Biggest Berserker Recommended Disappointment: What is yours?

I have been put onto so many great wines and retailers by reading this site, and almost every recommendation I take is spot on except for this:
list][*]2010 Stefania Haut Tubee - USA, California (5/21/2013)
Tried a second bottle…still tart, candied and disgusting. A bit better on day 2, i have the rest for day 3. Huge disappointment. (82 pts.)

[*]2010 Stefania Haut Tubee - USA, California (4/17/2013)
Candied, cloying, varnish like mouthfeel that ruined my palate for a day…i did not care for this wine at all…not sure if this was a bad bottle but it was one of my least favorite wines i have had recently. (70 pts.)

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Posted from CellarTracker

What is your biggest berserker related recco that has not been up to par?

By the way this thread is not intended to flame anyone, I just think it would be interesting to hear. As I posted earlier, I am 99.9% happy with every recco i have received on this site. Pretty freaking good odds.

I agree with you about the 2010 Haut Tubee, but I don’t think anyone here ever recommended it. The other vintages that I’ve tried have been stellar. The rest of the Stefania lineup has also been great for me.

Sierra Carche.

I guess everyone here has hyped the winery over the years…this was also offered on Berserkerday. I’m not sure on the specific bottling, but I bought this because for 3 years people have said wonderful things about the winery. This was my first purchase or bottle tried from this producer.

I’ve been with Stefania since the beginning and the Haut Tubee has always been a favorite. However, I can’t disagree with Alston’s take on the disappointing 2010 bottling. And I bought 18 of them. Ugh.

I can’t think of any berserkers’ recs that have been particularly disappointing though. On the contrary, most recommendations have been spot-on (e.g. Liquid Farm, Ceritas).

Likewise, berserkerday has turned me on to so much good wine too: EMH Black Cat, Rasa, etc.

You may have us confused with the WineSpectator forums.

I remember drinking this with you. It was really awful and destroyed my palate. Everything tasted after that was affected. Too bad it is the only reference point I have for this producer. This should have never been bottled.

That is simply terrible. Did you sue the producer?

I haven’t found a lawyer willing to take my case. Any recommendations?

Seriously, my palate is back to normal now. It took a few hours, but I have amazing powers of recovery.

It wasn’t humid the day you opened those, by any chance, was it?

Seriously, it sounds like you just hit the one bad bottle, like someone who first tried Anthill Farms with the 2008 Anderson Valley pinot, or or someone who first tried some good Burg producer with their 2004, or someone who first tried some good Rhone or Italian producer with their 2002.

This is a great idea for a thread, though. I need to give it some thought – I was unsure whether I dove into Bedrock too eagerly, after trying a few reds very young and discovering an unpleasant medicinal / metallic flavor, but recent ones have been better, and the whites and roses are always superb. But I’m sure there were others if I can remember.

Chris, I actually prefer the Bedrock reds, but patience is required. 3-4 years minimum from vintage is my preference. Obviously some exceptions always exist like the '11 Evangelho zin and '09 Stellwagen zin which showed great out of the gate.

Chris,
2 separate bottles on 2 different days…yesterday was humid but not overwhelmingly so…I don’t think humidity is the issue here…I feel bad as i convinced my dad to split a case with me, although it wasn’t a huge investment. We both however loved our other QPR case we split which was Halcon.

I have to agree with Mike, that since this is my only interaction with this producer, it may stain my reference point, but if they make this then I’m not sure I want to know what else they make.

Interesting… I’ve had a few bottles of the 2010 Haut Tubee and have enjoyed it. Sorry to hear you haven’t had good experiences with it.

I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, so I’ll give the answer in code:

I’m open to the possibility that something miraculous happens after 40 or 50 years in the cellar, and the stuff becomes drinkable, but as a young wine, it is strongly in the DNPIM category.

I was just being a smartass about the humidity, in reference to this thread: Humid days and wine - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers

Russ, did you ever detect anything like what I described before the reds had hit the right age? I’ve seen a few other people comment on it, so I don’t think it’s just some weird (humidity-based?) issue about my taste buds, but I’m wondering if you tasted it yourself and then observed that it went away with some bottle age. Possibly it was some kind of carbonic acid? I know the reds were released very early, and maybe not quite ready for the retail shelf yet.

In any event, I have quite a lot of them now, so hopefully I can start easing into the 09s this summer and have good experiences with them.

Larkmead tasting room. Expensive, cold and snobby, unless you sign up for the club. WAIT… this was an eBob recommendation…figures. WB is off the hook, but Larkmead is not.

Chris, I do not remember a medicinal/metallic flavor, but some of the syrahs were obviously way too young and have significantly improved. As a result I have been very patient with my very large stash. I’ll probably start in on my '08 syrahs and '09 zins and heirlooms this fall and winter. I think you will be happy with a little age.

Thanks. The other challenge I have is that, when I go to look at my bottles, I can never remember which ones are supposed to be ready now versus which ones are supposed to need more age, and the indecision (combined with a few unhappy experiences with too-young bottles) tends to make me pull something else.

But I’m probably pretty safely into the zone where I could open any of the pre 2010 reds without committing a blunder.

CellarTracker is your friend.