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

Fred Bower

How can Riesling not be for everybody?!?! Your note inspires me to fire up some schnitzel and mushroom gravy and go pull a bottle. I love Alzinger's wines young and have a hard time letting them age out this long. Other 2000s from the Wachau and Kremstal have all been pretty delicious in recent samp...

Fred Bower

Postscript on the 96 Clos Electrique. The color lightened up and the fruit did seem to come more to the surface. Maybe it was the smoky salsa I had eaten, but I felt like I got more pinot and less funk on day two. Will dig something else out for Friday and post another note. Might get another pictur...

Fred Bower

For my first entry, I pulled one I've been letting sit to see what would happen. John Paul is a hoot of a character and I have always enjoyed his wines on release. Clos Electrique was pretty tricky to find in the market back in the '90s. I expect it is still a bit of a hunt, but haven't shopped it i...

Fred Bower

I typically crop my pics a bit to get them to orient in the posting here. It's a simple edit.
I'll pitch some dogs on the pile later tonight.

fred

Fred Bower

I didn't feel like doing anything with a computer over the holiday weekend and the browser just crashed halfway through entering all of these notes, so I'm doing a digest version. My qualifiers: Day before Thanksgiving 2002 Rouget Vosne Romanee Cros Parantoux and Evesham Wood Cuvee J Did these as a ...

Fred Bower

I had a couple of those Mayacamas LH Zins from '72. The first in the mid-2000s was a pretty nice wine in the tawny port sort of flavor range. The second from the past year was much as you report. I don't know here the knee in the curve was for this one, but it has moved to the wrong side of it now. ...

Fred Bower

I built all of my own racking and did one unit of diamond-like bins. It is for impulse grab/daily drinkers and gets bins with multiple bottle shapes haphazardly installed. Bottles fall into the middle all of the time (it is two sided with necks intentionally facing in because of the tip problem). I ...

Fred Bower

Pinot Noir pairs well with a Thanksgiving table. Great timing!

fred

Fred Bower

I have gone through several rounds of reorganization, each inspired by a condition that would be labeled as "out of space". The result of the reorganization each time has been the creation of more capacity in the existing space. I voted other since I think I've been out of space a few times.

fred

Fred Bower

Personally, I would not cancel a purchase decision based upon what you show here. Other factors you haven't disclosed about the provenance could bias me. I would expect pricing to be at the lower-middle end of the current range given the condition.

fred

Fred Bower

Why no love for Gigondas? I'm a St. Damien fan. <$40 for the designated bottlings. Maybe on the fruitier side but so delicious. The rose is fantastic too.

Cheers,
fred

Fred Bower

I advise against sending them to an address for which you have no idea if a person will be present to receive. It's the fastest way to ruin the wine. If your buyer isn't reading what you are sending now, there is little chance they will get your message that you have sent to some address you sleuthe...

Fred Bower

I subscribe to the break-it-and-swear school on '06 Rhys corks. The regular Alpine is nice now too...think I dipped one last fall.

Cheers,
fred

Fred Bower

Fantastic notes and sounds like a fun event. I particularly loved the Beaux Freres Upper Terraces note. My wife grabbed a bottle of the 2007 off the list in Vegas at a steak place. Best value present and every lady loved it. Win. Bob Wood might have still been alive at the time, but would applaud th...

Fred Bower

This is typical in my experience with SQN. Elaine called me when I made the SQN list a few years back and again earlier this year to let me know that I had a Next of Kyn offer in my inbox. I expect that the number of calls that she has to make each offering cycle is relatively small and that they do...

Fred Bower

The physical condition of the cork has nothing to do with whether or not the wine will be corked. Storage conditions aren't really a factor either. Getting two in a row is unusual, but does happen. Some wines have batch-wide cork issues and then it becomes a more common occurrence. As others have po...

Fred Bower

It's homage, David B. I also agree with David G. - excessible that Jim found is a homonym with different meaning than Alan coined.

Cheers to Alan Eden, who I never really found that abrasive in tone,
fred

Fred Bower

William,

Noah's photo isn't Dr. Noah; it's Dr. No. He's a James Bond villain. The shirt collar is causing the effect you note. Check out the film. It's great.

Cheers,
fred

Fred Bower

If you use a typical corkscrew that you aren't really attached to, you can use the foil cutter in place of the screwdriver recommended. There's a small risk of poking/cutting yourself in the process, but these clips aren't that hard to remove with a bit of practice. Henri Giraud Champagne uses these...

Fred Bower

I'm drinking 2013 Rhys Bearwallow Pinot from 500mL for no reason other than it was in reach and not a full 750mL. No homage here. I came to eBob through Squires eZine (was not on Prodigy). I loved the community and was never a Parker subscriber/acolyte so largely sat in the bleachers for the pro/con...

Fred Bower

Never read a more terrifying tasting note? Where has your memory gone, Jay? Stuart Yaniger on the 1993 Overnoy Poulsard (not my words, and not words I would ever write or think are okay to write, but words that were written and recorded for public consumption nonetheless): http://www.the-stupids.co...

Fred Bower

Sparkling wine is the one place where I can muster the locals to polish off a magnum without much difficulty. I can see myself stocking a few mags as a result.

Cheers,
fred

Fred Bower

For the record, I prefer some sort of allocation for existing Rhys customers if it is a Rhys-branded effort. It sounds like it is. I will be interested to hear more about it and taste the wine when it shows up. Mount Eden did a sparkling Chardonnay in 1995 that was fun for the people on the list. Ch...

Fred Bower

I ran through a 2011 Vaillons last week and it was fine but would like more development. I pulled the trigger on a few 2017s as a result. Summer risotto on the menu for tonight. White Burgundy will be opened. Rhys/Alesia will be the backup

.

fred

Fred Bower

I have no idea how they manage the list expansion (how many slots vs. how many new offers extended), but Elaine called and left me voicemail to let me know an offer was in my inbox. I was duly impressed.

Cheers,
fred

Fred Bower

The 2008 is head and shoulders above 2004 and 2006 to my tastes. The 2008 Dom is better than the 2006, but not showing its full potential right now. I haven't tried the Cristal, but discussion at a tasting this weekend was that it was in need of some time to come together. It also is priced above th...

Fred Bower

Without any insight as to your age and worldview, I submit that any of the presently-available 2008 tete de cuvee Champagnes would be enjoyable. 2008 La Grande Dame is particularly delicious right now to my age and worldview. To fill the other two slots in, I'd suggest a red and still white. A Domai...

Fred Bower

Great to see Black Mesa called out. Jerry and I spent a lot of time together at the same little Willamette Valley winery when I was in college. He officiated our marriage before moving down to New Mexico. We paid him in wine

. Lots of good memories evoked with this boring post.

Cheers,
fred

Fred Bower

There's absolutely nothing wrong with having it both ways. Drink the stuff you're not familiar with that the locals are glugging - sure. Drink the underpriced gems because the locals are happy drinking the stuff you're not familiar with - you bet. We had '88 Krug and '90 Drouhin Griottes Chambertin ...

Fred Bower

I don't think that people answering the poll prior to your clarification read "equivalent" to mean only in the sense of the value they present as a Chardonnay choice. I (and I think others) read equivalent as fungible - they fill the same spot in your Chardonnay spectrum from a flavor and aging char...

Fred Bower

Cue magnums of 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape. I wonder if there will be another like Parker or if the circumstances that made The Wine Advocate (and Parker) what it (he) was will never exist again. Love him or hate him, people generally had a reaction.

Interesting times.

fred

Fred Bower

If giving up salt means giving up all foods with sodium content, then that's impractical and unhealthful. If it means giving up the addition of salt in your cooking and at the table, it is a relatively easy shift in diet with a tough up-front recalibration of the palate. I was in this mode of "saltl...

Fred Bower

2010 Cowan Cellars Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast Medium-dark red color. Aromas of smoke, cherry, sous bois, and a hint of hoisin. Palate has a meaty core with cherry and strawberry framing. There's a stripe of what I perceive to be green stem notes that interrupts the red fruit and earth notes. Not as goo...

Fred Bower

I get the Dujac locally at a better price, but this isn't a terrible markup. The Rousseau is a wine I never see locally so would be the one I jump on. Drink drip coffee made at home for the next year and you probably can afford both. You don't have to be a 1% to splurge occasionally, but I fully get...

Fred Bower

In my experience, this statement applies to new wineries (with inexperienced winemaking staff) where money is no object. They tend to get it mostly right in the vineyard, producing great fruit, then think that the better cuvees need to be slathered in the most expensive winemaking techniques (lots a...

Fred Bower

Curious about the Meo - do you have any data points to suggest if this was an aberration, a vintage thing, or something that would be the result of regime changes at Meo in this era? I've been buying and holding recent vintages to sample when they get to be 10-15 years old (for the 1er and Grands). ...

Fred Bower

This is the one Australian wine I wish to sample. Circumstances haven't aligned. They will.

Cheers,
fred

Fred Bower

You make my point, Matt...I have never wanted to hate Chave, because of its bona fidaes. I wanted to hate SQN because it's basically a "this one goes to 11" winemaking ethos. But, the wine in the bottle (and glass) works for me. Hrmph. Sometimes, being a bit of a curmudgeon leads to people wanting t...

Fred Bower

Goutorbe Rose Fan. Fantastic. Probably need to load up. House wine is a variety of grower stuff (mostly), centered on price point and market availability. Right now, lots of Gimonnet, Chartogne-Taillet, Rene Geoffroy, Sabine Godme, and for rose, we got a good deal on some Ruinart. The Goutorbe was ...

Fred Bower

Any time I have a wine from what I perceive to be a hubris-driven winery, I want to dislike it. Sometimes, despite the hubris, the wine is fine. A second category of things I don't want to like are those that are priced really high in their peer group - I really want those to be labels, not great j...

Fred Bower

Not clear on whether the wine needs to be unusual or just the place...I have found some of the English bubbles (Gusborne, for example) to be worth a sip. They are Champenois-inspired, so not too wacky. With Gusborne, I think there is a Brut bottling that is in the $40 range. The BdB is pricier. Long...

Fred Bower

2007 Mount Edward "Morrison Vineyard" Pinot Noir (Central Otago, New Zealand) Dark ruby-red color, slight transparency. Aromas of mulberry and bay leaf with some cherry and thyme notes. Palate has blackberry, rhubarb, bay leaf, and black cherry that carry into a medium-long finish. This is showing v...

Fred Bower

Any time I have a wine from what I perceive to be a hubris-driven winery, I want to dislike it. Sometimes, despite the hubris, the wine is fine. A second category of things I don't want to like are those that are priced really high in their peer group - I really want those to be labels, not great ju...

Fred Bower

I started laying away (mostly red) Burgundies when I moved away from Oregon to the East Coast. The wines were available and cheaper than they were in Oregon. Further, my Oregon go-tos were either not available or priced up due to shipping. The result has been an accumulation of wines with great prov...

Fred Bower

Lovely account, killing and all. I discovered Engel late and regret not loading up when prices were very reasonable. The limited number I've had have all been right in my flavor preference zone.

Cheers,
fred

Fred Bower

Yes, it works. Make sure the bottle neck is good and cold. Is this a 750mL bottle? That helps keep hand away from action, but also requires bigger grip to get a good hold. I am not providing any advice on safety here

.

Cheers,
fred

Fred Bower

Nice exercise and conclusions. I had the same reaction to an '11 Dauvissat Vaillons this weekend - good, but lacking complexity. I didn't compare to the Raveneau, which probably helped me enjoy the Dauvissat a bit more.

Cheers,
fred

Fred Bower

Cellar adjacent to kitchen, so no need to pull things until the moment of opening. I do sometimes put something "on deck" and then put it back into the rack after it sits there for a period of time without inspiration to open. My inventory locations are not precise unless in boxes for longer-term st...

Fred Bower

Without more context of the event and the intended purpose of the wine (cocktail, with dinner, gift, etc.), hard to make any better recommendation than the Cakebread. It's good enough.

fred

Fred Bower

I answered based upon what I feel like I spend, not any actual analysis

I do have a bimodal distribution on Champagne spend, so probably have an average that is in between the two poles and an actual price point I never buy at.

fred

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