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I have a friend, a casual wine drinker, who intensely dislikes chardonnay. It's not a matter of oak, or anything other than the variety. I've tried giving her subtle, atypical chardonnays (e.g. from the Loire, with no oak) without telling her what it is, and she still consistently hates them. As far...

I just tried a cava (Ingenius Brut Nature) from Julia Bernet, a newish producer, which was excellent.

Not wine, but I highly recommend a stop at Aurora Brewing Company, on Rte 90 just south of Aurora, if convenient. Selections rotate, but when I was there last week their Pilsmatic was the best Pilsner I've had in years, maybe ever. They also had some great sours (especially Goseface Killah), an exce...

I would also like to know how they go about "hand selecting" staff. Isn't that what got Joe Biden in trouble?

ybarselah wrote: ↑
July 17th, 2019, 9:37 am
the website seems like a parody of every annoying wine trend. they are hip and fun - and we know this because they specifically say they are hip and fun.

https://www.cellarthief.com/

I have a feeling that most of us here are not part of the target demographic group.

The are a new company being launched by the owners of the InVino site (at least that's what was claimed in an e-mail I received from InVino last week). InVino shut down as of this past Monday. This is the e-mail I received from InVino last week: Hi , Only FIVE more days until we launch Cellar Thief!...

Alan Rath wrote: ↑
July 16th, 2019, 9:10 am
I ask because I can't make sense of the tax rates being charge by out of state retailers. Zachys, for example, charges 8.375%, which isn't their tax rate, and isn't our tax rate.

8.375% is indeed the White Plains sales tax rate.

Tulocay. I've never visited the winery, but I've had the wines and they are definitely old school. I only wish they were more available here on the East Coast.

The web page indicates that the tasting fees (and probably the philosophy) meet your guidelines.

http://www.tulocay.com/

I thought TW direct are private brands (maybe wrong term) of which I have never heard ?? Am I mistaken/wrong ?? They're Direct Imports (a term that can apply to both foreign and domestic wines thanks to the peculiarities of the three tier system). I think there's always a real winery (or perhaps, s...

If you have a Chase credit card, you might be eligible for Cardlytics Chase Offer. They have 10% off at TW live right now. I used up one last month*, and they reloaded mine again. You can stack that with the coupon as well. (BOA, WF and some others also use that backend. These are like sad weak tea...

There is no doubt that competition is good, as it typically drives down prices, but when you competition closes up shop and nothing returns, that's a different story. On LI, I don't think there's been competition worthy of the name for a while, and this trend started well before Total showed up. Mo...

Tom, NPR put out that this ruling could also change the limits on who can acquire a license, and that TN won't be allowed to place limits, thus allowing large chains to come in. Is this also true? I am certainly no lawyer but I live in Nashville and my understanding is that current TN law only allo...

I suspect that it will be harder for wholesalers and retailers to build coalitions supporting anti-shipping measures now that Wayfair has significantly undercut the lost tax revenue argument. Yes. That and the fact that the Supreme Court just said that discriminatory laws must serve the purposes of...

Retsina. I'm half serious.

Sherry is an outstanding suggestion.

https://frommfoundation.fas.harvard.edu/celebrating-paul-fromm "[Paul] Fromm first hoped to become a patron of music in Germany; he was planning the establishment of a music foundation in his native land when he was forced to flee the Nazi pogroms in 1938. Settling in Chicago, he went into business...

To answer both of you. Bruce, I have been recovering from a tweaked back and drink little now. I pour a glass a night and drink half and pour in the bottle and cork on the counter. I was a bit surprised that the wine did not crash, but got better. Mark, I like most of the wine from Eola-Amity Hills...

Thanks for the note. This is one of many Vincent wines that Cellartracker is telling me I should drink up. I continue to ignore Cellartracker's advice.

Tier 1 only, and ordered by the quality of the best of the best: Vinifera: CA, OR, NY, ID, WA, MI, NM Hybrid: VT, CT(marginally in Tier 1 due to 1 specific wine) VA seems to be getting some love, but I haven't yet found a wine from VA which qualifies. Maybe it's because I haven't tried Trump Wine ye...

Assuming that there is a problem with 2012, could this be a one year issue due to Pinguet's sudden resignation? What's the consensus on 2013's and later? I did stop buying after 2011, because that whole episode didn't sit well with me, and there are plenty of other (and cheaper) Vouvray producers th...

We need a better, higher pricing structure and tariff protection to compete with rising imports," he said at a Santa Rosa meeting of local business and community leaders. "So how do we get a tax on wine imports to achieve a fair playing field around the globe?” We already have a higher pricing stru...

Haricot vert (or even regular string bean) vinaigrette?

Interesting move and interesting timing. Richard Sands is completing the elimination of the market segment his father Marvin built the company on, most notably with Wild Irish Rose. Word is that Constellation was looking for 3 billion but had to settle for much less. I agree that Gallo has made a sa...

The argument is that the traditional method of raising the geese who produce the foie gras (including forced feeding) is inhumane. and we're turning a blind eye to the massive amount of steroids fed to livestock in order to produce $1 hamburgers? ..or to the dairy 'farms' that give rise to the famo...

Why would they even do this? Seems strange. Maybe im missing something. remember, part of deBlasio's platform when he ran for mayor was to ban carriage horses. thankfully he failed, hopefully this will fail as well. Banning the carriage horses would be a net positive for the City. Those horses look...

"The suspected fraudulent wines are fortunately not dangerous to drink—nor are they necessarily even bad tasting—but they aren't worth what they are being sold for." Well, kudos to the winemakers for making the cheap grapes taste good enough to cuvée into the meld with the more expensive ones so th...

Thrilllist's best guesses as to who actually produces some of the Kirkland branded spirits.

https://www.thrillist.com/eat/nation/co ... ol-spirits

For those who feel they haven't sufficiently stocked up on this, First Bottle has it for 29.95.

While brett in WINE is still considered a major flaw. This is wine board last I checked. Some consider the presence of botrytis in wine a major flaw - and some winemakers test to make sure it's not present. And let's not even start on Madeira. Brett is a flaw if the winemaker doesn't want it to app...

As an FYI for those who live on Long Island, Total Wines in Westbury has a NYS section which has bottles from most, if not all, of the FLX producers mentioned in this thread.

No affiliation or axe to grind, other than my hope that people buy these wines so that Total will keep on stocking them.

Jay, This looks to be the ticket for Sunday roast dinner on the Sunday before Christmas. Do you know their corkage policy? Thanks. until you read this... https://ny.eater.com/2018/12/18/18143635/bluebird-london-restaurant-review-nyc-time-warner-center It's been a very bad day for Bluebird London: h...

Just had a Nathan Kendall 2016 Dry Riesling from the Finger Lakes. It ranks up there with Ravines and Wiemer offerings. Had a bit more complexity and seemed slightly more fruit driven than Ravines from the same vintage. One footnote on Nathan Kendall's wines. Like the Trinchero's in Italy, he is no...

Many of my favorites (Ravines, Weimer, Dr. Frank, Paetra) have been mentioned above but I would add Teutonic Wine Company from Oregon plus Nathan K, Heart & Hands, and Bloomer Creek from FLX.

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,...

PSA for people living on Long Island: Raeder's in Albertson has the 2006 Ribbon Ridge Estate for $25.99 (their extremely unreliable web site doesn't show it, but it's in the store). It's drinking beautifully. Raeder's is an odd little store. Every once in a while, things like this show up out of th...

PSA for people living on Long Island: Raeder's in Albertson has the 2006 Ribbon Ridge Estate for $25.99 (their extremely unreliable web site doesn't show it, but it's in the store). It's drinking beautifully. Raeder's is an odd little store. Every once in a while, things like this show up out of the...

I hope this is not "political", but it does deal with wine. French wine in fact. See the latest tweet. I think the current EU tariff is about 10 eurocents, right? Good luck with this one. [cheers.gif] I think it's possible to keep this non political. I would be very interested in the wonky details ...

Marietta Old Vine Red (labeling itself as "OVR" these days) in the $10-$15 range is very good for the price

Same goes for Chateau L'Oupia les Heretiques from France, also in the $10-$15 range if you can find it.

When going into uncharted territory sparklers are my default option, so I would pick the Cali sparkler from your list. If you feel like venturing out to Total, Cava might be an even better choice - the last time I checked they had Raventos, which is very good and very versatile. Total also has a fin...

It would be pretty strange in this day and age for a web developer to build a site that is not usable by screen reading software. It's straightforward, easy, and has had a standard methodology for well over a decade, maybe even two. And at this point any merchant who does not require ADA compliance...

I think that logo is one used by Henri de Villamont at the time. I knew it looked familiar, but I can't take credit for remembering who it was. It was the V that helped me narrow down the google search.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/293437731961534925

Yeah, if there is solid evidence that only 4 received the email and all 4 say they didn’t forward it, only those 4 should have their test invalidated. So you're going to invalidate their test for not being totally truthful, but you will take their word at face value that they didn't spread any info...

This is a UPS issue I believe. switched from UPS to FEDEX a while ago and this must be the reason why. They only told me that they had "issues" with UPS. I just received a 6 case shipment from CSW via FEDEX last week. I dislike FEDEX because they will deliver your wine early with only a 24 hour not...

I have no affiliation and my knowledge only comes from TV/netflix/etc, but it seemed that several master sommeliers took mentorship seriously and helped these candidates because they themselves had a mentor who had a mentor, etc. You'll recall in the documentary Somm that Narito helps the protagoni...

Louie's in Port Washington corkage is $25. Stems are mediocre, BTG pours (based on observations of other tables) are good sized. Food is decent. I was there for PW Restaurant Week, which was a bargain. Regular menu not so much, you're paying for the view.

It’s all about what Dad used to say. “First you need honest people” True to a point, but that will only take you so far. You also need proper incentives because human nature is human nature, and even normally honest people can succumb to temptation. It seems to me that allowing individuals to simul...

Sancerre? It seems to be the Pouilly-Fuisse of the new millenium and there are decent choices under $30. Unless you need producer name recognition, which does get tough.

And then there's this: http://tax.illinois.gov/Publications/Bulletins/2019/FY-2019-10.pdf Does the actual law say the wine shipped has to be that "manufactured" by the license shipper? Wondering if a winery could ship wines other than it's own [wow.gif] Back in the Stone Age, Windsor Vineyards did ...

As described it’s of little interest to the consumer; if Total wins it might put a slight wrench in a state’s right to regulate sales of alcohol, but apart from that it is one behemoth making its way into the system. No new here folks! I would be interested in hearing someone expand on that. My lay...

I biked through the Pfalz a few years ago, suggestions from Berserkers and my notes are here: https://www.wineberserkers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=70966 I'm not sure where you'll be, but the area around Bad Durkheim has several good choices for wineries. I especially recommend both Pfeffingen an...

Los Pilares Sparkling Muscat is weird but wonderful. Renardet-Fache refers to its Vin du Bugey-Cerdon as Methode Ancestrale but, as indicated above, it fits the category. If you don't like this wine, you don't like life. Lisa & Bertrand Jousset in the Loire also make good ones, though they were hit ...

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