My palate is gravitating toward stinky Bordeaux style right now. Kinda burned out on sauvignon blanc and especially chardonnay. So right now, red blends get my blood pumping.

QOTD; My palate, my taste, wanting well made wines.

QOTD: I have backed off the huge jammmy overcooked Aussie Shiraz, but I still love a big Zin. I am pleased you mentioned the Black Chicken! Biale is one of my favorite Zin producers along with Carlisle. I am drinking a lot of CA syrah now due to prices. CA Cab is still my first love, but the ones I loved have left me behind for guys with more money. Sigh…

Dinosaur Jr. is a great band

nice show Gary, you r on fire dude.

QOTD: My palate is changing a lot lately, i was really in the Cru Beaujolais for last 2 or 3 months now i´m seeking for the mineral stuff, Loire style

another good one. wow, 945 episodes I’ve watched and you still have new styles – drawing a boat was GREAT! ha. Use a black marker, so we can see it!

QotD: i refound Cab Sauv, after a long departure.

Long time lurker.. have really enjoyed the shows lately. I think the guests have been great. Just an idea but how about having some growers on the show…..as they say, all great wine starts in the vineyard. Farmer Jim

QOTD – Reisling, especially from Germany. Starting to come back to Zin after the last couple of years and continue to enjoy good bordeaux style blends. And sparkling….

Another awesome episode – a lurker, coming out because you asked, to answer the QOTD:

Every since seeing the Bogle Petite Syrah show my pallet has been chasing after those bolder less expensive reds. (my corked reviews are all wines under (or around) 10 bones).

Believe it or not, just picked up a case of Bogle Zin at the local store because it was priced just right, then saw it here again on todays show. Nice.

Also a big fan of Cleavage Creek 06 PS that is sooooo worth the price these days.

2006 Pedroncelli Zinfandel, 2007 Patassay Vineyards Pinot Noir, 2007 Shadowood Cab.
Enjoying all 3 of these recent acquisitions.

Great show Gary!

QOTD: Still into French and Italian lower alcohol, terroir driven wines. Still not bored with Loire Cab Franc, Cru Beaujolais, Bordeaux or Rhone. Especially loving everything in N. Rhone, but affordability is an issue. There is only so much Crozes and St Joseph I can find! Burgundy is so pricey that those under $25/bottle tend to get a little boring sometimes.

Recently been delving into Southern Italian Red’s. Very much under appreciated and their price point reflects that. Am eager to learn more about them.

SOTUOMP (State of The Union Of My Palate): Not digging the Chardonnay (except blancs de blancs). Not digging overpriced CA wines. Not digging bombastic over extracted reds so I’ve been steering clear of NZ and Australia. Crushing sparkling wine. Crushing Loire whites. Crushing Italian whites. Crushing Rhone reds (particularly Cotes du Rhone and Gigondas).

I agree with your assessment of these wines. We love the Seghesio and often buy the Bogle Petite Syrah and Zin (good value!). QOTD: We used to drink the bigger, oakier CA red wines but enjoy the Italian and French reds more these days. (We drank so much of the Dancing Bull zin a few years back I can’t even look at it anymore!)

Leaving the fruit bombs behind (they were a good gateway) and becoming obsessed with the barnyard. As usual, great content Gary. Thanks!

Thanks for the rec Dominus! I’ll check it out.

Always love to the see the brown bags, Gary! They tend to make for my favorite shows.

QOTD: lately down on Cabs and Chards, up on Viognier and Gewurtz for whites, and Syrahs, Mourveds, Grenache, and Cab Franc for reds. You’re slowly turning me old world!!!

This is one place where I just disagree with Gary. I certainly appreciate the nuance which subtler wines have over their bigger brothers, but for my palate, nine times out of ten I’m going with the goop. Although, I should say that I always like to finish a special dinner with something more calm and Old World, since at the end of the evening the sweetness and intensity of a big California Zin or Cab is just going to make you feel sick.Gary, if you’re still serious about doing beer more regularly on the show, why don’t you see if this trend with your palate holds true across different beverages? Take a couple of very good but less intense American stouts (say, Sierra Nevada’s and Rogue’s Chocolate Stout) and see if you prefer them over some big Russian Imperial Stouts (maybe Old Rasputin and Bourbon County). Also, look into having Sam Calagione as a guest!

Nice brown bags. I wish you had the ’07 Seghesio in place of that bomby ’08. Two very different wines.

QOTD: I’m in a place of complexity, ballance, and interesting factor over power, big fruit, & reputation.

Zins have crossed the line in the last few year to a bigger style- I like big wines so I would like to two bigger zins but I also love the classic zin profile. They have done the same thing with my beloved Petite Sirah in terms of bringing the fruit out much more and making the tanin fade a little- some are really nice but I like the older profile better

I’ve been loving the fruit bomb since it turned me on to red wine 10 yrs. ago. I don’t drink more than two different wines/week unless there is a dinner party so I don’t grow tired of the big wine.

That being said I do like the fashion of exploring cooler climates and lower alc. wines as long as flavor isn’t sacrificed. I’ve evolved to like more acid and complexity and love nuance even though with a bomb crammed to the gills with fruit there isn’t as much room for nuance. Can I have both? I am seeking.

Quilceda Creek has delivered the goods at a reasonable price point in their columbia valley red. I think Cahors is underrated and Bordeaux overrated. I do appreciate Burgundy especially if there is fruit character to go with the complexity and structure. The Rion Vosne Romanee villages can be outstanding without breaking the bank. I do think that the Niagara region (big ups to Canada!) is producing the most old world of the new world wine regions – terroir and minerality. Marynissen for the $ is tough to beat and Lailey has the richness to go with the class.

Nice show GV, I’ve had a few old vine Sierra foothill zins that have soul and value. Perhaps Murph will throw one in next time!

QOTD: It’s been getting a bit chilly (even in Hawaii), so I’ve been whipping out ports to sip after dinner and before bed. Specifically, sultry, sexy red ports with a hint of naughtiness from spice.

Great show, I have been watching for a long time but this is my first post. QOTD: Right now I really am just trying to expand my palate because I am fairly new, but I have been trying more cabs recently and have enjoyed them.

+1

Homey…. I am so beat it’s not even funny. I have been building my wine cellar for 8 hours…and I didn’t even do much my friend Kevin who I told you turned me onto your show years ago….which by the way was 3 not 2….helped me and did most of the work. We had a bottle of a wine from Spain I picked up at your place 2 days ago and we took our time but my back and my hip are killing me. So much pain!!!!!
QOTD: My palate hmmmmm…. lets just say I like wines now I never drank 3-5 years ago. With me it’s big & juicy….but I like Zins, Pinot, Syrah’s, Cabs and a good champagne every once in a while. I would love to try a wine that blows me away….what do you suggest? I need something really good…. in the $50-$100 range.

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, if you’re looking for the N. Rhone style but Cote Rotie/Hermitage scares your wallet, check out the Syrahs from Washington. K Vinters (Charles Smith) produces some value-driven examples (The Deal, M.C.K.) which fall in the $30-35 range; also try Grand Reve (Collaboration II), Harlequin (Sundan Vyd.), Waters Winery (almost any)…the list goes on, but these are the ones I’ve tried of late – all rich and fruity but balanced and complex. None were over $40 and most were $28-35. New Zealand makes a few outstanding Rhone Rangers but typically for more scratch. Good luck.