Wine Berserkers - international wine social media, online community, and discussion

Excellent thread, thank you Robert. And certainly not over-thinking, merely thinking 🤔! I’ve been pondering these questions a lot myself, as I see many parallel and over-lapping trends in the wild world of wine. Piedmont is a fascinating mini case study for these ‘movements’ with the wine makers tak...

Joseph, this is a very broad question, so broad that it’s hard to answer. To really help with a few good ideas, we’d need to know: - your purpose. Do you want to sample over time to study the wine’s evolution? Or is this for your child’s wedding in 20-30 years? - what does ‘affordable’ mean? A numbe...

Add me please!

Please add me Jay. I’d love to hang out again! Oh, yes, I’d prefer to be on the burg side. Sign me up to bring a good champagne as well. I don’t completely understand the format. The ‘sides’ can’t share? Even with large groups bottles are never completely demolished. A little back and forth would be...

I too love Volnay, placing Lafarge at the top of the pantheon, with D’Angerville close behind. Of the producers mentioned here, I have to reiterate Y. Clerget (since 2015). I loved the 1ers but even the Village scratches the itch for a (relatively) reasonable price.

I’m looking forward to Eric’s work in Vinous. Clearly a smart and passionate guy. Very curious if he POV will change on any wines when he no longer has the shackles of working for a major wine retailer.

Yea ... some of these calls are nonsensical. But I actually think this kind of info can be useful to someone who is not very familiar with a region, and looking to get started or sample. How do you begin before you are expert with WB, CT, WSPro and can take a look at Burghound, Vinous, etc.? This ch...

What a fun evening! Rich, thanks for planning. Great choice on restaurant. Good to meet some new folks... Herwig, Eric. Leonard, I didn't get to chat with you... maybe next time. I think the gauntlet has been thrown down. Time for a themed blind tasting. Scott, my pleasure. Please invite me to your...

Thank you for a great evening . I agree with Rich’s assessment of the wines .The Clos du Val 79 was fantastic as a lot of other wines including that sparkling wine and the Montelena . We discussed how we organize our tastings in Belgium . You can check www.vinotopia.be to check us out ( the Euryant...

Thank you all for a fun and interesting evening. It’s great to reconnect with old friends and make new ones. The stars IMHO were the classic Napa cabs - 1979 Clos du Val and 1987 Montelena and Robert Mondavi Reserve. But especially that CdV. There were other standouts but I was intrigued by the 2011...

I’ve loved both ‘86 and ‘88, must pick up some of these younger vintages to try. It’s curious that 1991-2000 are so poorly regarded. A decade of futility? Any ideas what was going wrong at Climens in the 90s? I know the 90s had only a few very good vintages in Bordeaux, but Sauternes tends to dance ...

Andrea V. wrote: ↑
January 11th, 2020, 11:25 pm
Hey guys, unfortunately I can not make it. My wife is out of town and I need to stay home with my son.

Thanks for letting us know. Another time!

BillK wrote: ↑
January 9th, 2020, 8:00 pm
Please add me to the waitlist. If there is room, I would like to join.

Bill, you can join. No need to be on the waitlist!

As usual, the winemakers here turn the discussion in such fascinating directions. I hadn’t really thought of winery as part of terroir before, but I understand the point. Artisan doesn’t equal manipulator. Instead understanding the tools and materials at one’s disposal is of the essence. How can ski...

@Andy Ultramarine sounds awesome. I’ve got a 2010 VHR teed up. Yea Napa Cab but wth.

I’ve been a hold out on opening ‘99 red Burgs but expect that to end soon. You can get decent pricing now on the wines people don’t know much about while well-known wines in ‘99 are not cheap (or affordable for me). One I’m looking forward to that was a backfill last year for $35 hammer at WineBid ...

None of this takes into account the biodynamic interactions of the human sensory interface with the gas transport medium. In other words, if the flute opening is narrow I can’t jam my shnozz in there. Yea I prefer a regular wine glass for champagne for all reasons above, plus I like the bigger openi...

Littorai

Thanks for letting us know Larry and Jesse. Another time!

Hmm, sounds great. Somehow I bought 2002, 5, 6, 7, 8 but didn’t manage to acquire any 2004. Maybe some will appear at auction for a reasonable price.

Are we any closer to answering the original question ("How close can [the] get gap get, between a more hallowed terroir vs. a lesser terroir, if a winemaker put equivalent resources into both?")? Kinda somewhat it seems like. My own view isn't so different from what has been discussed here. Terroir ...

This been a fascinating discussion. As a burg lover I can always learn more. I especially appreciate the ITB perspectives Marcus, Todd & William.

Another way to avoid excessive sweetness is to drink older Kabinetts. While I applaud this idea, my experience is that ‘older’ means pretty old - like 10+ years to see significant development. Challenge is finding these. I look all the time, and almost never see any trocken/kabinett/feinherb in the...

Another way to avoid excessive sweetness is to drink older Kabinetts. While I applaud this idea, my experience is that ‘older’ means pretty old - like 10+ years to see significant development. Challenge is finding these. I look all the time, and almost never see any trocken/kabinett/feinherb in the...

Roald, thanks for sharing the articles. In general I really like your approach. I’ve worked in data science though and perhaps I’m more open to these methods. Working with large scale data sets of subjective (i.e. human) experience descriptors seems to me like an extremely valid way to try to ‘defin...

Thanks. What a great deal! I’ve been looking for a decent inexpensive set of travel glasses. Voila.

I’ve had quite a few 2004 PdBs as well, and been loving them. Youthful but generally pretty open and really attractive now. No regrets.

A more reliable technique is to ask someone who's tried it recently and whose palate I trust. Here and CellarTracker are great resources. +1 and edited for emphasis. This site and CT are by far the most valuable tools in a wine lover’s arsenal. While you need to think about how to interpret crowd s...

These are both winners. 2008 is stunning. Sadly all my Cedric Bouchards are already gone.

‘Strong approximation’ is the question, and I think the answer is no. For very young and tannic nebbs, I’ve found that decanting for 2 or 3, even 4 days can soften the wine enough so you can taste the fruit behind the tannin wall. But the rest of aging transformation doesn’t happen at least in my e...

Sarah, thanks for detail on how you handled these bottles. Your taste & evaluate approach makes a ton of sense. Really helpful!

‘Strong approximation’ is the question, and I think the answer is no. For very young and tannic nebbs, I’ve found that decanting for 2 or 3, even 4 days can soften the wine enough so you can taste the fruit behind the tannin wall. But the rest of aging transformation doesn’t happen at least in my ex...

Thank you William - awesome info and background!

I’m curious about the decanting length. My general approach for pre-2004 is a 2-3 hour decant. How much change do you see with a 2 vs 12 hour decant?

Any thoughts on how this vintage compares to the wines of Raphaël’s father at a similar age?

I had a few surprises in this article. E.g. some of these producers that I know and like are so tiny - just a few thousand case production! Also kind of amazed that there’s a huge market for €20 super market Champagne in France. I too hope the more detailed producer articles come out.

I found this article interesting, with information (as mentioned above) that I didn’t know. More depth and interviews would certainly have deepened the discussion, maybe we’ll see that in the future. Yes, the article had flaws - the click bait title, the exaggerated lead, the surface examination. Bu...

I can’t argue with 1989/1990/1996. Those are all special wines. I really like 2001 as a less expensive alternative that is also ultra classic, enjoyable, and ready now. Any of 2005/8/9/10 will be joys in the cellar for decades to come if you want to store long term. The last 5 vintages (2014-2018) h...

It was an amazing line up, and a lovely evening with good friends. I won’t post all my notes, but I rated the Cristal as a notch above the Vilmart (though loved them both). The Cristal showed much more youthful, and had tremendous depth and complexity already. The Vilmart is awesome to drink now, th...

Thanks for the note. I have just one Schrader left in my cellar, and this is it. Maybe 2020 will see it opened, but doesn’t seem like I should be in a hurry. On 2009 Napa - my understanding & experience is that it’s a very good vintage. Vinous rates it at 95, which ranks it among the better Napa vin...

George, a worthy idea, and I’d like to participate if dates work.

Opened a 1996 Domaine Tollot-Beaut Corton-Bressandes with the turkey and it was singing. Probably my second best wine of 2019 after the 1988 Catherine et Pierre Breton Chinon Beaumont. I’m with you. Had a 2002 Corton-Bressandes tonight and it was absolutely excellent. Well balanced, fruity, earthy,...

As many are here, I was of multiple minds on this article. I sympathize with the author’s worry that this thing she loves has gone mainstream enough that it is so much less unknown, rare, obscure, or cool. She sees a loss, feels it, and expresses it eloquently. Her tone puts me off as a bit self-rig...

By coincidence I had the 2001 Arnoux Suchots last night and the experience was very similar. It didn't get a decant, so showed marked improvement over the course of the night. The aromatics were very intense, lots of violets, red fruit, and hints of classic spice. Good intensity on the medium body p...

Gala Dinner. I'm mostly not doing this kind of thing anymore, I just don't think they're worth it. Yes, you get to a chance to taste a bunch of amazing wines. But the best stuff is usually held back at a few of the top tables and doesn't travel far. You also have to be comfortable tasting a zillion...

I've been to the Grand Tasting, and most of these kinds of events the last few years (oh, except not the crazy expensive dinners like the Roumier and DRC ones this year). These are my impressions: Grand Tasting. My favorite of the events, gives me an excellent chance to assess the vintage, try lots ...

I am interested in attending, but it seems like this is for people ITB only? Anyone know?

Note updated details above.

I haven’t had the ‘12 but 2010 and 2011 were both very good, in different ways. As much as I liked ‘11, ‘10 was silky and dark, a solid counterpoint.

To be clear, it looks like the peninsula is not happening on the 14th. I will put you on the list for the 13th.

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