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

Thanks, Tim! That’s terrifically informative.

Jason T wrote: ↑
December 5th, 2019, 3:35 pm
I’d say Dunn is “balanced” but it’s a bit of a tannic beast until maturity.

You think?

Jim Clendenen is making some very impressive nebbiolos under his Clendenden Family label. Would love to try a Wind Gap!

I would add Mt. Veeder.

If you scroll this thread from a couple of months ago, Napa Cab under $100, you'll find recommendations with a description of their styles.

I'm still trying to figure out the Vinous business model, since it's hard to see how subscriptions can support this much overhead (writers, IT structure). I wonder what the mix is of trade versus consumer subscribers? I guess ITB subscribers can cite the reviews, so they can probably be enticed to p...

what levels of wines are poured / do the wine makers visit these types of events? It's my understanding that new release wines will be the dominant focus (2016 Barolo and Barbaresco, a very good vintage), but, as can happen, other bottles sometimes find their way in - often behind the front, i.e. o...

Then someone isn't in tune with the market. It might be you, or it might be the winning bidders. Yes, of course that's true. Widgets are worth what someone is willing to pay for them, right? My question was more about whether there's an expectation that you bid on and win something if you're attend...

Greg dal Piaz is quite positive about the '15s, and he generally doesn't go for super ripe wines:
https://www.simplybetterwines.com/2015-barolo.html

Greg K wrote: ↑
December 5th, 2019, 12:04 am
I’m pretty sure the 15 Barolos are out already.

Of course, you're right. That will teach me to post after midnight. I was thinking '16s.

I find that true for high-Pradikat German rieslings and other sweet wines as well.

4. The Zachys auction. Very interested in attending, but is there an expectation that you buy wine? What if you just get outbid on everything you are interested in? Is it difficult to reserve a spot? How does that work? Then someone isn't in tune with the market. It might be you, or it might be the...

Do people have recommendations on vintages in general? I noticed some people pointed towards '12 and '14 which were generally considered cooler, late harvest vintages producing "lighter" wines. Nobody mentioned '11 so I'm guessing best to avoid god-awful hot vintages. Safe to pick in the crus menti...

Thanks for the notes. It's nice to see someone else who finds a lot of disappointments. [cheers.gif] I was interested in this one, in particular: Produttori di Barbaresco, Barbaresco, 2006 Lot 10.155 Black cherry, menthol nose. Deep and dark on the palate, with roasted dandelion root, gentian, choke...

There is a specific nebbiolo grape (sub-variety?) which is meant to give more floral wines. I can't remember the exact grape name but recall Ian d'Agata talking about it being mostly removed from the vineyards, but historically being more prevalent - IIRC the grape was Nebbiolo Rosé and some produc...

Whisky is one grain distillate. But vodka can also be made from grains, as can Chinese baijiu (sorghum, rice, wheat), so not all liquors derived from grain are whisky.

I've had dense young wines produce a crust of sediment on the sides of the bottle after a few weeks in the fridge. Because I host tastings regularly, I end up with leftovers and sometimes they get buried in the fridge and I come on them long after the tasting. To the detriment of the wine? This wou...

As I have understood it, brandy is a distillate from a fruit and liquor is a distillate from a grain. Actually, brandy is a type of liquor. Liquor encompasses brandy (from fruits, including grapes) and whiskies and vodkas (from grains or vegetables). Definitions of "liquor": a usually distilled rat...

Odd - I don't know who says that brandy is limited to distilled wine. It can be made from either wine or fermented fruits, such as apples. Poir Williams is also a brandy. Eau de vie is a subcategory of brandy. To my knowledge, "brandy" is always defined as distilled wine. And wine is made from grap...

Let us just say that the screening process is, well, not terribly rigorous.

We went through this all many pages back. Yes, if everyone insists on maintaining their current profit margins (in percentage terms) , the retail price would double. But that is a big If and very unlikely. If sales fell by more than 50% after prices double, the middlemen would end up making less mon...

I know the Brits are huge Champagne lovers, so I was curious to look up the export markets for it and see if the US even matters to the French. It does. The US is the number one export market by value , at about 21% of exports (€586 million of €2.8 billion). The US skews toward higher-end Champagne,...

In the case where Champagne gets hit with a 100% tariff, I won't buy a single bottle, and I suspect others will be the same. That'd hit those businesses pretty hard. Less drastically, the existing 25% tariff is still going to reduce consumer demand drastically. It won't mean that the retail price d...

Jonathan Loesberg wrote: ↑
December 4th, 2019, 6:58 am

John Morris wrote: ↑
December 3rd, 2019, 7:40 pm
. . . Uh ... Armagnac is from Gascony, not Normandy. Other end of the country. . . .
My mistake about Armagnac, though I wouldn't say that Gascony is the other side of the country from France. It is substantially farther south.

I said the other end of the country, not the other side.

Think Calvados or Armagnac for Normandy. These are more like cognac than like wine and a good Armagnsc will be nearer $100. You should be able to find Calvados for $40-50. If you want wine, given what you and she like, I'd look for a Bordeaux. Uh ... Armagnac is from Gascony, not Normandy. Other en...

Theoretically, cooling a liquid can cause any dissolved substances to precipitate out of solution if they are present in near-saturation concentrations. In practice, the only things I’ve seen precipitate out are tatrate crystals. But I’ve never put an old red wine in the fridge long enough to get i...

Tariffs cannot be imposed on specific producers. They are imposed on product categories. That’s the trade structure the entire world follows. Even though the tariff is specifically related to Airbus? I guess I really just don't get it... I appreciate your expertise and knowledge David! A tariff on ...

Think Calvados or Armagnac for Normandy. These are more like cognac than like wine and a good Armagnsc will be nearer $100. You should be able to find Calvados for $40-50. If you want wine, given what you and she like, I'd look for a Bordeaux. Uh ... Armagnac is from Gascony, not Normandy. Other en...

Paolo Scavino Bricco Ambroggio. I had the 2004 at the winery in 2017 and it was shockingly floral. Perhaps the most floral barolo I have ever had. I came home and bought a case of the 2010. A bit less floral but still delicious. It is apparently a very small cold microclimate that brings out the fl...

Nathan - It's probably too far north for quality red wine. Red grapes ripen later than whites, which is a problem the further north you go. The most northerly quality red areas in France, the Loire Valley and Burgundy, are quite a bit further south than Normandy. Some good reds are produced at the s...

I think D'Agata said that one of Giacosa's vineyard may have had a lot of rose, but that wasn't certain.

I wouldn't put it at refrigerator temperature. That tends to precipitate out solids. Even young reds will often throw some crust after an extended stay in the fridge. With an old Barolo, I think 38F would be shock treatment.

Markus S wrote: ↑
December 3rd, 2019, 9:30 am

Michael Martin wrote: ↑
December 1st, 2019, 5:41 pm

Paul Miller wrote: ↑
December 1st, 2019, 5:21 pm
How are you getting it for free?
Miles
Miles are not really "free", as there is a cost and value to them, usually between 1-2 cents per mile.

Hence Shanken can count these as paid subscriptions, I bet!

There's more detail of what's covered in the other thread.

Robert Pavlovich wrote: ↑
December 2nd, 2019, 6:05 pm
I’d second La Morra, and Verdugo in general, though Verduno pretty much equates to Burlotto.

I think that's limiting. Frat. Alessandria is making excellent wines in Verduno, including from Monvigliero. I have less experience with Castello di Verduno, but I gather the quality there is also high.

I use double deep racking because we store a lot of Ayoub bottles which are huge and champagne. I would do that anyway simply because your tastes may change of you might buy something like Ayoub which come in large sized bottles. The world is so full of wine. I would just rule out oversized bottles...

I ended my subscription in the late 1990s, lol. I know this will shock Corey and Todd to hear me say this, but I found it utterly pretentious, and of course, concluded The Suckles was a clown. And since Bordeaux was my region of preference, that was a fail. Pardon if this sounds jerkish, but I find...

Thanks for the map, Charlie. So the plot is not far from the winery, due west, more or less, behind the buildings? As I recall from a visit in 2004, the winery is on the main north-south street parallel to the railroad tracks, in the center of the village. Am I recalling that correctly?

There is a school of thought that the two major soil types of Barolo lead to a general split along the lines of “lighter floral” (tortonian soil, northwest side of Barolo region) and “denser powerful” (serravalian soil, southeast side of Barolo region). I don’t know if there is widespread agreement...

This is my own experience too. By "floral" I usually think of bright red, juicy/tart, fruit, which often comes with a rose petal aspect (along with a cherry, cranberry and/or pomegranate fruits). Without needing to age the wine, I typically find this in the better "basic" Barolos of good producers ...

There is a specific nebbiolo grape (sub-variety?) which is meant to give more floral wines. I can't remember the exact grape name but recall Ian d'Agata talking about it being mostly removed from the vineyards, but historically being more prevalent - IIRC the grape was Nebbiolo Rosé and some produc...

Some thoughts from someone who more or less the same experience as you (ie I don't drink it as often as other types of wine, but only occasionally): .... - what is "floral" for one person, isn't necessarily "floral" for another person; - to me, the really typical "floral" barolo is monvigliero from...

anyone know why we get it for free? Because they make their money from advertising, and they need to guarantee a certain level of distribution to justify their ad rates. Give-aways are the least valuable category of "subscribers," but they still count for something. People who requested the publica...

Sounds great. I have a couple of bottles of the '98 stashed away. Have you tried that in recent years? Not showing too much tertiary characteristics just yet, but the palate was beautifully integrated . . . . Sigh. Sounds like too many of the ~20-year-old wines in my cellar. Will we live to see tert...

... I absolutely hate case storage. You’ll inevitably want something that is in a box in the bottom back corner and then you have to move everything. ... When I had 3x3x3 cardboard boxes it sucked horribly when something was at the back, on the bottom. That perpetual re-arranging shuffle was just a...

I keep everything in boxes and keep an inventory. I don't care what the storage looks like, and boxes are more efficient from the standpoint of space utilization. Plus, the bottles don't collect dust.

Glad to hear that the recommendation worked out.

It may be more trouble than it's worth, particularly if you don't have a specific idea of what you want. 1. The differential may not be that great. Out of curiosity, I checked some expensive rieslings. From Wine Searcher, I see that an Egon Muller wine that retails for $350 a bottle here goes for $2...

That list includes just about every style in the region! Chiara Boschi— her winery is E Pira—uses barriques so is nothing like G Rinaldi. This isn’t entirely true anymore. Her brother is having more and more influence and they absolutely have a score of Botte in the cellar(unless she got a rid of t...

Did someone mentioned that it had to be the same style ? Chiara Boschis for me is within the top 10 producer .same applies for vajra/baudana . If the OP is looking for a substitute for Giuseppe Rinaldi it only makes sense to suggest producers making wine in a similar style That was my assumption, t...

Search found 15602 matches