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Sean Devaney

Not familiar with that vineyard, and you probably know this, Rodney Strong now owns Davis Bynum so there is that connection.

Sean Devaney

There was an old-line Italian winery in Napa (the name eludes me now) that sold a moscato that was not very stable. The sold it refrigerated only and told visitors not to leave it in a hot car. Anyone remember that? Maybe Louis Martini? I worked in a wine shop back when I was going to college and a...

Sean Devaney

HBO is going all out to capitalize on the last season of GOT. Along with Scotchs Ommegang has released three different GOT beers and rumor has it more in the pipeline.

Would like to try the Oban and Lagavulin editions but not spending the $'s.

Sean Devaney

A winery to add to your list is Holly's Hill up in El Dorado County. They make a couple Mourvedre's and blends.

Sean Devaney

G. Bienstock wrote: ↑
January 7th, 2019, 1:08 pm
Interesting list, no Foothill mentions though.

Yep. A huge hole in the list. It is easy to pick six wineries from Amador and El Dorado alone not to mention Lodi and Calaveras among others.

Sean Devaney

Didn’t one of the earlier wine boards do this as a group? Can’t remember if it was eRP or wino-depot? Yep, Gary Vaynerchuck. Some of us did more than others. I was intimately involved in the project. Met Gary on his wine cruise and offered to help. IIRC westcoastwine.net also did this one year to m...

Sean Devaney

Another couple of questions on that vineyard: do you know who planted it? Who is getting the fruit now?

Damn that is quite a bit of growth on the ground.

Sean Devaney

In 1937 the village philosopher of Santa Cruz, California, was quite perturbed and apprehensive that the local bottle shop might run out of his favorite meridional wine, which was transported by dirigible from the Rhone. His deepest forebodings were realized when an added cargo of Bordeaux unbalanc...

Sean Devaney

Thanks to all the participants in this thread. It is a must read for me

Sean Devaney

Chalone used to make an OV FrenchColombard from the CyrilSaviez/NapaVlly vnyd, but that vnyd has been pulled I believe. Probably for Merlot!! [snort.gif] Tom I believe that was under the Carmenet label that was owned by the Chalone Group. A great wine that I enjoyed many bottles of and fun to pour ...

Sean Devaney

Charles Shaw. Can't believe they stopped producing their Napa Gamay. Don't even start on the recent price increases...

Sean Devaney

...named SF Chronicle's winemaker of the year.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/wine/articl ... o-16663173

(Sorry if this behind a pay wall and if it has been posted already).

Sean Devaney

Worked a day at a winery during harvest and got a free assorted case of wine. I have worked winery festival events and helped bottle wine a few times and received wine as compensation but do not include that as "free" as I was trading labor for wine. BTW I jump at every chance I get to do this as t...

Sean Devaney

Back in early '90s, when Trader Joe's was still a CA only company with not that many stores to fill they were incredible for wine and alcohol finds, they only needed to find small distributor closeouts to still be able to spread them across a limited number of stores and I recall buying good Bords,...

Sean Devaney

Twice. A free bottle of 1988 Caymus SS Cab from the winery for attending what was suppose to be a tasting and vineyard tour but rain had made the vineyard too muddy to do the tour. Consolation prize? The second was a bottle of "Bitch" Australian Grenache from The Wine Club. I had bought a bottle as ...

Sean Devaney

I believe the free shipping thing is someone's cautionary interpretation...and so far not more than that. It's illegal (for a TTB/ABC licensed entity) to give alcohol away for free. The worry is using free in 'free shipping' would invoke that law/regulation. But tasting rooms give free tastes, and ...

Sean Devaney

Congrats Kirk! Looks like you have 85+ servings of the wines you are planning to pour for the 18 or so drinkers so you should be fine. You might want to have one of your wedding party be designated to open the wines and be sure to get your own tastes of wines you want to try early as you and your br...

Sean Devaney

2016 Navarro Mendocino Zinfandel Bramble and blackberry notes with a touch of Mendocino tomato on the nose. Fairly full bodied on the palate with more dark fruits, smooth entry and no signs of the 14.7% alc. Very enjoyable if not that complex. Enjoy over the next few years. Better on day two as the ...

Sean Devaney

Nicole Walsh of Ser Winery. Wines of great purity.

Sean Devaney

I think I recall Bonny Doon once making something from Oregon fruit. Bonny Doon did make some Pinot's from Oregon fruit in the mid 80's. I believe one of his sources was Temperance Hill Vineyard. I don't know if he shipped grapes or juice. Girard winery in the same time frame made an OR pinot but h...

Sean Devaney

Ice forming is often a sign of low refrigerant. After 20 years I would opt for replacement.

Sean Devaney

Thanks for this post Drew. I really enjoyed the Reichwage wines at the HVS tasting back in April. Definitely a producer to watch out for.

Sean Devaney

john stimson wrote: ↑
November 13th, 2018, 7:27 pm
I'm a little surprised there is only one Sauvignon Blanc suggested. Dungeness is really sweet, and I find it goes amazingly well with Sav Blanc, which would mean Sancere.

I agree. I also enjoy Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc with fresh, cold, unadorned Crab. No butter please.

Sean Devaney

Mich@el Ch@ng wrote: ↑
November 13th, 2018, 7:56 pm
2014 Siduri Limerick Lane
2012 Cirq Treehouse

Limerick Lane has Pinot Noir planted?

Sean Devaney

Damn it Timmy....

Sean Devaney

Any one else out there have some fruit hanging? Congrats to everyone who has their fruit "in the barn"

Sean Devaney

I will throw Tom Hill's hat in the ring. His posts may be long or short but are (rarely) ever boring. I have learned so much for Tom and he was an absolute gentleman the one time I met him briefly.

Sean Devaney

Neal.Mollen wrote: ↑
November 5th, 2018, 1:58 pm
Fu gets star treatment everywhere, but he's right about K&L.

Well except Mount Eden Vineyards

Sean Devaney

Very nice note Dennis. I'm jealous as drank my last one over a decade ago. I believe Fred Scherrer was the winemaker at the time.

Sean Devaney

Of the 70's wines I had had the 78 Monte Bello is my favorite. I would love to try the 71 Ridge York Creek PS and the 70 Ridge Jimsomare Zin. A 1977 Freemark Abby Bosche Cab was also excellent.

Sean Devaney

I completely agree with Dan and Ian about Equinox-great sparklers (and don't miss Barry's still wines under the Bartolo label.)

Hard to beat Roederer Estate for a good sparkler under $20 and the latest Mumm Napa Rose has been very nice also for the $'s.

Sean Devaney

Conrats Karen and Casey for crossing the finish line

Sean Devaney

Nice to Hear N@te and William.

Sean Devaney

D@vid Bu3ker wrote: ↑
October 2nd, 2018, 10:46 am

M. Dildine wrote: ↑
October 2nd, 2018, 9:46 am
Sean meant to say Scott Harvey, not Kevin.
OK then!

My bad. But yes Scott.

Sean Devaney

D@vid Bu3ker wrote: ↑
October 2nd, 2018, 9:06 am
What does Kevin Harvey have to do with Zinfandel?

If you haven't tried any of the Easton zins do your self a favor and pickup a couple to try. Some of the best zins coming out of Amador.
http://www.terrerougewines.com/

Sean Devaney

GregT wrote: ↑
October 2nd, 2018, 12:56 am
Draper is the godfather of Zin.

Joel, MacKay, and others are second growths. But quite wonderful nonetheless.

This with the caveat that Joel and others such as Bill Easton, Kent Rosenblum (RIP), Rod Berglund and Kevin Harvey (and a couple others that I'm missing) are first growths.

Sean Devaney

My favorite time of the year for this thread. Sounds like this is shaping up to be a great vintage. Are you growers facing any picker shortages this year?

Sean Devaney

I echo the recommendations to take a couple of day trips and find what Pinots are in your wheel house. You can visit everywhere from Anderson Valley in the North to Monterey in the South. As mentioned above visit Siduri, Williams & Selyem, Dehlinger and Windy Oaks. Others I would add are Navarro, Wo...

Sean Devaney

I think you meant to post this in Commerce Corner?

Sean Devaney

Yesterday at my place, bright and early, 12 of us brought in 3.8 Tons of my Cabernet. Our hands were frozen as we sorted through the macro bins to remove any leaves that were brought in with the fruit. This yield was a new high since the 2012 vintage - the one where everyone was off in their estima...

Sean Devaney

Oh wow.What a bummer. Huge fan of his wines and attended many of the open houses at the winery before he sold. A great and generous man to talk with. Totally unexpected as He seemed so young. Raising a glass of Rock Wall Viognier in his memory.

Sean Devaney

Agree that the 14 Geezer is shutting down. Set it aside for 5+ years. I am looking forward to trying the 14 and 15 together at some time down the road.

Sean Devaney

Thanks for the great info Wes. Really great wines from Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard and Ahlgren from Bates Ranch. One small nit to pick is the Luchessi Vineyard is in Cupertino but close to Saratoga. George Luchessi was my brother and sister's 2nd grade teacher and is a really a great guy.

Sean Devaney

Nice report Sean. I debated going to this but had too much going on.

Sean Devaney

Thanks for posting the link Kim. What a great and informative read. I have tried many/most of the wines that were in the article and have many fond memories of those. Echoing Tom I never realized the extent of the thought that went into the labels. I always liked the first labels as I thought they w...

Sean Devaney

Just added a sweet feature to Grand Cru Crü - as if they needed any more trick functionality - only they are allowed to hide online status! When you login, you can click 'hide online status' as some are prone to do (not sure why, frankly) and you can be online but the ONLINE ribbon doesn't appear o...

Sean Devaney

I will give it a shot Drew. When Gary Farrell was making a Collins Vineyard zin it was much more refined rendition that you had the impression of a zin made by a pinot winemaker. IIRC the wines were labeled as "Table Wines" so the alcohol was under 14%. The LL zins of the same vintage were more rust...

Sean Devaney

I doubt you have missed anything Drew. The last Newsletter was for Spring releases and emailed 2/28/18. Swan is a really small operation and Rod and Lynn wear lots of hats at the winery.

Second edit: oops went back to my inbox and I was still in looking at my Swan folder.

Sean Devaney

With regards to the Limerick Lane vineyard Gary Farrell use to bottle a Collins Vineyard zinfandel from LL.
A couple other vineyards that have been produced by other wineries can include Maple Vineyard and Rochioli Vineyard.

Sean Devaney

Thanks for posting this Drew. Steve and Pamela are some of the nicest people in the business and fly way under the radar considering the quality of the wine the have been making over the years. The tasting room is always a must stop for me when over the hill and am looking forward to finally visitin...

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