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

WINE TALK
41

Thank you sir, that’s very helpful. I’ll go ahead and pop one of the '15 Gonon sometime soon as I have several. And will look out for the others you mention.

42

Thanks Shay. Good summary.

Robert, as Shay noted, their property is on the To-Kalon vineyard. They have sold grapes to Mondavi for many years (not sure if that’s still the case) and have also produced their own wines for many years.

If I were to create a scale of Cali Cab Sauv producers with, say, Dunn on the left end of the spectrum and some big, bloated, ripe, high alcohol producer on the right end, I’d place Detert to the left of centre. The wines are well structured and balanced but they’re also full bodied and big, and IMHO they need a good 10-12 years from vintage before they’re in their prime. I’ve had some of their 2002 and 2004 Cab Sauv in the past year and both bottles were superb.

Both the Cab Sauv Oakville and Cab Franc Oakville are affordable and excellent. The East Block Cab Franc is considerably more expensive and produced in small batches. I have some but haven’t opened any yet. In future I think I’ll stick to the Oakville Cab Franc because I don’t think I need to spend the extra $ on the East Block.

43

The 2015 is probably the most primary of recent Gonon vintages, it was a ripe year! Hard not to like it, but not the most complex at this early stage. It’s got a lot of enjoyable baby fat. If you have the 2014, I’d pop that first.

44

Thanks, Andrew. Solid reference points!

45

You forgot to mention Left Bank styling.

(Tua is a rare lefty QB)

46

Oh man that was good! I blew it.

47

Goodfellow, Sandlands and Biggio Hamina are three recent favorites that I either learned about from this board or knew of but this board put me over the top to visit.

I have developed a list of wines suggested by the Francophiles here but haven’t bought many of them. My goal was to do that in 2020 but tariffs may impact that goal.

48

I learned about Carlisle on Ebob and found a bottle of 2002 Zinfandel at Oakville Grocery in Healdsburg. We loved it, signed up for the mailing list and our first vintage was the 2003 vintage. Still on the list and enjoying the wines, and their customer service is excellent.

49

Great idea for a thread! Partly because I have never met anyone who posts here, there are few wines which I have really been introduced to, but there are countless wines which I have been tempted to try again after reading someone’s notes, so this gives me an opportunity to thank all of you. I can’t remember all the wines and the posters, but I can remember some:

Bel Air Marquis d’Aligre - I rediscovered this, partly thanks to Laurent Gibet, who I think posted about a Bordeaux 1998 vertical roughly ten years ago, partly thanks to Robert A, who started posting tasting notes a couple of years back and who I remember calling a geek in the nicest possible way, so amazed I was that he should have known such a niche wine. It’s a little ironic that Laurent should have been first to remind me about it, since he just posted his disappointment with BAMA 1990 - precisely the vintage which prompted me to drop buying the stuff in the first place!

Sociando-Mallet - Robert A got me here with sheer persistence: I had ploughed through vintage after vintage since the 82, never enjoying the stuff, but reading his countless (and excellent) notes got me to realize that I had misunderstood the wine, so now I’m hooked. Jürgen Steinke also deserves thanks because he had told me countless times on Ebob that I was wrong to dismiss it.

Couly-Dutheil Clos de L’Echo - I think it was after reading a great note by Steve Brickley that I decided to get back into this one.

Olga Raffault Les Picasses - another wine I had gone off, it was a note by Dennis Atick who got me back into it.

Bernard Baudry - Like SM, it had never clicked with me, and like SM, it’s that man Alfert’s fault I now have so many.

These are off the top of my head, I know there are loads more I’ve forgotten. Basically, WB is a great source of inspiration in general as well as being a great place for friendly discussions. So thanks too to Todd French for setting the whole thing up in the first place.

Happy New Year to all and here’s to some great bottles in 2020!

50

I’d probably be remiss if I did not mention Mark Golodetz for Vieux Chateau Certan. I’ve known of and liked this Chateau for many years, but got away from it, mostly due to pricing. Him raving about it as comparable to first growths and on fire since 2005, prompted me to dive back in, price notwithstanding. He’s right. It’s been a big splurge for me for a couple of years. An insider’s vintage is 2011, check out William Kelley’s note on it. Also insider, check out the second label, La Gravette de Certan. Worth buying in its own right.

51

Will there be an additional thread with place 1 and 2? [scratch.gif]
My first place goes nevertheless to Robert and BAMA

52

Tough call, mine has to be Gonon. Been an incredible run of vintages and I still get them at true release price not the more crazy grey market pricing. Levet is more distinctive, Gonon more archetype, for a Northern Rhône. I own about the same of each, but drink Gonon more regularly, plus it’s also more approachable in its youth than Levet.

53

I’m about there as well, as his ‘persistence’ has moved into unrelenting tenaciousness

54

I’m bringing you guys down to the lowest common denominator of Yakdom.

55

Thanks Your Yakness!

56

Birichino - Florida Jim (Cowan)
ESJ - FL Jim, Tom Hill & David Bueker
Collet Chablis - Rob Panzer
Lapierre Morgon - John Gilman
Pepiere - VLM (Nathan V), but not on this board
Too many others to recount. Thanks all!

57

[cheers.gif] Love me some Olga Raffault.
Happy New Year!

58

Goodfellow
Bedrock, Dildine on that other board…
Carlisle Tom Hill on another board

59

I attributed Bedrock to Alan, hmm, perhaps it was Mike. I jumped on the list immediately when someone said old vine Zin and field blends. I really do believe in 50 years people will be talking about Morgan like we have about other pioneers, like Draper, Dunn, etc.

60

Mike Dildine was a terrific source of new and under the radar old vines wineries…I think my first vintage of Bedrock was 2008, thx to Mike.Back in those days, Bedrock was just getting rolling and Morgan actually took the time to swap emails with me…Haven’t seen much from Mike along the lines of discoveries in the past few years since I returned to WB. Am gonna credit Tom Hill for introducing me to Carlisle tho it might well have been Mr Dildine, my memory not what it once was…