Wine.Woot : One Week, One Wine (SM)

Perhaps the Zombie Zin will walk with the living this Friday *crosses fingers*

In for two... oh, wait... no KS? I'll have to see if I can think of someone in MO I can send it to.

Winery Website (Fixed. =P)

Previous Offers
10/13/2008: Blog and Forum

Vampire Vineyards on Facebook

FallenCptJack wrote:In for two... oh, wait... no KS? I'll have to see if I can think of someone in MO I can send it to.

My thoughts exactly.

Looks like Sparky hit the nail on the head. I'd be in except for the fact that I'm doing my best to cut back when I can. I've had the Dracula Syrah, and don't recall too much "special" about it, other than it tasting good since I did drink the entire bottle myself in a single night. Haven't tried the Chateau Du Vampire yet though, which I still have a few bottles of.

As the resident vampire here, I give this my stamp of approval.

I ratted the Chateau last time this was offered and enjoyed it. I think another year in the bottle will have made this wine even better. I still have a bottle each of the Dracula Syrah and Chateau from the last offering. Would love to faux rat the Chateau again but 12 hour work days the rest of the week make that impossible.

Hey, that's my name in print...I am somebody. This wine looks too festive not to buy, in for two. And Happy Birthday to me.

Question for the winery rep... How does the True Blood Syrah compare to the Dracula that was offered last time?

Why is it called the "Napa Valley Syrah" if it's from Paso Robles?

just askin' ...

NO IDAHO. LOOKS LIKE DADDIO IN WA GETS LUCKY AGAIN. JUST HOPE THERE IS A BOTTLE OR TWO LEFT BY THE TIME I GET THERE. CAN'T EVEN RAT, ON THE ROAD IN SOCAL.

Seems a little bit pricey, we just bought the '06 Vampire Merlot from World Market for $10.

They might have the others too.
I also bought a bottle of Evil wine, they had about 10 Halloween wines in all.

kaivalya wrote:Why is it called the "Napa Valley Syrah" if it's from Paso Robles?

just askin' ...

The grapes were sourced from a Napa vineyard, but the winery and thus, production is in Paso Robles.

kaivalya wrote:Why is it called the "Napa Valley Syrah" if it's from Paso Robles?

just askin' ...

I wondered the same thing. Thanks for asking, I would like to know the answer too.

My rat report from the last offering of the Chateau du Vampire.

(Mist rising from the suburban landscape, leaves whirling in the air, pumpkins with candles flickering on doorsteps, faint howling in the far distance, and a full moon in the sky….)

Six bottles of Halloween wine approach via horse driven coach, thundering down the lane, with bare trees grasping at the coach doors, reaching for the glistening, ruby wines.

Goblins, vampires, zombies and wild things waiting desperately for sustenance, the sustenance of the vine, well aged, of syrah, of zinfandel, of merlot, of cabernet; blood red, and dripping with depth, light, and waiting to be released, to breathe, to be consumed, and to sate the thirst of the waiting confederation.

Halloween; that night of shadows; darkness; depth; fear; and most of all, fine wines to be shared among the brethren of the night.

Last Wooter To Woot:keplar

Can't quite pull the trigger on the Poizin, as I don't have enough space available to justify buying multiple bottles of something I haven't tried before. A variety pack of evil themed wines though? In for one :-)

How is it that some of these Wine Woots are in Arizona and some are not!?!

dionicia wrote:How is it that some of these Wine Woots are in Arizona and some are not!?!

All wineries are required to register with each state individually to be able to ship to them. Some states don't allow it period. The license fees associated are sometimes cost prohibitive for some wineries. Some states have restrictions on the annual case production the winery has, so if they produce too much they can't ship there.

Also, our government has decided that as adults we are unfit to decide what we want to buy, where we want to buy it, and how we want to get it home.

The CdV, of which I got a bottle from a fellow wooter (;), was one of the worst wines I've drunk in the past 3 years. I eventually poured it down the sink.

My review from CT (where I gave it 75 points):

Dark, almost murky purple-garnet. Nose is tart and hot, with some cherry fruit and spice.

Is there isopropyl alcohol in this? Incredibly, harshly, alcoholic with a nasty chemical aftertaste. Some of the bell pepper vegetal CF is coming through. Poorly integrated tannins and cheap oaky taste from the CS. Only the faint hint of spicy-fruity Malbec makes this at all drinkable, even with extended decanting.

The Dracula was fine, nothing special, but acceptable. I am such a vampire aficionado that I would buy this offering based on that alone, but not if I have to buy I another bottle of that atrocious CdV. If someone wants to take mine, I'd be in, but I absolutely will not pay for that one!

HitAnyKey42 wrote:Looks like Sparky hit the nail on the head. I'd be in except for the fact that I'm doing my best to cut back when I can. I've had the Dracula Syrah, and don't recall too much "special" about it, other than it tasting good since I did drink the entire bottle myself in a single night. Haven't tried the Chateau Du Vampire yet though, which I still have a few bottles of.

I got the winery. since they'd been up on Wine.Woot last year .... but PSmurf mentioned Vampire first, just not the winery or link ....

psmurf wrote:Good guess... sounds appropriate, and I'd almost bet you're right.
If not, any vampire wines around?

Per WD's clue: i'm a sucker for a good theme.

"How good is this deal?"]How good is this deal?




Click the link above for full discount details, CT links, and a partridge in a pea-- what's that? Wrong holiday? Oh!

fairnymph wrote:The CdV, of which I got a bottle from a fellow wooter (;), was one of the worst wines I've drunk in the past 3 years. I eventually poured it down the sink.

My review from CT (where I gave it 75 points):

Dark, almost murky purple-garnet. Nose is tart and hot, with some cherry fruit and spice.

Is there isopropyl alcohol in this? Incredibly, harshly, alcoholic with a nasty chemical aftertaste. Some of the bell pepper vegetal CF is coming through. Poorly integrated tannins and cheap oaky taste from the CS. Only the faint hint of spicy-fruity Malbec makes this at all drinkable, even with extended decanting.

The Dracula was fine, nothing special, but acceptable. I am such a vampire aficionado that I would buy this offering based on that alone, but not if I have to buy I another bottle of that atrocious CdV. If someone wants to take mine, I'd be in, but I absolutely will not pay for that one!

Very interesting review, especially since the statistics listed on the wine do not suggest such high alcohol. From your description, my first inclination would be to ask whether (a substantial portion of) the grapes came from young vineyards, perhaps put into production ahead of their time.

The Syrah at 16.2% alcohol is well beyond what I would ever consider as a table wine. That's well into the territory of some of the late harvest Zins of the late 1970s, heading towards port territory. I wonder what the residual sugar is.

Looks like another offering "for them what likes the style"....

In for 2...LOVE taking these to the Halloween party, along with the POIZIN!!!

BTW - this 3x/week offering is killing the bank account Thanks for the great wine offerings...

I was in World Market a couple of weekends ago and they had the Vampire wines, and in different varieties in addition to the Merlot. My memory on price is fuzzy but I want to say it was about $15/bottle. They were also carrying several other halloween themed wines though Vampire is the only one I've seen on Woot.

I shall hold off, luckily. Hannafords sells this on occasion.

Despite the name of the wine, I have to ask whether this is kosher.

Gotta get one for festive purposes only.

I opened a bottle of Vampire, a couple of years back, that was (I think) a 1997...I recall it came from a source outside the US, and was on a shelf at my friends' wine shop. This was during a tasting, and the funny (to us at least) thing was that the bottle was very obviously cooked/turned.

Undaunted, me and two other regulars at our (5 hour) tasting parties, all threw back a glass on a dare...worst sludge I ever swallowed!

Good times...good times.

Based on my limited experience with previous wine wootings - is there any way in hell this is going to make it in time for Halloween? Will seem a bit odd if I bring it out at Thanksgiving...

PufferFishSticks wrote:Based on my limited experience with previous wine wootings - is there any way in hell this is going to make it in time for Halloween? Will seem a bit odd if I bring it out at Thanksgiving...

Someone else posted that wine can only be shipped via ground. And it would take 9 days to get to where it needs to be after your wine shipped. I have no idea how it takes for order processing in order for it to ship.

You should bring it out for Thanksgiving. It makes for great conversation.

I see these are from Paso Robles; I had a 2003 Vampire (same label) Pinot a few years ago that was from Romania, and it was absolutely dreadful. Think I'll pass on this as a result, though the juice is obviously a different varietal and from a different place.

happily retired wrote:I wondered the same thing. Thanks for asking, I would like to know the answer too.

The Paso thing is an error, the Trueblood is all Napa, mostly from Oakville and Rutherford. It is a big decadent style of Syrah and may I say very yummy. As the winemaker, I may be Biased, but its very good juice.

rpm wrote:Very interesting review, especially since the statistics listed on the wine do not suggest such high alcohol. From your description, my first inclination would be to ask whether (a substantial portion of) the grapes came from young vineyards, perhaps put into production ahead of their time.

The Syrah at 16.2% alcohol is well beyond what I would ever consider as a table wine. That's well into the territory of some of the late harvest Zins of the late 1970s, heading towards port territory. I wonder what the residual sugar is.

Looks like another offering "for them what likes the style"....

The Trueblood is a strong wine, but cartainly a table wine. The alcohol is high, but it is dry, and not "hot". I kept the wine in barrel for almost 20 months, and the alcohol is very integrated. I also am honest about my numbers. You are allowed to fudge the alcohol by 1.5%, and many if not most of the wineries in Napa do so.

just ordered this pack, my first woot! how is shipping? is it pretty quick or does it take a few weeks? was thinking of offering these as refreshments at a halloween party... or will i/should i wait and serve them next year?

Is the Syrah Napa or Paso? Curious monsters want to know...

LemonAtty wrote:Is the Syrah Napa or Paso? Curious monsters want to know...

Napa. Read back a few posts.

kaivalya wrote:Why is it called the "Napa Valley Syrah" if it's from Paso Robles?

just askin' ...

The Trueblood Syrah is from Napa Valley. The other two wines are from Paso.

winestuart wrote:The Trueblood is a strong wine, but cartainly a table wine. The alcohol is high, but it is dry, and not "hot". I kept the wine in barrel for almost 20 months, and the alcohol is very integrated. I also am honest about my numbers. You are allowed to fudge the alcohol by 1.5%, and many if not most of the wineries in Napa do so.

Thanks for the info on the residual sugar content. At what Brix were the grapes harvested? I was using the term 'table wine' technically. Wines above 14.0% are classified by the feds as 'fortified' even if you got there by natural fermentation and without adding alcohol, and taxed at a higher rate.

I am also familiar with the long-standing practice of labeling at the mid-point of the 11.0-14.0 range in California to take advantage of the 1.5% leeway in table wine. Of course, one always had (has) to be careful to avoid moving into a new tax (and label approval) class above 14.0%. I'm not sure I'd call that 'fudging' numbers; rather it was an attempt to avoid having to constantly reprint labels in the day when the vintage was often shown on a neck or shoulder band rather than on the front of the label.

If I understand the current law correctly, you are only allowed 1.5% +/- when the alcohol is at or below 14.0%, with a permissible variation of only 1.0% above 14.0%. E.g. if the label says 12.5% it can range from 11.0 to 14.0%, but if the label says 13.5%, your range is down to 12% but up only to 14.0% before the wine is reclassified as fortified. That is, the 1.5% variation is constrained by the upper bound of the tax classification for 'table wine.' You can't sell a wine marked 13.5% on the label which is actually anything over 14.0%. Once you're over 14.0%, you're in a new class, and your variation limits you to +/- 1%, subject to the overall class limit. I suppose it also means you can't label at 14.5% if the wine actually comes in below 14.0%. It seems to me that once you're north of 13%, and especially north of 14%, you need to measure your alcohol and label with great care.

(c) Regardless of the type of statement
used and regardless of tolerances
normally permitted in direct statements
and ranges normally permitted
in maximum and minimum statements,
alcoholic content statements,
whether required or optional, shall
definitely and correctly indicate the
class, type and taxable grade of the
wine so labeled and nothing in this section
shall be construed as authorizing
the appearance upon the labels of any
wine of an alcoholic content statement
in terms of maximum and minimum
percentages which overlaps a prescribed
limitation on the alcoholic content
of any class, type, or taxable
grade of wine, or a direct statement of
alcoholic content which indicates that
the alcoholic content of the wine is
within such a limitation when in fact
it is not

rpm wrote: I'm not sure I'd call that 'fudging' numbers;

I'm guessing he's referring to those winemakers that, regardless of legality, put a fictitiously low number on their bottle knowing that the true number would scare too many people away, and that the enforcement of such numbers has been exceedingly lax.