I had the good fortune to meet Michael Weiss for at least one CO offline and bought heavily when his Balanced Wine Selections had their Berserker Day offerings.
Tonight was the 2015 Courbet Cotes du Jura “Violette,” which I believe is all or mostly trousseau. Just delicious, and at the BD price, a steal. Fragrant, mature, juicy, just a joy. Thanks, MW, for importing this and helping me choose it from your offer. I wish I’d bought more of this one!
I thought this was a great wine. Curious…is anti-AFWE…anti anti?
I’m glad you enjoyed. I did, too. My only point was that IMO it’s going to be even better in a few years, based on what I tasted and my experience with Untrue Mader, which went from being a very nice wine to a stellar one.
Hmmm, anti-AFWE I guess negates not just the A but the whole proposition : ~(AFWE) in logic notation. So that will leave us with something like “Pro Flavor Beverage Peons.” (Work with me here). Yep, I am a peon all right.
• 2021 Tercero Gewürztraminer The Outlier Carrari Vineyard.
It’s frankly harder for Gewurz to get pitched inside my strike zone than a lot of other varietals. I reliably enjoy only Zind-Humbrecht Gewurz (or, a little less reliably, Alsace in general). But I have to say this one won me over after a while with its dry, pithy profile. There’s no doubt about variety here, but delivered in a dry wine (much drier than usual Gewurz) that might seem almost stern at first. It’s almost too serious a wine for a warm summer evening outdoors, which is what we did🥴. As with a lot of Tercero wines we’ve tried so far, lots to think about. And yes, Larry, I really want to try the 2022 version!
From CT review:
For a Gewurz this is dry, even if some people might taste this and call it “off-dry” by virtue of its flavor profile. All the typical Gewurz profile is here, lychee, clove/turmeric, ginger, lime pith. It’s an interesting exercise to find out to what degree you can make a dry Gewurz. The dryness has its positive and negative elements to it: the dryness seems to amplify the more bitter and pithy sides of the flavor profile. I warmed up to this as I had more of it and started to understand where it was coming from. As with all things Tercero, something to think about.
I definitely think that it will improve, but I also think it will drink great along the way, which is how I’ll treat it – until it doesn’t 
(Stereophonic is one of those I will open at any time, so I may have a different pov)
Thanks my friend - it’s nice to see my wines mentioned in this thread 
Gewurz is not an easy sell for the reasons you mentioned - which is one of the main reasons I pitch this as ‘The Outlier’ and a ‘dryish aromatic white’ instead of by its varietal name.
This variety has such naturally intoxicating aromatics that it’s fun to work with - and yep, I try to keep mine on the ‘dryish side’ by keeping the RS in the .4-.8 range with plenty of acid to offset it. I’ve also made the conscious decision to pick a bit riper to allow the finished wine to have a touch higher alcohol - usually in the 14% range - to give the wine more body.
So glad you enjoyed it - next up should be our Malvasia Bianca
Cheers
Hey, let me be the last person to dissuade you from having a Stereophonic. The wines are great. FWIW the 21s that I think are drinking even better right now are To Here Knows When Old Bailey (also a cab) and above all the Dão-like If Eventually…Why Not Now — which absolutely rocked my world a couple of months ago.
2022 Ser Vermentino–lovely aromatics, refreshingly crisp, with a saline streak that made me immediately wish we had oysters. (We had salmon.) Yum. Thanks @Nicole_Walsh, another winner!
Thanks for the feedback. I love Vermentino!! With the marine characteristic of the grape, especially on the Central Coast, any seafood is a great pairing. So glad you enjoyed:)
Funny that it was a popular grape not that long ago. '80s and into the '90s. Maybe too many bad ones, flabby and tiring, killed it for newer wine drinkers. Well made, it has it’s place. I’d think that would generate a fair share of tasting room sales, even if it’s deal at retail.
There was 9000 tons or so crushed in CA in 2024 - with a whopping total of 23 crushed in District 8 (SBC/SLO/Ventura Counties). Nearly half the state crop was crushed in Yolo County . . .
It truly is a ‘forgotten grape’ domestically . . .
Bday participant Briceland makes an exceptional Gewurz, with fruit from Ishi Pishi Ranch.
2015 Vincent Pinot Noir Tardive Armstrong Vineyard
Sour pomegranate and cherry, cocoa and purple flowers immediately after pouring and then licorice and light smoke after 1 - 2 hours. Same on Day 2. Enjoyed out of new Glasvin from VinDependenceDay.
The oldest WV wine I have ever had. Glad I went for it on BD16 and looking forward to one more bottle plus the '16 + '18.
2022 Orr Royal Slope Red. 92% Merlot 8% Cab. Easy drinking and smooth with good primary red and black fruit and some tobacco notes. Ready now, drink up. Tremendous QPR, even without the Beserkerday deal.
Cabot 2007 Syrah, Reed’s. Really nice. Decanted off the sediment, aired for 30+ minutes, then back into the bottle.
Just drank 2021 Chiron Mountain Reserve. They are crushing the qpr game. It can hold for a few years but id rather drink with a steak now. Between this and Black Powder my daily drinker cabs are covered. Not to diminish the cabs, but at BD price I can drink them every day. Thanks @Bobby_Moy
