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

You used a microwave?!?. Heathen.

So, I opened a 2001 and 2003 Rayas last night as part of my tasting group’s last monthly tasting of the year. They were opened about 5:30, decanted, and served blind about 6:30, a little earlier than I thought they would be poured. Initially, a little colder than I wanted and they hadn’t had enough ...

Not sure how you can extrapolate one corked bottle into your (invalid) conclusion. Feel free to peruse all the tasting notes on CT of 2015 Ceritas wines and see if you find a pattern. I did, you won’t see a pattern.

Nola, it is illegal to use USPS to ship alcohol. Other liquids like olive oil are legal AKAIK, but you must declare it as a liquid, have it properly packaged, and probably waive damages if broken.

I made a really delicious carmelized carrot soup in my IP for Turkey Day. It was the hit of the meal. Simple and easy, only a few ingredients, including a little baking soda, which enhances the mailliard reaction. Basically carrots, butter, baking soda, a touch of salt. Under pressure 20 minutes, pu...

Re: 2001 Rayas. I am opening my only bottle on Tuesday and will let you know. However, several recent CT TN’s mentioned tertiary, advanced characteristics.

I would think about double deep racking the entire length of wall 1, and NO racking/storage along wall 3. Your room is fairly narrow, and if you have single deep along both walls, the center will be tight and you’ll be bumping into bottles on one side or the other, with no room to turn around while...

I would think about double deep racking the entire length of wall 1, and NO racking/storage along wall 3. Your room is fairly narrow, and if you have single deep along both walls, the center will be tight and you’ll be bumping into bottles on one side or the other, with no room to turn around while ...

Make sure to have some insulin on hand.

Rayas

Seems kind of inconsequential (maybe). You plant, but can’t label the wine Barolo. It’s a 3 year ban. Most vines aren’t producing much in the first few years. Unless they mean forever, then maybe. More details needed.

It’s a weird pricing structure, IMO. But they can price how they see fit, and you can either adapt to it or move to a different facility. It sounds as if you are in a managed facility as opposed to self storage.

Neal, an employee would still have to open it, even if had been previously opened. Nice loophole to a poorly worded statute.

It’s hard to tell in pictures, but the color looks kind of dark, and the fill just OK. The storage conditions you describe are less than ideal. Personally, I wouldn’t disagree with what Tom said, but I would never pay $500 for a crap shoot. My advice is to talk to the other parties that have an inte...

Ron Slye wrote: ↑
October 25th, 2019, 6:04 pm
Ugh. Our deep freezer died a few days ago -- everything has thawed, including a number of Flannery steaks. Not clear how long it has been thawed, so unfortunately it is being thrown out!

I had that happen once as well. Very painful.

Sounds right Chris. My flannery mismatched arrived defrosted....I know I saw a discussion in a thread here with a similar scenario. Were they supposed to be shipped frozen or fresh? Regardless, I saw a YouTube video of some guy that did a blind taste test comparison of a set of meat ranging from fr...

Andy K wrote: ↑
October 17th, 2019, 1:40 pm

Greg K wrote: ↑
October 17th, 2019, 11:45 am
The 2011 Rupestris is drinking great, and that’s a very nice price for a restaurant.
That is pretty much a great price anywhere right now!

I will report back!

Thanks again.

Apparently Andy suffered amnesia after dining at Canlis and has forgotten to report back!

The Ramonet reds are a hidden secret, and that’s a fair price. Enjoy, and then buy some blanc as well.

Try Lambrusco for another.

I always thought that airport customs didn’t collect duty since it was pennies per liter, and not worth their time. Tariffs are 25% of the value, not per liter, and could be a significant dollar amount. If they are authorized to collect tariffs, I have a feeling they will.

It might help to know the vintage and where you are located.

They spelled your name wrong. I’d never buy from them again.

Not too long ago, I had a client send off 6 bottles each of ‘85 Jayer Cros Parantoux, Echezeaux and Richebourg to auction. I guarantee they were authentic, but I also guarantee they didn’t hammer for $250!

Crux has a charcuterie board that is killer. Also, while not a brew pub, check out a place called Primal Cuts. It’s a butcher shop on one side, and the other side has maybe 30 taps from all over the PNW, including when I was there last, a tab pouring a Heater-Allen beer. But the highlight is a sandw...

Good sale prices, but I was honestly surprised at the regular non-sale prices they showed. Did people actually pay that much for Bonny Doon or did they inflate it to make the sale look better?

Never heard of them. After 30+ grammatical errors that I caught without working too hard, I am s k eptical of anything they represent. Claiming 6 locations and 60 employees for an outfit I've never heard of makes me even more s k eptical, but I look foward to being corrected by others with direct e...

If Canlis is about anything, it is about service. This is a long-standing family owned restaurant, and their goal is to make everyone’s experience an ideal one. I have only dined there 3-4 times, but every one has been exceptional. If it isn’t special for you, they WANT you to give them feedback and...

I took a few friends to one of my favorite places, Nell’s at Greenlake. We started with an off the menu special order app of Chimney Smoked Lobster. Always special. We all did the tasting menu, I ordered a Champagne off the list, and brought in a 2000 Fichet Meursault Chevalieres and a 2007 Dujac Co...

Sh@n A wrote: ↑
September 10th, 2019, 6:29 am
I believe you have been searching for offsite for some time now; the offsite will offer insurance as well.

Not universally.

Not trying to be pedantic, but everything that is warmer than air will be affected by "wind chill". In other words, the wine that's in front of the blower will cool fairly quickly since there's high air flow + lower temperature. So it could be conceivable that the liquid is actually fluctating in t...

i think you would get slightly cooked or stewy before you would get to maderized.

I don’t buy this. Assume the facility is at 55 degrees. To maintain that, a commercial system will typically output air at about 49 degrees, which immediately begins to mix with the ambient 55 degree air. My compressors (redundant) run maybe 10% of the time, the fans run 24/7. So 90% of the time th...

A long long time ago (long before I started making wine), I had a wine locker in a professional storage unit...except my locker was in the direct air/firing line of one of the air coolers, which caused similar large cooling & warming (relative) cooling cycles, at times (summer) relatively frequent ...

First, you have a cheap thermostat in that uline. A good (more sensitive) thermostat would turn on and off with less of a temperature swing. That said, your range will not damage the wine. In addition, even fairly large daily temp swings will not damage a wine, UNLESS it is so large to cause the cor...

lleichtman wrote: ↑
September 5th, 2019, 10:40 am
2-3 times retail is typical. 10 times retail is outrageous.

Nobody said 10x retail. Markup is calculated from their (presumably wholesale) cost, so a $7 wholesale btl would retail for $10, and be $70 on the list. Still outrageous, however.

Chris Blum wrote: ↑
September 1st, 2019, 10:31 pm
I love doing communal dishes like cioppino, mussels and fondue. The concept of food sharing is a beautiful metaphor in my opinion.

So if you guys would finally visit Seattle, we could have a cioppino-off, Iron Chef style.

Jason T wrote: ↑
September 2nd, 2019, 3:59 pm

Carlton McCrindle wrote: ↑
September 2nd, 2019, 12:17 pm
Are there any Berserkers that are in the off-site storage business?
Chuck Miller, I believe.

Yes, for 25 years.

I also get scallops as dry as possible and sear at high heat in clarified butter. This. Clarified butter is key, as well as high heat. To the original poster, you experimented with different seasonings instead of different cooking methods. First, get your technique down, THEN play with flavors.

That looks great, Don. I love cioppino, and use a recipe that is more of a tomato/wine base with lot of Swiss Chard as well as loads of seafood, but that broth based approach looks and sounds delicious. Need to find a reason and a good size group of friends to make a big pot soon!

Looks as if he spent many millions of $ on the 2005 vintage and then realized he was nuts/couldn’t drink anywhere near all of it. Do you find this pretty common in big cellars you see? I ask because it is something I have noticed over time. Not necessarily with the newer investor/collector set- I a...

Looks as if he spent many millions of $ on the 2005 vintage and then realized he was nuts/couldn’t drink anywhere near all of it.

Tons of nice places on AirBnB for well under $200 (I’ve been looking). Depends on what you are looking for.

saul_cooperstein wrote: ↑
August 2nd, 2019, 7:42 pm
A5 wagyu @158 days

Just my opinion, but I don’t understand aging A5 wagyu. Period. Full stop. You end up trimming some funky shit off, which cost you what? $100+ bucks a pound? It’s already expensive, why make it more so?

Most bizarre thread since Alan Eden died.

A relative humidity of 50% to 70% is recognized as an adequate wine cellar humidity level, with 60% the ideal. Without ideal humidity, wine quality may be affected in a number of ways. When the humidity is higher than 70%, it will likely cause mold and degradation of the labels and glue. Generally,...

From left, Mike Reff, a very attractive young lady who Jorge has apparently convinced to marry him, and Jorge The Dominican. Reff, Jorge and fiance.jpg Jorge clearly convinced her that he is the most interesting man in the world. Stay thirsty, my friends. As my old joke goes, post more pictures of ...

8 Bells is in the Roosevelt neighborhood and is definitely considered an urban winery, Reasonable prices as well.

It’s amazing how much bourbon prices can vary state to state, I assume mostly due to liquor taxes. In WA state we have some of the highest liquor taxes around. As an example, Basil Hayden can retail in Wa for well over $50. Costco sells it for about $44. I’m on a driving trip across the N. states, a...

Sure. In a similar vein, some people freeze in ice cube trays to use for cooking.

Sorry, I totally missed the date of the original post! I must be getting old.

Dan, was the Cuvee de Iris a 2001, or a 2010 as your note would imply?

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