Wine Berserkers - international wine social media, online community, and discussion

GregT

Maybe that's not a good example. The 2019s are going to be hurt by the virus. https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2020/06/lafite-2019-released-at-16-lower-than-2018/ As to the influence of critics, there isn't one like Parker was. So it would be a really interesting study to see how it works today whe...

GregT

It's a pretty nice article I would say. And Jefford did a fair job. This explanation of his scoring system is actually logical and defensible. What the article did not mention was that Parker insisted that he was tasting wines blind for many years after he had stopped doing so. That harmed his reput...

GregT

Dinesh - I'm assuming that they're all the wines from the Bierzo area? I know most of them. The Palacios wines are from a project Alvaro does with his cousin. The lowest end is the Petalos. I've never been a fan but it's a decent introduction to the region. The problem with it is that it's not a ver...

GregT

But with the loss of smell, the temporary loss of the ability to sense wine altogether, and perhaps with it a job, I was reminded, sharply, that our culture does not teach us what is important outside of the practice of amassing wealth and fancy goods. She was reminded that our culture is at fault....

GregT

If you have wine stains, you can use bleach. Some glasses get discolored around the rim or the bottom of the bowl. Bleach is just fine and you won't scratch the glass.

If the stains are from hard water, that's a different issue and vinegar can work.

GregT

Burrowing Owl, Checkmate, Osoyoos Larose, Laughing Stock, and Nk'MIP, are making really nice wines. Fairview makes a decent Gruner Veltliner. Platinum Bench is worth visiting for the bread.

Just like any area, there are a lot of not-so-good places, but there are some standouts.

GregT

No meaning and no purpose

I agree with Wes, the question is strange.

I like wine. So I drink it. That's all.

I like to read. I like chocolate. I like to garden. I like to travel. I like to visit friends. No deeper meaning to any of those either.

GregT

Jay - as Victor said, you gave them the best advice already. Then they need to decide what part of the business interests them. It sounds like they have no idea at all because people don't typically decide to "get into" the business without some idea of what they want to do. Working in a vineyard is...

GregT

I don't have a turkey roaster but that's genius! What a great idea.

Nice looking bread too.

GregT

No more than any other red. No wine should be served at living room temp.

GregT

If he had a 2001 Barolo I would tell him. Perhaps hold hands and have a kumbaya moment as you put the wine to its final rest.

And then I'd encourage him to open something else!

GregT

Geoff - there's a lot of work being done. As Larry said, there's work at Davis and there's also a lot of work being done in Europe. In addition there's a lot of collecting going on - Torres is collecting unknown cultivars from anyone in Spain who has something growing that is of unknown origin. So f...

GregT

I've done it accidentally a few times. The cork does get pushed out a bit. I broke off the plug of ice and sealed the bottles. And I thawed them by keeping them upright in the fridge. When you thaw them, they stratify. The water stays on top, the heavier things sink and you can see the layers. I've ...

GregT

The venison showed the terroir found on my property.....delicious.

GregT

Thanks for the ideas. I like the idea of taking a mixer to the meat just to better blend them together into a uniform consistency and, likely, un-compact it a bit. I also will try a panade. Many years ago I used to go to this dim sum place once or twice a week. The cook, owner, and some of the cust...

GregT

Brings back memories of the 01 Montelena Cab that Laube scored 69.It certainly wasn’t a stellar rendition, but I had a 6pack over a decade that was good to very good. I remember that - he picked up minute amounts of TCA, which were confirmed by a lab, and the winery dug out new caves because of it....

GregT

Mike - you know you could have called! neener Hope you're good with all the craziness these days. 2001 La Rioja 904 Gran Riserva was oaky cherry juice last week. Alan - that's their style. It's always going to be that way, even with another twenty years. A lot of people object, others love it. It's ...

GregT

Totally depends on the pizza. You can use a cookie sheet if you're making a kind of pan pizza but not if you're making something like a Neapolitan style. For those I don't think the stone works. Use steel. But it really depends on what you're looking for. If you want a crispy crust that has a chewy ...

GregT

Jim - we had friends who had a huge house but didn't want to retrofit a room for their cellar. They bought a restaurant walk-in cooler which worked perfectly. Those are modular and you can take them apart when you move. And the cooling units are fixable by any qualified refrigeration repair company....

GregT

Gosh you guys - we love sweet wines. Desserts too. I made a cake yesterday. We had some for breakfast today. But sweet wines don't have to be part of a meal. They're fantastic for after dinner when you're watching a movie or something. I disagree about Sauternes and others holding up in the fridge. ...

GregT

Beautiful loaves Christine.

You can make your starter more or less sour by the hydration level of the starter. I don't mind pretty sour most of the time. I can make a decent loaf but your cuts are really inspiring. Nice job.

GregT

We use it all the time. The genius was calling it a "fryer" but it's really just a little convection oven. I don't like fried foods anyhow so that's good for me. You can use it without turning on the oven and waiting for it to pre-heat and then heating up the whole kitchen. We use it a few times a m...

GregT

Thanks Mike! I’m looking to use my sourdough starter instead of yeast. Try this: 700 g flour 500 g water 140 g starter 12.6 g salt That's going to give you roughly 77% hydration which is the minimum I like because I usually use 1/3 whole wheat flour. If you're using white flour only, then you may w...

GregT

typificities

Great word.

GregT

Charbono from Calistoga? That has to be someone who's counter-programming! Next time I'm up I have to try that.

GregT

So I'm confused now - does that mean Nicole won't get the grapes any more? Too bad you guys didn't see eye to eye on the wines, I would have loved to try them.

GregT

I've only had a few Ser wines but I liked them quite a bit. And if I'm not mistaken, she also has a Cabernet Pfeffer, at least a rosé that I recall enjoying immensely.

GregT

It's a bit too simple though. Jamie is right that the lectures were never intended to be practical farming guides but that's a bit of a red herring. Steiner never claimed that they were. Steiner was born in a rural area and moved to Vienna as a kid, where he met a mystical guy who collected herbs an...

GregT

Yep.

He was the pioneer doing it as a monovarietal.

Oscar Tobia does one as well.

Nothing done in CA that I've had yet is similar, which is probably OK. It may end up being like Malbec in Mendoza vs Cahors - an entirely different iteration.

I can't imagine what Krankl would do with it.

GregT

I assume no masks?

Because how do you spit?

GregT

The free shipping is a great deal to NY. Just make sure they hold it until fall!

The question is which vintage you like. If you're in CA you can also get free delivery from K&L if you're in their vicinity.

GregT

My wife has been wanting to do this for a while. She's a musician and has many musician friends who are also wine lovers. All different genres, so there's not a snobbism other than the fact that the music has to be good. But then non-musicians start suggesting music that isn't very good. And that's ...

GregT

I'm not sure I agree Yaacov. The other day I looked at someone's baking blog. There's a reason I usually avoid those. These people probably meant well but they had something like ten pages on how to make a sourdough starter, and they had a checklist and everything. That kind of stuff is like mumbo j...

GregT

Agreed. And putting it into a roller is going to do exactly what he's doing. You don't roll pizza dough because you don't want to pop the air bubbles, so you stretch it instead. But if you're rolling, it doesn't matter whether it's wood or metal. I don't get it. And at Locali's in Brooklyn he rolls ...

GregT

Tinah - Chambers is an option, as is Cellaraiders and a few closer to you like in CA.

Just don't ask them to ship now. Tell them to hold off until fall. And that gives you a lot of time to look around.

GregT

"the alarming convergence of two trends: higher and higher bottle prices at the premium end of the market, and millennial indifference . . . Friggin millennials! " He believed that the local wine would only reach its potential if it was strategically elevated into a luxury product — scarce, expensi...

GregT

Since we are talking about flour in general, I ordered some 00 flour for the first time and was under the impression that is was super finely ground. I made a dough ball today for pizza, and it actually felt way more course than AP flour. It was almost between cornmeal and flour to me. Is that norm...

GregT

We use eggs from my nephew’s hobby farm. They (both chickens and humans) eat well. The color is richer than most store bought eggs and the yolks are bigger, but I’d guess that the 50% semolina had more to do with the deep golden color of that pasta. The semolina will also give you a more al dente f...

GregT

I've seen that video before. It inspired me to try some new cuts, none of which worked out. What seems to be the key here is that his crust is fairly tight and dry. He's dumped it out of a container and it's floured, which helps it dry out. That works best. If you don't have that kind of tension, ev...

GregT

We make it a lot. A few keys - First, use more flour than something like a bread dough. It should be a pretty tough dough initially - don't worry, after you let it sit for a while it gets much easier to handle. Second - don't make it and try to roll it out right away. I make it in the morning and l...

GregT

We make it a lot. A few keys - First, use more flour than something like a bread dough. It should be a pretty tough dough initially - don't worry, after you let it sit for a while it gets much easier to handle. Second - don't make it and try to roll it out right away. I make it in the morning and le...

GregT

Exactly. I have it on top of a 3/4 piece of aluminum that I wanted to experiment with. Doesn't do a great job for pizza but it's great on the stovetop. So last night I made a couple of pies and took the temp of the steel in a few places. It's not even but I knew that. First pizza the steel was hitti...

GregT

Milton - Are you using any whole-grain flour? I find that over 85 with white flour can be pretty difficult but you need to get to that if you're using whole grain flour or the dough is just too dry. Those loaves look pretty good to me. One other thing - there seems to be a real difference in razor b...

GregT

Anyone that does more than adding a pinch of flour (too much ruins them) and pan searing them in butter is doing morels an injustice. I might be swayed towards Burgundy but am leaning towards Champagne. Save your sauces and risotto for chanterelles, boletes, shaggy manes, and miatake. I’ve come to ...

GregT

I have given up that battle. We have three cases in “quarantine” in the garage and another one arriving today. I was thinking - in the garage? But then I checked the temps in NJ. Nice. I just hope those weren't shipped from CA. We had some delivered Sunday. A guy drove them down from the winery. It...

GregT

Looks great David. The cheese doesn't go bad if you get it out in under 3 minutes. After that things start to change. Don't know. The problem with not using the broiler is that the steel won't get nearly as hot. Tonight I'm going to do an experiment. I'm going to heat the steel on the stovetop befor...

GregT

By the way, that article about the special flour in Lyon is kind of interesting. It's way to much to get into here, but the advent of mechanical mixers and the standardization of flour in the 1900s both in the US and in Europe, particularly after the WW2, caused a lot of people to be upset. Largely ...

GregT

Happens to all of us!!!

GregT

Good topic Linda. But pickling is different from fermenting, although I'd very happily eat those fish!! I'm OK at pickling since I kind of grew up watching my grandparents and my mother do it. But fermenting is something else. I've tried several times with Kim Chee and always end up with some rottin...

GregT

He mentioned that he and his wife-an MD internist-both avoided white flower, processed foods, and red meat due Sounds like a tasting note! White flowers, red meat, and a long finish. White flour in general is a high-glycemic food like sugar so it shouldn't be a major part of your diet. But it's not...

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