Re: The Wine Thread
 

Try www.wine-searcher.com wine prices vary state to state so this would give you a better representation on how much it will cost you locally.

Re: The Wine Thread
 

good idea JohnnyFlake, will do from now on, although alot of the wines reviewed so far are older so hard to pin a price on.

recent stuff from me that you can find, with approx retail:

2006 Chevillon-Chezeaux Nuit-Saint-Georges Les Saint-Julian $40
2005 Dunham Cabernet XI, Columbia Valley $45

~Vitis

Re: The Wine Thread
 

Thanks for the link!

Re: The Wine Thread
 

Had a few wines on Weds and Thursday nights while relaxing at home and having some great food. My type of holiday. :D

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m...illotHuber.jpg

Capdevila Pujol Cava Reserva Especial
I had picked up some paddlefish caviar on the spur of the moment while I was at Whole Foods and when I got home I realized that I did not have any Champagne in the apt. I had figured i was stick drinking chard with caviar and crème fraîche (not a good mix) but after fishing around in some boxes of samples I had in the spare room I found this Cava thats prpbably been there for over a year. This wine is made by Blancher Cava and is made of Xarel-lo, Macabeu and Parellada. Anyways.. The nose is clean with yeasty bready notes. Much less bubbles than Champagne with a fatter style mousse, and flavors of nuts and more yeast. Nice crispness on the finish. A pleasant surprise. I don’t usually drink Cava but for $$ this is decent. Approximate retail $15

2006 Jean-Marc Millot Côte de Nuits Villages "Aux Faulques"
Paired this Pinot with a dry aged ribeye. I have been a fan of this house for many years and this entry level 06 is a great example of why. Very intense wide open nose of dark fruit, mixed berries and sweet spice. Medium to heavy weight in the mouth, fruit punch style berry flavors, very ripe, nice acidity and more tannin than expected. This wine is delicious, the fruit is extremely clean and vibrant, and the follow through is excellent. Very fine for a CdN Villages, and I would buy more of this in a heartbeat. In past vintages this has been called "Clos des Faulques", but I’m not sure why it was changed in 06'. Approximate retail $35

2006 Huber-Verdereau Volnay
Drank with a nice rare piece of prime rib on Christmas night. This Domaine was founded in 1994 and Thiébault Huber has made some great wines so far. Unfortunately this was not one of them. The nose started out extremely tight, showing almost nothing, eventually giving way to animale and wet earth aromatics. Light to medium weight in the mouth with more similar flavors, and some black fruit. The wine is not very balanced and has a shrillness to it in which the acid outweighs the fruit. Disappointing as I have had some wonderful 05's from this producer. I did have a glass today and it had gained a little weight but was still not what one would hope for. Approximate retail $45

Cheers
~Vitis

Re: The Wine Thread
 

I've had these on Xmas and Xmas eve in no particular order:

2006 August Briggs Zinfandel
Napa, CA
Varietal: Zinfandel
Cost: $32
Nose- cherry, alcohol, raspberry
Taste- cherry, touch of vanilla, touch of mocha
Points: 86 - Very disappointing- way too fruity, tasted like a $10 bottle. ugh-next.....

2006 August Briggs Chardonnay
Russian River Valley, Sonoma, CA
Varietal: Chardonnay
Cost: $32
Nose- tropical fruits, lemon peel, ripe oranges
Taste- honey, lemon,lime,orange,vanilla
Points: 89 I liked this actually, nothing special but it wasn't overly buttery (thats a good thing) went well with broiled lobster and shrimp w/ oil and garlic

2006 Domaine Thibert Pouilly-Fuissé Les Vignes Blanches
Maconnais, Burgundy, France
Varietal: Chardonnay
Cost: $34
Nose- white flowers, violets, apples, melon
Taste: lots of citrus, those little violet candies, honey, minerals
Points: 90+ loved this, no food, just sipped

2007 Frederic Gueguen Chablis Les Grandes Vignes
Chablis,Burgundy, France
Varietal: Chardonnay
Cost: $28
Nose: lemon, grey stones (chalkboard), petrol, slight white flowers
Taste: lemon, grey stones, petrol
Points: 86- Drank over 2 days- first day got nothin' so I tried again the next night- same thing. Usually I love those tastes but this just didn't do it for me.

I had the Pouilly-Fuisse before I had the Chablis- its amazing how different these wines are. Its a great example of tasting the same grape from different terroir. Chablis and Pouilly-Fuisse are in the same region but these wines couldn't be more different.

Re: The Wine Thread
 

Thanks for the notes Aldukes. Shame about the Gueguen. I have not tasted it yet, but I know that Alan Meadows felt it was so backward when he tasted it in October that her wouldn't even give it a score. He thought that the fermentation aromatics were too dominant to get a good feel for it. I loved the Grandes Vignes in 05' and 06' so perhaps this one will come around in a year or so.

~Vitis

Re: The Wine Thread
 

Backward is a great way to describe it- I wanted to like this so badly, but there was just nothing there.

I'm thinking about dropping off the August Briggs mailer. The past two shipments have been really disappointing. The Pinots and Cabs are good but the other offerings have been blah at best.

Re: The Wine Thread
 

Never had the August Briggs stuff but after your review of the Zin it's not making my "need to try" list. :D

Re: The Wine Thread
 

the mrs. and I have really taken a liking to pinot noir,can you recommend a few cheaper bottles that you could drink everyday?or how about another type ?we tend to shy away from the really dry wines..thanx

Re: The Wine Thread
 

I've heard good things about Castle Rock- retails around 10 bucks. I've had Sebastani in the past and it wasn't bad- retails around 13 bucks, same for the Coppola diamond series.

Do you like white wines?

Re: The Wine Thread
 

If you can find Steel Creek Pinot from California give it a shot. Should be around $15. Tastes like Pinot and not syrah wich a lot of inexpensive pinots can taste like. Another one I like is Fleur de California which will run you around $16-$17

~Vitis

Re: The Wine Thread
 

have not gotten into the whites as of yet,the wife drinks pinot grigio in the summer,but thanks will definately give them a try

Re: The Wine Thread
 

A very good friend of mine came for dinner last night:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3100/...149029.jpg?v=0

Where to start? Drank in order from left to right.

1999 Veuve Clicquot Gold Label
Champagne, France
Varietal: Blend- Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Chardonnay
Cost: $65-80 according to the internet
Nose- lemon peel, baked bread,
Taste- brioche, lemon
Points: 88- not a huge fan, but it wasn't terrible

2001 Dominus Napanook
Napa Valley, CA
Champagne, France
Varietal: Bordeaux Blend- 71% Cabernet Sauvignon 18% Cabernet Franc 7% Merlot 3% Petit Verdot 1% Malbec
Cost: $45 at purchase around $80 now
Nose- At opening this filled the room with raspberries, after decanting it mellowed out with a great nose of ripe cherries, leather, tobacco, black tea
Taste- Super smooth, great finish, lots of red fruits, some black tea, tobacco
Points: 90- I bought this in 04 as my first "collectable" bottle, well worth the wait- Decanted for 4 hours

2005 Caldwell Rocket Science
Mt. Veeder, Napa Valley, CA
Varietal: Red Blend-33% Syrah 33% Cabernet Sauvignon 25% Merlot 9% Cabernet Franc 9% Petit Verdot 9% Tannat
Cost: $45
Nose- dark chocolate , cola, cherries, coffee
Taste- This is a HUGE wine- lots of dark chocolate and cherries, really long finish (45 seconds?)
Points: 93- Huge CA cab- if you like the style you will love this-friends Wine of the night- opened about an hour before, no decant

2004 Seavey Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley, CA
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Cost: $115
Nose- Lots of eucalyptus, barnyard, cherry
Taste- Tannic -but smooth at the same time, cherry, menthol, red meat- this tasted similar to a newer Bordeaux
Points: 93- Decanted for an hour- if this had another 2 hours to open up this would be a 95, really interesting wine- tons of sediment left in the decanter

2005 Volta Cabernet Sauvignon
Howell Mountain, Napa Valley, CA
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Cost: $60
Nose: huge fruit, black cherry,raspberry, little vanilla
Taste: black cherry, dark chocolate, black tea, raspberry
Points: 93- I can't wait to see how this ages, awesome wine- my wine of the night, popped and poured If anyone wants a bottle of this let me know ASAP- Im leaning towards ordering a few more (i'll cover the shipping)

An awesome night, the Seavey was served with Grilled lamb, roasted potatoes with rosemary butter, and mushrooms baked in garlic and butter. Last glass and a half of Volta was paired with a CAO Lx2- it stood up quite well. I usually don't enjoy cigars with wine- but they went well together.

Re: The Wine Thread
 

My all time fav is a Mondavi Special Reserve 2000 Cabernet Savignon Got a wooded box (case)of this wine,100$ a bottle and i have had no other wine that compares with this!!!

Re: The Wine Thread
 

What's everyone drinking tonight?

My friends are picking up a few different bottles of Prosecco.

Re: The Wine Thread
 

There will be only four of us tonight, and only three of us will be drinking. We have one none drinker! I plan to start out, pre-meal, with a bottle of Grand Vin De Graves "Pessac-Leognan" 1994 Chateau La Louviere that I purchased in 1998 while still living in Illinois, at $20 a bottle back then. After this bottle, I'll still have three left. During the meal, we'll enjoy a bottle or two, if needed (I have six), of Barossa Valley- South Australia 2006 Layer Cake Shiraz (about $15). Later, with dessert, we'll open a bottle of Graham's "Six Grapes" Reserve Porto (About $24).

Re: The Wine Thread
 

That was the best $20 spent ever... How was the bottle?

Re: The Wine Thread
 

I decanted this bottle about an two hours before pouring. I'm not sure how well it opened up in that amount of time. For me, it was more medium bodied, than full bodied, as I expected it to be. There were rich hints of blackberry, hints of currant and a distinct earthiness, with a touch of smokiness as well. My one guest and I really enjoyed it. My wife didn't care for very much.

Does anyone know what a bottle of this might sell for now days?

Re: The Wine Thread
 

Probably around $35-50 not too many bottles of this around anymore- let me know if you're willing to part with one. :ss

Re: The Wine Thread
 

can't wait for friday......pic to come.........

Re: The Wine Thread
 

According to Vinfolio.com the average retail price for the Chateau La Louviere1994 is $47.06. Keep in mind that aged wine prices actually peaked in 2007 and have been coming down lately due to the economy.

Re: The Wine Thread
 

How can a wine be "too fruity"? It starts out as a rich, sweet, luscious fruit. It has to be turned into wine gently so as not to ruin it along the process. I would think the more of the original flavor that can be retained, the better. I love a strongly fruity wine with just enough tannins to smooth it out and give it staying power. Some people describe this as "jammy" or "porty". Mmmmm.

Re: The Wine Thread
 

quality, quality, quality. Of course there are always exceptions. I love fruit forward new world wines- when they're done right. Quality doesn't necessarily mean price.

Re: The Wine Thread
 

2006 Dugat-Py Bourgogne

Drank a few glasses of this at the office yesterday while meeting with our landlord. Bernard Dugat-Py is one of the greatest houses in all of Burgundy, but you certainly pay for it. This is entry level Bourgogne which is "wallet stretching" for this level of wine, and the micro-produced Gran Crus get extremely expensive. That said, these wines can be ethereal. The family has been growing in Gevery for a ridiculously long time and the caves they use were originally built by monks in 1075! Very cool.

This wine opened with the most aromatics of any 06' burg I’ve tried so far, super heavy spices, with deep scents of dark fruit, and intense focus framed by light wood and earth. There are indescribable aromas that I had no idea what they were. Very intense. Medium to full bodied in the mouth, black cherry, sour tart notes, and watermelon? Crisp throughout, heavy but elegantly balanced with an intensely long finish for a Bourgogne. The finish has a wild lozenge effect where your tongue gets a little numb. Pretty damn wild for a pinot. A very very fine wine for this level, which needs several years to start, and I can see it flowering in a decade. Estimated retail in this market is $55 but easily as good as Premier Crus that you could buy at this price. Compared to Oregon or California Pinot at this price, well…. no comparison. Buy this instead. Can't wait to try the heavier hitters from this house.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m...tBourgogne.jpg


~Vitis

Re: The Wine Thread
 

Nice.

Certainly a big name in Burgundy. Still a baby I bet. Looking at scoring some '95 Burg's this weekend at auction. Call me Mr. Lowballer, I probably won't win any, but I do, yeah for me.

Re: The Wine Thread
 

Cool, Moses, what auction are you going to?

Re: The Wine Thread
 

Online auction, and I don't want to post which one it is. You can PM me if you want, but most wine collectors know which one I am talking about...

Re: The Wine Thread
 

Yep, I was just curious if you were going to one, you know, paddle and all. Good luck in your hunting. May the baccus smile upon you. :D

~Vitis

Re: The Wine Thread
 

If we're talking about the same one- there are some awesome deals going right now.

Re: The Wine Thread
 

I treated myself to a winebid purchase two weeks ago:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3467/...0199c2.jpg?v=0


see you when I turn 30.

Re: The Wine Thread
 

Missed out on Villa Mt. Eden Cabernet Sauvignon - Vintage 1995 - 6 Bottles for $60.00 :mad:

and Chateau Lascombes - Vintage 1995 case of 12 OWC for $350 :mad:

Looked like a lot of action on the lots I had bookmarked... Where's the recession? Port lots that did sell, sold for too much money and everything else there was no bids on... I think we'll see some changes in Feb an March; they will be the times to start bidding.

Re: The Wine Thread
 

Few suggestions for a $10-12 Syrah, please.

Re: The Wine Thread
 

Got some Bordeaux futures in the other day; '04 Pontet Canet (finally!) and '05 Clos du Jaugueyron (Margaux), a few bottles of each. I had one of my bottles of '01 Jaugueyron not too long ago and it tasted like it was pressed yesterday, amazingly fresh. Won't open any more for a long while, but it was an excellent wine. Pontet is a good value, try to pick up a few every vintage unless its a bad year for them.

Re: The Wine Thread
 

try Powers from Washington State. Penfolds from Australia puts out some good stuff in that range too. Ask your wineshop if they have anything from the Northern rhone- you would be pleasantly surprised.

Re: The Wine Thread
 

Powers...will do.

Penfolds...I've had a couple of those. Do you know the difference in their bin #'s? Seems I can't remember what I've had or what I should be buying.:D

Northern rhone...will do.

Thanks

Re: The Wine Thread
 

http://www.penfolds.com/wines/bin/default.asp

let us know what you pick up!

Re: The Wine Thread
 

Columbia Crest Grand Estates

Re: The Wine Thread
 

A quick note. We cracked this at the office a few days ago. I do not have that much experience with this house (I have a few bottles of 83' but they are pretty far gone at this point) but in general they are considered to have underperformed for many years (80's & 90's) Therefore, I wasn't expecting much, which often leads to pleasant surprises. Schonborn is the largest privately owned winery in the Rheingau and some of the estate vineyard sites have been in the family since 1349!


http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m...ne/SSNuss2.jpg

1990 Schloss Schönborn Hattenheimer Nussbrunnen Auslese
Strong aromatics right from the onset, huge petrol nose, with mixed citrus fruits and honey in the background. Medium weight with lime zest and meyer lemon, oily viscosity and surprisingly some tight acidity as a backbone. The finish continues on with citrus and a lively grapefruit note. Much better than anticipated. By no means a heavy hitter, but a lovely wine that would match nicely with foods as the sugar levels are in check. 1990 was an epic year for Germany (and most places in Europe) and it would appear Schonborn benefited from this with the Nussbrubben bottling. No clue on the current cost but Id pay in the $40s for this if available.

Cheers
~Vitis

Re: The Wine Thread
 

Sorry to hear that this wind has done so poorly during the last few decades. Hattenheimer Nussbrunnen was the first great German wine that I fell in love with -- a Kabinet from the late sixties-early seventies. I'll have to dig up some old tasting notes to see which house.

Thanks for the review, Marc:tu

Re: The Wine Thread
 

They're drinkable, but 83 being such a great vintage you hope for more. The 83 JJ Prums (especialy the gold capsule and LGKs) are unf*@#ingbelievable at this point. Sublime.

~Vitis

Re: The Wine Thread
 

Went to UGC Bordeaux Grand Tasting last night-

I didn't take great notes, but here are some of my favorites:

05/06 Grand Puy Ducasse
05 Smith Haut Lafitte
05 Chateau Cantelys- a STEAL at $30
05 Pape Clement
06 Chateau Figeac
05 Angelus
06 Brane Cantenac
06 Chateau Guiraud

Re: The Wine Thread
 

I heard the '05 Smith Haut Lafitte is suppose to quite the deal as well

Re: The Wine Thread
 

It is- for less than 100 is really nice and will age for a long time. Same producer as Cantelys. Spent a few min talking to the owner of the Chateau.

Re: The Wine Thread
 

I picked up a bottle of cheap wine at Costco called Bogle Vinyards Old Vine Zinfandel.
I only bought one bottle to try at about $8. I an pleasantly surprised at how good it is.
Maybe it's the over 14% alcohol but it is a well balanced wine with nice flavor, smoothness, finish, color. Bottle looks nice. I think I will get some more for a table wine to drink often. It reminds me of some home made wine an old fashioned family I knew used to make. Did I mention the 14.8% alcohol? Mmmmmm!

Re: The Wine Thread
 

Yes, it's the alcohol that is making this wine taste "pleasant". Higher alcohol gives the impression of more extract in flavor. Very common wine making method in new world wines.

Re: The Wine Thread
 

I didn't say the wine tasted "pleasant". I said it tasted surprisingly good. Everyone liked it and it all got drank up quickly. For that price it's worth getting a case or two for a common table wine, when you don't want to be drinking money.

Re: The Wine Thread
 

Try the Petite Sirah from Bogle- very good for the price point.

Re: The Wine Thread
 

I like the Louis Jadot Burgundy Village from Costco better; give that one try.

Re: The Wine Thread
 

Moses,

Please don't go there! Alcohol has nothing to do with much, I've had low alcohol wines where the first thing you smell and then taste is alcohol and I've had high alcohol wines, in the 16-17% range, where you didn't really notice alcohol until you looked at the label. Wine balance is key and when all components are in balance (fruit, acidity, alcohol, oak, tannins), alcohol plays a secondary fiddle.

Higher alcohol creates an impression of bigger wine BODY, not flavor. The only way to create great flavor is to use great fruit, there is no substitute. IMHO, of course. At least I haven't found one yet :D

Besides, do you really believe the numbers on European wines' labels? Many of them are false, have no idea why ATF is not paying closer attention.

For example, one very famous French wine always lists 13.9% content on its label, yet a number of lab reports peg it at mid to high 15%. The importer confirmed this fact as well. I am sure if more are tested, you'll see a significant number of highly touted wines actually come in in similar alcohol ranges to USA made wines'. From my own tasting experience, although limited due to cost, almost every 1st and 2nd Bord you can name is at least at 14% and some are in the 15% range. LLC is proudly using RO to concentrate the juice, almost all firsts and many seconds use the technology as well, ask yourself why.

Just yesterday there were news about 50+ French vintners being sued by the French authorities for using sugar to beef up alc levels, and this is not an isolated case, trust me, these were just careless enough to get caught (although I am not sure how they got caught, their competitors snitching?).

I stopped paying attention to stated alc numbers a while ago and only want to know how well is alc integrated in the overall taste profile of a wine. If it sticks out enough for you to notice, then sure, its out of balance.

So, how do drink Porto with all that alcohol in it? :D
.
.
.
.
.
Bogle is one of the best QPR labels around, pretty much everything they make is solid and some wines, such as their Petite (already mentioned above) is a great deal, IMO, year in and year out.

Jewel is another well priced and well made label, should be in the $10-14 range. Central Cost fruit.

Re: The Wine Thread
 

By the case :ze

We are suppose to have a Niepoort vertical this weekend... Maybe a couple of Grand Cru's to warm up.