Semi-off topic but semi-on. Linens N Things has the Wine For Dummies Tasting Game in the clearance section today with free shipping on their website. It's only 10 bucks. That might be fun to use with this trio...the trio that I haven't bought yet but I will now that Corrado jumped in. I can't buy anything that doesn't have the Corr stamp of approval.

deaconbluez wrote:Wine Enthusiast gave the 2001 91 points:

"Here’s Petite Sirah near its best. The wine is full-bodied and dry, with the structure of a great Cabernet, but an entirely different profile. Black and red cherry, ripe blueberry and mocha flavors are finished with sweet toasty oak. Acidity is low, the tannins rich and complex in this delicious wine. — S.H. (12/31/2005)"

Sounds like one I'll have to get; has everything I love about a good Petite Sirah. Another back-to-back-to-back for me. WineDavid, please give me a break next week and bring back the Sierra Club Chardonnay or Parker Station!

Hear, hear on the Parker Station...that was a fave in Central VA.

I am shocked that this hasn't sold out! Kent's description of how this is made was enough to make me put in for two. And on that note I was pleasantly surprised to get a ship notice the day after I ordered. Being from Illinois, if I don't order on Sunday, I am usually in for a two week wait.

deaconbluez wrote:WineDavid, please give me a break next week and bring back the Sierra Club Chardonnay or Parker Station!

Halsey wrote:Hear, hear on the Parker Station...that was a fave in Central VA.

Alright. Deacon, seems you forgot to add a ;)
I'm not sure if Halsey's response should have one too.
My internet sarcasm detector seems to be broken.

Tee Hee.... Tee Hee....

It's here, it's here. I got the shipment a little while ago. I'm looking forward to opening a bottle this evening. Now, what to fix for din-din?? May be I'll griil something. All in all, a good end to the week.

PS. Corrado, the wine cube looks good. Thanks for sharing the construction notes.

mmmschneid wrote:I am shocked that this hasn't sold out! Kent's description of how this is made was enough to make me put in for two. And on that note I was pleasantly surprised to get a ship notice the day after I ordered. Being from Illinois, if I don't order on Sunday, I am usually in for a two week wait.

There are reasons as to why people pull the trigger and why they don't. Some financial. Some taste related. Some storage challenged.

I loved Sake guy's input on the board. Were it for that alone, I would have pulled the trigger, but I did not. Last week, I think I finally hit the button on Friday largely because of the Wellington input.

I finally bought a bottle of Petite Syrah, (the Bogle, couldnt find the other one) and decided this weeks vertical would not be a wise investment for me. Yes, I'll probably be a bit green with envy when you all start chiming in on how wonderful it is, but I just can't do every Woot just because the winemaker is passionate about his product (as he/she should be).

andyduncan wrote:I can't believe this isn't bouncing yet. Come on people, you know how hard it is to get a 3-year vertical of anything? And this is Petit Sirah! It's Petit! And it's not Syrah!

Que sirah, syrah. N'est ce pas?

Man, my "cellar" is filling up fast. I built a 60 bottle rack this past summer after my wife talked me down from 120 bottles. Sounds like I have another summer project coming up.

i'm going to show great restraint and only order 1. I agree with previous posts that Bogle and Concannon are decent less-expensive offerings.

I myself am partial to Foppiano Petite Syrah. It's everything you guys have been describing about Petite Syrah - huge tannins, lush fruit. You can buy Foppiano for $16 - $25.

KRWINE wrote:Questions about wine chemistry tend to end up having long answers--

Great answer, very informative. Thanks!

galewskj wrote:Man, my "cellar" is filling up fast. I built a 60 bottle rack this past summer after my wife talked me down from 120 bottles. Sounds like I have another summer project coming up.

Yeah, I think it's been mentioned here before, but wine collections typically suffer from "Goldfish Syndrome" growing to fully occupy the space in which they are put.

My cup-board overfloweth as well.

andyduncan wrote:Have two questions for Kent if he's got a minute:

1: The description lists Free/Total Sulfur Dioxide in PPM, what am I supposed to read into those? Are those numbers high/low/medium? Are the lower levels in the older vintage a coincidence or result of what another winemaker was talking about with sulfur dioxide binding with other compounds over time? Or is that what the free/total part is referring to?

2: (yeah, that first one counts as one question, what of it?) There was an article on Appellation America about winemakers using reverse osmosis machines to lower the alcohol content and VA content of some of their wines. Without asking you to admit explicitly whether you used it on this batch (as it seems to be somewhat of a taboo topic), what do you think of the process, and have you ever tried it before?

Hi from Kent again
I didn’t have anything better to do this afternoon, so I am happy to write about wine-techy stuff.

Reverse osmoses is a new (last 7 years or so) process that allows us to remove alcohol from wine without diminishing the quality of the wine. In simple terms, it basically is a membrane that the wine flows past that allows only alcohol molecules to pass thru. Thus, the wine stays on one side and the alcohol passes to the other side. Needless to say, the technology behind it is a bit more complicated. The nice thing about this procedure is that it is very non-invasive on the wine, as you only treat a small portion and then blend it back to reduce the alcohol

More and more alcohol content has become an issue in winemaking. 25 years ago, it simply never was a worry, grapes became physiologically ripe (flavor-ripe) at lower sugars and, since alcohol is a direct percentage of the sugar in the grape, we just never had much of an issue with alcohol. This was good, since we also had no way to remove it without destroying the wine. Over the last couple of decades, because of changes in the way we grow grapes, global warming and a general change in the flavor profile of what wine drinkers seem to want out of their wine, we find that by the time the grapes are where we want them flavor-wise, they are often very high in sugar (and thus in alcohol). Reverse Osmosis is just a tool in the tool-chest that the winemaker has to make wine better and better. I don’t think there is a winemaker in the world who is fond of alcohol, it is a necessary component of wine to make it taste correct and be what wine should be, but it is also healthy only in moderation, and making wines with too much alcohol is not good from either a sensory or social point-of-view.

As to these three wines, no, none of them were ROde, but that said, I have absolutely no prejudice against RO. I do use it and love the results…it just didn’t turn out to be appropriate for these wines.

Walstib wrote:

Alright. Deacon, seems you forgot to add a ;)
I'm not sure if Halsey's response should have one too.
My internet sarcasm detector seems to be broken.

Yeah, I forgot to change to my sarcasm font (it automatically adds a ;-) at the end of each sentence!)

I passed on both the Sierra Club and the Parker Station, so I can't really say how good or bad they were; I was basing my comment on the feedback from the majority out here - I haven't heard much good about either of those offerings.

I'm just now getting caught up reading the 9 pages of posts. I'm finally done with my training here in Boston; damn, it's cold here!! I'm meeting some people for dinner tonight at 7 ET; I'll check in on the CyberPub when I get back to my hotel room. I brought a nice Cab with me for tonight; I think I'll open it now, and let it breathe, then have a glass or two before dinner.

Nice wine rack, Corrado, I'll have to check out your instructions when I get home, then make a trip to Lowe's. God knows I need some place to put all of this wine!

I got my shipping notice; my 6 bottles of PS will show up on Monday.

Corrado wrote:Hey, Kent-

There's been a decent amount of conversation about 'vertical tastings' but I haven't seen YOU weigh in on the matter yet (maybe you did & I missed it). I'm going woot-crazy and I'm going to throw a vertical tasting party with this trio.

I've never done one before and I was hoping that I could get some feedback from you how you'd go about doing it if you were going to do this at the winery for invited guests. Suggested light appetizer pairings, serving order, decant or not decant, time between tasting one wine and the next...

I thought it would be sort of a ribs theme to add to the party, "This is how Kent would do it if you flew across the country to CA."

Hi, Kent responding again

Vertical tastings can be lots of fun—especially in a situation like this where you know that the wine has only one parameter that is different from wine to wine---(in this case) the vintage. These three wines were made from the same grapes in the same vineyard each year. The winemaking was almost identical (I have been making wine from these grapes since 1989 and know pretty-well what the best way to do things.)

The way I would do a vertical is to set each person with three glasses. Pour all three wines and have them taste from oldest to youngest. In general for a tasting, I would not decant the wine first, as part of what is interesting in a tasting is watching the wine change during the course of the tasting. If you decant it, you lose out on tasting it right out of the bottle.

As to time between wines. Generally what we do in this sort of tasting is to get everything ready and pour the wines and then get the crowd to quite down and thoughtful taste through the wines one by one and write their notes. After that it is sometimes fun to have a bite to eat and have 20 or 30 minutes conversation before quieting people down (often hard to do on the second pass!) and repeating the tasting. You will be amazed at how much wine changes in the first thirty minutes out of the bottle.

As to foods for these wines…I think that Celia, my wife, posted some recommendations early this week…I am a terrible cook, so don’t ask me! Generally, however with PS, lots of nice rich flavors are good. Keep away from cheese (my personal feeling is that wine-and-cheese pairing is way overrated).

A short story about verticals: About two months ago one of our sales-people in the San Francisco area asked me if we could do a complete vertical of our Pinot Noir. The idea intrigued me, as I had never done the whole line-up before. I searched my cellar and managed to come up with a couple of bottles from every vintage from 1986 to 2005 plus a couple of “special” wines we had made over the years. We invited a group of 16 people total and we tasted through the entire line. We did it as three different flights with one course of a meal between each flight. Hundreds of glasses. It was the best ego stroke that I have had in 30 years of winemaking….without exception, every one of the wines was still lovely, only the 1993 was over-the-hill, and now I understand why actors like applause! A fun evening, we will repeat it in another 20 years and see how everything is doing then.

andyduncan wrote:

Yeah, I think it's been mentioned here before, but wine collections typically suffer from "Goldfish Syndrome" growing to fully occupy the space in which they are put.

i got a 45-bottle cooler around the same time i discovered wine.woot.com and now, 2 months and 9 woots later, that rascal is full and i still have the 6 petite sirahs and the 9 bottles from the winegirl deal to find a home for. i suppose i'll need to go back to keeping an eye on craigslist for another small one or a larger one, but i'm afraid that will just encourage my out-of-control wine acquisition.

is it time for the Great Austin Wine Tasting, yet?

bulging at the seams,
hank

andrewma wrote:

yes, i have. keep in mind there is a substantial difference in what is offered here and what the cab that is offered. Kent has been MUCH more picky in his PS grape picking. The cab is the 'mass' stuff he was talkign about that brings in the $. I think the $9.99 is a great deal.

As for winex, not to take the shine away from woot here, but yes, i've ordered before, and i just put in an case order for the 2002 barossa valley E&E black pepper shiraz. it's a CRAZY deal for a #21 top rated wine. 97 i think. i've had the 2003 vintage as they sell that at costco and it's dang good. i would let it cellar for another 2 years as it's so overwhelmingly powerful and all the spice and flavors are all just up in your face. even so, it's already so well balanced even though it's strong as heck.

back to wine.woot. the vertical trio here. i'll try the vertical flight next week with some friends maybe. i'm debating on whether to get another 'login' :-) hahaha does that actually work? i can order 3 from one accoutn and 3 from another even if they go to the same addy? oh wait. or could i 'gift' 3 more to a friend of mine down the street?

From Kent yet again,

Ramsay in our “second” label.

Under the Kent Rasmussen Winery brand we make three ultra-premium wines: Carneros Pinot Noir, Napa Valley Petite Sirah (this wine) and Napa Valley Chardonnay. Also, I love to make late harvest wines, but that is up to the wiles of the weather-gods and we can only produce one two or three times each decade. Prices on the KRW wines range from about $28 to $50/bottle.

Under the Ramsay brand (my wife’s name is Celia Ramsay) we make North Coast Pinot Noir, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley Merlot and for the first time in 2006 a North Coast Sauvignon Blanc. The Ramsay wines sell in the $20/bottle range.

While, I must admit that the KRW brand is my true heart-throb, making the Ramsay brand has proved to be an eye-opening and professionally challenging experience with a really positive outcome. When you make premium wine you do everything that you can to make it as good as possible…best grapes, best barrels and so on. The downside of all this is that the price gets to be a bit high for most wine drinkers (and sometimes even for me!) The idea that I had in creating the Ramsay brand was to make wine that was very very good, but was still at an affordable price (I am a populist in my soul). The idea has worked, and the Ramsay wines have been a huge success (buy some and find out!). From a winemaking point of view it is a challenge in that economics have to be part of the winemaking thought-process, something that I never had to worry about with super-premium wines. The net result however is really very gratifying…everyone wins, we don’t make a huge profit per bottle, but we make enough to be worthwhile, all the brokers, salespeople and retailers who sell the Ramsay wines make a nice profit because the wines are good and they are easy to sell, and in the end the consumer gets good value for their wine-dollar. A win-win for everyone.

First sucker: caramcd
Speed to first woot: 0m 44.250s

Last wooter to woot: GoBlueGuy

And I've done it... after lurking for a few weeks around here, this newb has officially purchased his 1st wine.woot (2 of them). Why not follow it up with my 1st post? I feel like I have just begun to lose my footing on what is a very slippery slope... Get ready Visa.

As an aside, I am thoroughly impressed by Kent's attention and responses to the posts on this forum. Bravo Kent, I look forward to enjoying your wine as much as I have your insight.

Thanks Kent for all these responses.

I can't believe I just bought 3. C'mon woot, you gotta come up with something I won't buy for next week. I sooooo thought I was safe when I saw this....unfamiliar and pricey. But nooooo....

nallie wrote:and oh Corrado, those cubes are beautiful. If it were cost effective for you to sell them in kits with pre-cut, pre-drilled, pre-primed wood, I would strongly recommend a stint on eBay. Those of us with limited access to powertools and/or pre-drilling anxiety issues would scarf 'em right up

I second this. If you have loads of spare time and a desire to make quality wine storage units at a great price, I'm sure plenty of us here would grab them up in a heartbeat. You could make it a second job. =) Just think of the possibilities. A permanent side deal link from wine.woot and space for you to advertise your wares. And just think of the incentives for woot. I could see a deal like "Order three sets of todays wine.woot offer and get 5 dollars off and free shipping on a Corrado Cube!" OK, I digress...

kevo152 wrote:

I second this. If you have loads of spare time and a desire to make quality wine storage units at a great price, I'm sure plenty of us here would grab them up in a heartbeat. You could make it a second job. =) Just think of the possibilities. A permanent side deal link from wine.woot and space for you to advertise your wares. And just think of the incentives for woot. I could see a deal like "Order three sets of todays wine.woot offer and get 5 dollars off and free shipping on a Corrado Cube!" OK, I digress...

At least you could partially offset the cost of your wine woot addic.. errrrr habit.

KRWINE wrote:
Hi from Kent again
I didn’t have anything better to do this afternoon, so I am happy to write about wine-techy stuff.

Kent - many thanks, I am sure I am not alone when I say that I am loving every minute of it. Wine.woot has turned into a bit of an intro to wine making/tasting/collecting class for me, with a different guest lecturer every week, and lots of class participation;) If only it was easier to make it to the "office hours"...

Another Thanks to Kent.

I jumped in early (for 3) after your first comment (I think) because I was worried about a sell out... since then I've become increasingly OK with my VISA balance. As soon as I get them I think 2 are going into some borrowed cellar space out at the parents. With luck they should resurface at about the right time!

Thanks to Kent for his insight and thoughtful postings.

so, this is a little OT...but i'll be moving this summer to a warm place (AZ) and want to either build my own wine closet (regulated T and humidity) or purchase a relatively inexpensive wine refrigerator for about 75 bottles. any recommendations on both? or threads that talk about this sort of thing?

I, for one, will be following up on THIS!

Neuse101 wrote:I, for one, will be following up on THIS!

And I, for two, was referring to Kent's message about the set of port offerings.

Also want to thank Kent for a great week. I was feeling very left out because of my stick-in-the-mud state of MA, but Kent's enthusiasm for Petite Sirah made me go out in search of a PS to try. I came home with a David Bruce PS because I am a big fan of David Bruce Pinot. Think I'll open it up tonight and head over to the cyber-pub!

Sigh. In for three at a time I really shouldn't. I tried (I really did) but Kent's posts won me over.

BTW, finally made some Lucy Brennan G Slings with that sake.

Ambrosia!

I was also trying to keep my wine habit in check this week but, alas, t'was all for naught. I went ahead and ordered one earlier today.
Ken, I too would like to thank you for all the details you have shared with us this week. I am a richer man...if you don't measure riches in actual wealth.

I live in MA and successfully ordered wine on this site a month or 2 ago. I don't know why MA is no longer on the list. Does anyone know what happened?

mellxk wrote:I live in MA and successfully ordered wine on this site a month or 2 ago. I don't know why MA is no longer on the list. Does anyone know what happened?

Check the main page and make sure you are on the ship to list. If not, write your state legislators.

Neuse101 wrote:Sigh. In for three at a time I really shouldn't. I tried (I really did) but Kent's posts won me over.

BTW, finally made some Lucy Brennan G Slings with that sake.

Ambrosia!

The recipe sounded yummy - thanks for the feedback - now I'll have to make some just to compare notes.

Wow.. fast shipping. ordered this morning and it's already sent out.

Tried the 2004 Bogle Petite Sirah tonite, couldn't find the concannon. Tasted best first sip out of the bottle and seemed to go downhill after I let it breathe for 30mins. Not sure why.

KRWINE wrote:HI

The set of six ports should be available within the next few months. They have been in the botltle about a year now and I just need to get labels put on them and they will be ready to go.

Kent

hey kent. andrewma here from woot.wine. i just got a 3 order and i'm tryign to get my wife's login to get her to get 3 sets of this woot wine.

when do you anticipate selling these ports though? any idea on price? and can ports be aged or do they pretty much sit and stay the same like liquor does...

AM

hankston wrote:

is it time for the Great Austin Wine Tasting, yet?

bulging at the seams,
hank

are you in austin texas? if so, let's definitely get a wine tasting together...

AM

I broke earlier today, in for one.

Can't wait!

I opened the 2000 tonight and had a couple glasses over the evening, the first with dinner. I really don't know how to describe flavors so I won't try to but this is definitely a bold, full flavored wine with a nice finish. A nice nose.
From a pure financial stand point, I should not have bought wine this week, but I am not in the least bit sorry I went in for these.
Thank you Kent!! Thank you (and curse you, in that loving sort of way) Wine Woot

I REALLY want this wine :*(

Darn politicians and their stupid alcohol laws in AZ