Only if her parents teach her to. 
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Super cute!
Two producers this week that have added so much joy to my wine journey that I likely wouldn’t have discovered if it weren’t for WineBerserkers…. Vincent and Kelley Fox
Both these wines are just wonderful. Vincent’s 2016 Armstrong Pinot is like a great Morey St Denis and straddles a fine line between fruit and earthiness that I love. And Kelley’s Gruner veltliner has forever changed my views on this varietal in the new world. Screaming acidity with concentrated tropical fruit and white flowers over a bed of white pepper.
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2019 Kelley Fox Wines Pinot Noir Maresh Vineyard Royal Ann Block - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills (12/15/2023)
I feel like this is dumbing down a bit. It's got decent aromatics and it's decent on the palate, but there's nothing exciting or super open about it. Ive heard others say KF never shuts down, but I'd caveat it never FULLY shuts down.
Nice, red strawberry fruit, on some forest floor. Sid does a much better job of describing this than I could... (94 points)
Was going to post a pic of my baby, but decided I was enough of a baby myself…
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Brig- help me out here. Am I right that you posted a note on this wine? In my feeble brain you did. But darned if I can find it!
Kona just turned 4 in November. We acquired her from Countryside Rescue in Santa Rosa. She was the runt of the litter and now weighs in at 115lbs! A big furry ball of love!
Taz wasn’t too sure about this one. She keeps growing!
Now she has her own ZIP Code.
2020 Bedrock Old Vine Zinfandel
Purplish red color, Carlisleish aromatics of purple fruit texture is full and round with plenty of blackberry and boysenberry along with bramble spice. Not too tart not too sweet, just right! Has plenty of sideways years left for the tannins to settle down. Gotta thank Berserker @M_Dildine for introducing me to the wonders of Morgan and Bedrock Wines.
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Love Taz and Kona!
Here is our contribution to the great cause that Brian and Dava are supporting.
This is Shiloh. He is your typical full-of-energy Tabby. He is not our first cat; but he is our first indoor cat since we now have coyotes who like to roam the sidewalks on the cul-de-sac that we live in. He is a bundle of energy and likes to chew anything and everything in his path. And that is why we have a tree without ornaments for the first time in a long, long, time. Becky brought him home around 6 months ago and it did not take him long to take over the house.
As for the wine, I drank a Goodfellow during the first week, and that was a great WB discovery, so I wanted to try something different. We do not buy much Napa Cab anymore, but we have bought some William and Mary from Will. I have never met him, but he seems like the kind of person one feels good about supporting. This is the 2018 Napa Valley. Big, rich, ripe, deep and lush, with black cherry flavors the dominant characteristic at this time. Everything you would want in a California Cab. We opened the bottle about 5 hours ago, and it still needs a lot of air if you plan on opening one soon. Glad we have a few left!
Cheers!
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I would never have discovered Vincent Wine Co. if not for this board and Berserker Day. Go back to just 2017, and I was pretty much at zero for Oregon wine in the cellar. Fast forward to 2023, and Vincent, along with Goodfellow represent the lion’s share of my Pinot Noir purchases.
Sampling the 2022 Vincent Ribbon Ridge Pinot Noir tonight. It’s a change of gears from the 2021, as it has brighter, almost cranberry-esque fruit versus the deep, almost luscious 2021. The 2022 still has a touch of sappiness but it comes with bright, citrus-toned acidity. I love both vintages for very different reasons.
My cat Deus is less impressed.
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Never would have discovered Lagier Meredith without wineberserkers. Never would discovered @Carole_Meredith and her incredible contributions.
With the passing of Mike Grgich I thought I would tie these two together in the virtual tasting.
Mike thought Zinfandel and Plavac Mali were the same grape. Close, after research by Carole she established Zin and Plavac are ancestral. Parent and child, I guess.
Further analysis revealed Zinfandel, Primativo, and Tribidrag and genetically identical.
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Full disclosure: I got caught up in the hype following a previous Berserker Day, when they offered a multi vintage case of Our Wines Pinot Noir, and everyone was rushing to post tasting notes, that I drank too many of them way too earlier…Fortunately, I slowed down and was rewarded by the remaining bottles being quite nice and enjoyable…Tonight I opened the 2020 Our Wines Pinot Noir, to go with brisket and latkes…Dark, brooding color, nose reticent at first, opened up after about 20 minutes and was pleasantly floral, black fruits on the palate,crisp acidity,.The surviving cat(at one time we had 4),wasn’t that impressed,was paying more attention to the brisket…Our yellow lab,who frequently attended our pizza and wine tastings, patiently nibbling on pizza crusts, barking her approval of some wines while sniffing disdainfully at others, wd have loved this wine…Regretably, she passed away several years ago at the ripe old age of 14, a wonderful companion to the end. She would have loved this cause, as well…She came to us from The Guiding Eyes in Westchester, NY
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Sorry about that, my bad! 
No problema, it reinforced to me the need to let some wines chill out in the cellar rather than drink them all too soon just cuz all the cool kids were doing so…
Not my best note, but thats how it is sometimes…
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NV André Clouet Champagne Grande Réserve Brut - France, Champagne (12/16/2023)
Worth it's price. Apple, pear, some spice, light bread (90 points)
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We entertained today for lunch, and all three wines were to some extent influenced by WB.
Duménil Spécial Club 2015 1er Cru Champagne.
@Blake_Brown posted a riveting note on the 2013 vintage, and I ran out and bought the 2015 (despite vowing not to purchase more Special Clubs… 
)
60% PN & 40% Chard from Montagne de Reims. Perfect balance for the grower and grande marque crowd: just enough dosage to be drunk as an apéritif or with food. Almost no nose of brioche/yeast, but apple, citrus zest, pretty long finish. Fresh tasting, not heavy at all, just a “classic” champagne, for lack of better word. Drinks better than the $55-ish price, though if you’re looking for something geeky/interesting, look elsewhere. Sorry for the lackluster /nondescript note… I was catching up with guests & minding the rest of the meal, and the bottle emptied in record speed.
2018 Stereophonic I Dream of Spring
I discovered Stereophonic through WB, and this bottle was generously sent as a gift with other orders I made in the Monopole-Cru shop.
Wow. I was expecting a big Paso-style wine in this Rhone-blend, but this is more delicate and fresher. I got a lot of blueberries and red berries, but in a lively style, not jammy or hot. This would pair well with a charcuterie board. I enjoyed it the most when it had a little bit of chill.
2003 La Tour Blanche Sauternes
This bottle was purchased from First Bottle, which I discovered through WB.
Perfect pairing with the vanilla flan 
I made for dessert. 2003 was a hot late summer/Fall in Bordeaux and a concern at the time was these were going to be too heavy / cloying. La Tour Blanche style tends towards the less opulent/more restrained, and it’s a style I tend to prefer. 20 years later, this wine is singing. Dense but not cloying. Hint of dark caramel, apricot compote, candied orange peel, and a bit of nuttiness. For my tastes, this is at its peak or close to it.
As you can tell, Brownie agrees with me that La Tour Blanche is our favorite Sauternes, and this particular bottle was a delight .
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I was made aware of Stereophonic wines when Jason had his serious infection right around harvest (2022?) and offered his wines to raise some needed short term cash. I participated because this was a chance to try something new, and never would have heard of Stereophonic had it not been for WB.
So far I have had the Heart Container Sangiovese (which I loved — I hope it’s taken as a compliment when I call it the Best. Pizza. Wine. Ever. I get to have pizza only about twice a year now so it’s a special occasion when I do!). And now Starblanket. Really enjoyed this take on Petite Sirah and Grenache. Like the Sangiovese these are slightly idiosyncratic wines — meaning they are that most precious of commodities, something interesting. A bonus : gorgeous labels. Anyway, here is the CT review of the 2018 Starblanket:
Big but not heavy. Half Grenache , half petite sirah. I thought the petite sirah dominated, with loads of brambly blackberry, tobacco, very dark espresso. However, this was also surprisingly agile. This managed to avoid the aspects I dislike in both varieties (the excessive candied cherry of some Grenache and the berries-from- Hell in PS) and accentuated the aspects of both that I do like to deliver a surprisingly supple but very full bodied wine. Went stonkers with Brillant- Savarin and tomme de basque cheese,but you could also pair this with your most insane stew. It responds well to rich food.
Score: 91. Relative to expectations: ++
Photo includes our calico cat, Widget. That was her name at the shelter and although we considered giving her a new name, a day with her convinced us that no name for her could top Widget.
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Marie Paule
2019 Pinot Noir
Open Claim Vineyard, Willamette Valley, Oregon
Sun Break Wines
14.1%
Lovely Pinot that paired quite well with a grilled steak. Today’s weather was not too bad, especially this close to Christmas in Chicago, so we had to do it. The back label is pretty accurate - cherry, currants, spice and savory, and just enough grip to hold up to a steak. Acidity cut through some creamy potatoes.
Earlier today we dropped off our buff tabby, Prince, with my brother in law, before we leave town. Otherwise I would have him in the photo. We got him a couple of years ago after my wife’s high school friend got sick and then passed away. He was adopted from the Anti-Cruelty Society. We were afraid that her family was going to send him back. He’s been a handful, but he’s really come around.
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We had some folks over this evening and one of the wines opened was another 2018 Sandler Pinot Noir. I found this Boer Vineyard beauty flowery, red fruited with an enjoyable tang on the finish. Jacqueline is a big fan of the Sandler Pinot Noirs tasted this week and was full of energetic praise for the Boer. She is shown in the background in one of her rare calm moments.
Cheers, Brian.
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Had the Harrington 2017 Mission Somers Vineyard, Lodi on Friday.
I believe I picked this up on Brian’s final BD. This is a carbonic wine, so very light, lots of berry fruit and very low tannin. It comes as close to drinking a glass of fruit juice as you can get. Unfiltered so some cloudiness in the glass.
The color is pinkish. Almost reminds me of an unfiltered pet nat or cider, but not sour or fizzy in any way. I also feared it would be over the hill, but it wasn’t. I made the rest of my group take a taste. It was too non conforming for them, but I’m sure exactly what Brian was trying to bring forth. I wish I had more.
Here’s a photo of our dearly departed, Bella. She crossed over the rainbow bridge a few years back. We adopted her at 8 years old from North East Boston Terrier Rescue. We wanted to give a slightly older pooch some quality later in life years and Bella fit right in. She was prone to seizures, though not very frequently at 1st. Eventually a prolonged seizure end her life at 11+. My wife put her photo on the blanket as she always wedged in next to us on the couch.
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A long time ago, @dougwilder posted here about a new producer’s Syrah. Given the name of the producer matched the town I lived in (Enfield…still live there) I jumped on it. Shortly thereafter three bottles of 2010 Enfield Syrah arrived at my home. I opened one soon after and was thrilled. Fast forward to 2023, and I have been on @John_Lockwood Enfield Wine Co list the whole time. I had one bottle of the 2010 Syrah left, and tonight seemed like a good time to open it. If you are one of the small group of people who have one I encourage you to check it out.
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2010 Enfield Wine Co. Syrah Haynes Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley, Coombsville (12/18/2023)
This bottle has been standing up, at the ready for a year. I just needed to decide to pull the trigger. Tonight was the night, and it could have been any night between now and 2030. The wine is in a fantastic spot, still showing dark berry fruit, but also loaded with savory elements, from roasted meat to light soy to warm leather and mushroom. It’s a complete Syrah that also has tannic and acid structure to go for much longer. If only I had a few more bottles.
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