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

So I'm really perplexed by this discussion, and the lack of mention about the new ownership?? Do we really believe that the Bouygues Family (who own Montrose) bought Clos Rougeard to turn it in to something NOT special? Why do billionaires buy wineries? And if it becomes "not special" do they care ...

From a pure QPR perspective this is true. However, if the perfect QPR wine is $25, while returns from every dollar spent above that are inefficient, I don’t think people will limit themselves to $25 wines. There is no standard $ definition for "QPR wine". I use it in the context of quality increasi...

Thanks for the feedback Todd. Happy to defer to your expertise on the subject. Hope you and yours are safely navigating the AZ surge.

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Increased global demand often starts with stories about the wines, rather than the wines themselves. Rayas, for me personally, is a great example of this. And as stories grow, they often elevate very good wineries to a status that isn’t really realistic. The wines shift from really great wines to m...

Just popped one of these last evening and consumed over 2 nights. Enjoyable anise/licorice notes (can't parse from Eucalyptus without samples in front of me). It's ripe...somewhat high toned and offers a healthy shot of raisined fruit. Ready to go, no noticeable wood, accessible tannins and some ini...

Less effusive on night 2....and no shortage of fruit. Nicely balanced. I'd prefer more nuance, more typical of Thomas, but that's a minor quibble. The wine delivers well above average for the 2012 OR vintage IMHO.

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2012 John Thomas Pinot Noir, Oregon Breaking my 10 year Thomas rule but John typically does well with ripe vintage accessibility. Clean woodsy nose without the typical smoked meats. Decent fruit aromas reminiscent of Dr. Brown’s Cherry soda. The fruit bounces on the palate like a trampoline, exuber...

Popped and consumed over 2 nights. Fairly slightly annoyingly debateably but inevitably barely corked. Super low ng/L levels. It comes off a touch CA as Loren note states but there're unmistakable notes of mushroom, earth and underbrush. The fruit isn't washed out...but somewhat subdued by the 15 ye...

Things in PA are now being handled on a county-by-county basis. Sometimes town by town. The City of Easton is cracking down on the massive outdoor parties created by several restaurants and bars that were granted permission to close off a couple of streets and serve guests outside. Each restaurant ...

Ramon C wrote: ↑
July 1st, 2020, 6:16 pm
Never disappointed with prior vintages I had.

Agreed. Some vintages better than others IMHO. Looking forward to trying the 2019.

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Todd Tucker wrote: ↑
June 30th, 2020, 2:51 pm
Now who is that wildly handsome man holding those glasses up?

He's the guy enjoying the experience, skill, character and hard work of the winemaker holding the glass thief.

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July 2008

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No rush Colleen if the structure is at all similar. With 3 bottles, it might be fun to check in. Not much risk of the fruit fading anytime soon in the Temperance Hill.

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Popped this tonight. Still brash and rambunctious after 12 years, compared to the appreciably calmer 08 Kelley Fox Maresh. Lots of bright jumpy sour cherry and red plum fruit with no shortage of Oregonian forest notes. A noticeable yet subtle streak of oak to calm the rubbing tannins. Still extrover...

Richard, I'm curious if you had any leftovers for a follow-up note on the 2008 Kelley Fox Maresh Pinot today. If yes, any notable developments? Thanks. James Yes James, just finished it off tonight. Perhaps somewhat tired but still showing plenty of balance and similar character without falling apa...

I am a novice with regards to Oregon pinot, but this is a complicated, harmonious, structured wine showing very well. Count me impressed. You're rising fast along the learning curve! Thanks for the TN. Russ Raney was an OR Superstar IMHO. Erin has huge shoes to fill, but is quite honestly doing a r...

Marcus, northern Italian "mountain" whites have probably yielded the most consistent results for me. I'll try plunging in to a mixed case of Italian whites this Summer after working through the current Bordeaux Whites....which offer respectable QPR...other than sometimes the Sauv Blanc comes across ...

I am a novice with regards to Oregon pinot, but this is a complicated, harmonious, structured wine showing very well. Count me impressed. You're rising fast along the learning curve! Thanks for the TN. Russ Raney was an OR Superstar IMHO. Erin has huge shoes to fill, but is quite honestly doing a r...

Mattstolz wrote: ↑
June 28th, 2020, 7:54 am
....happy to see that these wines age gracefully....

Under screw cap FWIW. With none of the uncooperative initial funkiness that can sometimes appear. 10ish years horizontal in the racks.

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Italy is so exciting these days. There's a lot of fantastic, singular wines at daily drinker prices. (Oh, get a copy of "Native Wine Grapes of Italy" by Ian d'Agata!) Italy is fascinating and a bit daunting to navigate IMHO. I agree there's a revolution in quality and "unusual" native grapes. I've ...

2008 Kelley Fox Maresh Vineyard Pinot Noir Moderate bricking. The foresty cherry aromas jump from the glass...blatantly Oregon. Very mild anise and baking spice with an underlying soy/mushroom umami. The palate is all about savory integration. The fruit is supportive and slightly jammy with loads o...

I popped a 2008 Abbey Ridge in January and it was "rocking". Ripe-ish. A little bit of funk but low on the Cameron scale.

Sitting on a pair of magnums of the 2008 AR and CE with no plans to disturb them for a few more years. Down to only a handful of pre-2008 Camerons.

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Thanks for the TN Marshall. Not to be argumentative but I sometimes find that the Dundee Hills Pinot bottling has a tad too much new wood when young. I figure John Paul needs to use new barrels somewhere. I buy them to drink early while sitting on the Abbey Ridge and Clos Electrique Pinots (currentl...

Marcus Goodfellow wrote: ↑
June 23rd, 2020, 10:40 pm
I just doubt that 200 years ago the monks in Burgundy were doing anything beyond that. Great sites make great wines. Uniform berries make monochromatic wines.

Well put.

Sometimes you just get burned out on similar style wines. Take a break then explore something new and different.

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1997 Vietti Masseria Barbaresco Leather, mild black licorice, tobacco, saddle soap, dried herbs and cherries, soft floral notes. Tar and roses? Possibly, if you close your eyes and dial up the imagination. Nice balance. The wood has done it’s job and fully receded. The fruit is reddish and fairly t...

Nice exploration. Excellent value Chianti. I'm a fan of the 2010 vintage.

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Clos des Allees is a very fine bargain. I've been late to that party compared to other Muscadets.

Also a fan of Vissoux but warmer vintages usually give me pause (i.e.: 2015, 2018). Thanks for the 2017 Fleurie Poncie TN.

Nice motivating TNs for Vincent's Whites.

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I’m over in Newtown, so guess the East/West difference mattered They seem to move as a massive wave like a line of thunderstorms that hits hard. The surge comes back aggressively the next year...and then plays out. Rumors of some sort of fungus or biota that keeps them in check. Without it, I can't...

Killed a number of nymphs in Bucks County, PA today at home and a playground. Weren’t present last year at all here. Haven't noticed a single one yet in NW Bucks County. I'll keep my eyes open. There were tens of thousands of nymphs here a few years ago....everywhere. Very few last year. And when p...

Quite a Saturday Bob. Hope you had reinforcements. Have the Stella Rossi and Brunelli always been so pricey?

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Sauternes has unfortunately lost traction over the past few years. The value of vineyard land has stagnated, sweet wines have lost their allure in many quarters, and the younger generation seems not to know the wine. In addition, the classified growths (accounting for a whopping one third of the ap...

Maybe skip the tourist mobs and celebrity butcher. But the pairing works pretty darn well IMHO.

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What...no Oregon Chardonnay?

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I can't understand why people hate Sangiovese (and especially Chianti) for their acidity.... If you don't want acidity....why bother? That said, there's a wide variety of Chianti styles from modern to traditional. In general, Italian Reds have a reputation for acidity IMHO. I usually try to avoid t...

Nice. 5 still in the cellar since release. Thanks for the update!

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Bob, I thought your wife was the Chardonnay "afficionada"? Quite an ongoing exploration. She should be happy!

Jim, how long was your Chard making hiatus? I'm sure Marcus is willing to share some of his ideas (not the better ones naturally).

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Victor...I'm a Burg & Tuscan acidity guy. Glad you enjoyed yours too.

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Catherine & Pierre Breton Bourgueil Les Perrières 2005 A totally different proposition, this one had rich aromas of velvety plum and toffee, before a thick mouthful of plums and dark cherry, a brief but welcome freshness mid-palate and a long, brooding finish. It has several years to go and will im...

Neal.Mollen wrote: ↑
May 29th, 2020, 10:58 am
I seem to recall that folks were were generally positive if not effusive about Fess Parker's wines.

Visited back in the early 90s...and I was generally positive.

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There are good wineries owned by celebrities. They tend to be wineries that most folks don't realize are owned by celebrities. -Al Doubleback, from former NFL quarterback Drew Bledsoe, makes excellent wines. Not really my style, but they are very high quality. And many I'm not brave/interested enou...

Nice. Usually my favorite Pinon. They do age well.

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the only instance during fifteen years working retail that i ever placarded a case-stack of wine with an RP rating: 1991 Schloss Saarstein Riesling Trocken 59 points brilliant wine, sold out stacks coupla times That's awesome. There must be more if not that egregious. Are sub 80s even possible thes...

As Parker's tastes shifted toward very ripe wines, I generally found that I preferred wines he didn't give such high scores to. I often found his 88 and 90 point wines better balanced for my palate than the 96 and 98 point ones. He gave some crazy high ratings to dessert wines that I couldn't stand...

Don't forget Belle Pente Mitch, although I'd also give the edge to Doug and Vincent for complexity. Drank through all of mine. Never had a 10+ year old ESJ Gamay but I wouldn't turn it down.

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Brent C l a y t o n wrote: ↑
May 26th, 2020, 12:00 pm
I would much prefer to spend my time drinking wine than parsing 4 point differences between a critic's score and the score of some random dude on the internet.

Yes, but some points taste better than others.

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I am going to be spending time north of the city in Harford county for most of the summer. Are there any good stores that can be recommended between here and Baltimore city? Depending on where you'll be and the direction you're headed, Stateline Liquors in Elkton...looks like a cheesy beer outlet (...

Thanks Jeff. We toasted her with a birth year 2003 GC Burg.

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Impressive. I seem to remember an '82 dinner 10+ years ago at a downtown Philly Steakhouse. Were you there? A number of usual suspects. The Calon Segur was shockingly not ready. Leave some of your good stuff for Talula's!

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This is not a poke at Walter Scott, but the idea of buying 2 cases of wine every single year from a single winery baffles me. Agree again. I've done it less than a handful of times in 30+ years of buying. Always in control of the specific bottlings and vintage. My better half and I consume a decent...

2004 Pierre Peters Les Chetillons

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