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

Don't see the muscles for Cornas. Have several times called it as Gonon Saint-Joseph. Interesting. I find it pretty powerful, but then again, I drink very little new world Syrah. I guess it depends on the vintage.... I think this is partially it for certain. I opened a '16 and '17 Alturas over the ...

I don't know about the overall market. It might be down. I don't play in top end Burgundy auctions. In terms what Victor was talking about at the top I definitely have seen a trend over the last couple years and very sharply this passed year of formerly looked-passed, bargain older school labels goi...

We forget a lot that not everyone is selling to wine geeks. We like to know all the details and particulars about the actual wine. Lots of people just want to buy something that is exclusive and popular at the same time. Maybe. If you know enough to buy exclusive and popular, which is actually an o...

Except to empty the bottle to put into recycling. I’ve never seen dregs quite like this. Sediment is one thing, 2” (or roughly 100 -150 ml) of gelatinous sludge is remarkable. In a bottle opened two and a half weeks ago in wine that seem pretty far gone? Hardly remarkable at all. Nature don't stop.

Not surprised the US is out of the top 20 at all. We've never had a wine culture here the way Europe does. It's even been looked down upon in some respects. I know very few people outside of my wine friends that drink much wine on a regular basis.

We forget a lot that not everyone is selling to wine geeks. We like to know all the details and particulars about the actual wine. Lots of people just want to buy something that is exclusive and popular at the same time.

I can think of no use to looking at the remains of an overly aged wine some weeks after said wine was opened. It doesn't tell you anything other than the dregs have broken down into sludge. Which would be expected of course.

Anyone on ATP go for the Wild Cattle Ranch offer? The vineyard is owned by Ridge's COO and the vines are 20 years old or so. Despite the 14.7 which for me is rocket-fuel territory I went for a case. I think it is the first time Ridge offered a vineyard designate from this vineyard which leaves for ...

Just as a data point in the talking about the new oak level on this wine, I noticed it the first night but it faded overnight. I also really liked where it ended up overnight. One of the better recent bottlings outside the standard lineup from Ridge. 2018 Ridge Evangelho - USA, California, San Franc...

No allocation, but I just signed up in 2020. Any idea if this is like a year+ wait thing, or they just give access to older members a few days early? Summa and Occidental are both great. I thought the 2018 Summa was a real standout. If you don’t get an offering I’d just email Will. I don’t think th...

Will Segui has a real gift, and his wines are just magic in how he can get the best out of the vineyards and the fruit. I look forward to these Pinots and feel fortunate to be on the list. Thanks for the TNs above. Will Segui is no TRB. At least not yet. neener Will handles logistics for Rivers Mar...

That's awful. A very familiar name around here. Be at peace.

Thanks for the note. I'm not a big champagne guy but I bought a couple of these to sock away. As I am innocent in the ways of champagne, I had imagined that it goes flattish if you leave it open for hours. Not so? How long can excellent champagne stay open before tragedy like that strikes? In gener...

OK. One more. 2012 José Michel & Fils Champagne Grand Vintage Brut - France, Champagne (1/4/2021) Enjoyed over three nights. Apple cider nose initially. Somewhat sweet tart on the palate. Soda like. But also sometimes nicely balanced. then the dosage would peek out somewhat. I think they could h...

So if the producers do that, what do they do with all the grapes that they've grown that hasn't gone into making champagne? I guess sell them off for some revenue. Or here's an idea. Start making still wines. A fun fact is that prior to the latter part of the 19th century, most of the wine made in ...

I was piss poor at following directions so I'll include my best Champagne story. I've been lucky enough to have some really good wines. Including a well aged Krug Special Cuvee with the old red and gold label fairly recently. The one that sticks out to me though is the '76 Dom Perignon. It was at an...

I can't speak for Eric but I've had the Ferreira 20 yr Tawny in the company of him and Andy V. That's usually pretty good in this category. I've bought it for myself on occasion even thought I don't drink a lot of Port.

Also interested in the hearing about the Portuguese vs English styles.

My favorite find from last year. A good wine but really really strong in terms of value. Hard to find $40 Champagne better than this. 2008 Remy Massin Champagne Brut Millésimé - France, Champagne (12/31/2020) Tasty again. I noticed ripeness a bit more on the first night this time. Still bright and e...

I suspect at least part of that is bottle shock. Also, if you store a wine for 10 years, that it moved once in its infancy is unlikely to make a huge difference. I expect it’ll make a much bigger difference for younger wines when any difference is magnified. Hopefully once you start drinking more o...

I was hoping to expand on this. Maybe the "overrated" factor is due to the fact many of the bottles shipped out of France just don't wind up as good. In addition to the experience I described above,I also remember that when we buy the village Burgs in Burgundy restaurants, they are usuall...

Another Trader Joe's challenge. Buy this wine for $8 and I'll donate $10 to this charity. Basically, you're getting paid to drink a nerello mascalese rosè from the slopes of My Etna in Sicily that kicks butt. Nothing to lose and everything to gain. NV Zonin Rosato Sparkling Brut - Italy (12/31/2020...

My birthday treat with some spicy fried chicken yesterday. Save a glass for tonight. NV Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée Edition 168eme - France, Champagne (12/30/2020) Opened 6 hours before consumption. This is tight out of the gate. But also fridge cold. It's mostly tight citrus with pastry notes....

But then the question is, why do west coast wines have a harder time getting those other elements into the structure and flavor profile? Soil. Question is why can't the New World produce Riesling like the Germans, with few exceptions of course. All the sweetness gets in the way. [stirthepothal.gif]

I don’t think sweetness is exactly the right word although I get where it comes from. Gloss, or polish, may be a better descriptor. Perhaps. I think of it as more obvious/forward fruit. The other issue is that (to my palate) many of the US wines tend to have much lower tannin, which makes the fruit...

A little bit overrated. A lot overpriced.

Weird ... so Remy Massin changes-up the composition of their Special Club from year to year? Presumably based on what did best in any given vintage? Interesting, albeit frustrating/challenging for the consumer-buyer. Special Club is 'special'. It's not really a particular bottling in the way tete d...

Thanks for the note on the Massin. I loved the '08. Best value of l2019 for me. So the '12 was a quick buy as soon as the Envoyer email dropped. Planned on waiting on them though. I bought their Special Clubs also which are funny because in '12 it's Pinot Noir but in '14 it's Pinot Blanc. I've tried...

Pyrazine and band-aid are nothing alike. I think there is a reduction element that Cab Franc can have that smells similar to brett. The thing is is that always fades. Brett doesn't. Some bottlings of Baudry definitely have a component that is brett-like and doesn't fade. That equals brett to me. I h...

No wine diversity police here, Howard, but we do have diversity of opinion on all things wine . . . and that's a good thing. [cheers.gif] I respect diversity of opinion and respect very much the opinions of quite a number of people here. They are making excellent points for themselves and we can ha...

Just to reiterate again - I'm not blaming the auction house, nor am I seeking a refund! I have bought at auction many times, even bottles noted with slight seepage. But I've never had a (red) wine with this color. The photos I posted is the same wine, two different bottles from the same auction. I ...

Welcome Cathy!

Much straw man. I think it's important to have tasting diversity in order to understand what you like. Cellar diversity isn't a goal for most people. Some people like to explore constantly so cellar diversity might a goal for them. For most of us we probably had much more diversity when we started o...

If you drink enough 'old' wine you run into bottles that have matured more than their peers. It's to be expected. That bottle certainly looks much more advanced that you should normally expect. That does not necessarily mean it was treated badly. Editing as you've given more info. If there was some ...

It's difficult for me to consider Suckling a "critic" anymore and it's been that way for a long time. I think he's an 'influencer' without the trappings of being a trust fund, jobless college grad on Instagram. He promotes not only wineries making wines that will sell to wide audiences but...

Does anyone have clean data for the % of their wines that have each varietal or anything of that nature? Cellartracker also offers that report under the same menu as the regions. Some of which always throws me off because there is 'Champagne Blend' listed as a variety but of course a good portion o...

I view CT like I do Yelp— Yelp makes it super-easy to ID the users who can't be trusted. Not sure there is a CT equivalent of "My boyfriend took me here for our anniversary..." but I suppose complaining that your 9-year-old Mouton is too tannic comes close. CT does have a 'block user' fea...

42.7% France 37% USA 10% Italy 5.9% Spain 1.8% Portugal 1.7% Germany 0.6% Lebanon 0.3% Austria Wow, you mean you guys keep track of that! Just guessing but I’m probably something like this : France 60% Germany 20% Portugal (Port & Madeira) 8% USA 6% Italy 4% Spain 2% It's an easy, quick report i...

The scores are just one data point among many. If you use them as your number one source of info you're likely to have bad surprises come your way. As others mentioned for the average score you need some number of total scores before that is meaningful. The individual scores are just snapshot, dart ...

Got a three pack of these for a song from an online auction. Just picked them up last week. Charity week looks like a great excuse to check them out. Pretty happy with these for $34 per. 1994 Château Cos Labory - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe (12/22/2020) Lots of depth of color still. Barely ...

Yeah. The White Burg mention is probably good. There is some variability for quality and age. Just remember that you might have some top end Pinot and Chard in that bottle. Serve those too cold and you restrict the expression. For cheap sparkling that's good. For the good stuff you might miss someth...

Funny that you added the other type of wine I had opened. I've been sipping on this Auslese over the last three nights. Maybe a touch faded tonight. Saving another glass for tomorrow. The Mazzoni is also doing great over three nights. Maybe a bit rougher in terms of heat and showing some cracks on t...

I think it's less about non-oxidative and more about trying to characterize the overall image of the wines. To say something is "Burgundian" in style has come to mean, whether completely truthfully or not, showing restraint in winemaking and 'letting the vineyard speak'. People have been u...

A fantastic tribute for a giant in the wine world. Thanks for sharing and warmest of condolences. ...the one downside to an evening with Wilhelm Haag, is that not only was there no spitting allowed, but the bottle had to be empty there were five of them, and even with their very modest alcohol level...

Good timing. I opening an old Auslese the other day.

I use a metal strainer if there are big chunks of sediment in the neck or the cork crumbled. I can't imagine using a paper filter. Then I 'decant' into the glass by pouring more carefully that I would with young wines. Stand up bottles ahead of time if that is an option. Doesn't happen often for spu...

Prompted by Brig I grabbed one of these to try on my last trip to Trader Joe's. Nice call. It won't change my habits but I would recommend this without hesitation to any non-wine geeks looking for a decent wine from the grocer. 2018 Cline Cellars Zinfandel Old Vines - USA, California, Central Valley...

When I was pricing them a couple years back it turned out to be cheapest to order it from them direct. No one offers them at a cheaper price. No one else offers shipping included.

Next up, checking out another '18 Ridge before laying them down. I'll hit my cellar this weekend and find another Zin or two for the balance of the week. 2018 Ridge Lytton Springs - USA, California, Sonoma County, Dry Creek Valley (12/16/2020) Big ripe forward Zinberry fruits. Jumps up. Much more fr...

I have to hit TJ's in the next couple days. I'll try one though my goes with Cline have not been great. I also want to try that Syrah Tom Hill is on about.

I have noticed at times an aroma in glasses that have been washed in a washer. It tends to overwhelm the nose with a sort of mineral detergent thing. Maybe rinse aid helps to keep that from accumulating. Maybe it's the cause. People around me don't seem to notice it when I do. In a couple tries with...

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