WineSpies.com (Wine Spies) Deal Discussion thread

Thank you for starting this, I’ve been thinking we needed a thread for these guys. They sometimes have some pretty killer deals (Beekeeper Zin at steep discounts, for example)

I too enjoy Wine Spies, I really appreciate the “locker” aspect, allows me to be more judicious in my purchases.

I look forward to this thread, hope it sticks around.

I’ve only recently started checking their daily deals. Are they mostly focused on CA cabernet, or is that just my selective perception?

Be sure to browse their “store” selections not just the daily offering. They will have a fair amount of European selections but yeah they can be Cali-centric a lot of times. Offerings in the store are updated randomly.

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Beekeeper zin at big discounts!?! You had my curiosity, but now sir, you have my attention!

Will def be paying attention to this thread! Cheers!

Great idea! I am at bottle 8 of a 12 bottle locker, so I would love a push to fill the last 4 bottles. Haven’t had Beekeeper, but have seen it here a bit. I guess I should get one next time!

If you like zins that walk the line between structure and fruit with a slight nod to structure, you’ll love em!!

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Yes sir! From my past orders:
Screen Shot 2022-02-09 at 7.29.54 PM.png

LOVE that!! If you happen to see Beekeeper pop up again, it would be amazing if you could ping this thread! Such great wines, but they are for sure pricey at retail.

Cheers!

Wine Library’s offered a couple Beekeeper Zins on their winetext offers. Last June they had 2016 Secret Stones and in December they had 2017 Montecillo. Both priced at just under $40.

I wasn’t that impressed with the 2016 but I’ve also wondered if I should have waited longer. On CT notes, people seem to believe these should be aged. I’m waiting on the 2017.

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I’m at 11 of 12 in a locker now - been that way for 6-8 weeks. Nice to be able to take your time on something you want to pull the trigger on and know you’ll have free shipping on the case.

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2018 Calera Central Coast Pinot Noir is the current deal on Wine Spies.

I had this recently and thought it was a good QPR. I usually find it for about $30 locally so I bought a few bottles to add to my locker.

For reference, I had a 2013 Madrone/Rockpile recently and it was fire! As i mentioned, these are structured zins and they definitley do improve with age.

Side note, I see the ‘black chicken society’ in your sig. Is that a Robert Biale reference? If so and that is your preferred style of zin, you might not dig Beekeeper as much [cheers.gif]

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“California’s Romanée-Conti” – Robert Parker

Seriously?

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Can only imagine how old that quote is…

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This is going to make me sound like someone who doesn’t understand technology one bit, but I spent about 45 seconds checking out Winespies this afternoon based on this thread, and then my wife, who works about 10 feet from me but on completely different equipment, received an email shortly thereafter to her personal email address thanking her for signing up at Winespies. (She hadn’t, and I hadn’t either for that matter.) Total bizzarro coincidence?

Were you running off a common hotspot or router?

Personally I hate when retailers do the email follow up ‘you left your cart full’

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Yes, Rich - that’s a Biale reference… and I do LOVE the Biale style. I’ve been drinking them since the mid-1990’s.

However, I drink a LOT of Zin and am certainly open to lots of other interpretations of the grape… but you do bring up an excellent point. One of the challenges to drinking a new Zin with which you’re unfamiliar is that the grape is open to a lot of different styles. There’s ones that need to age and ones that don’t. There’s ones that are great on their own and ones that need food.

I know that both times I drank that 2016, it was a PnP on its own and it sounds like that was another mistake in addition to the age.

As always, any advice on a wine with which you’re unfamiliar is always a help!

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Nice man! And I agree, always tough to know how to approach a new wine that you’re not familiar with. I actually have not tried a ‘young’ Beekeeper zin, but they are definitely built for the long-haul and even the 2013 I had not long ago had plenty of gas left in the tank. If you can find one with some age on it (for a decent price) you should give it a shot! Cheers!

It’s very questionable to me who is in charge there, where the grapes come from, and what the quality standards are. My understanding is they sold their vineyards (Stag’s Ridge on Atlas Peak etc) to Seven Apart in 2018 (and SA did release 2018 bottlings from those vineyards), and the marketing fluff still leaves me a bit fuzzy. Like, are they an active producer with a plan for the future, or just trying to coast on their former name recognition - hence the availability at a discount. Over the past year their wines have been popping up everywhere on the discounted sites like Winespies, Vivino etc. Might be worth a flier on one for the price tag…not sure if I’ll pull the trigger or not.