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

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Someone needs to buy HDH out of the 2013 Sorrel Le Greal at $106 per bottle. A great price on a great wine. Currently shows 16 bottles in inventory.

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Probably a sign of the almost total collapse of TWA that this news has been out for a couple days but hasn’t generated a thread yet. Broadly, would think it’s a good thing for ownership of TWA to change, in light of the current ownership’s failure to really do anything with the platform and maintain...

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The 2015 Brovia base Barolo is available at the The Wine Cellarage for $37/bottle, with the possibility of additional discounts. That is a lot of wine for the money. Currently 104 bottles in stock.

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FWIW, I opened the 2017 PYCM Saint Aubin 1er “Hommage a Marguerite” last night. This is a smoking good wine, highly reminiscent of the 2014 En Remilly CNM, but not quite as reductive as that wine. Same cut, structure, and lemony goodness. So that would suggest the 2017 Nicholas et Mathis is well wor...

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I will dissent and say I love the Code 38. The most important question is, will you lose it? If you think you can hang onto it, it is money reasonably well spent. It is by a wide margin the best screw pull in the market. And yes, I own and use a Durand as well. But a Durand takes longer to use and i...

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Thanks for these notes. The VVF is a fascinating champagne and can occasionally be spectacular (the 1996 being the example that comes to mind). The problem is that it does not even come close to warranting it’s price, IMO. I’m sure Bollinger has little difficulty selling it, but it is odd to me that...

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The 2010 Chidaine Clos Baudoin performed better than Roger Federer tonight. Admittedly not a high bar. Let’s hope Roger shakes off the rust in his next match. As for the Baudoin, no sign of oxidation, quite fresh actually. Low to medium acidity, some noticeable but not intrusive residual sugar, sort...

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Interesting notes. I don’t have a lot of experience with Chidaine, but I did stop at their wine tasting counter/retail outlet in either Montlouis or Vouvray many years ago when I was visiting Jacky Blot. I remember thinking the wines were a little “fat” and not likely to age particularly well. I hav...

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I have a question for William Kelley and others who have tracked the PYCM wines for several vintages, particularly the Corton Charlemagne. This was an amazing wine five years ago, particularly when you could get it for $80-90 per bottle. Those days are gone. My question is whether quality has slippe...

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I agree with Kevin that the waxed Dauvissat bottles with the green French tax stamp glued to the top seem to show fresher. Don’t know why. Maybe it’s just some sort of perception or placebo effect. What I find crazy about Dauvissat is that, as John says, in the last 15 years or so there are some bad...

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What's the context of the purchase - is it for immediate consumption? There's a few defining features of each wine. Dom's production is gargantuan. Far outweighs the other two combined. It is typically around a 50/50 blend with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir but it's never formally disclosed. It is majo...

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Thanks for the quick response. I did not realize Wine Searcher segregated the “Comtesse de Cherisey” label from the “Martelet de Cherisey” label.

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Perhaps underrated in the US because unavailable? Do they have a US importer? I see a single retail listing for any of the wines in the US, for the 2016 vintage.

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Pammy’s is excellent. And they have a fun wine program. Book well in advance, as they tend to fill up.

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One other wine to throw in the mix. For the first time in 2017, Henri Gouges is releasing an old vines version of Clos des Porrets labeled “Hors d’Age”. Should retail around $135. No tasting notes yet, but I bet it would give the Lignier some real competition. http://winehog.org/visit-domaine-gouges...

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I agree that the Lafon Santenots is “blocky.” It is a very rich wine, and so it is often a crowd pleaser, but it often presents as muddy and lacking detail. The 2010 version is an exception, and is probably the best version of that wine I’ve tried (the 2002 and 1999 are also top notch). It might hol...

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Just saw an offer come through from Wally’s for this wine at $200/bottle. Looked on Wine Searcher and Wally’s is the lowest retail price in the country. But you can buy it direct from Penfolds USA for $150/bottle. This has probably been discussed before, but how can Penfolds push their wine into the...

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My suggestion would be to cook the patties sous vide, and then do a quick hard sear over a burner. More work, but it would limit shrinkage. Alternately, you could start them in the oven on convection at 250 degrees, and then finish with a hard sear, but that will only make a small difference.

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I’ve tasted with Kevin dozens of times and never found him to be a sucker for high alcohol wines, or wines that display high concentration. What I have found him to be is open-minded about a range of styles. He calls them like he sees them. A couple of years ago we tasted a bottle of 2003 Pavie blin...

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From the tenor of the discussion it doesn’t sound like too many minds are open to change, but let me offer some personal perspective on DDC. I’ll say right off the bat that I think the wines are both good currently, and better than they’ve ever been in the past, at least when you take a multi-vintag...

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The details certainly matter here. I agree that a state can likely ban shipment by mail of alcoholic beverages without running afoul of this ruling. States can also impose a licensing fee to in-state or out-of-state retailers, so long as there is approximate parity in the licensing regime. However, ...

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The “highly attenuated” language from Alito is very helpful. He is saying that there must be real substance to the purported health and safety interest. It can’t be manufactured to conceal an otherwise protectionist intent.

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I am no lawyer, nor smart, but I read this as curbing state powers not only in discriminating against non state players, but also for consumers to be able to ship into the state. Is this a narrow decision or a wide one? In the context of the current Court, which tends to be very narrow gauge in its...

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My very quick and superficial take is that the fight over interstate shipment is going to be about whether there is a legitimate health and safety interest in states prohibiting importation of alcohol from out of state retailers. The good news for consumers is that the Tennessee wholesalers and reta...

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A big win. Justice Alito uses fairly expansive language in the opinion, and it will provide substantial ammunition to attack interstate shipment restrictions imposed by the states. The big distributors and wholesalers will spend millions defending shipment restrictions, and the fight will not be eas...

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Justice Kennedy is a member of the DC chapter of the Tastevin, and hosted Tastevin events at the Court from time to time. Justice O’Connor is also a member.

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The main reason I suspect Justice Alito will side with consumers in this case is that, of all the conservatives on the Court, he is the least concerned with protecting state sovereignty. At heart he is a federalist who is comfortable with federal legal supremacy. He sides with the federal government...

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ScotusBlog was engaging in reasoned speculation this morning that the opinion will be written by Justice Alito, because he is the sole justice not to have authored any opinions from the January term, and this is the last January case outstanding on the docket. My hunch is that an Alito-authored opin...

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“Yes, except priority limit was $2,775 at the time of the bankruptcy filing (and when claims were filed). The trustee has also filed a final report and some other documents, but need a PACER account to access them. -Al” This now makes sense. I was wondering how 2,150 claims could be valued at only $...

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Acker also soft today. The German collection went high, as expected due to rarity and provenance. But everything else was notably soft. Not a firesale, but soft. Not sure what to make of it. Need more data points before calling a trend.

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1999 Dujac Combottes is a killer wine. I think the best version of that wine I’ve ever tasted.

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One other thing I found interesting. The Kasolas declaration defines "Customer Claims" to exclude (1) claims by businesses for undelivered wine, and (2) claims by individuals for undelivered wine intended for non-personal use. Perhaps this is covered earlier in this (very long) thread, but does this...

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So I'm just reading through today's filings in the bankruptcy proceeding, dealing with the priority status of customer claims. The declaration of the trustee states that the total value of the approximately 2,150 customer claims is approximately $3.9 million. It further states that the trustee antic...

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Since 2008 he has labeled it “Rugiens-Bas” to brand it as coming from what he believes (understandably) is the best part of Rugiens.

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I don’t think JM Bouley makes a Clos des Ducs, unless it was a one-off? His Pommard Rugiens and Volnay Chenes are both very fine, IMO, and his recent vintages are even better than the wines from 5 years ago. The “top” current release red wine from CdB, in terms of price and maybe quality, is DRC’s r...

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Second the recco for Isle au Haut. It is so beautiful there. Make it a day trip, get a picnic lunch in Stonington, take the mail boat, and spend a few hours hiking the trails around Duck Harbor. Also highly recommend the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller gardens. They are amazing. Need to make a reservation ...

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I’m not a buyer, but I will chime in to say that the 1996 Claude Dugat Griotte is an insanely delicious bottle of red burgundy. Surely the best Griotte I’ve ever tasted (though the 2002 Claude Dugat Griotte is a close second). Kevin S, myself, and a few others had it two weeks ago and it was killer....

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Faiveley is really dialing it in. At the La Paulee walk around two years ago I thought their Corton Charlemagne and Batard were at the same level of quality for my taste. They don’t have a huge holding and they ask a lot for it, but the quality is high IMO. Also like the Bouchard a lot, but not as m...

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I would add that I see a vast difference between recent high end Chapoutier and recent La La’s. Something has gone seriously wrong at Maison Chapoutier and they don’t seem to be trying to fix it. The wines are lifeless, seem to be excessively filtered, and are on a terrible trajectory. IMO they shou...

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Count me in the camp of those who think La La’s are now underrated relative to the quality of the wine. It’s a harder call to say they are “underpriced” because they remain quite expensive. But among groups of highly knowledgeable wine collectors, I find that most people now fall into one of two cam...

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Not an immediate solution, but Neal said on the Vinous forum that he is planning to do an updated second edition sometime in the medium term, perhaps next two years. Presumably with a larger print run.

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Agree with Eric. My guess is late 60’s to mid-70’s, tinta negra mole dominant blend, possibly with some other grapes as components. Probably a mid-range blended wine. Assuming it has been in glass since then, could use 24 hours in a decanter before drinking.

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Attended a Penfolds dinner outside Boston two months ago and the lineup included the 2016 Yattarna and 2018 Bin 51 Eden Valley riesling. Both wines were outstanding. The Yattarna had impeccable balance, was very light on new oak, and struck me as a wine that will make it to age 30 without difficulty...

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Thanks for this answer William. Makes sense. No wine = none for sale. However, there’s conflicting information on the web about whether 3.14 has been replaced for good with the “Athanor” cuvée. This thread from last year suggests that 2015 Athanor was a one-off cuvée of particularly ripe grapes in M...

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Does anyone have intelligence on the release of the 2015 or 2016 vintages of 3.14 for the US market? Has Kermit Lynch not distributed them? CellarTracker shows hundreds of bottles of the 2014 in cellars, but only 4 pending bottles of the 2015 and no bottles of the 2016. If I recall, the 2014 was ava...

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2008 Rayas is the 1998 Cheval Blanc of chateauneuf. The gap between the early reviews and the liquid in the bottle is laughable. I struggle to think of other wines that so clearly outperformed their initial scores. And I generally agree with the critics.

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This doesn’t give me any joy to say, but I think Rayas is underpriced in the market. It will be a $2000 bottle for a good recent vintage very soon. It is one of the world’s greatest, most unique wines. The discussion of Rayas pricing reminds me of the discussion of La Tache pricing about 10 years ag...

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I agree with Kevin. I think Palmer’s price is well earned. IMO the three top super seconds by quality are LMHB, Palmer, and LLC. But LLC will continue to sell for less than Palmer and LMHB, because it is a stricter, more linear wine, and because it shuts down very hard. It is also from a commune tha...

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I have a different take on the 2013 Lemorel. One of Eric’s best wines IMO, and possibly a 30 year wine. Though the 2015 is strong competition. Had a bottle of the 2013 late last year and it was just beginning to hit its stride. Reminds me of a more refined version of the Sky Zins from the 1990’s.

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For those of you looking for a nice wine dinner in Boston this month, my friend Ian Calhoun is putting on a wine dinner next Tuesday the 29th at his restaurant Mooncusser Fish House. Cost is $225/person. Restaurant is on Stuart St in Back Bay. I’m coordinating the wine and it’s a great lineup of pri...

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