Not sure how many people here got into the deal from KL for 15.99 but has anyone gotten ones with plastic cork enclosures? out of the 3 I’ve drank so far, I’ve had one with a black plastic enclosure. The wine was not nearly as good as the other 2. Really harsh and disjointed… tasted JUST like a $15 pinot would.
All the 06 Alcina’s that I got had the black plastic cork.
What’s the deal with Alcina…are they still around? Thought they were having some issues.
I popped one last night (I bought 4 of them.) OK, but not great. I was expecting more as I bought it at the reccomendation off the other board.
Will finish the rest today, hopefully it will be better.
EDIT: Yes, it had the black plastic cork…
I don’t remember the deal here - these were close-outs? Alcina usually uses all screwcaps, don’t they? So, did just some of the juice get bottled this way, rather than screwcaps? IIRC, you have to finish the wine differently for screwcaps than for cork, so maybe that accounts for the wine’s condition?
Really weird, my friend and I have had about 12 of them and they’ve all been normal corks and they’ve tasted great… then i get this plastic cork which is a pretty average wine.
Eric, these were close outs and Alcina usually corks the wine.
I thought the Sonoma Coast was much better although it wasn’t part of the KL deal. Funny thing about the RR was it caused everyone to get pissed at Greg P for not shipping it then it shows up at KL for $15.99.
Alcina was always the black rubber cork, at least till the 05’s. I used to like Greg’s wines, but something happened because the 05’s I had were really mediocre at best. I ended up giving most of them away. Sounds like the 06’s aren’t much better.
Weird, I thought he’d gone to screwcaps. Guess I lumped him in with the “alternate closure” crowd.
Well, you’re certainly right about the black plastic closures. I recall a big tasting awhile back of Loring wines, and there was a definite difference between those with the black plastic - both among themselves, as well as the other closures.
Greg’s wines were, as stated above, always the black rubber cork. He realized that he and others were experiencing premature oxidation problems with the corks so he, unlike most who went to screw cap (Loring/AP Vin, Eno, etc) went back to natural cork.
As I understand it, Greg is no longer producing wine. So my best guess is the distributor offered them to K&L at a very attractive price to clear inventory. Tasty wines.
As to the 05, I don’t think it was a vintage issue. I really think he had a problem with the synthetic corks. In fact, a good friend who makes wines has had quite a bit of his 05’s prematurely oxidizing.
I had half a dozen bottles of '06 and all had the black synthetic corks.
Doesn’t bother me at all, but it’s not impressive if you are at an event and pull out some black rubber cork deal…
all of mine have been black corks.
I have had this 3 times now and agree that the wine is good, not great. I think it’s worth it for $15 but I’m going to hold my other couple for a while just to see what happens.
I posted this on the other board a week or so ago, but I think the alcina 06 sangiacoma is head and shoulders above the RRV and it is now available on closeout at $24.99. Now THAT’s a bargain IMO.
the two I had both were black plastic corks
one bottle was awesome, the other sucked, all alcohol and nasty
Finished the bottle of last night. Decent Pinot for 15 bucks, but nothing spectacular. Bright Cherries and a bit of oak. Light bodied wine, finish was just a bit medicinal but other than that is was fine.
Aargh! That’s frustrating! That is a great bottle of pinot, and I paid full fare.
where at?
JJ Buckley. and it’s $25.99 not $24.99. I already called in a favor to have a CA friend buy and mail me some RRV, otherwise I’d get some.
is 06 the last vinatge?
My understanding is that he produced 7 or 8 barrels of wine in 07…nothing in 08.