Every time I turn around, I see these great deals on wine and food at Costco but have yet to take the plunge. This weekend, I’m biting the bullet and joining just to do this taste test/bet esp if it has WW in it.

Cheers my friend

Hey, I might be on to something, recommending wine to Lisa’s friends 🙂

Soon a year since WLTV ended. Will there be one more episode on that anniversary?
Nah, G moved on to other, not greener, pastures that do not interest me enough to pin it 🙂

I guess I won’t be joining this weekend or any other weekend until Maryland changes its archaic, medieval liquor laws. None of the Costcos in MD can sell alcohol, so no wine and no reason for me to join.

I will look elsewhere for the Planing Red.

Have you thought about moving?? Unbelievable!!

Wow a year …… still like this site the best. I guess Gary in back selling wine and dropping the wine knowledge on a new site. Have not seen it yet, but if he is doing wine vids over there then what gives ???? why not keep it rolling here?

Damn…I really wanted that bottle of Dominus. But, I don’t have anything. The Sawbuck is a winner. Excellent everyday wine and it is widely available where I live. So all I can say is, thanks amigo. Muy bueno.

Wine and Deli expo in Karlstad 2012 Sorry about the length of this one 🙂

Since no one would join me I went there alone to the opening time 11 am on Saturday. It was a successful move, partly because there were not that crowded and partly because the vendors have more time to actually listen to what I say :).
I was as usual offered to several wines more than what I paid for, and was even offered a few wines and news that was not yet commercially available. Also got some tips on when the next launch would take place and two of the merchants offered to help book trips to vineyards. For instance one would help me to visit the Chateau Mont-Redon in Chateauneuf du pape. Early bird cathes more worm or whatever you say in English 🙂

So I started off spitting my way through white wine, which some other peeps apparently thought crazy , but I want to be able to taste something even after the seventh wine and not stagger around with misty eyes, two hours later.

Jurassic Burgundy 2009
Scent soft clay with a hint of lemon and white flowers. Acid taste with hints of mineral and lime, little short and slightly earthy on the back end

Burgundy Kimmeridgen 2009
The scent crisp of mineral and citrus, a little sulfur. The taste fresh with hints of green apple, lemon and gray stone. Medium long finish of mineral and lemon

Petit Chablis Domaine Sainte Claire 2010
Scent of star fruit and lychee, a little oily scent as well. Flavor with fresh lime and star fruit, clay and stone in the finish, feels a bit plump on the palate.

Chablis Domaine Sainte Claire 2009
The scent is very acidic with hints of yellow apple, apricot, butter and lemon. The taste very fresh with green apples, citrus, herbs and a little butter in the finish.

Chablis Domaine de la Boissonneuse 2009
The aroma very apparent smokiness with apples, citrus and minerals as a layer on top and almost rostaed almonds at the bottom. The taste is almost heavy with fresh apples, lemon, lime, limestone, white pepper and it never stops. Best white I’ve tasted in a long time.

Chablis Domaine Sainte Clair Vielle Vignes 2009
70 years old vines, but for me it did not do it. Smell similar to the second wine from the same vineyard. The taste is admittedly a little rounder and deeper, but not much difference, ie, fresh flavor with hints of green apples, citrus, herbs and a little butter in the finish.

Chablis Premier Cru Beauroy 2008
The scent reminds me of the garage entrance at the home of my mother and father on a sunny summer day, white and yellow flowers mixed with crushed granite. There is little apple and herbs there too. The taste is completly fresh and smooth with hints of green apples, lots of lemon zest and various herbs and chalk. This is a nice wine as well.

Laroche Chablis Saint Martin 2009
Scent green apple, mineral and citrus. I repeat myself perhaps? Well Chablis is chablis 🙂
The flavor soft but clean, Very lemony and granite in the aftertaste, Very long finish. Cleans like the mouth all togehter. Good

Montecillo Blanco 2010 (Spain)
Pears and apples with mineral and green grapes on the nose. The flavor fresh with plenty of mineral and citrus then an annoying bitter, type of grape stems ending. Nahaa

The Game Reserve Chenin Blanc 2010
Buttery nose with hints of pear, grapes and a little sugar. Consistency is smooth and slightly thick, taste is pears, grapes, herbs.The wine is one-sided, one and the same flavor all the time.

Rabl Grüner Veltiner 2010
Youthful, fruity aroma with spice and hints of pear, apple and white pepper.
The taste is fruity, slightly spicy flavor with hints of pear, apple, white pepper and citrus. Fairly dry wine

Leits Eins Zwei Dry Reis Ling Rheingau 2010
Large, clean and fresh riesling-esteem. Tropical fruit with hints of white flowers and minerality. The taste is tight, clean, white peach, melon, papaya with little minerality and a refreshing acidity.

Leth Grüner Veltiner Wagram 2010
Dry fresh scent with hints of pear, citrus and kiwi. there is good acid taste. Tad spicy lots of pear, kiwi and lime. Much better than the other, see below

Leth Riesling Duet / Grüner Veltiner 2009
Nah, this was not for me. Neither acid or mineral, too much fruit with glycerin. Desspite low alcohol content. Could it be much residual sugar Ghosts (checked only 4 g / l wierd?)

Leth Let’s Have pink (Zweigelt) 2010
Zweigelt is a grape that is typical of Austria. The wine is very dry and taut. Refreshing with hints of red berries and green apples.Good minerality with an acid that quenches thirst. Surprisingly good. Can imagine a glass on a warm evening and me that only like Clairets from Bordeaux when talking pink wines 🙂

Dogajolo Toscana Bianco IGT 2010
A Supertuscan with Chardonnay (40%), Sauvignon Blanc (30%) and mixed with 30% Grechetto. The scent is floral and slight hint of pear. The taste is dry cisp, smooth, pear, and citrus is there, and little white flowers. Supertuscan? No´!
All these white really numbs your palate so I set about to clean the tongue and palate with a little food samples and a glass Flying dog Imperial porter. Then I went on the hunt for the reds amongst the various merchants. Now it was a bit more people, but it was all right. Took the opportunity to try out Munskänkarnas smelling contest. To identify 12 odors. It was not easy.

Red Diamond Shiraz 2008 (WA)
If you see an American wine you have to try it, right?. Shiraz from Washington. I guess this is a mass brand, but it was not too shabby. Typical syrah / shiraz-character. The smell was moderately fruity with a toasted barrel character, hints of dark berries, plum, coffee, chocolate and pepper.
Good taste with bold fruit mixed with some roasted nuts dark red berries, plums, coffee, chocolate and black pepper. $ 14 here, so yes, it is possible to drink again.

Delas Les Launes Crozes-Hermitage 2010
As always a good example of Syrah from cooler climates. I like the style. Lots of cranberry, charcuteries and spices in the nose and even more spice, red berries, including bitter cranberry on the tongue. This wine should breathe a while before drinking and after a few years, this is a foodwine without opposition for the price. If you like syrah that is.

Chateau Mont-Redon CDP 2007
Have two bottles of this at home, was released last August. I asked why they intruduce their vintages so late. The answer was that it’s probably because they want to sell out of the previous vintage first. Wow, a winemaker who can afford that have to be rich! Mont-Redon is one of the largest producers in the Rhone so of course 🙂
The wine has a spicy fragrance with lots of barrel, white pepper, prunes, bay leaf and a lot of licorice root in the mixture. Dry, lots of tannins, coarse, then there is the plum, blackberry, bay leaf and a hint of nutmeg. As I said, dry as chalk. Storing or drink food wit this.

Charles Smith Velvet Devil Merlot 2008 (WA)
Who says Merlot is boring. Good smell of barrel, a mixture of dark and red berries. The wine is almost smells like velvet and is like that on the tongue as well. Good fruit with spice and some earthyness. Merlove yeah! Maybe I needed a little sweeter wine right now after so many crackling dry white 🙂 Raspberry. Raspberry Yogurt? I like raspberries.

Charles Smith Boom Boom Syrah 2008 (WA)
Again a Syrah wine from Washington. Colder climate, French perhaps? Well this wine has an aroma that I recognize from the northern Rhone. Yet there are some hot and sweet about it, but there is what must be, red berries, licorice and meat. Here we are talking concentration of everything. Back end gives you the typicla notes of violet and lavender. Yummy
.
Charles Smith Chateau Smith Cab 2008 (WA)
This wine was easier than I thought. All ingredients from Cabernet Sauvignon is there but in a little less concentration than in for example California and Margaret River Cab. But it should probably be like that. Good structure with clean aromas and flavors right through. Maybe a little short back end, would have loved to have had some more chocolate and tobacco there. But as I said, this one can drink again

Chateau de Seguin 2010 Bordeaux
I went off try the most common bordeuax wine in Sweden, and the 2010 vintage. Can not say more than that there is a typical t Entree de Meres wine with a blend of 45% cabernet sauvignon, 45% merlot and 10% cabernet franc The wine seems a bit watery and the flavors thinned. Black currants, plums mixed with mint and a little milk chocolate should get me more excited, but no.Whether a good vintage or not, this is too light for me at this moment.

Chateau de Seguin Cuvee Prestige 2009
The first wine from the castle. 2009 a super vintage too. Here are some more of what you might say Bordeaux should be. More fruit, more tannin tells about better fruit in the process. Here it is more herbs, licorice, plum and black currant. For $ 18 a maybe, but it seems my own castle Chateau de Haux be better off with their $ 14 for the same vintage.

Tapiz Malbec 2010
A watery Malbec, but fortunately without that sweet which is so popular. That is an easy wine Malbec. Red berries, some earth up to the smell. The taste was as red wine 🙂 Not fun so I quickly went over to the second wine from the same manufacturer. Costs only $ 9 in Sweden.

Tapiz Reserve Malbec 2009
The smell more fruity, with a roasted character, hints of violets, dark berries and some vanilla. Taste a little more fuller than the brother the wine. More plums, blackberries, vanilla and violets. Drinkable yes.. ($ 15 here, so probably a lot cheaper in the U.S.)

The Game Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
Pencil, red soil and a little black currant as a fragrance. Taste is a bit insipid lacking a little Cab-character. Easy drinking with hints of blackcurrant, plum and some soil. Also, this wine has a simple taste picture, onesided.

Xavier Cote Du Rhone Villages 2009
Here’s a Rhone wine competing with Guigal. Same price, the same flavor profile
Red berries and licorice, obedient sweetness, then good acidity and a handful of French herbs. The taste is full bodied with plenty of dark fruit, licorice and herbs. Good acid and structure reveal storage potential.

Xavier CDP 2009
Beautiful lovely dry scent of spice, red and blue fruit with a little hint of barrel and violet. Behind this, there is a little dry chocolate.Good nose. On the tongue it is fresh, tasty, spicy, fruity, well all at once. Young, yes, structured, yes! Here is prunes, raspberries, herbs and dark chocolate. Can imagine that this in five years it will only get better. So 2009 is also a good vintage? Damn! I have no room at home for more.

When one is so charming I had to taste two wines that really was not offered at the expo. Xavier CDP Cuvee anonyme in 2009 and Domaine Courbis Cornas Champelrose 2008. Why? I can only say that sometimes it pays to be charming!

Xavier CDP Cuvee anonyme 2009
Wow, here it was full-body, concentration, spice and structure simultaneously. A great taste with an youthful austerity. Sun-warmed strawberry, black cherry and herbs wrapped in oak, balanced by good acidity. Blackberries, licorice, black currants as a garnish on a good structure. One can even feel the stones in the soil at the bottom. Perhaps I can understand that Parker gave this 96 if I get to taste it in a couple of years.

Domaine Courbis Cornas Champelrose 2008
Agian a Syrah wine from the Northern Rhone. Mamma mia what wine! Lots of herbs, lots of red fruit, a cold scent. Cranberry, cherry, raspberry, lingonberry and behind it all is that the smell of earth, dark, dark chocolate and a bit of dry wood. The taste is young and the acid in the wine is crisp. Jeez, a red wine with almost white acid. Syrah, hurrah! Tannins, which stings the tongue with its sharp outline, the fruit that helps and all kinds of pepper you can imagine. looong back end and and your nose are filled with flavor smells when you swallow. Yes I swallowed. This one you dont spit at all.

Last wine tasted was . The vendor said it was his best.
Corimbo Ribera del Duero 2009 (100% Tempranillo)
Closed scent, there are dark berries but mostly dry wood and earth. The consistency is crackling dry and the taste is filled with chalk dust, wood / barrel, but there are lots behind, Feels like three layers, one of tobacco and chocolate on the bottom, pepper, vanilla, wood, earth and a bit of herbs at the middle layer, and then dark plums, blackberries and slightly sour cherry on top. This wine should not be drunk without food and or even then in years to come. Really good structure for agieng in my mind.

Cleansing off the palate with a Old Tom ale and went home. Good expo, but what to order is another story. Have to look at my bank statement. I?ll guess I can?t buy as much as I would like 🙂 C?est la vie!

“can’t buy as much as I would like..” yeah, I say it often.. Oh yes.. the early bird catches the worm! You are too funny, Anders. And the charm helps too. Hahaha!

Yeah, so we need to stock up on 2009 CdPs, but I don’t have any room left either! Better start drinking the stockpile of 2007s.

Tapiz Malbec is about $10 U.S.. I’ve not seen the reserve, but not a big fan of the regular Tapiz, so I can’t say that I have looked for it.

No Calif wines in the lineup? How sad is that? Agree that WA state cabs are less concentrated than Calif cabs.. I’ve noticed that with every WA cab I’ve tried (which is not a lot.. less than a dozen in the past couple of years).

I think you were being kind in your descriptions of the WA wines.. Red Diamond Merlot is popular here among the non-wine drinkers 🙂 approx $8 U.S. I’ve seen the cab around but not the shiraz. I bought the Velvet Devil merlot after what’s his name recommended it on DG (Gary’s sidekick.. forgot that nice chap’s name.) Anyway.. it tasted fake to me.. poured it down the drain. Sorry that the U.S. did not have a better showing here, but loved all of your wonderful notes!!! Thanks for sharing!

PS: I am currently wrestling with a 2007 CdP: Patrick Lesac – Galets Blondes.. After 2 hours decant it is finally settling down a bit.

Does anyone remember the episode where Gary describes the nose of a wine smelling like a rhino fart… hilarious… I wanted to share it with a friend.

I’ll guess it’s this one?
http://tv.winelibrary.com/2011/01/26/beaune-wine-tasting-episode-975/
Second wine

Giving wine a second chance: I don’t normally get to drink too many aged wines because, in my meager collection, bottles just don’t get the chance to sit around for very long. So I recently picked up an 05 Chardonnay (Chateau St. Michelle) and per some reviews on cellertracker it was a drink last year wine. I popped it and paired it with a seafood lasagna (not a good pairing). Anyhow none of the descriptors given by the winery were present…i.e. crisp green apple and lemon. It just wasn’t working for me, so I set it aside.

Then over the weekend I poured me a glass by itself with no other flavors to compete with. Wow, lush ripe pineapples for days. Really balanced and very delicious.
I just finished the last glass…oh wait there’s one more drop.

Yes my dear. I think about it all the time. All I need to do is go over one of the bridges to DC or VA and buy all the Costco wine to my heart’s content.

Agree, hands down this is the most user-friendly and Vayniac-friendly website bar none.

Thankfully, GV and the folks have not taken it down. If they ever decide to, I wonder if someone (yours truly) could buy it? I wouldn’t need any of the retail stuff but this section is the “rad” as they used to say many moons ago.

Well, at least our new spammer is about wine and not wigs! 🙂

2006 Brunello di … Good?. I understand that it was a good vintage.

As a matter of fact, it is REALLY good. I love BDM but a lot of times it’s hit or miss. This is a good one, “low end” in the 20-30 bone range if I recall.

I shall finish tonight while watching the hottie walk down the red carpet.

🙂

To All Vayniacs:

Check Mott’s link above. Be ready for a big surprise or have I been left in the dark?

Mott: Glad to see he gave the G-Men props though reluctantly. 🙂

I think Lisa should run over to DG and post #5000! Or may NWIndianaDan and ask for his Edit/Like buttons? That would be funny.

We’ve been doing them for a couple of years now.

I have watched them on and off since 2008. But know they seem lost somewhere in the new structure of winelibrary.com

Both excellent choices. Yet no takers, I’m thinking of someone who was frequently number one…or at least very close. The King of course! Has anyone seen the King?

Excellent choice as well! I’ve not seen his Royal Highness, but am in touch.. He’ll yell at me now and then (via email) for drinking a wine too soon, or something else.

Only on FB

Your wish is my command.