What are some of your surprises?

WINE TALK
1

We popped an 04 Mitolo Reiver & an 04 Kaesler Old Vine Shiraz last night with friends. I figured I can’t sell them might as well start drinking them.
I wasn’t really expecting much since many of our Oz wines have not aged gracefully. Neither was hot, disjointed or over the top, quite the opposite, nice balance, great fruit and much more enjoyable than I was expecting.

What have been some of your surprises you weren’t expecting much from?

2

I had a 2004 Andrew Murray Roasted Slope Syrah over the weekend that I grabbed off of WB for $10.

Ten Bucks!

It was surprising ‘very good’ indeedy. So much so that the 2005 that followed it was not as good and the Summerfield after that sucked by comparason.

Happy New Year to you and Randy, Carrie.

3

I agreed with Matt Shafer today.

4

[pillow-fight.gif] we are in the wine talk section
but you agreeing with someone is a surprise [tease.gif]

5

I agree with you all the time, fer chrissake!

6

A local restaurant does occasional Sunday wine sales. They like to turn over their wine list fairly often so they combine the bottles going off of the list with bottles they purchase just for the sales. They are offered at a pretty good discount - usually around the wholesale price. At one of the sales, I bought a bottle of Quinta do Noval Vintage 2004 for $40.

One sale in June was a “scratch and dent” sale. They bought two pallets of wine from a distributor that had stained or damage labels and foils or come cosmetic reason that they couldn’t be sold at retail. All bottles were $4. It was an organized free-for-all and I snagged two cases for $96. I grabbed lost of French, Italian and Spanish stuff that I didn’t have a clue about and some other random bottles.

You aren’t anticipating much out of a bottle you paid $4 for and you have never heard of. I opened a bottle of 2007 Foris Pinot. I would have thought it would have been about a $25 - $30 wine but was surprised to see it available locally for $17. It makes me much more interested in Rouge Valley pinots.

Monte

7

Some 2002 and 2003 Columbia Crest - Grand Estates Merlot bottles that I found for $7 at Ralph’s.

Same goes for a bottle of 2002 Robert Keenan - Merlot (Napa Valley) that I found at Ralph’s for $14.50.

And, in the “kinda counts” category, because I was expecting it to be good, but wasn’t expecting it to blow my mind like it did, is the 2007 Myrat - Sauternes that I bought for $19/half.

8

Subtle, but very funny.

9

an 88 guigal CDR that I was afraid to open, I thought it was almost guaranteed to be DOA.


1988 E. Guigal Côtes du Rhône - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône (7/27/2009)
wow, who would have thought that this would still be alive. This is a great example of perfect storage. Nice sweet maraschino cherries, pomegranate fruits and sweet plums. Lots of old world cellar dust, tobacco and earth. Really nice with great fresh acidity, sweet liqueur and wonderful red fruits. (90 pts.)

10

The Reiver is a surprise??? Its a banging wine, the 04. Lots of smoke and bacon, deep black fruits. I love it. Great price too.

11

Sorry to hear that. [oops.gif]

12

It was a surprise because a few aussie wines I’ve had with some age on them were not great and I was expecting more out of them than they delivered . This was a nice surprise.
I can be surprised can’t I ? neener neener

13

Old school Riojas like Lopez Herdia. Love them and they not very expensive for the complexity.

14

I wish I could remember the name of that pinot that you opened for us in yoru store. I had asked you for something that was lighter bodied and more Skewis-like, and I really enjoyed that. If I knew the name, I’d buy more…

my surprise of the year was the Mayback materium 2007. I am very suspicious of the new cult cab wannabes, having been burned far too often by them. however, this was a very good, well balanced wine.

15

I guess 2004, 2005 and 2006 was not reason enough to know what to expect.

Ever have the 2006?
pileon [cheers.gif]

16

No, you’re a retailer, every wine has to be great. [bow.gif]

17

Never had anything but that 2 ounce pour of the 2007. I had never really heard of it before except from seeing it as teh title of the occaisonal post around here. I actually liked it so much I signed up for the mailing list. So, when the 2008’s come out, I’ll buy a bottle of those and see if I like that as well.