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

I am willing to open almost anything but have a hard time doing it without being able to share the moment with others who will appreciate it.

This wine was quite controversial a year ago-

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=163990&hilit=2017+pax+hillsides

You might want to try a poor man's Durrand - combine an ah so and corkscrew. Awkward but it works!

Kevin - agree that it is similar to Birichino's zin (or even in some ways to their Grenache). Also agree with Tom - our bottle had no reduction at all.

Had this last week and really loved it. The lower alcohol seemed to allow the flavors to really play on the palate with no heat but rather waves of changing flavors. Wish I had more. So different from the many higher alcohol zins I still love. Almost pinot like in the lightness.

Matt- this is such a great note. Really captured it. We finished an '05 last night. Really opened up after a few hours. I tried to find descriptors but was at a loss to describe the flavors.

It will be tough for me to stay in the MB futures program without the pickup parties. I am getting to old to be buying MB futures but the parties (I mean tastings

) made it worth it!

2004 Alesia Syrah, Chileno Valley. Pop and pour at a bonfire party (it was pretty cold out). At first weird astringent flavors, but also earth and mushroom underneath. Opened up nicely in about 20 minutes and became very interesting/unusual. An intellectual experience, not an easy sipping wine but c...

Rich - looking forward to hearing how it shows.

We just had the 13 Montafi. Found it enjoyable but just that. Not much going on and I felt it was just past peak. Nice balance but soft fruit and no tannin. Not much acid either. No better on day 2. I would drink these up even though I usually enjoy my Carlisle with a little age.

2004 Carlisle Knights Valley Pelkan Ranch Syrah Never know what you will get when you pop a cork on an older Carlisle. More often than not it leaves me smiling. Pop and pour. Dark color, no bricking. Muted nose. First taste, no heat or prune. Tastes promising. One dimensional - one note that is plea...

2014 RM Sonoma Coast Chardonnay. Amazing. Quite the surprise. Crisp, balanced, great flavor. I expect this will continue to improve for several more years. Really enjoyed this. Hard to believe how classy this was for an entry level offering.

David - Birth year for the kid and I have one bottle. How long do you think this might last?

Love this wine and have two more bottles left. Agree it really needs some bottle time. Not sure if you noticed but every year's label has a slightly different picture (I think).

"its 12% alcohol easily carrying the wine across my tastebuds." I like the way you put this. I recently experienced this with a Sandland Zin (I know, much higher than 12%) and this really captures my feelings as I swished this in my mouth.

Two more over the weekend. 1994 Merlot and 1998 Barricia Zin. Both were enjoyable, not over the hill and not "pruney". The Zin improved after about an hour and opened up quite a bit. Liked the previous pair better but no complaints on these.

Steve, I hope your bottles show as well as ours did. We used a "poor mans" Durrand = an ah so and cork screw, and the corks came out with just a little effort. Enjoy. A real special treat.

Sean - recovery has been slow. County finally came and tagged hazzardous waste for removal. Still waiting for final haz waste cleanup. No idea how long it will take to get all the debris removed and we are concerned about the rain. Irrigation and fence mostly repaired. Still don't have all the water...

Eric agrees with y'all!

The first two I opened were both winners! Socially distanced work party in the orchard was the excuse. Still dealing with damage from the recent fire. So glad these showed so well. I was very excited to open these for my friends, several of whom have not experienced older wines before. 1990 Sonoma Z...

Last year I had a corked wine purchased winery direct a few years back. I like supporting the winery and did not want to hassle them. The next week it was still bugging me so I reached out to the winery and asked them if they could make a donation to a local fire relief effort rather than replace th...

2007 Dry Creek Valley Syrah- nice but time to drink up. Opened up with black fruit and decent balance but after a few hours the alchol began to detract. Looked it up on Mike's drinking chart and he agrees- drink by 2020.

I posted in another thread on the magnum of 1992 Karl Lawrence Napa Cab we enjoyed over the weekend. Perfectly balanced and no sign of pruney decline.

We were finally able to visit our property after over 3 weeks of mandatory evacuation. Great to be home but somewhat overwhelmed by all the destruction. So thankful our home still stands. We are truly blessed but grieving for those that lost so much. A few neighbors came by and we popped some corks....

I was wondering who scored the 94's! Should be good juice.

I live at Molino Creek Farm, in the hills above the town of Davenport. Thanks for the love folks. Miss you all as well. It is a time to count your blessings if you are in good health and have enough to eat. My neighbors say they think my wine is OK - will have to do some extensive sampling when I ge...

So much devastation and loss! Three home on our farm have been destroyed. We lost some out-buildings. Water system damaged and fences down. Smoke today is very bad. Many of us are still unable to return to our property. A few brave souls are watering the other crops and trying to put out the spot fi...

Robert, thanks for sharing that. Today was a rough one for me and this gave me a much needed smile. Congrats on the experience!

Great tasting note Charlie and wonderful first post! Hope you stick around!

I think someone posted a link previously of Eric gushing over the 18. I am looking forward to trying it!

Here you go:

Do the split trick - pour into 1/2 bottle as soon as you open. Should be fine.

I immediately pour 1/2 into a split, put cork in and put in refrigerator.

I got a pretty good deal on an unused coravin on e-bay. You can look at previous threads on the subject but I think it is well worth it, especially if you are only trying to keep the bottles for a few weeks.

2013 Kirschenmann - Elegant, almost tasted like a beefy pinot. Red fruit, strawberry, cherry and red rasberry with wonderful balance. Much lighter in color than most Carlisles. Really enjoyed this. Wanted to use the adjective "feminine" but not really comfortable with using that as a descr...

The Coravin has really changed this for us. We can have a glass or two of a $30-$40 bottle rather than drink a whole bottle of the cheaper stuff. Better for our health too!

Don - great note. Will have to see if I have one of these. No inventory so need to search!

Once and Future 2016 Oakley Rd. Zin and Bedrock 2015 Monte Rosso Zin.

Thanks. Trying to resist but no point on this one!

I will try and make either work. Thanks Frank!

2009 Martinelli -porty, slightly hot, unbalanced, alcohol poking out - somewhat better with a little air. Mike's suggested drinking window of 2011-2016 seems correct. Should have listened. 2010 Rossi Ranch "100th anniversary" - now we are talking. Great balance and red fruit. Opened up nic...

Have you had subsequent wines that you enjoyed? Any chance it is virus related? I hope not! Would rather you just had an off bottle!

I'm in depending on the date. Thanks. Really missing these gatherings - I was just starting to get the hang of things.

Mike, we had the 02 a few years ago and I agree with others that have said this should be drinking great.

Thanks for posting the link. I read this and meant to post about it. I think Edible Monterey has been hitting it out of the park these days. Great article and worthy praise for some of our pioneers. Mike and Wes - agree with you regarding Matteson Pinot. I am still haunted by an early 90s' version d...

No, when I tried to sign up for April.

Did everyone else only get the ability to get 1 free ticket?

Just got the email. I really look forward to this event every year but not surprised. Maybe final assemblage will still take place.

Greg, I would normally agree with you but I think since he was asked to bring nice wine, and they are into food, it would not be out of place in this situation. If the request was just to "bring some wine" then I would agree it would be inappropriate to bring your own stems.

I am still hoping to get bumped off the wait list. I have some older SC Mt. Pinot I can bring (If I am bumped up) but was thinking that maybe someone would want to go in with me on another mag of nice Champagne to cap the celebration. Just a thought.

I think the '11 is one of the best for "early" drinking - they were pouring it last year at the assemblage which inspired me to open a 375 a few months ago. Really enjoyable and did not get the "too young" feeling.

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