“Whether they like it or not!” Thank you my man for the shoutout. It’s pretty obvious I have a “man crush” on you and appreciate your sensitivity to the dedicated Vayniacs.Great show, “It smells like sunshine” is classic and can we call this the “Gorgeous Label Show.” All four had great packaging and Flora Springs has always been a fav of mine.Nice to see KMurph, she’s a doll but it must be cold in your office where she has to wear a parka! :)QOTD 1: I have been turned on recently to Foxglove from CA. They have a very nice Zin (not too many I like from CA) and a Chard.QOTD 1a: Kinda obvious. I was downright enthralled and flabbergasted by the 91 and 95 Dominus. Started with the 88s and haven’t looked back.I have my Secret Pak and am ready to taste along with a few family members. I’m thinking about taping us tasting along with you. Won’t that be a hoot!Happy ThanksgivingP.S. Sorry Manning could not single-handily beat the Cheats for you. He tried and I have to give him credit going for the win instead of “hoping” Vinitieri would kick a field goal for a tie and the defense hold Pretty Boy Brady.

I am a huge old-world wine fan, so California is kind of off my radar at the moment. But the last great Cali wines I’ve had in the last 12 months were the 2006 Ramey Chardonnay Single Vineyard for white and the 1995 Shafer Hillside Select Cab Sauv for red. Sorry to go run-of-the-mill on you guys, but the cost of California vino is just too staggering to consistently drink wine of that caliber.

I went through a Pina phase…kinda in a Spottswoode phase now.

Kinda what I expected from Napa, lots of oak, big fruit, and no surprise the Cabs came through strongest. Definitely suspect that age is part of it, probably most of the wines could stand a chance to pull together. Don’t really get a $50+ Syrah that is all fruit and oak, though. Syrah can be stunningly complete, complex with only a little new oak when grown in cooler regions. And it can do this for about half what a Napa winery would ask . . . .

My perpetual obsession in CA is St Supery’s Elu, but my new crush is Storybook Mountain Zinfandel.

QOTD: At the moment, 2007 Bonny Doon Syrah “Le Pousseur.”

Nice tight show man!

qotd; Grgich ;Gundlach, always good.
Just had some Jacuzzi wines that were showing well.

Without question, my all time favorite California Cab is Niebaum-Coppola, Rubicon Estate, CASK. I’ve never tasted any California wine at any price point that can top this one. In my humble opinion, I enjoy the CASK wine even more than N-C’s flagship wine, Rubicon.

Really enjoyed that show, definitly interested in trying the Lewis Cabernet Sauvignon and Trilogy.
QOTD:The 2006 Ceja Carneros Pinot Noir is definitely my California wine of the moment!

“Most of the time
it’s well understood
i wouldn’t change it if i could…..”

I agree with pretty much everything especially about K-Murph. I too tend to stay away from the classic varietals and like to explore so I would love to hear her opinion on some wines.

QOTD- Miller WineWorks 2005 “The Works” a syrah, mourvedre, grenache blend is drinking so well right now I have gone thru almost all of the case I had. Hope Gary Miller gets to make more.

nice energy Gary,

QOTD: Californian wine in Brazil is really price, much more than french or Italian so i don´t have a lot. But Tablas Creek has always a special place in my cellar, so does Jordan Cab and chardonnay.

Great show as always… I agree w/ Alexandre-CF lots of energy today. You’ve got me excited to drink some Lewis Cab. Never had it before.

QOTD – Sojourn Cellars Pinot Noir. Love it.

I feel like I really haven’t given CA Cab its due lately, but just a couple days ago I cracked an ’07 Caymus with a buddy of mine and was really blown away by it. I feel like ’06 Artemis is also drinking beautifully right now. Aside from that, my usual California standbys are Ridge and Jordan. I’m also a big fan of Belle Glos Pinot Noir, especially the Taylor Lane Vineyard offering, and older Mayacamas Cabs are always killer. As a side note, Gary, you’re spot on with mentioning that people can find these types of wines at their local steakhouse… I work for a small, local steakhouse chain (3 locations) here in Seattle and we carry the Lewis Cab…. we’re still on the ’05 vintage, though- $262 in case anyone was wondering what they might pay in restaurant mark-up.

Not drinking any Cali Cab right now, Was in Napa last June and visited about 12 vineyards, who were all raving about their Cab as if they were not able to make anything else. Mostly I found them to have too much astringency from the tannins, probably too young to drink at this point, in my opinion a good Cab needs to age to reach its balance, even the Opus One we tried was off putting. My favorite from the trip was actually a pinot noir the Mondavie only sells at his vineyard called PNX, very approachable and drinkable. I also wonder how can people afford 50$ and up for Napa Cabs??? I’m from Montreal Canada and so the distribution of wine here is a state monopolly making wine quite expensive but for some reason especially Cali wine (aside from the mass production stuff).
Anyways still wondering why Cali cab is getting so much love

thanks ALLAN, your a class act.

Solid show, was really surprised how much you gushed about the Lewis Cab. Seems like CA has been bringing the thunder recently, I wont get my hopes up regarding you lumping CA into the “over extracted makeup” category however. Next thing you know you will be singing Molly Dookers praises!! Good shoutouts, keep em coming!

QOTD: Fess Parkers Ashly’s Vinyard 07 Pinot, good stuff, Frog’s Leap Sauvignon Blanc is very nice as well. I am doing my best to branch out, but those are the two that came to mind.

Inspired by young Jedi Vaynerchuk this Thanksgiving the LurkerKing household will be enjoying 2009 Morgon Vieilles Vignes by daniel Bouland.

Merci et Bon Turkey Day.

GARY!!!!!!

You’re the BEST! Love you..thank you for the shout out!! Its all love!!
xoxoxo

Great show!
QOTD: Oh..this is hard..Although, I can answer that I was hooked on Insignia & Turley for a while..

Oh..and this is a shout out to Cubatobaco! LOL Hiya Ray!

California cabs are rare in my cellar, I have some Dominus from 2000 that I may taste in a few years. I do have a grand-nephew, a 2008 vintage, may have to look for a few Lewis Cabs to put away for him.

QOTD; I used to be addicted like a crackhead to BV Cabs, and their blends as well.

These days though I am Impressed with Ed Sbragia’s single vineyard stuff. Wall vineyard is quite nice. Anomoly shows great potential. Just tasted something pretty good; Chasing Lion Napa Red.
But you know, I REALLY like Flora Springs. The Trilogy and their Cab as well.

Speaking of Sbragia, They’re having an event in February featuring one of Gary’s favorite guys. Mine as well. Joe Montana is going to be up there! I think he’s actually involved in producing a wine with Ed. Gotta be there. Mott, link THAT up!

Has Broadway Joe ever made any vino?

I also like the Castle Rock Pinots. Try the Russian River Valley Reserve they make, very well rounded with lots of fruit, good legs and not a lot of the alcohol you were experiencing, just well balanced.

dude- you nailed it. I am addicted to Trilogy. I have multiple vintages (not ’91 though) and a few large format btls. It drinks like the best Napa meritage wines at 40+/- bones unbeatable! The only thing keeping me from more of it is my bank account. I have been drinking the So America Malbecs as well lots of bang for the bone!

Years ago orin swift red wines..not so much now.