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

Wines taste more acidic when they're cold. Sometimes a wine that seems thin and tart straight out of the fridge will flesh out as it warms up. I'm sure the pH doesn't change. But the warmer the wine, the more aroma compounds evaporate, so I suspect the difference in perception has something to do wi...

Oooh! We have a new entry that's a strong contender:

Modern classification of left bank red Bordeaux

Brings new meaning to the concept of a wine monologue.

You could try some New York State wines, as you live in America and they are American wines. Not sure what selection you have where you live, but they are relatively inexpensive for what they offer and will give you a different take on riesling than you are used to, and sometimes offer unusual vari...

Would there be any valid argument that Barolo wine prices could exceed those of Burgundy at some point? I would highly doubt that. Burgundy is simpler to understand, and has a classification system that really helps prices. Barolo's MGAs are semi-useful in some places, like Serralunga, and complete...

I'm on the same page with others here. And I never think of it as "collecting." Patrick put it nicely: "My goal is to have a cellar that we will drink, with diversity across a variety of price points and drinking windows."

I have been on this web site a few years and am amazed sometimes at the egos displayed. To hear all the critiques of Robert Parker is laughable. He was truly the first wine critic who was fiercely independent of the wine industry and fiercely loyal to the only group he cared about.....his readers! ...

I would like to recommend Sobrero. They've been around since the 40s, but it's the current generation that have improved them and made them great buys. They're very reasonably priced and the wines are open and elegant from the start. Haven't had a chance to age them for long yet as the first vintag...

Is Germano particularly traditional? My one experience with those wines was that I felt a fair bit of oak, but I also recall having drunk a bit that day already......... I agree on Brezza - every time I've had those wines they have been very solid, if not quite at the highest levels. At a Chambers ...

Erika - I would just second what Greg and Chris said.

Put another way, those three wines are made in a way that ensures they don't taste like a cabernet should. But it's hard to find any wines in that price range that do.

Todd F r e n c h wrote: ↑February 25th, 2021, 10:41 am 1000 points if you can guess the varietal, or wine, or even where it is from

Is that the food accompaniment or descriptors of the wine?

Wasn't there a lot of fake Mouton-Cadet found in China a few years ago?

There have been some other threads with examples of cheap, mass-production wine that was faked.

Melville - Sta Rita Hills Stolpman - Ballard Canyon Foxen - Santa Maria Valley Love the first 2 and need to try Foxen. Can't believe it took 14 posts to get Stolpman on the list. I always think the wines at Stolpman are top notch —in a relatively rich style — when we’ve visited. Have to drive a few...

My first Nebbiolo Rose. Purchased as a library wine via WD, this is still young and only beginning to show secondary characteristics. Beautiful aromatics of dark cherry, licorice, roses, cinnamon, and some forest floor. The palate is intense, concentrated, and layered with moderate, fine tannins. R...

It looks like the 2017 Produttori normale got the same score as 2016 from AG (94) and a higher score than 2015 (90+). Is this grade inflation? Or is there another factor here? Everywhere I look 2017 appears to be a more normal vintage compared to 2016's amazing vintage. Is this possibly because the...

I find that graphite/lead pencil descriptor is caused when (for Cabernet and Franc), a slight amount of pyrazine meets a slight amount of reduction. I adore that aroma. Notice that most of the Bordeaux wines with that aroma mentioned here are from the Left Bank and Cab-heavy. Because that's where h...

Looking for wines that show significant graphite under $50? Any suggestions? We can go over by a reasonable amount... Aargh! I'm sure you didn't intend this, but your trolling me. Do you mean lead pencil aromas? If so, the characteristic scent of pencils is really the cedar that's used for the penc...

and I especially loved this: "To acknowledge that terroir is a text to be interpreted and not a law that demands adherence is also to accept that any winemaking style that seems to be more “transparent,” offering a less obviously mediated expression of grape and place, is in fact only a subtle...

Just published a free-to-read Tuesday morning provocation on The Wine Advocate site. Would be interested to hear everyone's thought! If your aim was to provoke, than I fear you have failed completely, because everyone here seems to agree with you completely, which is not surprising since your piece...

By the way, is Von Hovel worth seeking out? I see he does a Scharzhofberger Kabinett. Although I'm guessing a less-prime location than Egon Müller? Yes, von Hövel is very good, but in my opinion more the Oberemmeler Hütte than the Scharzhofberger. When descovering the Saar, do not miss Peter Lauer ...

Flatiron Wines in NYC is doing this:
https://nyc.flatiron-wines.com/pages/ev ... es-spirits

1. Keller (more than twice #2) 2. Emrich-Schonleber 3. Schafer-Frolich 4. Ratzenberger (bet no one else has that in Top 5!) 5. Andreas Laible (I'd be surprised on that one as well) Next tier includes Battenfeld-Spanier, JJ Prum, Julian Haart, Weiser-Kuntsler, Willi Schaefer, Wittman - not in order....

Two other points about this 2016 - it is aging at a glacial rate and it really does not change much after opening for a number of days if you leave the wine in the fridge - seriously. And I prefer to serve the wine chilled. Cheers I thought it hung together better tonight after being in the fridge ...

Did you like it?

No worries, but we'll hold it against you.

I'd forgotten that Rich posted notes on the 2018 a few months ago: https://www.wineberserkers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=3125075#p3125075 Interesting the 2018 was so strikingly inky, but Rich noted the 2016 was very light colored: “Its light such that you can see your hand through Ruby.” It was my 1...

I've been buying bigger quantities of my favorite kabinetts and and feinherb/halbtrocken in general because I have a hard time keeping my hands off them when young. Feinherb has become the #1 category for Riesling consumption at Schloss Bueker. That's interesting. I understand completely. I remembe...

I forgot to post a picture of the bottle. The wine is so inky that it seems to have stained the clear glass!

Robert Dentice wrote: ↑February 22nd, 2021, 4:28 am .... My biggest wine regret was not buying Kabinett by the truck load to age...

Tied for me with not buying Dom. Tempier for about 20 years, but I agree. I have way too much Spatlese and Auslese relative to my Kabinett holdings, and it's the Kabinetts that I find myself reaching for.

I'd forgotten that Rich posted notes on the 2018 a few months ago:
viewtopic.php?p=3125075#p3125075

Rich K0rz€nk0 recommended this and was kind enough to send me a bottle. This is really freaky -- in a good way. Foot-pressed, aged in concrete and steel -- no wood -- it defines inky. It's so dark that it appears to have stained the clear bottle. Larry says it's his first non-Rhone grape. Though it'...

I'm not drinking a lot of Bordeaux these days, which is the category where this is classic, so I'm no help. Alfert is the man to listen to. I'm only here to give you a hard time.

Looking for wines that show significant graphite under $50? Any suggestions? We can go over by a reasonable amount... Aargh! I'm sure you didn't intend this, but your trolling me. Do you mean lead pencil aromas? If so, the characteristic scent of pencils is really the cedar that's used for the penc...

Morisfarms - Morellino di Scansano (sangiovese from the seaside slopes of Tuscany), widely available for less than $15. There's a long track record of quality and value here.

Lyle Fass is offering the wooden case set of all nine 2016 reservas for $980, or almost $110 a bottle.

The atypical quality and nerviness may come from the 21% carignane. The proportion can be even higher in Ridge Geyserville. I love what it brings there -- a fresh, red-fruitedness that adds complexity to the darker, richer fruit profile of zin. Note, too, that this is only 14.5%, which is common eno...

Howard Cooper wrote: ↑February 18th, 2021, 4:47 am Wonder how many bottles he got from Rudy?

Since he went to prison for life in 1992, probably none.

1998 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Le Rocche del Falletto di Serralunga d'Alba - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo (2/14/2021) On Lummi Island for the weekend. Extracted the cork and placed it lightly on the bottle opening just prior to an afternoon hike around the northern end of the island in the falling sn...

Joel S Morris wrote: ↑February 17th, 2021, 4:42 am Ramey made a fantastic video that I have seen on this subject & why he uses Diam

https://vinous.com/multimedia/david-ram ... y-jul-2017

Reminds me of that wine a decade or so ago, where Chateau Palmer made a cab-syrah blend with syrah from the Northern Rhone. I just looked it up -- it's the "Historical XIX Century Blend," sells for around $400. I think it's a cool concept, but I don't get the $700 price tag. Even if they'...

It seems that a San Diego company, Triton, bought Liquor Barn out of bankruptcy in 1989, saying it would continue to operate the 68 remaining stores. But I don't think it lasted long in that form. Anyone remember what happened next? Did BevMo buy it or some stores? This LA Times story recaps the his...

Myth camp, here. You can make great wines from brand new vines, there are too many examples to mention. Basically all of France to start with - most of their vines are much younger than CA or South American vines. [scratch.gif] What's the basis for saying that? Given the replanting due to phylloxer...

Usually TCA mutes other flavors, but sometimes it doesn't.

A brief history of Liquor Barn. The chain was originally started by Safeway around 1980 when the California fair trade law was repealed and allowed grocery stores to sell liquor along with wine and beer and eliminate the floor (minimum price) that alcohol could be sold for (but not under cost). Saf...

In the 1980s, in the SF Bay Area, I HAUNTED Liquor Barn...The Walnut Creek store, I remember, used to put on awesome, thematic tastings...1982 Bordeaux, etc. Who could forget the black, fenced-off ‘reserve’ wines...like a 3.0 liter 1978 Mondavi Reserve cab? (As an interesting footnote, as much as I...

2019 Comm. G.B. Burlotto Barbera d'Alba Aves: Quite compact and tight to begin with, showing but a bare hint of blood plum wrapped around a graphite spine. It breathes and has purple flower notes. It is fleshy and deep, with a touch of licorice and fresh and savoury finish. 2019 Comm. G.B. Burlotto...

I could imagine perceiving TCA as wet plaster or concrete.

There is a wide, wide range of sensitivity/insensitivity to TCA, as there is to many aroma compounds. So it's easy to imagine your wife might not pick it up.

William Kelley wrote: ↑February 10th, 2021, 4:35 pm I think the new team at BdM have certainly tried very hard to resolve the premox issues, and 17, 18 and 19 have been very good. So, we will see, but I'm quite optimistic.

What have they done to address the issue?

To me, it makes all the difference, to the food and the wine. But a lot of people don't care, or don't pay any attention to how one affects the taste of the other. Lots of people drink wine before they pick up their fork and after they put it down, and not in between. For them, the food won't matter...

Wine only freezes around 20-21F, plus cars are insulated, and there is a certain amount of thermal mass, warmed up by the heater (dashboard, upholstery, side panels, etc.). So the car interior may not have been anywhere as cold as the outside air. On top of that, it takes a while to equalize tempera...

I haven't had their 07s, but that sounds like the vintage. Polished is not a word I would normally use for Brezza's wines. I thought their 99s, 04s and 06s were terrific, though I haven't opened any in quite a while. I was less keen on their '12s relative to other producers' when I visited in 2016 (...

Search found 17207 matches