Wine Library TV

Search

EP 928 Wine & Spirits Top 100 Wines of 2010 – Part 2


Gary Vaynerchuk and Josh Greene, editor of Wine & Spirits conclude the tasting of the Top 5 Wines of 2010.

Wines tasted in this episode:

2007 Hirsch Vineyard Pinot Noir
1987 Lopez De Heredia Tondonia Rioja Reserva
2007 Domain Leflaive Batard-Montrachet

Links mentioned in todays episode.


Latest Comment:

View More

luca bercelli

87/100

Thank god for Gary Vaynerchuk!
This guest might be the best guy in the world but boy, is he boring. Unlike our man, he comes across as elitist, and definitely someone I wouldn’t want to get stuck in a bar with. Makes me appreciate GV all the more.

Tags: burgundy, review, Riesling, Rioja, Video, white, wine, wines

Related Stories & Episodes >

Episodes >

←  Older Comments
Newer Comments  →
  • bwine

    Great episode; very informative and entertaining. I sometimes have trouble hanging with an hour-long, but really enjoyed this one.

    QOTD: I actually prefer high alcohol in wine so long as it doesn’t have a significant effect on my math skills or the smell or taste of the wine, so I’d say 70% high, 12% low, and 20% in the middle somewhere.

  • i loved this episode. i so wish i could goto sanfran to the tasting. whats the determining factor that makes a white wine able to be aged?

    qotd: i usually note the alcohol level of a wine before i buy it, but mainly just out of curiousity. i dont really go for high or low percentage in general.

  • Anonymous

    Josh is a great guest, I hope you bring him back every year to taste the top wines from
    Wine & Spirits magazine.
    QOTD: I begin to worry when I see anything over 15%.

  • 😉

  • Your welcome!

  • Great second part! Loved to hear you guys nerding it up. Gave a bottle of a previous vintage of the riesling to a buddy of mine for his b-day last year. Love that they were established in ’79 (birth year). Hope I can afford $400 bottles real soon! 🙂

    QOTD: I don’t use it as a primary consideration factor. If I see two options to “try” amongst my wife and myself, if I don’t have any other facts in front of me, and I see a 14.7% and 13.5%, I would likely go for the latter about 85% of the time.

  • slave2thevine

    QOTD: While I would say that I tend to stay more in the below 13% range…there are those 1-2 times a year where it can be fun to taste a hedonistic wine that’s 14.5% or higher…(So 97% of the time I like my reds 12%-13.5% and whites 8%-13.5%) There are some wines that are naturally higher like port and sauternes…but I’m not counting those in this…I try to keep about a case of those big, bold, over-the-top wines in the cellar so that I have a range of wines to choose from as well…

    Favorite red wines are: Chateau Musar, Patricia Green Pinot Noir(s), and aged Bordeaux.
    Favorite whites : Estate Musar Blanc, Didier Dagueneau, German Rieslings, and Chablis

  • Anonymous

    Great,great show (both episodes). I love (almost) all of your shows, but a show like this, where you have a fantastic discussion of wine lore with a great guest is really special. It’s wonderful to come away from a show feeling I have learned something new about wine. Keep up the great work!QOTD: I really don’t care about the alcohol level in wine, with this caveat: some of the wines I have had with really low alcohol levels, like some German whites, just seem too weak and watery for me. Of course that may be because I have not had much of the really good stuff.

  • OttawaB

    Hey …. great show guys ……… great info, love the details on the wines you drank …….. and really ballin wines.
    I’d like to try the Riesling someday … and the Finger Lakes are not that far away. The Heredia is absolutely awesome stuff ….. the Montrachet is a tad out of my budget …… but I do love white burgs.

    QOTD : I am an old world wine drinker …. hard core. I prefer alc. levels from 12-14% on my red wines ……… but I have been known to often stray higher with Spanish wines , Amarones, Ports ……. so really, its about the style the wine is trying to portray. But I do find that higher alc. wines from Cali, Australia, etc. … they come across as sweet to my palate and just seem to have lower acidity. Now I’m just generalizing …. there are always exceptions.

  • Outstanding hour. Josh is a fantastic guest.

    QOTD: It’s all about balance. I don’t pay much attention to ABV (unless I am serving a specific dish that calls for a more/less alcoholic wine). Great wines balance the alcohol and make it part of the background.

    I’ve had 13% wines that are too hot to drink, and 15% wines that I could drink the entire bottle.

  • cweidler

    I love Josh as a guest; he’s always so passionate about what he does, which makes for a great guest show.

    QOTD: I don’t care about the alcohol in my wine, whether it be 7% or 16% (or 20% in ports). It’s whether I can taste the heat in a negative way in the wine that decides for me whether the alcohol is too high or not.

  • Great show, Gary. Think it may have persuaded me to lay down the $125 for the tasting.

    QoTD: I find myself buying lower alcohol wines, but I don’t usually consider the % when buying. That said, there are some lovely high alc wines out there. Some CdRs are 15.5% and I think they benefit from those high levels. However, I find that high alc. Cabs and Pinots are just not my style in general. Can we just say that some grape varietals are better suited to high alc (Syrah, Grenache, Merlot) and others are not (Pinot, etc.)?

    By the way, my girlfriend told me she ran into you at Think Coffee in the village. She said, “I’d recognize that voice anywhere.” Hilarious.

  • Skol

    Amazing set of wines. I think Leflaive wines are fantastic. I have a few of the 04 Batards and the vibrancy and transparency of these wines puts other chards to shame. For Alcohol content it depends. Some wine I find are still balanced even with high alcohol i.e. CDPs. Breakdonw 85% low alcohol and 15% high. Hate the hot burn your throat wines.

  • DaveAll

    wow. part 2 was even better. He is yoda. You are Luke. oh, he has grey hairs. got it.
    Acid in whites is where our own acid level is. good discussion! I liked that he was intimated by your personality. Yet, you were not either. great conversation.

    Great show. Got to find his magazine.

    switching glasses? oh, my.

  • ben from boston

    qotd – I’m with you gary 85-15 maybe even 90-10 in favor of light. If i want high alcohol I’ll drink brandy or scotch.

    Speaking of which please, please, PLEASE, do a brandy Show or maybe even a specifically Armagnac show. I am totally in love with Armagnac right now, and i think you will be to if you give some good ones a try. Email me if you do this show, I do not want to miss it.

    p.s. thanks for the check up email, nice touch.

    p.p.s ARMAGNAC! DO IT!!!

  • QOTD; You are right Gary it’s Both. I like 13.5, and 11. Great show.

  • GermanChemist

    Hi Gary,

    thank you for this great great shows Part 1 is good part 2 is just classic! Thank you for the email. Nice move! Will try to get back to the comments more frequently…

    QOTD: I am 100 % with you. I just love the wines with rich aromas but less alc. 13.5% is a solid value for a red one, I think. 11.5-12 is good for a white wine. Talking about Mosel Riesling it can also be less if there is enough acid to balance the sweetness

    Take care
    Steven

  • Great stuff. Could have listened to you guys for hours.
    QOTD: I like ’em both. Probably 75% in the 12.5 to 14.5 range.

  • Anonymous

    QOTD — Working in a Steak oriented restaurant, I find that we sell a lot of the higher alcohol California cabs. Therefore, that is what I spend much of my time tasting. When drinking for myself, I tend to lean towards lower alcohol wines with more flavor and acidity.
    –Just a note. If you’re like me and you love White Burgandy, but can’t drop $450 on a bottle of Batard Montrachet, definitely look for a Chassagne Montrachet from the Les Encegnieres vineyard. We carry one from Jean Claude Bachelet and it is one of my favorite wines to sell. This vineyard is literally on the other side of a 10 foot wide dirt road from the Batard Montrachet vineyard. While it is not Batard, it retails for about $55 and I think the 07 got 90 pts from WS. Worth checking out.

  • Anonymous

    Dude!!!!! Your show rocked my sox off!!!!! i started watching your show about 6 months ago and about 2 weeks ago was finally able to go through every episode you have done so far. And with that said…. this is the best episode i have seen thus far. there is amazing chemistry between you two gentlemen.

    PS. Gary i have to give you a personal thank you as you have been instrumental in my career, studies, and training to becoming a advanced Sommelier and hopefully a master. I cant thank enough for educating me and training my palate.

    QOTD. I love the low alc of great sancere and chinon and some bordeaux but can appreciate a beautiful juicy peter michael or morlet or even some big boy CDP’s. What i am tired of is the big (for the sake of being big) wines out there right now, talking to you Paso. I cant wait for wineries and winemakers to go back to what Philip Togni has done for years, juicy delicious wines with restraint.

    thanks for the email reminder.

  • Anonymous

    Wow, just pure nerdy facts and entertainment! Like I said in the part 1 comments, I’ve been gone for many weeks, and boy did I miss you Gary, the Vayniacs and WLTV and comments!Great show! Just a pure pleasure watching you and the guest.QOTD: I am not bothered by the heat as of now. After 7+ years of tasting wine, I’m still a little thrilled to get an Amarone or Chateauneuf du Pape that sort of renders me a little senseless after drinking some of it. I still love a wine that challenges me, right or wrong, good or bad. I still obviously have a lot to learn!Cheers dude!

  • Anonymous

    GREAT GREAT show everyone. i was super jealous about the wines that were presented. i have a bottle of the 1990 lopez, tondonia, reserva that I CANNOT wait for….these episodes are getting me stoked. BTW – i am waiting for my wife to be able to drink again ( cuz she is pregnant ) to drink the lopez.
    anyhow QOTD – i live in switzerland right now and before i was living in france. when i go to buy wine, i never look at the alc. i do a bit here if i am buying spanish wines. when i go back to the states, i always remind myself to look at the alc when buying american wines cuz they get goopy and horrible. i have a hard time drink a bottle with a friend. but a bottle of burg…. no worries. i have been falling in love with german riesling for just that. so easy to drink.
    anyhow, great great show. i have not been commenting a lot lately, but i am watching gary
    peace

  • Anonymous

    QOTD: I rather like the lighter wines too. Although I agree that there is a time and place for really big wines.

  • Pve

    Just a suggestion, can you add a card in your video that would show the “wine” – so that I can quickly note the wine you are tasting? Love to illustrate a little label to add to your video.~
    I think it would help to readily see the label.
    pve

  • Ejevers

    Love Josh. So glad he’s a regular. QOTD: I like the wine to match the food. Given the meals that I tend to make at home, the wines I look for are almost always low-alcohol. 5-10% of the time I’m looking for something bigger. Just last night had an otherwise nice Syrah, but the heat on the back end killed it for me.

  • QOTD: I’m a fan of lower alcohol wines personally, but not necessarily because of the alcohol. I just don’t enjoy a big wine.

    I do agree that sometimes a big wine is a better choice for some food pairings.

  • Ronald

    Great shows enyod it a lot.
    QOTD: In the summer i like more the lighter wines. In the winter time more the “heavy”. It about 55-45.

  • WOW!! I haven’t watched the show in a while, but this was fantastic! Seeing two guys with so much passion, knowledge, and thought about wine just hashing out all this history and background of the different wineries and regions was fascinating. Kudos to both Gary and Josh.

  • UdoH we miss u, get back in here with us!

  • We miss u and need u back!

  • Super Tri u are just awesome, thnx so much for such a nice note!

  • Great show. Great guest.
    QOTD. I like to stay under 14%, though i can never remember what the various rules are for differing countries +/- 0.5% or 1% … so it’s sort of a crap shoot. Generally, i don’t want to taste anything close to alcohol in my wine, that’s what tequila is for.

  • wmiree

    QOTD: Super great show (both parts)! The question of alcohol constantly comes up in my area of the country (Birmingham, AL). Many of the folks in the wine groups I run around with have been into wines for 25 to 40 years. For the most part, they remember the “good ol’ days” when 13% alcohol was considered very high (11.5% to 12.5% was average). Most of today’s wines are 14.5% to 17% alcohol. This dramatically changes the mouth-feel and intensity perception of the wine, which with all but heavy-duty foods, is to the detriment of the the pairing. I understand the effect climat change has had on the alcohol levels of today’s wines, but you would think that with the technology available today, some amelioration would be possible. I would love for most wines to go back to the elegant complexity that wines with 12% alcohol seemed to so gracefully attain.

  • This episode had soul!

  • Anonymous

    I often look at high alcohol levels and immediately assume that the level is probably even higher, and I scorn a lot of those wines before even trying them. For the most part I’m looking for low alcohol wines with great intensity of flavour and aroma. There are some cases where I’ve found high alcohol wines that hide their stuffing well, some of the 2007 rhones would be a good example.

  • Allan

    This is a 95 point show…. whatever that means???

    Super cool two parter, one of the best. Nerdy mcNerd-ville here we come 😛

    Qotd: Balance is EVERYTHING! That’s it. Cheeeeeeeersss!!!!

  • Allan

    Josh brings the knowledge, GV brings the THUNDER, Mott brings the camera = Great Show!

  • Thank you both for an amazing two part episode.

    QOTD: I really don’t look at the alcohol level while drinking, I am totally going for the flavor profile of the wine. To take from a saying in my other passion the coffee world: it is all about the flavor and not about the buzz.

    @DanLAcher

  • John Watson

    QOTD: low alcohol for me 100%. I am now scared off by any red that’s over 13%. Not that I won’t buy it if it’s amazing and doesn’t taste hot, but if I haven’t tasted it, I will look for 12.5% on my reds. Same thing for white. My favorite wine at the moment is a 7.5% Saar Kabinett. Low low low for me.

  • Anonymous

    It is episodes like this 2 parter that make you really appreciate the Vaynernation community and all that Gary has done for the wine world. Josh Greene is a gem.QOTD, The alcohol level is not a factor if it fits the occaison!Happy Thanksgiving to all Canadian Vayniacs!

  • Anonymous

    This episode really conveyed Gary’s knowledge and passion for wine and his audience. The Thunder Show just keeps getting better!

  • SP

    love that Gary gives him the wrong glass after they drank the Lopez de Heredia (watch the rinse before the last wine)!

  • Joel Delon

    thank u again gary for this incredible episode thank u josh try and find your magazine from south of france and happy to be at the end of the crop… yours
    QOTD : heart wines that make me forget alcohol…

  • Amazing two parter. Sitting back for an hour and watching two amazing pro personalities talk about some of the best was just a treat to watch(a $400 bottle of wine treat would have been nice, but hey now lol). Kudos you folks, I had a smile and giggled occasionally through out both episodes, finished off my work week perfectly. Again, great show!

    QOTD
    Being the low budget wine nubs the lady and I are, we just look at the %’s as a whole I guess, comparing how hot a lower % can be sometimes to a higher, makes us feel like we are finding/expanding better and better. If that makes any sense =)

  • Great show, with two amazing pallets in the wine world.

  • Anonymous

    An excellent two part episode. I really enjoyed hearing Josh G., having been a subscriber to the excellent publication for a number of years. Much like the publication is, the talk betwwen Gary and Josh was very wine-oriented (not lifestyle oriented, as another publication tends towards). Glad to see that Gary can adapt styles from the wine-geeking style to the laid-back non-wine guests. I though tend to favor the wine-geeking guests.

    I hope this does become an annual two-part episode. Heck, I wouldn’t even mind if Josh pops in and appears throughout the year.

    Wines seemed to be awesome!

    Gary, I too immeduiately thought Josh dissed the friend that gave him the bag of apples. That was what immediately came to my mind right when you confronted the topic with Josh. Too funny! (Note: I am fully aware what Josh was attempting to communicate).

    Overall, just excellent!

  • Bob

    I personally don’t care what the alcohol level is as long as it’s integrated into the wine’s balance. I’ve had some really high alcohol wines where I didn’t notice the alcohol, and some low alcohol wines where I did.

  • Anonymous

    Opps, forgot the QTD response –

    QTD – I will stay on the fence and contend that I like both styles. As far as percentages, I would say my holdings gavitate around 80% higher alcohol wines, 20% lower alcohol wines, as I am a major zinfandel fan, California/Washington cabs/blends, California/Wash. rhone ranger styles (syrah, grenache, etc.) and I am also holding many Auusie shiraz back when my tastes gravitated toward this variental. However, I am in complete agreement that pairings with food probably are much better with lower alcoholic wines.

    In this vain, no I do not look at labels and base the buying decision on alcohol levels. I let the product roll out as it is, hoping the winemaker was able to properly blend the alcohol levels into the juice.

  • scottEJ

    As much as I liked the first time Josh stopped by, I think this one topped that. Not for the wines, but, because it had a little extra nerd-factor that I enjoy so much. This had the feel of a small(ish) off-line when the wine is the main focus. Great job to both of you for giving us such great content. Which reminds me, time to go out and get this issue of W&S.

    QOTD: I’m not much of big Alc. person unless I’m really in the mood for something massive; usually corresponds with a stressful day at work or it’s really shiddy and cold outside. Or, those few occaissions that I want to share a beast with friends. Otherwise, I prefer my alc. between 12.5 and 14.

  • Anonymous

    Best guest ever!!! I love the shows with Mr Greene. He is so unpretentious and knowledgeable. and he obviously has kick ass taste in wine. I tried the 03 Diamond Creek Red Rock Terrace at a restaurant because of his glowing recommendation of the 05 (i think that was the reviewed vintage…) and it was spectacular wine. Probably one of the best CA wines I have ever had. i actually considered flying up to san fran for the tasting event, but sadly wednesday is the only day I cant make it.
    qotd- yes, I certainly consider the alcohol level when buying wines. it helps me have some indication of what Im getting myself into. I think the ideal red is about 13.5%, but have had wonderful wines from 11 to 16%. I love port with its 20%! As my palate has developed I have liked high alcohol wines less and less. I like more earth driven wines that tend to be a bit lower in alc. sometimes too low an alcohol level can be a little risky, especially with Bordeaux. If i see 12% on a bottle of Bordeaux I think it might be too dry or austere, however it doesnt always stand true. as long as a wine is balanced, and well made I usually will like it. I went to L’Aventure last year and usually love their wines. I bought a bottle of Estate Cuvee and honestly thought it was completely out of balance and the alcohol was way over the top. Maybe it would have been good if i opened it at a dinner party, but for myself was way to rich and over the top. thanks for the great show!!!

←  Older Comments
Newer Comments  →

Close

Not Subscribed to WLTV yet?

Never miss an episode and get notifications on the hottest wine deals!

No thanks.