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I shall have to seek out one of Burt's vintages on Winebid. Was his last vintage 1999?

I'm going to go with Ridge and Mayacamas. Two producers who have been making great, ageworthy wines for decades and I almost never see notes on them. Jay there is a Ridge-specific thread a gajillion pages long! The bonus is there are lots of pics of bbq also. Remember I posted that over 5 years ago...

I am a big fan of west sonoma coast wines. with that being said, i am finding that i enjoy what producers outside of the region are doing with the grapes. Primary example is hirsch, who i think producers OK pinot noir at best, but provides others (notably WS) with some of their best fruit. Only thi...

Jay Miller wrote: ↑
August 14th, 2014, 11:21 am
I'm going to go with Ridge and Mayacamas. Two producers who have been making great, ageworthy wines for decades and I almost never see notes on them.

Jay there is a Ridge-specific thread a gajillion pages long! The bonus is there are lots of pics of bbq also.

Carlton McCrindle wrote: ↑
August 14th, 2014, 9:59 am
D'Alfonso-Curran
Refugio Ranch
Stony Hill
Vincent Arroyo

The pricing on D'Alfonso-Curran hits such a sweet spot for me. Bruno makes fantastic pinots and Kris hasn't made a white wine that I don't like, especially given her focus on less popular varieties.

I met a couple at the bar at Solage the other night. They were drinking 2 notable wines: Eisele Sauvignon Blanc (cat pee to the max - not for me) and a 2012 Marcassin Pinot. They poured me a glass of each. Man, was that Marcassin good! When I expressed my pleasure, the man asked the bartender to br...

Oh great, yet another list of wines I want to buy.

Blake Gray's article on this deal, including some interesting observations on what drove it: https://www.wine-searcher.com/m/2019/11/gallo-swoops-for-napas-pahlmeyer Interesting that they bought the name and not the vineyards. It makes sense if the point is to sell brands without relation to the so...

Brig - you've inspired me to pick up a Botella off WineBid! Do it. And I have one '08 Botella left so if we run into each other in Socal (I'm in MV) and I can talk the warden into parting ways, I'll open it. Botella was the bottling of the young/immature vines. Back in the day, it was going for les...

#3 Someone brought a bottle of Stella Rosa to my daughter's 4th birthday party. I'm concerned I won't be able to give this bottle away, but also don't want to pour it down the drain either. Can you cook with it? I was thinking that or maybe Sangria, but it's such a large bottle it would have to be ...

Dry shaking an egg white - news to me, dammit! Are you doing this in the shaker BEFORE pouring in the other ingredients, or wasting two shakers in the process? Stella Rosa makes a great re-gift for someone you don't like. You pour the egg white, simple syrup, whiskey and lemon juice (I prefer meyer...

Brig - you've inspired me to pick up a Botella off WineBid!

This thread prompted me to pop a 2017 Bedrock Dolinsek Ranch Heritage. Flat out delicious, I defy you not to like it. My wife, who rarely comments on red wine, is loving it. Quite aromatic, very bright and peppery red fruits. Love me some Dolinsek. I've had some 2012s and 2013s lately and they are ...

The "Ten" is pretty heavily oaked, and sometimes that resolves nicely with 10+ years aging, but even then, I'm less a fan than the Southing and Botella bottles. Those wines age well and are significantly better at age 7-15 than in their early years. I have always preferred the Botella. Go figure......

#1 I am awfully tired of every California winery tasting room associate saying the following as they pour Chardonnay: "This isn't your typical California, over-oaked, buttery Chardonnay." #2 I once spent a year making whiskey sours without realizing you need to dry shake the egg white for maximum cr...

NEW WORLD - BAD QPR - New plantings of Italian and French grapes on the West Coast. Seeing $45 bottles of Tempranillo and $35 bottles of Ribolla Gialla from the new world shocks me. Why do these new bottlings have to sell for twice as much as their old world counterparts. OLD WORLD - BAD QPR - Bour...

Actually, I have not been impressed with the quality of Rioja for the price and the length of time you have to wait for it. RLH Tondonia gets released 12-15 years after vintage and it's a meh 90 pt wine? And the bulk of the other modern Rioja's release within 5 years are all just big fruit bombs wi...

Enjoyed reading this old thread. I think you can boil down this argument to the law of diminishing returns and your own personal price point. Go too far past your personal price point and you're less likely to be happy with the wine you are consuming.

I love the idea of a wine that ages well, but posts like this make me cringe. Buying wine for +10 years only to find out two decades later it's downright bad or just muted in taste....terrible.

I don't want to be a stick in the mud, but bojo gamay is cheap and better than most of what I have tried from stateside. ESJ might be the best, but it is still not in the same league/$ as the best bojo's that are out there. I'll drink my Thivin on Thanksgiving and be okay with it. TW What is bojo a...

OK, I will likely buy some incoming (again) for this comment, but may I ask why fully 50% of your many posts are to alert fellow WB's of mailing list offers? If we exclude the topic of golf, it would be closer to 75%. What am I missing? Your fellow WB's who are on the list would see the same thing ...

I always enjoy the photos - one of these days I'll learn how to upload a pic. I like Rhys wines quite a bit, and have realized that the Chardonnays are quite special, and Santa Cruz fruit overall also is outstanding.

That's why you share wine with your young, still strapping, sons to ensure the passion lives on and the wine still makes it (albeit with some shrinkage) into your cellar well into your 70s.

I think another poster mentioned most memorable wines of the year (rather than "best"), and I think back to a a 2001 Arcadian Pisoni that stood up to the Peruvian meal I had with my wife in Sonoma during her birthday week. Another standout was a WS Rochioli on that same trip at Chalkboard in Healdsb...

Robert.A.Jr. wrote: ↑
November 1st, 2019, 5:19 pm
1996 Verset Cornas
2006 Gonon Vieille Vignes
2008 Roulot Mei Chavaux
1985 Chateau Magdelaine

In terms of discovery, I’ve been introduced to the Pinots of Williams Selyem and have dug them.

Now you're talking my language Robert! Which WS vintages have you had?

Drank this baby last night and it was my QPR WOTY! $25 at Envoyer.

https://ibb.co/B31Csfb

Tons of great notes, thank you everyone! I would like to try to strike a balance between seeing the sights, enjoying myself and discovering new wines for sure.

I did use the search function, and saw one thread that was specifically about a trip and the rest were tasting notes about wines/producers.

Hello Friends, My wife and I and another couple are looking to celebrate our friend's 40th birthday with a trip to the Loire valley next April. We were thinking of flying into Paris to stay for a couple of nights, and then spending 4 days in wine country. What is it like in France? Are all winery vi...

4 years of buying history in CT from 2016 until now.

2017 - 154% increase in buying (in dollars not bottles)

2018 - 50% increase (feeling pretaaaay spend-y)

2019 - 25% increase (ouch ouch it's starting to hurt so good)

2020 - 1,000% increase after all my wife's student loan debt is cancelled!!!

I'm 35, so maybe I'll feel differently when I'm 65, but the thought that the only wines I'll be drinking for the next 10, 20, or even 30 years are all currently in my cellar, would seem quite boring. I know all of you will continue to explore new producers through tastings, the one-off glass at a r...

I'm 35, so maybe I'll feel differently when I'm 65, but the thought that the only wines I'll be drinking for the next 10, 20, or even 30 years are all currently in my cellar, would seem quite boring. I know all of you will continue to explore new producers through tastings, the one-off glass at a r...

I'm 35, so maybe I'll feel differently when I'm 65, but the thought that the only wines I'll be drinking for the next 10, 20, or even 30 years are all currently in my cellar, would seem quite boring. I know all of you will continue to explore new producers through tastings, the one-off glass at a r...

I'm 35, so maybe I'll feel differently when I'm 65, but the thought that the only wines I'll be drinking for the next 10, 20, or even 30 years are all currently in my cellar, would seem quite boring. I know all of you will continue to explore new producers through tastings, the one-off glass at a re...

Never heard of (apparently) J Dusi Winery until this post. Question: If asked to name the winery that provided a flawed wine, why not name the winery? Why be coy? A few days ago I posted on the worst wine I've ever had. It was from Vinyes Singular. Victor Hong's explanation of secondary fermentatio...

Victor Hong wrote: ↑
September 22nd, 2019, 4:30 pm
Secondary fermentation, perhaps from the sugar added to add rating points.

Pretty sure they quoted some sort of Gold Medal points at the "You've never heard of this insert varietal festival".

It rhymes with Crusi and has a J. in front. It was bad you guys, like third bottle of the night but still pour it down the sink bad.

My wife and I enjoyed a recent trip to Paso Robles to celebrate our 12th wedding anniversary. We bought wine from nearly every winery, but after popping one of the bottles of Zinfandel we noticed bubbles as if there was carbonation in the wine. Is this possible from a red wine that isn't Stella Rosa...

Bryan - I would definitely hold on to a few and try them at the 10 year mark. The 09 is one of my favorite Zins right now - wish I had saved more. Adam- I just did a quick tasting at Ridge yesterday. The 17 Geezer is great. If they still have the 2014 Lytton Estate Syrah I would strongly recommend ...

Just popped a 2015 Geyser and it's so lush and tasty. Any reason to wait on drinking my other 5 bottles?

Drinking the 2015 English Hill Pinot and loving it. Does Boheme have a tasting room in Sonoma county? I think I picked up a sixer during the berserker sale....but then again I've bought a lot of wine this year and my memory is foggy. Bryan, Thanks for your compliments. The '15 (and '16/ current rel...

2011 Sweetwater pinot popped at a tailgate yesterday. Bears / Packers. Great tailgate. Not so great outcome. No detailed notes. But the Sweetwater is in a very nice place right now. About 1/3 of a bottle left for tonight, hasn't lost a step. Are you drinking this at the ACTUAL tailgate?!! Never see...

Drinking the 2015 English Hill Pinot and loving it. Does Boheme have a tasting room in Sonoma county? I think I picked up a sixer during the berserker sale....but then again I've bought a lot of wine this year and my memory is foggy.

Loved these tasting notes, and appreciate you posting pics! These notes were especially fun for me as I've had at least 1/8th of the bottles. Was that Hilliard Bruce's last vintage?

I think it was a 2010 or 2012 Rhys Alpine vineyard that my father "accidentally" gave to me.

Uh hem, up to 102. Various WineBid purchases the last 6 months (Rochioli, Morlet, Ridge) - love that I can let them store until the summer is over. Sea Smoke, Williams Selyem, Carlisle, and Bedrock releases.

If you like a small production Pinot, make sure to check out cartograph. The owners are so lovely and the tasting room is very inviting. I think Reeve does a great job with their tastings and makes a fantastic Riesling (apt necessary) another good Pinot and Chardonnay spot would be Gary farrel, als...

I had one of the best meals of my life at Guiso Latin Fusion. Chalkboard is really fun, and also immensely enjoyed Bravas. We had The French Laundry in the same week and I ranked it my third favorite meal of the trip (too hard to live up to the hype).

I for one am batting less than .500 with the Rhys wines - I just don't think the pinots are in my wheelhouse but the Chardonnays express exactly what I want out of that varietal. The major exception is any Chard or Pinot from the Alpine vineyard. The 2010 Pinot was a revelation and I think one of th...

Prisoner wine company comes to mind. Low 80s for me. I have even convinced people who thought they liked it to hate it! Oh dear. There is a bottle in the cellar, we were given it last Christmas. I wasn’t sure what to do with it. Regifting brings moral quandaries plus the risk of an awful mishap if ...

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