great guest. really cool & knowledgeable guy. kudos to you guys for getting such good guests.

many thanks

mickey
tokyo

QOTD: Hardly ever buy any Cali cab these days, only from a couple-three wineries that I’ve had long relationships with. Cabernet from Washington state is a much more reasonably priced and is every bit as good.

All the wine magazines (and wine stores, for that matter — Gary?) could do the wine world a big, big favor by declaring war on the “cult wine” phenomenon, especially on California cults.

Great show and great guest. Joshua made some really good, concise points that were interesting and insightful. Some tasty wines, it seems, as well!

QOTD – I don’t drink many California Cabs because they are (almost all) overpriced. I want to spend $15-30 most of the time. For that price, I can get something from so many other places that will have more ‘value’ for me.

Super show, easy to watch, waited for every comment to come from Joshua (and Gary).
QOTD: Still need the California wines to balance the others I have. Love the Shafer and Mondavi’s. Kathryn Hall and Pine Ridge also make some very good wines.

I am not buying Cali cab right now, I have been burned more times than not. Under $40 I always got ripped off, so far as getting something totally dull and boring, I could usually find a Zin or Rhone blend that would deliver something of interest at that price point.

In the $40-$70 range I would catch an occasional very good wine, i.e. Chloe & Jeremy 04′. But all to often I would encounter efforts that lacked any true intensity or focus, nice wines but no wow factor. But Australia and Spain do deliver some amazing wines in that $40-$70 price point. In fact I am all about D’Arenberg right now, my colection is filling up with Dead Arms. McClaren Vale is just an awesome region. I am sure Cali is capable of delivering these wines but I can’t taste them when they are $90 and up.

The IRS should offer a 30% tax credit for Cali wines bought, maybe then we would be in business

Death to California Cabs! The 90’s wine snob’s always turned with off with their OVER tannic crap. Now that they still want premium pricing and their sales are in the toilet, I smile. Why would I spend $50+ for California Cab when I can get excellent wine from France, Spain, Portugal for under $30.

CaliCab produces will need to adjust their pricing strategy or continue to see sales declines.

Fun part two. Nice to see the nerdy episodes. The Marques de Murrietta Castillo Y Gay sounds especially interesting. Not really my price point but it piqued my interest.

QOTD: I guess I am not to the point of being “snobby” about my wines yet. I couldn’t really care less where it came from. I want it to taste good. That is my only requirement. If California Cabs are in the $50+ price then it will never even come up on my radar. I shop in the sub-$20 range. A rave review from you has from time to time pushed me a bit over that but not often. Over $100 is just insanity IMO.

This was a fun and informative episode. Keep the great guests coming. I love Wine And Spirits magazine and Joshua is a gentleman.

Gary,

Good to see such a solid back-to-back episode. Both you and Joshua Greene really brought the thunder as far as information and tastings goes. Big thank you for the episode.

QOTD:

I drink some Napa Cab. but most of my experience with wines from Napa (especially over the $30-40 price-point) have been in tastings. As a young working guy who is trying to ball on a budget here is what I have been buying:

#1: Port – whether its LBV, half bottles of reserve (ex. some ’96 kopke colheita I just picked up) or special circumstances of buying reserve (’05 Vargellas for example) my biggest spending budget is on Port (which still maxes out around $50 a bottle).
#2: Latin America – from Vinho Tinto to Monastrell I have been pushing my palate and understanding of Chilean and Argentinian wines – and it only helps that tremendous quality comes in at the $20 and under range.
#3: South Africa: I love the smokey flavors of Pinotage and Syrah from SA and the prices are super competitive for really good and unusual wines.

Thanks.

QOTD: I stopped buying Cali-Cabs *way* before the crash for the simple reason they were way (in many/most cases an order or two magnitude) overpriced. Notwithstanding the inherent quality of some high end labels, which at least have a track record, there were – and still *are* – an overwhelming plethora of nothing more than decent Cali-Cabs in the $25-$50 range that can easily be beaten at the corresponding $12-$25 price point from many places other wine regions, not least Bordeaux. Even after the post crash/weak US$ price adjustments.

In short, mid-level Cali-Cabs need to drop another ~30% before I would consider purchasing them again.

*************************

As much as I am an avowed critic of the episodes that have guests (too long, uneven audio [GV blares, can’t hear the guest], the unedited format as an excuse for GV to constantly interrupt the guest), this was one of the top 3 guest episodes I’ve watched.

It was a well paced, I could hear both GV and Josh equally well, GV was very well behaved, in particular keeping his interruptions to a minimum (I could see GV was really chomping on the bit to get going with the sniffy-sniffing with the Footbolt while Josh was waxing rhapsodically at – at least to GV – great length about Chester at D’Arenberg.

Great episode!!

Edwardo

If I want Cab, I usually go to Bordeaux. But I have been finding some really good, not crazy expensive Cabs in Sonoma. I do think most Cali Cabs are way overpriced for what they deliver and that opinion is going to be very hard to change, since most of them are too expensive to just randomly try.

Solid episodes. Very enjoyable and informative – good guest.

QOTD: Still buying some, but really looking for value plays. Otherwise, buying WA Cab for the most part. For $30-$60 I can buy fantastic WA cab or blends that Napa can’t come close to at that price point. Even with the economy there’s a lot of room between WA and Napa pricing. Sadly though, even WA is starting to trend towards the expensive which is not great for the consumer.

On the happier CA end, I am buying a lot of Paso wines that are very enjoyable, and still relatively fairly priced.

Amazing guest. You can really see hes passion for wine!

QOTD: I have not tried Napa Cab. Due to lack of it in Finland.

Great episode, you guys are like brothers!
I rarely buy cabs anymore, I don’t feel they are worth the price. I’ve been buying a lot of zins and syrahs as well as southern rhones.
I would find it difficult to spend 175 bucks for a cab, even in the best of times.

Again, really enjoyed Mr. Green’s appearance. I am definitely considering signing up for his publication now.

QOTD: With California Cabs I just don’t feel like I can get that great a wine in my price range $15-20. Also, my red wine preferences (lighter, earthier, less oaky) make California Cab one of my last choices when I am at the wine shop. The last Cali Cab that I really enjoyed was the Freemark Abby 2004; pretty smooth right after opening and nicely balanced elements.

I do love a good balanced Cal Cab, and I’m willing to pay $100 for it if I feel confident it is ageworthy. That’s where I think we can get our money’s worth. I do realize that most people buy a bottle today to drink immediately and not everyone has an opportunity to cellar wine to enjoy 5-10 years down the road. One of my favorites in Napa is St. Clement which makes some excellent cabs in the $40-$50 dollar range as well as the great Oroppas blend for under $70.

On the other end of the scale there are still some good Cal Cabs in the $15-$30 range that are very well done and are ready to drink early from some noteworthy wineries like Ravenswood, Mondavi, etc. Go to your local tasing room who is likely to pour some good cabs from some smaller unknowns too. Do a little research and you’ll find them, and that’s what makes it fun too.

Cheers

I have gone away from Napa Cab, not that I was drinking anything in the price range of Diamond Creek, and have stayed with wines in my region of the world. The overriding reason being I have business interest here and want to understand our fruit and what it is capable of under certain winemakers influences. And, even though Washington wines can be very pricey too, there is not the wide disparity in prices that you can experience in Napa and California in general. I am not denigrating California for this, in fact I think that it might help the consumer and the industry in Washington if there was more disparity in price and quality, but for now it is what it is.

By the way, great show guys. If Joshua wanted to, he could give GV a run for his money as host of his own show. I’m not sayin’, I’m just sayin’.

FANTASTIC GUEST!!!!!

I live in london so its pretty hard to get cali cab.

Great, great show. Very interesting. QOTD: I find myself having about one Cali Cab dinner in the year. Why I don’t have more than one? I dunno, maybe the price tag on these California Full Cabs. But in a way, it is a good thing, because when I buy these wines, I know that I’m going to put the bottle away for a good while. At the moment, I have a bottle of Caymus, Chateau Montelena, and Quintessa. I also like Philip Togni very much.

I’m wondering.. if you come up with a Secret Pack, lets call it the luxury secret pack, that contains among other things, one bottle of a good, Gary-recommended California Cabernet. Let say the pack comes out costing $160, and contains just three bottles. How many people would be willing to buy that pack? I’m in.

awesome show…awesome dude!!!

thanks…

Gary – As I said in the first episode, this was a great guest that I was glad to see/hear. I agree with previous posters that applaude your interviewing skills with Joshua. You seemed to maintain a great level of calmness, even after the Diamond Creek wine.

QTD – I’ve have shyed away from Napa cabs due to the extraordinary price push of recent years. I prefer not to pay between $35-$50 for an 88 point performer (or a mid-tier bottling). I feel other areas offer better value. I’ve have looked to Washington State for any cab buying tendencies. As long as the wineries can continue to sell Napa cabs, great. However, if inventories stockpile, there will be issues to consider.

Wow Gary, you just overdone yourself, what a fantastic 2-part show!!

And let me say something, Mr. Greene is a top 5 guest, amazing! What synergy with you GV, It was like watching Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal!!! What to say about the wines? Awesome line-up: Cristal, Castillo Ygay & Diamond Creek!!!

QOTD: No Napa in the last year, my wine drinking been around Europe, especially Portugal and down here in Chile and Argentina heavily. Here are my top 3 buys for this year:

1) Chateau Angelús 2003, Bordeaux.
2) Chateau de Beaucastel 2005, Chateuneuf-du-Pape.
3) Veuve Clicquot Brut 2002, Champagne.
(1 for my wedding toast + 1 for the cellar) 🙂

Best wishes,

Mauricio Fernandes
Recife – Brazil

Best 2 part show ever!

That was a good guest. Enjoyed it a lot. Missed the question and am too lazy to go back and listen to it.. Sorry GV.