Your Favorite Wines Inroduced to You by a Fellow Board Member - Top 3-5?

I’ve done a lot of re-arranging these last couple of months, and as I do not keep an inventory, it sorta reminds me of the depth that I have in some wines. Reflecting on that, some of my deepest collections come from direct recommendations by great folks on this Board (some coming from eBob, too, but same Board Member here).

So what are your tops that you learned about here? And from whom?

Mine are:

Domaine Levet - Introduced by Martin . Have a Levet vertical going back to 2004, prolly 100 or so bottles. Love this classic, but feral wine.

Gonon - Learned on eBob, and I seem to recall Todd gushing about it. Have Gonon vertical going back to 2006, also 100+ bottles.

Bedrock - I think from Alan Rath, convinced me to join the list for the inaugural vintage, and have bought every year since. This is the only “list” that I am on, and now the only Cali wine that I buy every year.

Vatan - Introduced over dinner by Matt “Tooch” LaTouche, God I love this stuff, perhaps my all-time fave white. Singular.

Baudry - Salil, have well over 100 bottles going back to 2007, generally buying most of the cuvees. A classic Loire Chinon. Too bad the Franc de Pied cuvee went away, it was gorgeous.

Sociando Mallet Cuvee Jean Gautreau - This may surprise you, but while I have been a 25+ year fan and buyer of this most excellent Chateau, I did not know of this special cuvee until Introduced to it by Keith Levenberg (the 1995). I now have various vintages from 1999 and 2009.

I have to say, this community of friends and connoisseurs has been great for me.

Thanks all.

That preeminent Oregon wine guru, Rich Trimpi, introduced me to both Goodfellow and Walter Scott Chardonnays, and that has had a major impact on my white wine buying over the past 2-3 years. [cheers.gif]

And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention all the wines that Rob Panzer has turned me on to since I started buying from him, but three producers that immediately come to mind are Boulay’s Sancerres, Barraud’s Chardonnay from the Macon and Stella di Campalto’s Brunellos.

Goodfellow and Kelley Fox

I agree. Meeting Rob was a game changer.

the world of Muscadet.

Same here, Richard introduced me to Goodfellow and I’ll forever be thankful!

Have to give a huge thx to Dentice for Sandlands - MTP’s subsequent endorsement made me sign up immediately.

Speaking of MTP, pretty sure it was Dildine whose enthusiastic posts got me on the Bedrock bandwagon…

Have to give a huge shout out to Greg from Envoyer for all the 2009 Bojo deals, price of admission made it possible to grab a ton of producers I was unfamiliar with.

And thx to everyone who posted on Mike Smith - started buying Myriad with the 2008 vintage and have never looked back.

That’s off the top of my head, know there’s more I’m not coming up with right now…

So much this, don’t recall who first posted on Pépière but that opened me up to Luneau-Papin, Brégeon, etc…

Can’t remember specific people necessarily (save for our OP) but off the top of my head, introductions and/or posts or threads on Bedrock, Patricia Green, Walter Scott, Goodfellow have led to nice discoveries for me and meaningful additions to the cellar. I’m now either on their regular mailing lists and/or have visited or bought direct. This board has also spurred plenty of impulse buys, of late, just to see what everybody is talking about. e.g., 08 Dom, Xavier Gerard, Gonon, etc.

More than one person has been involved in igniting my interest in these wine categories over the past year or so. That’s what’s especially cool about this forum with so many experienced and sharing folks originating posts and/or chipping on to other people’s posts. I will mention a name or two of significant influence for each category, but really its the community and thanks to all WBs.

Champagne . . . What used to be special occasion only for us, is becoming a regular in our wine rotation. Doug S., Warren T.
Beaujolais . . . Appreciating the pleasures to be found here. Robert A.
Riesling . . . Try it you’ll like it. I did and I do. Jay Hack, David B.
Musar . . . Yeah this is its own category. Kirk G.

I feel like I learned a lot more on wine and producers thru the old Parker board as I was starting ITB and had a ton to learn, from SQN to PYCM…but here for sure I learned some St. Joseph, Cote Rotie and Cornas producers I wasn’t 100% familiar with from Charlie, Robert, and Adrian and some grower champagnes from many including FMIII.

Some recent, some go back a way…

Levet
Allemand
Pierre Peters
Jacques Carillon

Two board members who are also members of my wine tasting group (Randy McFarlane and Chris Bublitz) have taught me what I know about Champagne.

Coming from Florida, these Board recommendations were great for me as back then we simply did not have access and exposure to the types of wines I highlighted in my OP. Florida did not allow direct wine shipments from out-of-state retailers to consumers, and we were quite limited to Bordeaux and Cali Cabs, and then some staple Rhones like Beaucastel. Even Clape, I got exposed to 1994-96, and then never saw it again down here. Once the shipment laws relaxed, I went hog wild. I missed some greats, like Verset and Gentaz, but somehow got slotted in early with Juge and loaded up. Likewise with Rougeard - now that I think of it, I had my first with Tooch as well - but I have since lost my allocation on that wine, and the pricing has gotten stupid.

I forgot about another major staple in my Florida country cellar, Roilette. Learned about this through Keith as well. Have a nice run from 2007 through 2018. I love love love this stuff.

What a great topic! I think there’s a good amount of merit to sharing the love and credit as others have turned us onto some really interesting wines. The bulk of these wines will be from one board member that I most regularly drink with.


Keller: Doug S. opened a 2007 Kirchspiel GG for me on New Year’s Eve in 2010. Today, I have more Keller in my cellar than any other producer (30% more than Musar the second on that list) I used to drink the wines like I’d always be able to buy them. 6 bottles in, drink 4-5 and save a few. Buy 4 and drink 4…now they’re all for special occasions with a fellow wine-geek or a few are set aside for a future Rieslingfeier. He opened a 2015 Kirchspiel GG this New Years, we opened Keller wines at our wedding, at the pre-wedding parties, and it was the first German Riesling I opened for my wife when we started dating.

Cavallotto: Howard Davis made some recommendations that helped me on my first trip to Piedmont in 2016. He was very gracious, and offered to help me book a visit to Cavallotto, which I declined (to my supreme disappointment today) because I did not know them, their wines, or if I’d like their style of wines. However, while in Piedmont on our first night there the restaurant had the 2006 Vigna San Giuseppe BTG with a Coravin and it was his offer that caused me to splurge for €20/glass. I’ve been buying their wines ever since. While only 3-6 bottles here and there…I’m very happy with what I do have, and can’t wait to dig into them in another 5-10 years when they’re ready. Thank you Howard, for your time, thoughts, and effort to set me on the right path.

Poggio di Sotto: Another producer that Doug S. is responsible for introducing me too. I trust his recommendations so much so, that I booked a visit to the winery without having ever tasted their wines before. What an awesome tour, great people, and memories my wife and I still talk about to this day. I think their Rosso is better than many other Brunelli. But their Brunello is just plain awesome.

Bernard Levet: I don’t know who influenced me to buy this, but someone from the Board must have written a compelling tasting note…because I started buying his wines in 2013 and I still wish I had more. They require some time & patience…but some vintages have been far more accessible like the 2012 (same with Gonon too, the 2012 has always been in a good place).

Pierre Péters: Doug S. get’s a third nod for this producer as well. I’ve really become more and more enamored with these wines the more I drink them. It’s one of the grower’s Champagne that I have never been disappointed by. My biggest regret…is only buying two magnums of the Reserve with the 2008 base back in 2014.

As I look at this list I hope that I will still be able to justify buying at least 3 or more of these in another decade.

Myriad
Bedrock
Carlisle
Clerget

Jouan

Walter Scott - Rick Allen pointed me in their direction five or so years ago and I’m very glad he did

Thomas - credit goes to many on this board who wrote about John’s wines, including Rich Trimpi

Baudry - I had bought a few bottles on a whim, but had not really focused on this producer until reading Alfert’s notes. Now an almost annual buy of various CFs

Kelley Fox - believe it was Marcus Goodfellow who pointed me in Kelley’s direction

Martin Müllen - Paul Willenberg and Lyle Fass

Levet

BAMA by Robert.A.Jr.
Xavier Gerard by Fu
Timorasso by Otto