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

Al Osterheld

In looking at the link Marcus provided in the offer, I noticed he added an offer under my name (thanks!) for his 2018 Riesling, which is dynamite. I’ll let other Berserkers have a go, but plan to buy whatever’s left when I visit next month. “make it a Scott Tallman” 2018 Goodfellow Whistling Ridge ...

Al Osterheld

That can happen if the wine wasn't cold stabilized. It's at least as likely with reds (because mostly not cold stabilized), although it may not be noticed as much because people aren't surprised by sediment in reds. It doesn't hurt the wine, though. Note that this is essentially what is done in the ...

Al Osterheld

The only harm would be if enough of the wine froze to push up the cork, damaging the seal. With those temperatures/times, it's unlikely (the wine starts to freeze around 22F, but not much freezes, it takes a while, and the wine has to cool down before it can freeze). No need to leave in your garage,...

Al Osterheld

The 100% tariffs proposed for French products was in response to France jumping the gun on OECD deliberations about a multinational framework for digital services taxes. The quote that "the two countries will continue negotiations along with their European partners . . ." refers to Macron's decision...

Al Osterheld

The 2016 Geynale was pretty enjoyable in June 2018. Obviously, it was quite young and not very developed, but highly enjoyable (tried a bottle to decide whether to buy).

-Al

Al Osterheld

Some oxygen comes out of a cork in the first two or three months after bottling. After that, a good natural cork does not allow much oxygen ingress, but not all corks are good (they vary quite a lot). Experiments in Australia showed the the old (not good) synthetic corks allowed oxygen through the b...

Al Osterheld

I like that producer, pretty much across their line-up.

-Al

Al Osterheld

Aldersprings does recyle their packaging -- you send it back at their expense, and they give you a $5 credit on the next shipment. They seem to do a lot of things similar to what Sarah recounts for White Oaks, though I now want to look again to see how thorough their regimen is. They are similar in...

Al Osterheld

I've been looking at buying from Alderspring Ranch, a family-run 100% pasture-fed (and no antibiotic or hormone) operation in a mountain valley in Idaho. It's always been the shipping that has caused me to hesitate ordering meat online. But, they ship flash-frozen and I now have a nearby package rec...

Al Osterheld

John Morris wrote: ↑
January 11th, 2020, 6:28 pm
Another great one was the Concannons back in the 80s. They were crappy after a certain point -- utterly commercial, candy stuff. I think they may have had to replant.

We had a lovely 1965 Concannon Petite Sirah at the winery (Harrington) after hand bottling a small non-commercial lot.

-Al

Al Osterheld

Here's a photo of my heifer, I think a couple of months before she won her award. May I present Trumode Rosalie. That was her registered name, I called her Wilma. The sire was Royal Numode the Nth. I think he was like the 8th, but he was descended from a line of distinguished Royal Numodes. And, yes...

Al Osterheld

Shanken also owns the Whisky Advocate and lots of wine drinkers who buy Spectator probably also buy liquor. As far as effectiveness, fewer eyes means more difficult to be effective, and there are other channels for marketing efforts now (as you know).

-Al

Al Osterheld

Hi, Noel. Sounds like the Manila place didn't source very good meat (50 days dry aging left it tough). As you know, lots of factors affect the meat besides the genetics. I also suspect there is broader genetic variation with Holstein cattle, since they have been selected and bred in different countr...

Al Osterheld

The Wine Spectator isn't a trade magazine, it's a consumer lifestyle magazine. Promoting the wine business is not its primary function, and they run ads for revenue, not as part of their editorial content. I think the discussion went in a different direction than you expected because you have a diff...

Al Osterheld

I think the Holstein line has a lot of off-shoots and they have been a dual use (dairy and meat) breed, although originally purely dairy in the US. FWIW, I grew up on cattle ranches. We originally had almost all Herefords, later had an Angus bull, so soon had mostly crosses. The first award I recall...

Al Osterheld

Print magazine advertising is declining in general, because consumer subscription numbers are declining.

-Al

Al Osterheld

Hereford cattle were bred to be beef cattle. I think more recently, some dairy farmers started crossing them with their herds (eg, by getting Hereford bulls) for various genetic reasons. But, if you look at a full-grown pure Hereford, it's clear that it's a beef breed (beef and dairy cattle look dif...

Al Osterheld

Betty C wrote: ↑
January 3rd, 2020, 7:32 pm
I will never understand why ketchup on hot dogs is wrong. That’s how I’ve always eaten them.

To be fair, eat them how you like them. It's kind of like sports loyalties, the rhetoric can easily become overheated.

-Al

Al Osterheld

Why do you hate children under the age of five?

-Al

Al Osterheld

David K o l i n wrote: ↑
January 3rd, 2020, 6:40 pm
I like French fries with mustard and/or mayo.

Anything but ketchup.

-Al

Al Osterheld

Looks like something Paula Deen would make.

-Al

Al Osterheld

Michael O'Brien wrote: ↑
January 1st, 2020, 9:54 am
We have had a basic black Moccamater KBT741 with thermal carafe. We love it. When it dies, we will replace it with another one.

That's also the model I have, especially like the thermal carafe.

-Al

Al Osterheld

Bit off topic here, but.... Target used to sell a version that I cannot locate lately. And of course I threw away the box so I don't know the model name to make the search easier. They have a shorter stem so are a bit more stable which I prefer for daily use in a house with dogs present. Anyone use...

Al Osterheld

The Riedel line I've seen in Target is called Vivant. I think they still sell them.

-Al

Al Osterheld

Looks incredible!

-Al

Al Osterheld

To be honest, wasn't clear to me whether the complaint is about manure and animal products, per se, or mainly about cow manure because it comes from herds of domesticated cattle (neither vegan nor green). But, as pointed out, some amount of poop or decomposed animal products are a natural part of pl...

Al Osterheld

I think there are a couple of issues with fulfillment providers for small wineries. They charge a decent fee and unless you're willing to eat it, it appears to the customer like an excessively large shipping/handling charge and leads to claims that you're treating shipping as a profit center. Second...

Al Osterheld

We don't know for sure that filtration doesn't cause health issues? How about bottling on Tuesday vs Saturday?

I don't think "we don't know that it doesn't" should be promoted as a valid reason for concern in the absence of some potential explanation for why it does.

-Al

Al Osterheld

They still make the Esprit wines and the Panoplie which also previously had Esprit de Beaucastel in the name. Same wine programs, just new names. As far as the wines, one person's balanced is another's underwhelming. Personally, I'm quite fond of their wines and their tasting room (and tasting room ...

Al Osterheld

Maybe several layers of extra heavy-duty tinfoil?

-Al

Al Osterheld

No reason to feel bad. Bryan isn't closing because he has to, just various changes caused him to decide that now was a good time to exit the wine business and return to art (although he also talks about living out of a backpack in various places in Europe until he decides where he wants to land). He...

Al Osterheld

At some point, the years start to run together.

-Al

Al Osterheld

Pretty much any decent dry, low oak red works well. Keys are no RS, low oak, good acidity, and not too tannic (for red wine). A nice CdR checks those boxes and has a lot of flavor.

-Al

Al Osterheld

I wasn’t clear: Do we have to pay more for this?

Every bottle you drank before Fukushima had more radioactivity than the tiny amount Fukushima added. So, if someone tries to charge you more for this, you should refuse and drink a birth year wine instead.

-Al

Al Osterheld

The increase was statistically significant even though it was tiny and not a reason for worry. There are other things in wine that are radioactive, they are just not unambiguously a sign of a large fission event. BTW, most of the wines in the curve going back to the '50s and '60s were reds from sout...

Al Osterheld

I'm happy with no foils. But, if a foil is present, I cut it off. Even humble things have a purpose.

-Al

Al Osterheld

I've opened at 2006 Merlot that may have been an off bottle (some EA), a 2000 Meritage I thought was quite nice in a somewhat old school style, a 1996 Meritage that was a bit past peak but again quite nice, a 2003 Cabernet Track that was ripe, hot, and a bit of a mess, and a 2001 Merlot that was on ...

Al Osterheld

Yes, as far as I can tell, it's a start-up trying to develop a market for items flown in space, not a science experiment.

-Al

Al Osterheld

They have a control case of the same Bordeaux to compare. But, it sounds like most of the bottles will be sold along with other items that have flown to generate the money to fund the research. I'm guessing that's "research" rather than research, but I may be biased.

-Al

Al Osterheld

I had a chance to taste the 2017 Ribbon Ridge Chardonnay because Sean brought one as a mystery wine to the last big Harrington bottling day, yesterday. Agree that it's a lovely wine and great value.

-Al

Al Osterheld

I definitely changed what I buy (and amount) and how long I keep it.

-Al

Al Osterheld

The state of California, for creating the environment that fuels these fires. But that's all I'll say, because then it will get political.

How inconsiderate of them, there's wine to be shipped. By the way, the Kincade fire started on federal land.

-Al

Al Osterheld

It's also pretty cool at present. Which is good, because it would need a lot of generators to keep a large warehouse cool if it was hot. At whom are you p.o.'ed?

-Al

Al Osterheld

Most Champagne has 4 to 6 atmospheres of dissolved CO2. If pour half then reseal with a stopper, at worst it would reduce to 2 to 3 atmospheres. The simple act of putting it in a cold refrigerator makes a big difference because CO2 is more soluble at colder temperatures.

-Al

Al Osterheld

The seal is great, pumping air into the bottle makes essentially no difference. Pumping CO2 would make a difference, but air is only 0.04% CO2. The dissolved CO2 and the CO2 in the headspace achieve equilibrium independent of the other gases.

-Al

Al Osterheld

Mass market wine isn't shipped in styrofoam or pulp. -Al you dismissed my point, as no one covets mass market wine, yet the mass wine market is propagated by styro I didn't intend to dismiss your point. but I guess I'm still confused. The overwhelming majority of wine is sold in stores rather than ...

Al Osterheld

Mass market wine isn't shipped in styrofoam or pulp.

-Al

Al Osterheld

A glass of bubbly is great after a day of wine tasting.

-Al

Al Osterheld

Mine has not lost its vacuum seal, that would be annoying.

-Al

Al Osterheld

Christine Huang wrote: ↑
October 23rd, 2019, 11:01 am
Yes, but I want perfection, Al!
Why can't I have perfection?

I never found it, so I became (somewhat) tolerant.

-Al

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