She is a Berzerker Business, she gets to plug her wine. People are concerned about smoke taint. She simply stated that she harvested before the fires. Pretty simple.
I am not hating on anybody or anything.
Just a discussion about our hobby, no need to turn it nasty.
How wide is your brush? I countered your comment that “2017s are suspect at best.” I am in the business and not shy about stating it. You and others do not have to purchase my 2017 six months from now. But you do not get to throw random darts, totally missing the dart board, without expecting that someone will object to your gross (negative) overstatements.
Why bring up nasty??? This is a good topic with excellent input.
Who is ‘throwing darts’? And who is being ‘nasty’? And why is someone claiming some semblance of a ‘conspiracy ‘?
I consider myself a fairly educated person, but I. Am. Confused.
I need answers to these burning questions… (I am joking, in case some can’t/ won’t see through the sarcasm)
Curious - have you tasted many other 17s besides your own? Really interested in any feedback you have. Hoping 17 is a good vintage but time will tell.
I know winemakers dont want to hear it but the buying public at least some of us will have some doubts about 17’s, you cant change the perception that smoke damage is a real thing.
I’ll take a stab at this…I think what Merrill is suggesting is that many statements seem to be based on speculation with little experience. (Merrill, please correct me if I’m wrong) It’s making a statement without giving data to validate the opinion. Merrill offers some data in her statement by saying her wine tastes great and was harvested before the fires. If there’s someone that has tasted 2017 Napa, Sonoma, & Anderson Valley Cabs and is finding smoke problems that would be more data…but right now all I’m seeing is speculation. Which, I think she’s objecting to the negative speculation if there is/has been no tasting data.
I think it’s reasonable for someone to get upset when others make a statement that would impact their job or financial stability without offering any real Data…
Maybe we should create a topic to post 2017 Napa, Sonoma, & Anderson Valley cabs in to start getting some data?
How long is your waiting list?
I think the upcoming Bedrock release is a good example of this too. Literally in the email it says “Our next release is here, for people who ordered last release it should ship a couple days from now!”
haha at least let me get these last wines first!
I didn’t take Alan’s initial characterization of the last three vintages as a serious assessment, way too broad a statement for someone with his depth of wine knowledge.
Tom
Totally agree, im just making a general point and it got taken way too seriously, i am not a wine expert I am just the run of the mill consumer
No, I have not tasted any other 2017s - I rarely go out tasting. After living and growing Cabernet here for 19 years, and being in the wine business for 15 years, I only go out tasting when friends come to town who WANT to do that. And when I do go out tasting, I go with the intention of tasting bottled goods that are available for purchase. But I know my wines very well, and I have loved my 2017 in barrel. I’m going to pull a barrel sample in two weeks to share with 6 other people. I will get feedback from them (they know my wines well) and post in this thread.
In addition to that, I know many wineries had their fruit in house before the October 8 fire started here in Napa. Many cellar workers and winemakers had to get police and fire escort into their wineries to tend to their wines that were undergoing fermentation. Fruit that was on the vines while the smoke was intolerable might have smoke taint. I know some have sent questionable samples out for lab testing so they know what’s what, aside from taste.
The point is that armchair reviews and vintage-wide speculation of untasted wines is pretty much meaningless.
You pretty much have it. And sometimes people think I am “upset” when I object to something. Feedback given to me over many years indicate my style of expression is extremely direct. I do not like misinformation and will object - just as anyone can - when I think someone knows little about what they are talking about.
You can read more about my take on 2017 in my other post asking which 2017s I have tasted.
Makes sense, thanks for addressing. Hopefully more is known by January around how things are looking.
Who’s on first??!
Dropping mailing lists is very difficult, especially for wines that you are really fond of. This has become a real problem for me as I have aged along with my favorite wine. My first step was to begin sharing allocations with our tasting group. This has worked well for expensive and hard to get wines. My second step was to delete wines which need cellar time beyond my planning horizon. Step 3 was to fine tune my purchases to match what I am actually drinking e.g. I was buying way too much Syrah. Step 4 will be to phase out all of my allocations completely and enjoy the cellar that I have built over the past 20 years.
Part of the trouble I had with dropping of lists is the perception that I have a relationship with wine makers or producers. I sometimes think they would miss my few purchases, or be insulted that I don’t buy. What I had to realize is these are business relationships and I am not obligated to them anymore than they are to me. It is not for me to keep a winery in business. Dropping off lists this year gives me room to discover other wines that have been off my radar. The people I buy wine from are not my friends, the people I drink wine with, are.
There is much truth in what you state here. No business likes to lose customers, but there is no obligation to buy. Maybe it is because my venture is so small, but I believe some of my customers are indeed friends. After all, we have something in common - a love of wine (and often food).
This is so true. I reached the point, and over 3-4 years I weened off all mailing lists. Some were hard to get off as I would like to support some of these producers, but I have more wine then I will ever drink, and kid’s college bills are coming soon