Great conclusion to an awesome tasting. The passion you two share for these Pinots really came out and makes me want to crack open a bottle right now! I think it was interesting how Brian revealed his love for big ripe modern Spanish reds and how Gary asked if he was intentionally tamping down his own wines for a market that wants a more restrained balanced style.

As for the questions: 1) If you asked 3 yrs ago I would've drawn the line at $50 to distinguish bottles I buy to drink now & those I cellar. But given today's tough economic climate, I've had to cut back & reset the dividing line at $35. Sadly, Brian's wines at $40 (and many many way costlier Cali pinots) are no longer on my radar. 2) I like popping cork with my waiter's corkscrew! That being said, I've had too many tainted bottles to be attached to treebark. I know cap is a long-proven closure, but since the majority of Loring's wines are made to be drunk sooner rather than later, have they tried Stelvin?

QOTD: 1) Screw Cap, Cork!!!! Why not talk about Vino Lok. Vino Lok is less intrusive than both.
2) People who want to spend the money for the ability to age a bottle good on them. If I am spending $40 for a drink now bottle I want it to be exceptional. I'd also spend $40 on a bottle that will have to wait 5/7 to really improve.

That’s only because you’ve never had ohio sweet corn. That stuff you call corn in Cali tastes like a different vegetable compared to the stuff from the midwest.

QOTD: Since I have a wine storage unit (100+), I have wines for now and for aging. I am not purposely aging my wines I just can't drink all of them today. I buy more than we “need” because it's fun. Since my collection isn't over the top expensive, my concern with aging is that my wines are actually aging and not spoiling. I shop in a price range where my wines may not age gracefully. I worry about aging yet I respect the concept of aging. I make no sense, right?

I stare at 2006 Loring wines in my PA store everyday and I wish I could afford them, $40.99. Then if I finally decide to splurge, I cannot buy one of each. We sell 6 different vineyards. Which would I choose? Brosseau, Cargasacchi, Clos Pepe, Graham Family, Keefer Ranch, Rosella

I enjoyed the Loring shows very much.

This was fun. I can see why you enjoyed it so much, it's Brian's passion. You could see it in his eyes everytime he spoke. Again, I am not a huge Pinot fan but I am trying to get “IT.” That intangible quality that everyone searches for in this varietal. This week I'm going on the hunt for LWC.

QOTD: The problem I have with aging is; My consumption of wine is greater than my disposable income. Meaning, I drink it before it ages 6 months. So shoot me, I love wine. That said, if I spend 40 bones on a wine, I want to be able to drink it now or have the option to age it.

Thunder! I think alot of us are sick and tired of that argument. Maybe if they come out with a screwtop that requires a special tool. That would shut them all up.

Though, I'm liking the Three Thieves juice box.

Great show, Brian was great, and I can't agree with him more.

#1, my favorite wine right now is 2006 Clio, I like it alot more than 2006 El Nido, which It think may need significant bottle age to round its edges. 2005 AAlto PS is amazing ,also in my top 5 favorite bottles. Haven't had Termanthia yet but I liked 06 Termes better that regular 06 Numanthia. Ringland's Alto Moncayo Veraton is AWESOME at $23 at Wine Library. I would pay $43.
Judging wines by their price for aging potential is ridiculous. The only way to truly judge a wine's aging potential is track record, which is relative to the winemaker and consistency of style. My view is that if a wine HAS to be aged to be good, it is suspect to me. A wine should be remotely good pop and pour or you could be taken for a ride. A word of advice to people who invest in high $$ Bordeaux, buy some serious bottles over 25 years and drink, you may not like what you get.

If you want great aged wine, go to the true Bodegas of Spain. They at least have the decency to age the wine themselves and only release it when they feel it is ready. A readily available Bodega here in the states is Lopez De Heredia. I had their 1976 Bosconia for my friend's bachelor party and it was graceful and delicious.

Brian, Ringland is a genius, I hope you can crack his code with Divergence, good luck!

A men brother. Finaly someone talking sense about the severe
limittations and bull crap about aged wine. Drink em young and to hell with decanting I say.

LWC Pinots are mostly great, but I can?t help being puzzled why he never picked a vineyard from Mendocino County: Northern Mendocino (Laytonville, Leggett) and Anderson Valley are the most suitable places to grow truly balanced Pinot Noir in California; with little or no need to make (tartaric) acid adjustments, plenty of sunshine and mild high temperatures throughout the season.

QOTD1 – I don't mind storing some $40 wines for 5-10 years if that is what they need. In reality, you might only have 10-12 special occasions a year to have those wines. So if you stored a case of $40 wines every year, you would regularly have 'aged' wines to open – and wouldn't need to have much more than 10-12 cases in storage.

However, I wouldn't mind drinking the wine right away – that would be ok as well. The biggest challenge as a consumer would be to know when the wine is 'ready'… right away, in 5 years whatever. The suggested drinking window is not an easy thing to track down for most wines.

QOTD2 – Screw caps are fine with me, but I would want 10-20 more years of data to assure they can allow proper aging. We know that corks, for the most part, can age. Need more data on the screws…

A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone for their comments and responses to my Q(s)OTD 🙂

And and special THANK YOU to Gary for letting me a part of “his world” for an hour or so. I can tell you that the passion he displays is real. There's no script, there's no plan, there's just two people talking about stuff they love.

The only thing pre-arranged was the wines we tasted. I picked the Garys' and Clos Pepe since they're the two vineyards we've sourced the longest and are probably most known for making. And they're also quite different from each other. I added the Russell Family just to mess with Gary a bit 😉 I knew it might be too big for him, but that was the point. I wanted to see his reaction. I know the Russell pushes some boundaries, but that's cool with me since that's what the vineyard fruit gives us, and since we make 14 single vineyard pinots, having one that's “out there” is kinda fun.

THANKS!!!!!

90+ for the show Gary….thats it!

Excellent set of episodes… I may have found myself a new source for good Pinot. Especially considering they're one of the first wineries that I've seen who gave some attention to the new law in Maine that lets them ship here (thanks to winelibrary for paying attention to that too).

QOTD: I like the idea of aging wine, but I tend to be an immediate rewards kind of guy. I usually expect to consume a wine pretty soon after purchase if it is overly expensive. Recently I've taken (when I can afford it) to buying a couple bottles and saving one and drinking the other. It should make for some fun experimenting.
Once in a while I even happen upon a pre-aged wine like the 1969 Sauterne I found when we were cleaning out my grandparents root cellar. It should be a lot of fun to compare that with a newer 2005 once I find an occasion worthy of opening it.

QOTD2: I love screw caps. Even though some people say no because they “look cheep” or whatever I think they are excellent. The ease of access to the wine is nice, and as far as I can tell they preserve the wine just as well as the cork.
That said, there is something nice to the sound a cork makes as you open the bottle.

Awsome guest. QOD: I understand your argument about “buy now, enjoy now”. However some high class wines need time to develop, I don't know why but it is a matter of fact. That is not to say that your wines aren't high class. By the way I Ithink screw top is a good thing especially for wine that is consumed in less than 5 years.

Once again, great guest. QOTD: I'm graduating from college next month and will be moving about 3000 miles. So I'm not in any position to store anything right now. Everything I have must be consumed before May 23. But in the future, I like the idea of having a healthy mix of things to drink now and thinks to sit on for a few years… as long as I actually drink them in a few years. And it's nice to have some high-end wines available that can be consumed young.

Only criticism: I need Gary's scores. Whether he says them while the guest is present or afterwards, it's hard to really get a feel for the wines on the show without Gary's evaluative take on them. So, pick one format or the other, but don't do neither.

Thank you for being such a good and open guest. I like it when people who know the bizz reveal everything. Nice job. Living i Sweden it is impossible to get hold of your wines. I guess In have to start a wine import business 😀

Excellent show Gary ! I really enjoyed the guest. With 14 single vineyard pinots, it's hard not to hear his passion for the grape. Well not the grape in his case, but what it turns into anyway. I've followed the show and the comments for quite a while and I know you sometimes get roughed up for stepping on the guest's toes, but I have to say on the interview style tip, you really gave him free rein to get across his thoughts and wander into interesting territory. Loved it! Thanks as always!

Ack! One more thing.

QOTD (GV): Screwcaps do diminish the romance in the ritual, but always win on a picnic.

QOTD: I'm a grad student so when I do shell out for a nice bottle at a restaurant I try to convince myself I've paid a premium for the privilege of drinking that bottle on the day rather than laying it down for a while. I like the idea of ready wines. Communicating the Loring philosophy to wine drinkers is the trick.

An idea, put the QOTD(s) in text under the episode so viewers don't forget to answer them like I almost did!

i would like to age wine, but i don't really have a good place to put it away. it would be nice to have a cellar and be able to put the wines away and come back to them, but it is difficult for me because it really is not that practical

Like this episode, too. I don't know anything about anything…but I've never saved wine. Not saying that I'll not be here tomorrow, but part of the experience is buying the wine and I guess I want it to flow right into the drinking, eating… Just give it to me now, sheesh. Just my bad attitude.

The Capt refrence is because he was a captain in the Mossad. The wines are terrific. The Primitivo and Petite Sirah are my favorites

what up with the no-scores Gary? it's ok. Good guest once again.

QOTD 1: i can't afford wine in the 40s or above so this is not an issue. However, i never thought about it being a premium price, therefore I should better suited to drink now. Interesting thought. If you would apply this to something to like the ipad or whatever gadget is hot on the market, it would be ludicrous to pay a premium only to put it away for 10 years or more and never playing it. Meanwhile, you use the cheapest model sold at Walmart day in and day out until you are ready to play with the ipad. Crazy.

QOTD 2: who is still against the screw tops? The data is in.

I'm not usually a huge fan of the guest shows, especially the 2-parters, but loved this. Brian – you're definitely in my top 5 guests!

As for QOTD, I don't have any way of storing significant amounts of wine at the moment, but I'm a collector at heart, so I do like the idea (also of having a lot of great wine at an arm's length…assuming one day I can afford it). But as things stand at the moment, I really appreciate it when I can buy a premium wine at a not totally extortionate price that will taste great the day, week, month or even year I buy it. Screwcaps I'm generally in favour of!

I totally agree with that last little point. It would be nice to seen the questions in text. That way I wouldn't start posting and have to queue up the episode again to remember what they were like I usually end up doing.

Thanks,
oh I thopught you wrote Old World Wine Geek!