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Daou has a killer view from the winery but in general their wines are pretty expensive.

Just bought a couple of cases of Tablas Creek Rhone whites for summer sippers.

2008 Veuve Clicquot with Easter ham. Very nice. Crisp and bright.

Picked p another 6-pack of the 2006 Taittinger Comtes

Surprised to see only a few champagne corks in the mix... they must sink to the bottom.

Like the OP, my palate is fairly aligned with Jeb's. I do however agree with the "point creep" issue among nearly all critics. I would say point creep is partly unwarranted and partly due to better wine making.

Had a 2016 Derivative last night. It was really singing. Fruity, crisp with great balance.

As someone who constantly struggles with racking that is too narrow I would agree with those who suggest the wider racking.

Kris Patten wrote: ↑
April 14th, 2019, 1:06 pm

D@vid Bu3ker wrote: ↑
April 14th, 2019, 12:59 pm
Betz makes some wonderful wines. They don’t get much play. Not sure why.
Just like lots of great WA wineries that don't get much play....Cadence, Gramercy, Betz, Januik, Andrew Will....list goes on.

I agree. IMHO the best bang for the buck in domestic wines.

I meant to also ask how the recent vintages are doing since Bob Betz left? Like Todd, the last PDF I purchased was the 08, and the newest vintage I have is the 09 La Cote Rousse. I still buy some Betz but don't drink them until they have some age so I can't give an opinion on their merits. The have...

I wish EVERY wine was in the simplest, lightest Bordeaux bottle. So much easier for lifting, storing, handling in every way. I don't choose wines by the shape of their bottles (or labels, except in one case: Jadot, because it's so damn ugly). But I get that a lot of people do, and a lot of producer...

2002 - $31
2019 - $60

It has been pretty stable last 5 years.

I have a passive cellar in my crawl space with several thousand bottles. Because it is a crawl space the racking is only 8 bottles high. During the Nov 30th 7.1 earthquake we had here I had over 100 bottles fall from the racking and not a single bottle broke. I attribute this to three things: 1. The...

The average for my 47 bottles is almost exactly $100. This does not include the $20 bottles we buy for my wife to drink with her girlfriends. I have have just recently started buying vintage champagnes so I expect this average will creep up.

2010 Carlisle Zinfandel Sonoma County - USA, California, Sonoma County (4/2/2019) Drank my last bottle of this last night with Burgers. It has been a good one and a great QPR. Still sporting big zin fruits and beautiful balance. Gaining the elegance I enjoy in high quality aged zin. (93 pts.) Poste...

A bottle a day with dinner - shared with wife.

Thanks for the note Dan. I have not opened one of these yet and it sounds like that is okay. We get plenty of "negative Fahrenheit" weather here so i will have plenty of opportunity in the years to come

March was another good month for me with 30 consumed and only 4 purchased a net reduction of 26 bottles. I am really enjoyig the reduced clutter in the cellar and am probably within 18 months of reaching my stable cellar size goal of 2000 bottles.

2004 Château La Vieille Cure - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Fronsac (3/31/2019) My last of 4 bottles and I believe the best. PnP and drunk with grilled beef tenderloin. Plenty of fruit and graphite. Tannin integrated. Drink or hold. (91 pts.) Posted from CellarTracker This bottle was a pleasant up...

2012 Carlisle Zinfandel Limerick Lane Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley (3/28/2019) A wow zin for me. Simply delicious zin. PnP and drank with chicken breasts in tomato sauce and pasta. Balanced fruit and spice. Guarantee this one will disappear quickly. Drink or hold....

North Coast Cab has been on a roll since 2011. Should be fairly easy to get a good cab from one of these good years for $30 or less. Took for entry level Cads from Sebastini, Louis Martini, Mondavi, Beringer or Kendall Jackson. Check out CT notes or critic reviews. Good luck with the family reunion.

2005 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Beaune 1er Cru Bressandes - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Beaune 1er Cru (3/25/2019) WOW my first bottle of this wine. PnP and rank with red salmon sushi. PnP was a mistake. Open this at least an hour before drinking. Delicious Cherry, currant and cranberr...

Just bought two cases of Tablas Creek Rhone Whites for summer drinking. Love sipping these inexpensive Rhone whites on sunny afternoons on the deck.

2010 Donelan Cuvee Keltie Syrah ... Definitely rewarded cellaring, the best of the Donelan wines that I have consumed to date, still have some of their Walker Vine Hill and Kobler Syrah's left to try..purchased at the winery 2012 when Tripp Donelan graciously tasted me through a range of their wine...

I clearly prefer red wines but if I were to pick a white my favorites are Rhone blends.

Pat Martin wrote: ↑
March 22nd, 2019, 3:54 pm
Day 2 though, this morphed into a black-cherry fruited beauty. Not showing much complexity yet, but that core of ripe yet dry fruit on day 2 was irresistible.

Exactly!

I have actually had decent luck with Fevre Chablis but I have stopped buying all white Burg because of premox problems overall.

This is over the past 15 years ~ 4700 bottles

Cab 15.0
Pinot 12.8
Chard 12.6
Zin 10.3
Syrah 9.2
Rhone Reds 8.2
Bordeaux Reds 7.4
Champagne blend 4.6

During 2018 ~ 380 bottles

Pinot 15.4
Chard 14.9
Cab 14.1
Rhone red 9.9
Syrah 9.7
Bordeaux 9.4
Zin 7.3

2009 Ridge Geyserville - USA, California, Sonoma County (3/22/2019) This is actually my first bottle of this wine. PnP and drank with Thai meatballs. The wine had amazing aromatics and a fruit forward palate. The fruit was bold but was starting to show some of the elegance that I love in these Geys...

I really don't have a dog in this fight and can see both sides of the argument. That said, I do like to compare cellar contents with those who allow it. It often impacts how I value their notes. As to the comments feature, I think it is extremely helpful when used properly. I would never presume to ...

John Davis wrote: ↑
March 20th, 2019, 7:47 am
I d include tax and shipping-because that is what it cost me. IIRC, this has been discussed before and results are mixed.

+1

One final note. It is clearly better to load the dishwasher the next morning if you wish to minimize breakage

The bottle I have owned the longest is a NV Brotherhood Winery something or other that we bought in the summer of 1976 when we learned, at a very young age, that you never go to a winery, drink everything they offer you for free, and then make buying decisions. You then take the wine home, taste on...

I have always used the dishwasher. We do have good water here so I don't see any spotting. If you are careful loading you should not break glasses. Most spotted glasses we have had are when they were hand washed.

Good luck on the miracle. With the constraints listed it will be tough. It would be a lot easier if they chose Rhone varietals.

I really love aged wines which have retained good fruitiness but the fruitiness is somewhat muted and the wine displays an elegance you don't see in younger bottles.

I started celllaring wine in the late '90's but the oldest purchase I still have is a '99 Spotswoode I bought in 2003. I am not really a sentimentalist so the thought of keeping my first bottle purchase never really crossed my mind. In my non sentimentalist mind the big question that pops up is " Wh...

2002 Anderson's Conn Valley Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Reserve - USA, California, Napa Valley (3/16/2019) This was good with grilled tenderloin but all of my bottles of this have been a bit too acidic for my tastes. What I would call a Pinot lovers cab. Keep thinking more time will allow t...

I used to buy and enjoy their wines but as their prices jumped I stopped buying them in favor of better QPR. Mostly bought the Giuseppe & Luisa zin in '02 - '07. Mostly drank them young.

Leslie, Walla Walla is a really fun place to taste and there are many up and coming wineries to explore. First of all a word of warning... the Cayuse tasting will be elbow to elbow. I've only gone once and the wines and food were wonderful but the crowd was a bit overwhelming. I have not been there ...

Although I don't have much experience in the SYV, your list for day two and three look good. I would also suggest that Justin would not be my choice. Finally, when we were in Paso a few weeks ago we enjoyed a visit to Kukkula which is near Tablas. Their releases have a little more age than most and ...

2012 Carlisle Zinfandel Papera Ranch - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley (3/10/2019) This took an hour or so to come together but when it did it was wonderful. Drank with spaghetti and meatballs. Loads of dark fruits, licorice, chocolate. Drink or hold. (94 pts.) Posted from Cell...

I really liked the Leonetti wines. They don't get enough love and would cost 3 times that price point in Napa. Have not had much Leonetti although the ones I have had were good. Back in the day got on the Q Creek mailing list because they were less expensive than Leonetti. and I have stuck with the...

I saw this. If I were still buying Bordeaux the inclusion of the off vintages would be a non-starter for me.

Thanks for posting. Looks like they had the best represented. Sounds like a lot of fun and good info.

2005 Louis Jadot Pommard - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pommard (3/6/2019)
Pnp and drunk with parchment paper baked salmon. This wine was good with lots of forest floor, earth, minerals and adequate fruit. Acid balance good. Drink or hold. (90 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

Really a nice line up. I drank an '07 Montebello about a year ago and it was way to young for my tastes. Sounds like it is improving but can use additional cellar time. Too bad about the Scarecrow. I had an '05 Scarecrow a year ago and it was "knock your socks off" delicious... One of the best Napa ...

I know some love the cooler 2011 vintage. For me, with the exception of the Mourvedre, I have not been a fan of what I have drunk so far. Have not had the Monte Russo yet but was underwhelmed by a Papera, Pagani, and Sonoma in the past year. The Carlisle was good as were the white wines. I was sort ...

Chris offered good advice. Insulate all but floor and accommodate later addition of artificial cooling. IMHO you need to monitor temps thorough the summer season and make sure they don't get too much above 65 for any length of time. My passive cellar stays between 56 and 63... but then I am in Alask...

February - bought two, consumed (mostly donated but drank some too) 12 so down ten! I started this thread 11 months ago and am down only 40 bottles. 😂 I was not making much progress until I started dropping or reducing mailing list wines and stopped buying wines that will not be ready to drink in t...

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