who trade on their service to get you to listen to their pitch. That’s okay, but this went on for wayyyy toooo loooong.
And he got into the wine business to avoid paying taxes. (that’s what tax shelters are for) I guess for some, that’s a kind of patiotism.
Sorry. I’m not buying it. Or his wine.
But hey, it looks like I’m the only one who thinks this. Doesn’t mean I’m wrong tho.

I absoulutely loved this episode. Great interaction and an good wine too boot.
Alas, the price is for me kind of high. Brice jones is cool and a bit of noncomformist. As Gary would say “and I like that”. Pinot Noir has not been one of my favorites hard to find really good ones in my price range.

QOTD: My wife and I were had finished dinner at a friend”s house. We took turns making international meals with wines that matched. Dessert included an icewine from Canada that stop us talking. We were all smiles didn’t need to say anything.

QOTD: Great question. For me, it was a 2004 Delas Les Bessards Hermitage that I opened to celebrate the election of Barack Obama. Amazing wine, and an amazing night.

Cheers! Great show!

Proud to see a fellow Zoomie (Air Force Academy Graduate) and fighter pilot in the wine business. Loved the guest, classic… How do you know when you’re talking to a fighter pilot? He’ll tell you!

Gary, A great episode. Great! Special guest and a real treat for your fans.

QOTD: The most special Wine of my life came on New Years Eve 1999 at a Rum Distillery in Barbados. I was waiting for the stroke of Midnight to Pop the question of a lifetime. The count down began and I looked far and wide for the perfect location. A plastic chair next to a Christmas decoration turned out to be the winner. Dropping to one knee at the stroke of midnight would forever change my life. I didn’t know it at the time but it’s the champagne we drank just moments later in pouring warm rain that makes it for me. A bottle of Non-Vintage Moet Chandon White Star. Simple yet so complex in the moment. I guess it was the most incredible Drink period, because what it represented in my life and that is She said yes….She said yes!!!!!!!

Interesting show. Lot’s of tidbits of thoughtful thoughts. Three legged chair, yes. Philosophical , great. I like that.

QOTD: This was in 1980, I’m 19 (yes you can get wine served in swedish restaurants at 18) and me and one friend had invited two girls to a restaurant i Stockholm. We ordered a classical meat dish. Let’s get a wine, one of the girl said. Wine? I hadn’t drunk more then two or three bottles at that time, the cheap sour type. We asked the waiter for a good wine with the food. He recommended 1976 Chateauneuf-du-Pape. I don’t remember the label, but it was a chock to me to find out that a wine supplemented the food in such a extraordinary way. I even forgot to flirt with girls for a while there.

I loved how you ended the show Gary. Good job!
QOTD: For me that would be the 1979 Sonnenhof Gündelbacher Stromberg Lemberger-Trollinger I had with my parents and my brother last week. Apart from the wine being really good in my opinion the whole situation was fantastic. Sitting in a great restaurant with great people. It can’t get much better than that.

Gives a lot of courage to those who are trying to start a business today !!
But ….
Can anybody imagine setting up a company today trying to convince the sponsors with a 17 year break-even ?? I can think of quite a number of people who would believe this to be a good joke …. Well I s´pose those were the times ??
And ….
Maybe its our way of living today ! Never mind “Twitter” … but do you really need it ??

I agree completely with Brice concerning the “Best Wine I ever tasted” … Its the people and the situation – sometimes I like to keep the bottle and let those people sign the lable I had tasted it with ….

C U round ….

Nice show, usually like it when winemakers make an appearance.

QOTD: Can’t pick one out, too many good ones from vacations and dinners that all seem great.

QOTD: My favorite wine was a Wesinger’s of Ashland Semillion-Chardonnay, my husband and I had while staying at a cottage in their vineyard. This was well before I got into wine but drinking the bottle with some Chinese takeout while the sun was setting was incredible and memorable. Nine months later we welcomed twin girls.

Fun episode. I remember people loving Sonoma Cutrer in the 80’s and 90’s. QOTD – The best wine I have had in the last couple of years was a German Reisling that I was given for breakfast at a B&B in the Mosel in Germany last year. The owner of the B&B also owned vineyards and on my first morning I asked him if he made wine. He immediately brought me two glasses of his favorite reislings and sat there with me and explained how the family had owned these vineyards for generations and how proud he was of these wines. So I had wine (instead of juice) with my bread and cheese that morning and listened to a passionate winemaker tell me about his wines and the history of the area.

Brice was the best guest so far. I loved the show.

Best wine I ever had … was a Spanish Cava standing in a cram packed alley just off Las Ramblas in Barcelona Spain.

I know it isn’t your traditional wine, but it was a powerful memory where I enjoyed the company of my sweetheart in a new place and it was just a fantastic wine.

I am a fellow Zoomie (2003) and F-16 fighter pilot flying with the 555th Triple Nickel Fighter Squadron in Aviano, Italy. I didn’t know the first thing about wine before my wife and I moved to Italy… I thought guys drank whisky and ladies drank wine. I embarrassingly bought “Italian Wine for Dummies” in the base BX and drove straight to Tuscany. It was late August and with no A/C in the car we were sweating out butts off! While I was driving my wife would read about wine, and while she was driving I would read about wine. We kept reading about this so called Brunello di Montalcino and we had to see what all the fuss was about. The Tuscan air in late August literally smells like wine with big bright red grapes ready to burst off the vine. We drove up the long narrow hilly road dodging animals, piles of horse manure and rusty old tractors to the hilltop of Montalcino… The Mecca of Italian Wine and as some would argue of ALL wine. My wife and I dipped into a small enotecca which was lined with antique copper pots and had two simple wooden tables with benches in the center. After a little broken Italian and a lot of hand gestures this nice old lady poured us a couple glasses Brunello. I couldn’t believe it, as she poured it looked rust brown and it smelled like campfire smoke! Not what I was expecting but as I began to taste it I couldn’t believe how fruity and unbelievable it tasted… It was the start of my love for wine. I’ve read a few other wine books since then but my favorite, and the one I go back to over and over again is the old faithful “Italian Wine for Dummies.”

Brice seems like a seriously cool guy. Nice job GV on establishing a good rapport and letting the guest tell their story.

QOTD: The best wine I’ve ever had was a bottle of ’04 Colgin Estate IV with my dad at the French Laundry. Not only was this wine and food of unparalleled quality compared to anything I have had before, but the experience was absolutely unforgettable and I’m glad I got to share it with a loved one. Like you always say Gary, family & friends are what it’s all about.

Brice Jones crushed it big time. Very impressive.

Great Episode!

QOTD: Best wine I ever had: Chateau Paveil de Luze 2003 Marguax.

I have an acute social phobia. I was at a restaurant, and a girl had asked about this wine. Normally I would never ever do this…but I was on my second bottle. So I piped in, and fully described the faint hints of fruit and smokiness, and how smooth I felt it was, and the quaint finish. It was the first time I had ever confidently talked about wine (I had been reading up, but felt I was too much of a novice). I finally realized this was something I could really get passionate about on a deep level, and it made me feel great about myself. Plus, it gave me courage to talk to a girl, I even got her name and where she works. Too bad I couldn’t afford a few more bottles to get the courage to show up there and give her my card lol.

A superb episode! One of my favorites. QOTD: hmmmmm….. best bottle with the qualifier?……. probably a bottle of Veuve Cliquot on our wedding day in my in-laws backyard looking out over the Wasatch Front of the Rockies.

Thanks, Brice! S-C Chards were established to me, early ’80’s, while with a top end caterer while in College. Then they became more familiar via gigs in the fine restaurant world. Still later, in wine retail, we all became aware of how painfully difficult they could be to aquire at times. Always for insistant people who would only accept the finest, but in every case, they knew nothing of a score of other alternatives, and more likely, were intimidated by fancy French names they no doubt couldn’t pronounce, much less spell.

QotD – After many years, so many greatest wines, travels, and events. Here’s one. 1999. Napa Valley. Five of us, were there for zAP, and had appointments at places like Pinr Ridge, Silver Oak, Saddleback, and several others. When Nils Venge wasn’t found in his vineyard (no doubt, out doing consultor/ vine mgmt. for someone, his assistant Christian called Dave del Dotto looking for him.
Dave dD.:”Ohio, huh?… just send ’em over.”.
He welcomed us into his gorgeous yard, and his James Bondian basement, chock full of large format Bordeaux, Burgundies, Piemont, etc., and poured us his ’96 Cab, Estate, ’95 Giovanni’s Tuscan Res., and ’93 Cab.
We were like, “How much can we get?” , and he goes “Ohio…Well, we’re workin’ on that…”. I’ll never forget those wines, but, years later, at least they’ve made it here, and I wish him continued growth, health ,and success. And I thank YOU, and wish for you the same. Be well, my friend.

Cheers.

@phil mglassup You’ve got a couple valid points.

I love that guy! He reminds me of the Holling Vincoeur character in Northern Exposure, and that is a very good thing.

QOTD: In the late ’90s, I somehow persuaded my brother and his wife, who practically fear flying, to vacation with us in Hawaii. While dining at the Kapalua golf course on Maui, we enjoyed our very first bottle of Turley zinfandel. My brother just stared down at his glass and asked, “Why can’t everyone make wine like this?” That was only one of many highlights on that trip, but its the one that we always remember whenever we pull a cork on the latest Turley release. And, no, I’ve never been able to get them on a plane, again…

Awesome guest and great job Gary letting the guest talk. I know it’s hard for you, but the stories/info in this episode were great because of that.

(My comments on the last episode were 100% negative but today’s are 100% positive. We need some Ying with our Yang. Mr Miyagi always talked to the Karate Kid about “balance”.)

Decent episode. Unfortunately, I am too young in my wine education to have had any of his product or know much about its rise in the industry. He seemed like a charming fellow, but he struck me as a business man not a wine guy. Gary, I was waiting for you to call him out on the temperature issue. Why didn’t you? He kept saying that the wine’s heat would calm down as the bottle warmed. Come on. It would be more pronounced. Either he doesn’t know much about tasting wine after having been in the industry for 35 years; or he isn’t a straight shooter about tasting it, and just wants to sell it. While I applaud his years of service and his perseverance when he wasn’t making money, I was disappointed with him. I think I will spend $50 on somebody else’s wine because I believe that they know what they are selling.

Decent episode. Unfortunately, I am too young in my wine education to have had any of his product or know much about its rise in the industry. He seemed like a charming fellow, but he struck me as a business man not a wine guy. Gary, I was waiting for you to call him out on the temperature issue. Why didn’t you? He kept saying that the wine’s heat would calm down as the bottle warmed. Come on. It would be more pronounced. Either he doesn’t know much about tasting wine after having been in the industry for 35 years; or he isn’t a straight shooter about tasting it, and just wants to sell it. While I applaud his years of service and his perseverance when he wasn’t making money, I was disappointed with him. I think I will spend $50 on somebody else’s wine because I believe that they know what they are selling.

Wonderful study hopefully leading back to great $10 American wine. Great history and education.
qotd:1997 JJ Prun Wehlener sonnenuhr spatelese