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

JLessard wrote:http://www.kosherwinereview.com/search/wine/facet/field_winery%3A1/count/field_mevushal%3A%22Yes%22

The rest are here:
http://www.kosherwinereview.com/search/wine/facet/field_winery%3A1/count

The problem lies in this fact: "Kosher wine instantly becomes not kosher if it is handled in its production or bottling by anyone other than a proper, sabbath observing Jew."

What you need to do, then, is to contact the vintner asking them. Chances are good that it's not kosher if it's on Woot, unless it specifically says so in the description. Again, check the vintner's site and ask there but always assume no at first.

Good luck!

Also keep in mind that Gelatin is often used as a fining agent, which makes it harder to produce excellent quality Kosher wine, much to my aunt's dismay!

I am really tempted to buy this, just because being from Massachusetts, this is the first wine that's been available to me!

That being said, given the reviews so far, I'll have to pass here's hoping wine shipping to Mass (slow as it may be) will be available from now on...

mithr wrote:I am really tempted to buy this, just because being from Massachusetts, this is the first wine that's been available to me!

That being said, given the reviews so far, I'll have to pass here's hoping wine shipping to Mass (slow as it may be) will be available from now on...

What's funny is that there haven't been any bad reviews of this wine yet. As a matter of fact, the only person on this whole thread that has actually tasted what's being offered gave a positive review not only of the Sangio specifically, but of M's limited release efforts in general.

The problem is that lots of half-woots simply like to pop off about whatever they think is remotely relevant and so we have tons of posts along the lines of "The jug wine is bad, will not buy.... oh yeah, have never actually tried any of the limited releases."

After reading through the whole thread you're left with the impression that somehow this is some mass produced jug wine relabeled. And yet it's not, and mostly we're just witnessing an online game of chinese telephone.

timmyjwoot wrote:What's funny is that there haven't been any bad reviews of this wine yet. As a matter of fact, the only person on this whole thread that has actually tasted what's being offered gave a positive review not only of the Sangio specifically, but of M's limited release efforts in general.

The problem is that lots of half-woots simply like to pop off about whatever they think is remotely relevant and so we have tons of posts along the lines of "The jug wine is bad, will not buy.... oh yeah, have never actually tried any of the limited releases."

After reading through the whole thread you're left with the impression that somehow this is some mass produced jug wine relabeled. And yet it's not, and mostly we're just witnessing an online game of chinese telephone.

Well said. I am also curious if their are any opinions (other than the 1) about the Meridian reserves. There are many very experienced wine-w00ters here, has nobody tried any of the reserves?

timmyjwoot wrote:What's funny is that there haven't been any bad reviews of this wine yet. As a matter of fact, the only person on this whole thread that has actually tasted what's being offered gave a positive review not only of the Sangio specifically, but of M's limited release efforts in general.

The problem is that lots of half-woots simply like to pop off about whatever they think is remotely relevant and so we have tons of posts along the lines of "The jug wine is bad, will not buy.... oh yeah, have never actually tried any of the limited releases."

After reading through the whole thread you're left with the impression that somehow this is some mass produced jug wine relabeled. And yet it's not, and mostly we're just witnessing an online game of chinese telephone.

Good post. And he said "half-woots" *LOL*

mobrien05 wrote:Well said. I am also curious if their are any opinions (other than the 1) about the Meridian reserves. There are many very experienced wine-w00ters here, has nobody tried any of the reserves?

Just to let everyone know: terms like "limited release" and "reserve" have no legal meaning in the US. Any winery could take a jug wine, label it as this, and there would be nothing preventing them from doing so.

dhbassett wrote:Folks,

Meridian produces plonk. Got it. But they even say so, in other words, in the description:

... readily available, entry level wine.... "simple wines"....

I understand there isn't a lot of love for what we see in the store. However this offering is for "Limited Release" wines that are claimed to be higher quality. Does anyone have experience with the limited release wines from Meridian to report?

Thanks!

I tried some of the limited release stuff at the Winery in Paso a couple of years ago. I actually liked it, and recall enjoying the Sangiovese in particular. I don't often see the limited release stuff in stores. Meridian does produce an ocean of inexpensive wines but not always plonk. Their Santa Barbara Chardonnay from a year or two ago was actually quite nice and incredibly cheap, and I am seldom a fan of inexpensive chardonnay. I'm leaning toward buying.

The limited reserve stuff was a definite step above their normal stuff. They even had some vineyard specific releases (eg, Dusi Zineyards Zin). I think I still have a bottle of the 06 Sangiovese in my cellar.

JLessard wrote: Chances are good that it's not kosher if it's on Woot, unless it specifically says so in the description. Again, check the vintner's site and ask there but always assume no at first.

Good luck!

Thanks! There's always hope that Woot will have kosher wine.

airjesse123 wrote:Also keep in mind that Gelatin is often used as a fining agent, which makes it harder to produce excellent quality Kosher wine, much to my aunt's dismay!

Never heard that one before. I'll have to ask.

I haven't had these wines specifically, but I've had quite a few of Meridian's reserve wines at one time or another. APW is in their wine club (or at least used to be) so I'll see if he has these in his cellar. We might be able to do a vol-rat, at least of a different vintage.

I would caution dismissing these based on the Meridian you find in the stores, their "reserve" wines which are typically only available at the winery are much better wines from much better grapes, made in much smaller batches, and with much more care than the shrink-wrapped two-packs you find at Costco. Their petite sirah, in particular, is usually quite good for the price.

I haven't had these particular vintages, and as RPM says, the numbers indicate a bigger (but not knock-your-socks-off), riper wine EDIT: (dodongo points out that I was off by a factor of 10, these are completely dry. Math is hard), which would be a consistent flavor profile with what I've had from Meridian in the past.

I wouldn't quite put Meridian in quite the same league as, say Pedroncelli for QPR, but relative to many of the Paso Wineries, they tend to be well made and appropriately priced.

I think if you're a fan of Paso-style wines in general, then $12/bottle delivered is a good deal for this wine.

Does anyone know anything about the vinyard sites listed (Camatta Hills-Syrah and Algunas Dias Vineyard, Camatta Hills- Sangio)? Age of vines, other wineries using the same source etc. That would help me in my decision. The quantity produced shows promise-some winemakers that produce a lot of "every day quaffers" like to have "fun" with the small lot, limited release stuff and you can really find some unknown gems if you take the chance.

Undecided.

mobrien05 wrote:I am replying in large to see my color. I was able to click on the twistedoaks link, but deals.woot.com doesn't work for me....I try to login and it says I don't pass the ID check. But, I can still buy using the other link? Is it a woot purchase? There is no indication it is woot on the page, or in the url:

http://www.twistedoak.com/threesome1

So, what's the deal? The wine looks very interesting....

Buy from the twistedoaks link as you would any other retailer. deals woot is restricted to black & purple wooters, you are green and therefore (currently) excluded.

The good News: Get over 50 woots and you're in!!

Wow this deal is awesome. My wife and I have been members at Meridian for five years and I love their limited release wines. To my knowledge you cannot buy these in stores, all you can buy is their cheep Meridian label wine.
The syrah is one of my favorites (WD any chance we can get the Petit next?) it is not overly frutty and although I have not had the 06 the 01-05 vintages have been great. I do not usually keep tasting notes on wine that I drink and I will try to open a bottle of the 05 tonight and give you all a more detailed report.
The sangio is light and a wine I can drink with anything but mostly I have it with my cheese pizza.
For under $15 a bottle it is a better deal then I get as a member. If I was not on a self imposed no wine buying till January I would be in for 3.

caper13 wrote:... Meridian does produce an ocean of inexpensive wines but not always plonk....

I didn't believe everything they produce was "plonk". I was annoyed with the "I got a bottle at the gas station that was bad, so this must be terrible" type posts. (I didn't think to call them half-woots though.) I guess I ended up being too hard on the winery.

apw2123 wrote:Wow this deal is awesome. My wife and I have been members at Meridian for five years and I love their limited release wines. To my knowledge you cannot buy these in stores, all you can buy is their cheep Meridian label wine.
The syrah is one of my favorites (WD any chance we can get the Petit next?) it is not overly frutty and although I have not had the 06 the 01-05 vintages have been great. I do not usually keep tasting notes on wine that I drink and I will try to open a bottle of the 05 tonight and give you all a more detailed report.
The sangio is light and a wine I can drink with anything but mostly I have it with my cheese pizza.
For under $15 a bottle it is a better deal then I get as a member. If I was not on a self imposed no wine buying till January I would be in for 3.

There you are. Can I help you with that bottle tonight? I can bring a comparator, perhaps.

We had the Meridian wines at a Christmas party not too long ago. I do not drink to drunkeness, so my taste buds were not liquor impaired.

The Meridian wines were excellent and I highly recommend them. They were spicy, full-bodied with a clean finish.

gcdyersb wrote:I wouldn't call 14.5% high, necessarily, at least for Cali wine and especially for Paso Robles. Definitely higher than French Syrah or Italian Sangio typically would be, though.

I'm more concerned about the 100% new oak and high Brix (~27) on the Syrah. And yet it has 'only' 14.6% ABV and is essentially dry. There is some missing sugar in the equation. Stats suggest this will be ultra-ripe flavored with lots of oak in the picture.

So the higher than "normal" RS for a dry red wine - about 1% - still doesn't account for all the original brix?

At what RS level do you start tasting sweetness? I thought it'd be around .4/.5, so I would expect these to have a definite sweetness. The InZin had 2% RS, which for me was too much and I didn't like it.

So I'm worried about the 1%, and I'm left with the Goldilocks conundrum - is that level of RS going to make it taste too sweet, or will it be not noticeable, or will it be just the right amount of sweetness to complement the flavor profile?

andyduncan wrote:I haven't had these particular vintages, and as RPM says, the numbers indicate a bigger (but not knock-your-socks-off), riper wine with a small amount of RS (similar to the Inzinerator in percentage), which would be a consistent flavor profile with what I've had from Meridian in the past.

Agree with everything you said -- except! ;) The InZINerator has a considerably higher RS than these. I would guess, and again just a guess so please correct if you've had these before, by the numbers these are "juicy", if you will, but not sweet (vs. the InZIN which was decidedly off-dry). In other words, I think you're exactly right about this being a great choice if you like the general Paso flavor profiles.

andyduncan wrote:There you are. Can I help you with that bottle tonight? I can bring a comparator, perhaps.

You know you can help me with that bottle. I am supposed to have a meeting till 8. Ill text you if I can get out of it and get home at a decent time. I don't think we will have to talk the wife into tasting this one either.

merryberry wrote:So the higher than "normal" RS for a dry red wine - about 1% - still doesn't account for all the original brix?

Since it's 1 g/L, that should be about .1% (or .1 g/100 mL). 1 mL of water = 1 g, so writing RS in g/100 mL should give you almost a direct conversion to RS in %.

So 14.6% ABV from 24.3 Brix makes sense. Usually Brix*.6 gives the alcohol level if dry. 24.3 Brix should be around 14.5% ABV with almost no RS. 27 Brix and 14.5% ABV means water was added, alcohol was subtracted, or there's RS. Since RS is .1%, it's probably one of the first two options.

Threshold for tasting RS is about 2 g/L, or .2%. But it differs for each person. Since there are complex sugars that are not fermented by the yeast S. Cervisiae, many 'dry' wines will still have around 1 g/L RS once fermentation stops. (I don't know this for a fact, but I suspect ambient/native yeasts may consume the complex sugars potentially giving you an even dryer wine than with only cultured yeast.)

Also, higher acidity will often mean a wine will taste dry despite having RS. IIRC, a Riesling can be called dry if TA [g/L] - RS [g/L] < 2 [g/L]. So a Riesling with 9 g/L of TA and 7 g/L RS would be considered dry.

gcdyersb wrote:Since it's 1 g/L, that should be about .1% (or .1 g/100 mL). 1 mL of water = 1 g, so writing RS in g/100 mL should give you almost a direct conversion to RS in %.

So 14.6% ABV from 24.3 Brix makes sense. Usually Brix*.6 gives the alcohol level if dry. 24.3 Brix should be around 14.5% ABV with almost no RS. 27 Brix and 14.5% ABV means water was added, alcohol was subtracted, or there's RS. Since RS is .1%, it's probably one of the first two options.

Threshold for tasting RS is about 2 g/L, or .2%. But it differs for each person. Since there are complex sugars that are not fermented by the yeast S. Cervisiae, many 'dry' wines will still have around 1 g/L RS once fermentation stops. (I don't know this for a fact, but I suspect ambient/native yeasts may consume the complex sugars potentially giving you an even dryer wine than with only cultured yeast.)

Also, higher acidity will often mean a wine will taste dry despite having RS. IIRC, a Riesling can be called dry if TA [g/L] - RS [g/L] < 2 [g/L]. So a Riesling with 9 g/L of TA and 7 g/L RS would be considered dry.

It's too bad American producers can rarely get that kind of acidity, especially after MLF. =(

From the literature

R.S. Jackson (2006):
Wine with <1.5g/L RS considered dry.
Generally, unless you have an acute ability to detect sweetness, any wine <1.0g/L will not have any detectable sugar.

timmyjwoot wrote:What's funny is that there haven't been any bad reviews of this wine yet. As a matter of fact, the only person on this whole thread that has actually tasted what's being offered gave a positive review not only of the Sangio specifically, but of M's limited release efforts in general.

This looks like an unfortunate case of the brand name being associated with low quality. While I have stylistic questions, I have no doubt these are way better than the basic plonk I find at Vons or Ralphs.

I wonder why they don't use a different branding for the small-production wines? A winery as big as Meridian could easily buy out a smaller label, and put their better wine in it.

Maybe that's why these are being Woot'ed. It's easy to take a successful brand and dilute it, but going the other way is much harder.

gcdyersb wrote:This looks like an unfortunate case of the brand name being associated with low quality. While I have stylistic questions, I have no doubt these are way better than the basic plonk I find at Vons or Ralphs.

I wonder why they don't use a different branding for the small-production wines? A winery as big as Meridian could easily buy out a smaller label, and put their better wine in it.

Maybe that's why these are being Woot'ed. It's easy to take a successful brand and dilute it, but going the other way is much harder.

They are leveraging a brand name. Unfortunately, they are doing it in the wrong direction!

dodongo wrote:Agree with everything you said -- except! ;) The InZINerator has a considerably higher RS than these. I would guess, and again just a guess so please correct if you've had these before, by the numbers these are "juicy", if you will, but not sweet (vs. the InZIN which was decidedly off-dry). In other words, I think you're exactly right about this being a great choice if you like the general Paso flavor profiles.

Yeah not sweet. My math is off, the g/100ml and g/l always hangs me up. So scratch that part.

I don't remember the RS being noticeable on any of the "limited release" meridian's I've had, but they're definitely on the "easy drinking" side.

gcdyersb wrote:This looks like an unfortunate case of the brand name being associated with low quality. While I have stylistic questions, I have no doubt these are way better than the basic plonk I find at Vons or Ralphs.

I wonder why they don't use a different branding for the small-production wines? A winery as big as Meridian could easily buy out a smaller label, and put their better wine in it.

Maybe that's why these are being Woot'ed. It's easy to take a successful brand and dilute it, but going the other way is much harder.

Maybe they look at it as a "halo wine", similar to a Ford GT, or a Nissan GT-R, or, given the price ranges we're talking about, a Hyundai Genesis: a nice car for a very competitive price from a company that does cheap well.

Given that they're owned by Foster's, perhaps they're taking the Aussie sensibility of a pan-market brand, like Penfolds.

We do like our luxury brands in America, perhaps more than we should. A Lexus or an Acura or an Infinity in the land that makes them are just Toyotas and Hondas and Nissans, after all.

I wish I had deals.* access.

Hint hint. I'm no new-commer.

xiaodown wrote:I wish I had deals.* access.

Hint hint. I'm no new-commer.

It has been said u need to be purple or black. Which means you need >= 50 woots. I counted...I am 10 off...and so sad. I guess that means it is time to break out the wallet!

Something went bizarrely wrong with the EWN. Instead of sending from the usual noreply box, it decided to put some bizarre weird email address on it instead. I blame JW.

My apologies to all who may have seen a message on their phones or in their email with a very weird from: address.

This offer qualifies as an incredible deal - over 50% discount. So that's what was sent.

WOW MA is shippable!
In for three just because.

06 Syrah tasting

First glass I find that it is a bit metallic with fruit on the end. Could be a result of not being decanted or still a little too cold from the wine fridge.
As it is warming and opening up the fruit is coming out. There is a spice on the finish. Summarizing the first glass I think it is still a bit young. Could use a year or so to mellow out. I would also decant if you wanted to drink this now, which I recommend.
Second glass with Costco cheese pizza
The fruit has come out but still has the mint/heat on it. Definitely tanic and barnyardish (poo'y).
As for a recommendation I would recommend buying this wine. It could sit for a couple of years. You can get this price at the winery and you can't buy it in stores.
WD can we see the Petit Sirah Please!!!!

I dunno - it might rise above its pedigree, but what would the neighbors think? They'd pop their corks if this moved into the rack next door - and how could I maintain poser status when my wino buds rifle through the stash? I'd have to hide this under the bed, drink it in private with the doors locked and peel the labels prior to recycling.

swiller wrote:I dunno - it might rise above its pedigree, but what would the neighbors think? They'd pop their corks if this moved into the rack next store - and how could I maintain poser status when my wino buds rifle through the stash? I'd have to hide this under the bed, drink it in private with the doors locked and peel the labels prior to recycling.

You're buying wine on a web site called "woot". They've actually spent time setting up the forums to filter words like "scaffolding", "balderah" and "cancellation". The product descriptions are frequently laced with drug and sodomy references. Yahoo even made them change the title of the forums link on the shopping.yahoo.com page to read "woot opinions" instead of just "opinions", which is basically like saying "this is my friend, woot, he's adorable, but has a social disease the doctors can only describe as some sort of mix between aspergers and tourettes, if only that weren't insulting to people with aspergers and/or tourettes."

At this point, I'd say embrace it, labels are the least of your worries :-)

andyduncan wrote:You're buying wine on a web site called "woot". They've actually spent time setting up the forums to filter words like "scaffolding", "balderah" and "cancellation". The product descriptions are frequently laced with drug and sodomy references. Yahoo even made them change the title of the forums link on the shopping.yahoo.com page to read "woot opinions" instead of just "opinions", which is basically like saying "this is my friend, woot, he's adorable, but has a social disease the doctors can only describe as some sort of mix between aspergers and tourettes, if only that weren't insulting to people with aspergers and/or tourettes."

At this point, I'd say embrace it, labels are the least of your worries :-)

Despite all your scaffolding balderah, I refuse my cancellation !

as APW noted above, he was nice enough to open a bottle of the syrah offered here (he did have this vintage, after all), and also nice enough (or with a short enough memory) to invite me over to help drink it (arm: twisted).

It's a big syrah, but not huge, certainly not oversized by paso standards. There was a very little bit of hot/cool/minty/alcoholy bit on the nose but that blew off rather quickly. There's also a little hint of baby diaper/barnyard/poo, which I like in syrahs. Not a wellington level of poo (that man loves his poop, let me tell you), still more or less in the background, but there, and nice. It's a dark-berry kind of wine, you can taste a little of the oak on the midpalate and finish. There's enough tannins that they're apparent on the finish, but they're soft enough that it's drinkable now. I agree with APW (and Mrs. APW), that this will probably be better a year or two from now, I'm not skilled enough to make any predictions beyond that, however, and it's drinking fine now, especially after it opens up. The acidity seemed to be in the middle range: not flabby, but not tart, it went well with some pizza (and yes, RPM, we tasted before we ate, you dogmatic curmudgeon).

Overall I think it's a well made wine, at retail prices I think it compares very well with other Paso wines I've had, at this price I think it's a great deal. As for style, I'd place it with the Saxon Browns or the Ty Catons or the Madison Cellars of the woot wine world (or the woot wines themselves, for that matter), I think it's more restrained than some of the other Paso Wines we've had here on woot.

In full disclosure I'd been bugging WD to get Meridian on here for years, I think they make good wine at reasonable prices and get a bad rap for the stuff you find in stores.

mobrien05 wrote:I am replying in large to see my color...

FYI, you can see your color at the top of the page (any woot page) where it says: Welcome mobrien05.

In fact, if you rest your curser over the color square there, you can see your exact amount of woots, (not just a range), as well as your quality post count, and join date.

NatalieW wrote:First ship to MA in 50 years! I'm in even with less than positive comments so far....But my birthday coupon won't work Yum, I have been so very thirsty!

Argh! Again? MA has fallen off the map. No doubt my transaction will be canceled...

martmann4 wrote:FYI, you can see your color at the top of the page (any woot page) where it says: Welcome mobrien05.

In fact, if you rest your curser over the color square there, you can see your exact amount of woots, (not just a range), as well as your quality post count, and join date.

Thanks, you taught me something. Although I have no quality posts-just what constitutes a quality post?? If I have something nice to say about a wine I say it. The Boss Monster for instance is delicious when decanted for an hour or so and the Iron Horse was fabalous-I had a friend begging me to let her buy a bottle.

martmann4 wrote:FYI, you can see your color at the top of the page (any woot page) where it says: Welcome mobrien05.

In fact, if you rest your curser over the color square there, you can see your exact amount of woots, (not just a range), as well as your quality post count, and join date.

Thanks for that tip, did not know about that.

Interested in this wine and I think I may order it based off the positive posts here.

andyduncan wrote:as APW noted above, he was nice enough to open a bottle of the syrah offered here (he did have this vintage, after all), and also nice enough (or with a short enough memory) to invite me over to help drink it (arm: twisted).

It's a big syrah, but not huge, certainly not oversized by paso standards. There was a very little bit of hot/cool/minty/alcoholy bit on the nose but that blew off rather quickly. There's also a little hint of baby diaper/barnyard/poo, which I like in syrahs. Not a wellington level of poo (that man loves his poop, let me tell you), still more or less in the background, but there, and nice. It's a dark-berry kind of wine, you can taste a little of the oak on the midpalate and finish. There's enough tannins that they're apparent on the finish, but they're soft enough that it's drinkable now. I agree with APW (and Mrs. APW), that this will probably be better a year or two from now, I'm not skilled enough to make any predictions beyond that, however, and it's drinking fine now, especially after it opens up. The acidity seemed to be in the middle range: not flabby, but not tart, it went well with some pizza (and yes, RPM, we tasted before we ate, you dogmatic curmudgeon).

Overall I think it's a well made wine, at retail prices I think it compares very well with other Paso wines I've had, at this price I think it's a great deal. As for style, I'd place it with the Saxon Browns or the Ty Catons or the Madison Cellars of the woot wine world (or the woot wines themselves, for that matter), I think it's more restrained than some of the other Paso Wines we've had here on woot.

In full disclosure I'd been bugging WD to get Meridian on here for years, I think they make good wine at reasonable prices and get a bad rap for the stuff you find in stores.

Thanks for the info. I'm in for one.
Chris

andyduncan wrote:it went well with some pizza (and yes, RPM, we tasted before we ate, you dogmatic curmudgeon).

I didn't know RPM had a dog ...