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Chris Atkins wrote: ↑
December 5th, 2018, 11:09 pm
I going down to squeeze my old lady.

Caught her messin around with another wine.

Nice note, Merrill. The '01 Sleepy Hollow and '01 Pisoni are benchmark wines for me. I've been fortunate to have had both numerous times over the years and I really don't think California gets much better. Joe does really great work here. Oh, and I meet steal your thread title if I post a note as I...

Karen - my offers go out essentially as futures, in the March - May timeframe. Bottling is in June, with shipping in the October/November timeframe. So my 2017 Cabs will be bottled in June of 2019.

Today we blended our auction lot for Premiere Napa Valley and tasted through our 2017 cabs. Loving what we have in barrel - every vintage has its own unique personality but our 17’s are similar to 14’s at this point. Anyone else tasting through now? Yes, Karen, I tasted a composite of all my 2017 b...

I just read on one of the feeds that arrives in my mail each day a quote from Michael Twelftree, who believes in the power of the vineyard. His words: "The day you pick the grapes, you make the wine."

I guess "star" and "up and coming" are sort of at odds with each other, if you think about it.

Oh my that must be painful! Your babies! You know, Counselor, it is actually very satisfying. People are so excited to get them, and because of supply and demand, I make a good buck on them. These wines are never available on my website, but people who are fans of the label aren't afraid to ask wha...

Frank Murray III wrote: ↑
December 2nd, 2018, 12:40 pm

james l moleberg wrote: ↑
December 2nd, 2018, 11:28 am

Frank Murray III wrote: ↑
December 1st, 2018, 5:36 pm
Jamie Kutch.
Thanks- I needed a good laugh today.
Sorry, don't get it.

Jamie has been around for quite awhile, as I am sure you realize.

My commitment was to reduce the size of my EMH Black Cat Library. I have done a pretty good job of that: have sold some of my 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2009 Special Selection. All of these vintages are in the "less than 4 bottles" category. It's hard to see them go, but when they go to good hom...

My commitment was to reduce the size of my EMH Black Cat Library. I have done a pretty good job of that: have sold some of my 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2009 Special Selection. All of these vintages are in the "less than 4 bottles" category. It's hard to see them go, but when they go to good home...

Now I have to inspect my Arcadian inventory to see if I do indeed have 2001 Pisoni!

Edit: I do have a 2001 Pisoni - I guess I just grabbed the wrong one. Looks like there are 2000, 2003, 2005 Pisonis in there, too! Some La Encantadas and Sleepy Hollows, too!

I have 8 macros in excellent shape. In Calistoga. Email me if interested.

Today is beautifully sunny, but on the cool side: 55 degrees at noon. I never did put a cover crop down this year...the crews were still picking, and by the time I thought I would get some seed down, I already had a nice green crop growing! Looks like all the various seeds we planted last year used ...

Chris Seiber wrote: ↑
November 30th, 2018, 11:06 am

Merrill Lindquist wrote: ↑
November 23rd, 2018, 9:26 am
It has never occurred to me to have an EMH Black Friday sale. I'm busy trying to figure out my BerserkerDay offering - just 2 months away, right?
Black Cat Friday. Too perfect. Sort of like Seiber Monday is for me.

You've got me there! Perhaps I should invite you to join my advisory group!

I am going to take a stab at a micro-picture of premium Napa Valley fruit. tops 45 minutes to a winery that makes premium wine from premium fruit. I stand by this for NAPA VALLEY ULTRA-PREMIUM FRUIT. It does not need to go very far to a winery that will turn the fruit into NAPA VALLEY ULTRA-PREMIUM...

I was reading on another thread about all the older Arcadian Pisonis, and I decided to have a look in the cellar. There it was: a 2001 Pisoni looking right at me. I pulled it, thinking it would be perfect with my lightly Moroccan spiced veal stew, which I make several times per year, and have since ...

I am going to take a stab at a micro-picture of premium Napa Valley fruit. tops 45 minutes to a winery that makes premium wine from premium fruit. I stand by this for NAPA VALLEY ULTRA-PREMIUM FRUIT. It does not need to go very far to a winery that will turn the fruit into NAPA VALLEY ULTRA-PREMIUM...

SERIOUS rainfall all night and all morning. We are not yet down to bare vine, but we have lost lots of vine leaves in the last couple of days with wind and rain. Won't think about pruning until February/March.

I am going to take a stab at a micro-picture of premium Napa Valley fruit. tops 45 minutes to a winery that makes premium wine from premium fruit.

Knock on wood but I have had pretty good service from both UPS and FexEx. I would certainly avoid shipping wine during this busy season though. They can get balled up this time of year. Don - it is like Goldilocks and the Three Bears. "It's too hot - how can a winery ship in such hot weather?" "Oh ...

Andrew Demaree wrote: ↑
November 23rd, 2018, 4:40 pm
Posting for Merrill:

A1E54099-C3C2-4E4E-B4F4-338194D47D24.jpeg

Thanks, Andy. For some reason, my vine leaves don't get hit by the frost and turn brown as many others do. Still hues of gold and reddish leaves. Definitely not close to pruning.

My order was shipped on Wednesday!!! Why would they ship the day before a national holiday??? I asked for some of my EMH to be shipped today, AFTER Thanksgiving. Got a notice from my shipping company that they "shipped" on Wednesday. Folks, we wineries and our shippers do our best in a very narrow ...

Montrachet is Montrachet—I know, quite profound, but Blain-Gagnard and Fontaine-Gagnard have bad track records re premox. Good thing you drank a 2015. Sounds like an epiphany wine. Great thread. Did you taste 08 Taittinger? Sooo...I asked my host to send me 6 bottles of white Burgundy that might co...

My only comment is that I know a man - a well-to-do doctor - who stored all of his wine under the stairs. A "passive" cellar in San Francisco. He tossed more "defective" bottles down the drain than any of our wine group could understand. Then one night he showed me his wine cellar. Ooops. Then we al...

It has never occurred to me to have an EMH Black Friday sale. I'm busy trying to figure out my BerserkerDay offering - just 2 months away, right?

Raining a lot and very steadily. I had the forethought to drain the drip irrigation to the vineyard and also the irrigation system to the 2 yard areas. Just water coming from the well to the house, now. But I will bet I still get a water/pipe break here somewhere when we get into the low 20s.

Can we merge this with other 2006 Taitts Comtes threads? I had one tonight, and my Wednesday companion (I know, it is Thursday)and I thought it was good but not up to the level of the last one a week or so ago. But as a winemaker, I must say that I see bottle-to-bottle differences in my small 150-20...

OK, it is a downpour. Still welcomed. I drained and turned off all the vineyard and landscape irrigation yesterday - glad I did not wait until today. A bit nasty out there, but should be good for fire relief.

It has rained lightly overnight and is doing the same now. A very welcome change.

It hurts - and it should, because we care so much.

Two of my cats are buried in the yard on the way to the vineyard...I stop by daily to connect.

Roughly 27 degrees every morning lately, and rises to around 70 or so. The smoke from the far away fire still hangs in the mountains. Looks like we might get rain the end of the week?

Sebastian C. wrote: ↑
November 16th, 2018, 2:49 pm

Neal.Mollen wrote: ↑
November 16th, 2018, 6:51 am
I think all of mine came from Envoyer; has anyone had issues with those?

I have tried one bottle from envoyer(out of 6) and it was great.

P.s. Mr. $mith has dissapeared. Was he really Aramali?

No. Not a chnace.

Another ITB guy saying how amazing and reliable this wine is rolleyes Of course he has to, he needs to push hundreds of cases of this SODA costing $100 per bottle!! [wow.gif] Uncalled for. Ian has always been a stand up guy. And if you look at the web site for his store, he isn't selling the wine [...

We did have a nice turning of the leaves to yellow, and in other vineyards, red. Even though I know the red indicates disease, some of these vineyards have gone red for 15 years! My vineyard still has some nice colors, but yeah, there was a quick turning to brown in most vineyards.

27 degrees here at my place this morning at 7:00. There is still smoke in the mountains, but the sun is shining and you can see some definition of the high and low spots in the mountains.

J0hn $mith wrote: ↑
November 14th, 2018, 9:53 am

Merrill Lindquist wrote: ↑
November 14th, 2018, 9:50 am
As far as I know, you can't taste "rare" when it comes to wine.
Looks like you can Merrill, try this out!

https://www.piper-heidsieck.com/en/rare

Must be very very rare indeed.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

As far as I know, you can't taste "rare" when it comes to wine.

Mich@el Ch@ng wrote: ↑
November 13th, 2018, 6:14 pm
When will the 13 black cats be ready?

Ready now. Not at peak. Decant a couple of hours and enjoy.

Another thread got me thinking about this one. So 2-1/2 years later, any updated opinions of 2011? For those who buy Napa wines and Sonoma wines from the same makers year over year, what wines do/did you like better from 2011 than the surrounding years ? I hear Merrills 2011's have only gotten bett...

The bottle I had last Wednesday captivated two of us. My companion had never had it, but I have had it 6-10 times. This bottle was the finest, and I would be happy to pass on Dom and Krug if every 2006 Comtes was this good.

Steve Brickley wrote: ↑
November 11th, 2018, 8:57 pm
Merrill, thanks for your thoughts. My cellar extends back into 2005 with mags and 750’s. This has been an obvious add to my cellar each year. A wonderful vineyard.

My introduction to Ceritas was the 2011 Peter Martin Ray. Since that vintage, I have preferred the Porter-Bass.

Regarding the Ceritas, I put it in the refrigerator overnight with the cork placed back in. A sip proves that (what I found previously, too) Ceritas does not show well cold. I let it come to room temperature, and my perception of the acidity has increased. Still a nice drink. But I won't touch my ot...

I had one glass. I will check back in on it tomorrow and report back. I had 6, now I have 5 and most of 1.

Oh my goodness! This just arrived last week, and the winemakers suggested opening one and putting the others away. They might last that long! Briefly, an awesome mouthfeel already. Viscosity. Lemon, lemon verbena, some white floral notes. Acid in check (I am acid averse). If this continues to develo...

Alan and Merrill bashing each other!?!? This could very quickly escalate to my most favorite thread ever. Sorry to disappoint you, Rich. Continuing with this is not worth my time and emotion. I am busy managing my business, my farm, and my family. And the Patriots are on now, and the Celtics have a...

What was your reaction to the Comtes from 2006/2007? Yes, would love to hear your thoughts on the comparison. Also, what were the other Taittinger wines you tasted? Our arrival offering was Brut la Francaise NV. Nice - priced in the $30s - I have a bottle on tap for tonight's Red Sox game. It was s...

Alan and Merrill bashing each other!?!? This could very quickly escalate to my most favorite thread ever. Sorry to disappoint you, Rich. Continuing with this is not worth my time and emotion. I am busy managing my business, my farm, and my family. And the Patriots are on now, and the Celtics have a...

You are a troll, Alan. It doesn't matter how candid some us are, you want to poke and prod. I do not enjoy it. I have not had a bad vintage. If I had one, I would not release it. I rely on my customers for my livelihood, and it goes beyond the current vintage. They trust me because they are buying m...

Taittinger Prelude. It fits somewhere in between their very good base offering of La Francaise and the lovely Comtes. Champagne is my daily drinker when I am not consuming Cabernet.

Thanks, Merrill, but we aren't as serious about it as some here. Our primary reason for the tastings is to find new wines we like. And to take the trophy home with bragging rights. Oh come on, you knew I would post something like that! Some of us can't help ourselves. I promise not to geek out too ...

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