Great BLIND show, One of my favorite Pinots was a 2004 Beau Freres
Still is I guess… Hope you have two German Rieslings upcoming !!

Great BLIND show, One of my favorite Pinots was a 2004 Beau Freres
Still is I guess… Hope you have two German Rieslings upcoming !!

To Tim Fletch: German rieslings are the bomb, If you need info, help
etc. drop me a line, [email protected]

To Tim Fletch: German rieslings are the bomb, If you need info, help
etc. drop me a line, [email protected]

Great blind show GV.

QOTD: I already got what I wanted for Christmas last night.. my Browns knocked off the dirt bag Stoolers! All is good with this 2-11 season 😀

Great blind show GV.

QOTD: I already got what I wanted for Christmas last night.. my Browns knocked off the dirt bag Stoolers! All is good with this 2-11 season 😀

Awesome show, as usual. We still LOVE these double-blind tastings! VERY interesting.
QOTD: Gift I want … I want to sell my House so Darcey and I can get onto the next phase of our loves!

OH, some great wine is always nice too.

Awesome show, as usual. We still LOVE these double-blind tastings! VERY interesting.
QOTD: Gift I want … I want to sell my House so Darcey and I can get onto the next phase of our loves!

OH, some great wine is always nice too.

I want a Flip Camera!

I want a Flip Camera!

Double Blind battles are the way to go!!!!

Can you do something like this for College Bowl games. Have the Title, Rose, Fiesta and so forth double blinds!

You rock Gary V. Come to Vancouver already!

QOTD: I want Gary to come to Vancouver and do a tasting!

Double Blind battles are the way to go!!!!

Can you do something like this for College Bowl games. Have the Title, Rose, Fiesta and so forth double blinds!

You rock Gary V. Come to Vancouver already!

QOTD: I want Gary to come to Vancouver and do a tasting!

I call FOUL! I see it’s been mentioned already but comparing an 07 Willamette Valley Pinot to an 08 just isn’t fair to the winery with the 07 vintage. I’ve done Memorial Day Weekend in Willamette Valley for the last few years and while I came home with 3 cases of 2006 Pinot in 2008, I only bought 6 bottles this last year and only 2 of those bottles were 2007, the other 4 were 2008 futures. To say 2007 was a challenging year in Willamette Valley is an understatment, I had at least a couple winemakers tell me it was their toughest vintage in the last decade. Conversely, the Wine Spectator vintage report card indicates 2008 in Willamette Valley should be an exceptional vintage on paper and all of the 2008 futures I tasted this last year confirm this.

So just about any Willamette Valley Pinot from 2007 is going to have the snot kicked out of it by just about any 2008. I’m not all that big of a Beaux Freres fan so don’t take this as me rushing to their defense. In fact this last year on my second day of wine tasting I went to Beaux Freres and felt like their 07’s and their 08’s were surpassed by the same offerings from the other wineries I visited that day, Bergstrom, Shea, and Penner-Ash. However, there was still a world of difference between the 07’s and the 08’s and I would challenge GV to redo this tasting with the vintages switched. The Beaux Freres 08’s aren’t out yet but once they are, I’d like to see the 08 Beaux Freres vs the 07 Evening Lands and see how the tables turn.

I kind of feel like whoever set up this head to head tasting for GV should have known this and either not paired these vintages in a head to head battle, or at least it should have been made clear that this was a battle of vintages, not wineries. I don’t think anyone should be rushing out to buy Evening Lands because of this, you should be rushing out to buy any good Willamette Valley 08 pinots you come across (although most of them aren’t out yet), I enjoyed virtually every 08 future I tasted.

I call FOUL! I see it’s been mentioned already but comparing an 07 Willamette Valley Pinot to an 08 just isn’t fair to the winery with the 07 vintage. I’ve done Memorial Day Weekend in Willamette Valley for the last few years and while I came home with 3 cases of 2006 Pinot in 2008, I only bought 6 bottles this last year and only 2 of those bottles were 2007, the other 4 were 2008 futures. To say 2007 was a challenging year in Willamette Valley is an understatment, I had at least a couple winemakers tell me it was their toughest vintage in the last decade. Conversely, the Wine Spectator vintage report card indicates 2008 in Willamette Valley should be an exceptional vintage on paper and all of the 2008 futures I tasted this last year confirm this.

So just about any Willamette Valley Pinot from 2007 is going to have the snot kicked out of it by just about any 2008. I’m not all that big of a Beaux Freres fan so don’t take this as me rushing to their defense. In fact this last year on my second day of wine tasting I went to Beaux Freres and felt like their 07’s and their 08’s were surpassed by the same offerings from the other wineries I visited that day, Bergstrom, Shea, and Penner-Ash. However, there was still a world of difference between the 07’s and the 08’s and I would challenge GV to redo this tasting with the vintages switched. The Beaux Freres 08’s aren’t out yet but once they are, I’d like to see the 08 Beaux Freres vs the 07 Evening Lands and see how the tables turn.

I kind of feel like whoever set up this head to head tasting for GV should have known this and either not paired these vintages in a head to head battle, or at least it should have been made clear that this was a battle of vintages, not wineries. I don’t think anyone should be rushing out to buy Evening Lands because of this, you should be rushing out to buy any good Willamette Valley 08 pinots you come across (although most of them aren’t out yet), I enjoyed virtually every 08 future I tasted.

I second Seattle Zin Guy.
Oh well, still a fun (if somewhat misleading) show…

I second Seattle Zin Guy.
Oh well, still a fun (if somewhat misleading) show…

Hey Gary and Mott, Happy Christmas (happy ???????? Chanukah) dudes!!
Super awesome show. Drinking 2007 Robert Foley Griffon red right now.
Score 89.
I love Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. They have great Gewurztraminer and Riesling, too.
QOTD – The Chateauneuf du Pape AOC and a card.

Hey Gary and Mott, Happy Christmas (happy ???????? Chanukah) dudes!!
Super awesome show. Drinking 2007 Robert Foley Griffon red right now.
Score 89.
I love Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. They have great Gewurztraminer and Riesling, too.
QOTD – The Chateauneuf du Pape AOC and a card.

Hi Gary,

I admire what you do!

I wonder how Robert Parker would score the Beaux Freres…can you see the irony?!!!

Hi Gary,

I admire what you do!

I wonder how Robert Parker would score the Beaux Freres…can you see the irony?!!!

Love the blind tastings… more of them please Gary! Recently got Tivo & one of your episodes just came up one day. Loving wine, I watched it out of curiosity… and return to watch more because it’s really a fun show. Great job! We have a group of 4 of us (two couples) that blind test 4 wines of varying prices (but same varietal), & it’s been a blast. Our pockets aren’t deep, so the cost of them ranges from $4 to around 25 “bones”. One couple buys 3 that add up to $25, and the other couple gets the $25 bottle. One pours them all, and another keeps track of the order in which they’re served (not knowing what he/she is serving, just row a,b,c,d). It’s a blast. Of 6 months, the expensive bottle won 3 times, the 4-6 dollar bottle won twice, and perhaps most surprisingly, the mid-range $10-12 bottle only took the prize once. Thought I’d share. Happy holidays to all, & keep up the great work Gary! More blind tastings!

QOTD: Some peace & stability in the world would be nice, & so would a case of my favorite wine to date: Peter Lehmann 2006 Barossa Valley Shiraz… love it, & at $12.99 you just can’t find a better bottle of wine in my opinion. A VERY impressive 91 pts. from Wine Spectator, & I give a 93+!

Love the blind tastings… more of them please Gary! Recently got Tivo & one of your episodes just came up one day. Loving wine, I watched it out of curiosity… and return to watch more because it’s really a fun show. Great job! We have a group of 4 of us (two couples) that blind test 4 wines of varying prices (but same varietal), & it’s been a blast. Our pockets aren’t deep, so the cost of them ranges from $4 to around 25 “bones”. One couple buys 3 that add up to $25, and the other couple gets the $25 bottle. One pours them all, and another keeps track of the order in which they’re served (not knowing what he/she is serving, just row a,b,c,d). It’s a blast. Of 6 months, the expensive bottle won 3 times, the 4-6 dollar bottle won twice, and perhaps most surprisingly, the mid-range $10-12 bottle only took the prize once. Thought I’d share. Happy holidays to all, & keep up the great work Gary! More blind tastings!

QOTD: Some peace & stability in the world would be nice, & so would a case of my favorite wine to date: Peter Lehmann 2006 Barossa Valley Shiraz… love it, & at $12.99 you just can’t find a better bottle of wine in my opinion. A VERY impressive 91 pts. from Wine Spectator, & I give a 93+!

Also wanted to say that I didn’t think there was ANYTHING misleading about this show. Some have cried foul because of the ’07 vs. ’08 match-up. This simply shows that you can’t just buy from one place year after year & expect to be wowed every time. It means that a significantly cheaper wine can beat the pricey wines given a different vintage. We know this, but often get caught up in the label & assume that we’re going to have to pay big or be less enthused & pleased.
This tasting was completely fair because it was EXACTLY what it says it was… a TASTING. Put two bottles out there, & put a score on what your senses are telling you. It couldn’t be more unbiased and fair than that. Personally I’m always rooting for the cheap bottle. Less money + more enjoyment = pure happiness!

Also wanted to say that I didn’t think there was ANYTHING misleading about this show. Some have cried foul because of the ’07 vs. ’08 match-up. This simply shows that you can’t just buy from one place year after year & expect to be wowed every time. It means that a significantly cheaper wine can beat the pricey wines given a different vintage. We know this, but often get caught up in the label & assume that we’re going to have to pay big or be less enthused & pleased.
This tasting was completely fair because it was EXACTLY what it says it was… a TASTING. Put two bottles out there, & put a score on what your senses are telling you. It couldn’t be more unbiased and fair than that. Personally I’m always rooting for the cheap bottle. Less money + more enjoyment = pure happiness!

Yo G & Mott, HAAAAAPPYYYYYYY HANUKKAH and/or MEEEEERRYYY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!
🙂 🙂 🙂