eljefetwisted wrote:There were several things that led us to what we kinda call "The Spanish Inspiration". The most compelling of course was simply that varieties like Tempranillo were already being grown in the area and producing delicious wines (Stevenot). And we personally like the Mediterranean varieties - we fell in love with Viognier, Marsanne/Roussanne, Syrah, Grenache, etc. when visiting Zaca Mesa back in the 90's.

Couple that with the desire to find a business niche: there are PLENTY of Cabs, Chards, etc. in the world. And everyone in the Foothills seems to have a Zin.

Couple that with the vineyard people we were working with telling us "if you want to be different, you should really look at Spanish varieties." Turns out our climate and soils are a lot like Priorat.

Couple that with wanting to be not only delicious and different, but also the most fun.

As far as new vs old world goes... we tend to swing old in terms of making wines that are food friendly. We take it easy on the oak, and we don't go for heroic extraction techniques. We prefer to do it in the vineyard, so to speak... but being native Californians we also tend to enjoy fruit forwardness.

I don't have any specific wines to compare against, but we do feel we are quite a bit like the more modern style Priorats and Riberos. Does that help?

That's a lot of coupling. Now I understand where JT got his inspiration for this week's description!

eljefetwisted wrote:That's what I said, you just said it longer...!

I like this guy. I have not bought yet, but I may end up doing so just because of Jefe!

tommythecat78 wrote:No, really...a moose bit my sister once.

Somebody should sack that moose.

WD, I hate to ask the dreaded question, but when will summer shipping start? We literally bypassed 80-degree weather - jumping from the chillys 70s straight to 95+. We might hit 100 today. And I have 2 W Woots in transit, and in for 1 this week.

Now for something completely different - llooking forward to delivery of the Spanish Inspiration. Thanks el jefe for your great participation - I'm learning lots. And you are one funny dude.

JanFP wrote:WD, I hate to ask the dreaded question, but when will summer shipping start? We literally bypassed 80-degree weather - jumping from the chillys 70s straight to 95+. We might hit 100 today. And I have 2 W Woots in transit, and in for 1 this week.

Now for something completely different - llooking forward to delivery of the Spanish Inspiration. Thanks el jefe for your great participation - I'm learning lots. And you are one funny dude.

We are in "quasi-summer" shipping mode now. Meaning, we are watching the weather, timing the shipments to be in constant transit (movement is our friend) and starting with some refrigeration to certain lane segments. i will be communicating further soon on "full fledged" summer shipping mode.

WD

JudyL1118 wrote:I've never tried any of these varieties of wine. I think Nallie has said good things about a tempranillo in the past, but can someone tell me what I might expect from something like this offering? I prefer reds, but really enjoy lighter wines in the summer...my range isn't too wide in the white category; so far Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Grigio have been my safe little forays in the world of "lighter wines". I need to be educated on what this offering is all about.

Help?

So I have a thought on this, that I was going to keep to myself (), but I figured I might as well chime in and get myself smacked so I learn better.

*MY* sense of trempanillo is that it is a good summer red. It is lighter bodied than many reds but still full flavored. In my mind, it compares to sangiovese in terms of body and flavor, though not as much spiciness. Kinda like a Pinot Noir, but not as cool (PN "feels" cool to me ... not , but more summer breeze cool ). I think of Don Quixote, and hot sunny plains with this wine.

So, there is that, for whatever it's worth.

So, should I be worried about my Ty wine getting cooked that I ordered week or so ago that left CA on Friday?

I'm a newbie to this online wine buying :-/

jessiebyrd004 wrote:What exactly does one consider to be "off beat" grapes?

off the beat = off the beaten path = less commonly featured on our beloved woot

ptoledo wrote:So, should I be worried about my Ty wine getting cooked that I ordered week or so ago that left CA on Friday?

I'm a newbie to this online wine buying :-/

See winefarm's post above. I think the idea is that if it ships on a Friday then it will be travelling all weekend and not sitting in a (possibly) hot warehouse.

conroo wrote:I'm in for the *%#&@! of it!

That's the spirit!

My recent addiction to wine.woot is completely justified now. Fed Ex just knock on my door with a bottle of Twisted Oak Tempranillo. My report will follow later on tonight. Thanks WD.

JudyL1118 wrote:I've never tried any of these varieties of wine. I think Nallie has said good things about a tempranillo in the past, but can someone tell me what I might expect from something like this offering? I prefer reds, but really enjoy lighter wines in the summer...my range isn't too wide in the white category; so far Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Grigio have been my safe little forays in the world of "lighter wines". I need to be educated on what this offering is all about.

Help?

The Hokey Pokey. (rimshot)

Seriously, if you are interested in moving into reds, this 3-pack might represent a good intro.

The Grenache is the lightest of the 3, and is the red I will pour for people who say the only drink white. On a hot day, cooling the Grenache down to say 50 degrees makes for a refreshing wine with BBQ stuff. (Not in the fridge all night cold, but in the freezer for 20 minutes cold - set a timer!)

The *%#&@! blend is a medium weight, and also goes well with BBQ and chilling down a little - but it has more body and more going on.

The Temp is the biggest of the three. It will have those tannins that pair so well with things like steak and lamb.

If you decide to go for it, I do recommend you try each of the wines with food, to give your palate a chance to catch up with the idea of red wines. Most importantly have fun with it!

It's obvious to me that WD has already gone into a defensive shipping policy.

It used to be that I'd get the wine delivered to me even before I'd get the shipping notice from Woot. Now, I get the shipping notice, and the status is "Billing Information Received", and it stays that way for a while.

Which is a good thing, in general.

thatguy314 wrote:off the beat = off the beaten path = less commonly featured on our beloved woot

Funny, I always thought that "off beat" came from jazz; more specifically "off of the metronome beat"

smlauren wrote:You're a frustrated computer programmer, aren't you?

Not quite frustrated but I don't get to write as much as I used to...

C HELLO WORLD IN FORTRAN
C
PROGRAM HELLO
PRINT *, "HELLO WORLD!"
STOP
END

I'm old school...

El Jefe (and the rest of the wootaholics out there)

Won't be at the winery on Friday I am sad to say................

With the wife unable to have any for the next nine months, I am going to be gentle for her...... doesn't mean I won't partake in any, but I can't see visiting wineries when she can't drink.

Found out this morning (Kaiser called) that the stork will be arriving at the ***** household in late Feb. or early March.............


Now to find some really, really good Champagne...............


Richard

tommythecat78 wrote:No, really...a moose bit my sister once.

Did the moose die?

Hammerofthegods wrote:El Jefe (and the rest of the wootaholics out there)

Won't be at the winery on Friday I am sad to say................

With the wife unable to have any for the next nine months, I am going to be gentle for her...... doesn't mean I won't partake in any, but I can't see visiting wineries when she can't drink.

Congrats! Why not enjoy visiting wineries together and selecting wines to enjoy after the blessed event? It means you'll have to spit everything you taste, but that's a good habit to get into anyway.

NB - If you visit Twisted Oak and spit everything you taste, and dump the excess, rather than being offended by the waste I will be impressed by the fact that you are giving yourself the best chance to enjoy and properly evaluate the many wines you are tasting. It's a tasting room, not a "drinking room". Taste, evaluate, enjoy, buy your favorites, and then get totally %@#$!-faced in the comfort and safety of your own home. Or something like that.

I am around today (Tuesday) but then I will be traveling tomorrow and I'll be out of town thru the rest of the wine.woot time - in Vegas selling wine during the day and enjoying a bit of poker in the evenings. I'll be checking in as I can. And if you are or will be in Vegas during this weekend time, please feel free to get in touch for a glass of wine or something...

jwhite6114 wrote:So I have a thought on this, that I was going to keep to myself (), but I figured I might as well chime in and get myself smacked so I learn better.

*MY* sense of trempanillo is that it is a good summer red. It is lighter bodied than many reds but still full flavored. In my mind, it compares to sangiovese in terms of body and flavor, though not as much spiciness. Kinda like a Pinot Noir, but not as cool (PN "feels" cool to me ... not , but more summer breeze cool ). I think of Don Quixote, and hot sunny plains with this wine.

So, there is that, for whatever it's worth.

Good points. Worth the

eljefetwisted wrote:Not quite frustrated but I don't get to write as much as I used to...

C HELLO WORLD IN FORTRAN
C
PROGRAM HELLO
PRINT *, "HELLO WORLD!"
STOP
END

I'm old school...

Here's old school.........

HELLO CSECT
USING *,12
SAVE (14,12)
LR 12,15
WTO 'Hello, world!'
RETURN (14,12)
END HELLO

eljefetwisted wrote:I am around today (Tuesday) but then I will be traveling tomorrow and I'll be out of town thru the rest of the wine.woot time - in Vegas selling wine during the day and enjoying a bit of poker in the evenings. I'll be checking in as I can. And if you are or will be in Vegas during this weekend time, please feel free to get in touch for a glass of wine or something...

You are certainly "Livin the Dream" there El Jefe.
Good luck in Vegas!
Here's a list put together by the wine.wooters of things to do in Vegas

winefarm wrote:We are in "quasi-summer" shipping mode now...
WD

Just chiming in to say WD's shipping strategies appear to be working. Our first Ty Caton order was timed to travel over the weekend, arriving in TX yesterday and delivered here (in Austin) this a.m. -- so only one day sitting in a warehouse. They were _slightly_ warm to the touch when they arrived at 11 a.m., true, but I know they would have been far worse off had they sat in a warehouse the entire weekend. We'll try one in a day or so, and report back to the Ty Caton thread. Our other Ty Caton order is en route right now, to be delivered Friday, before the weekend -- again good timing. Nothing is guaranteed with ground shipping, of course, but seems care and thought is going into the process, which is greatly appreciated.

marekny7 wrote:Looks like the Field Blend might be held back due to 80+ temperatures in NY as UPS tracking only shows billing date.

My Field Blend gets here on Friday, and I mistakenly used my new condo address on that one. And I won't be there to accept delivery, so I'm kinda screwed now in that it'll sit in the UPS warehouse all weekend until I'm able to pick it up. I wonder if they're open for pickups on Sat. I sure hope so.

My Ty#1 just arrived today, and #2 arrives on Thurs.

smlauren wrote:Here's old school.........

HELLO CSECT
USING *,12
SAVE (14,12)
LR 12,15
WTO 'Hello, world!'
RETURN (14,12)
END HELLO

I always liked the, um, BASIC simplicity of:

10 PRINT "HELLO, WORLD!"
20 END

(or if you're a troublemaker,
10 PRINT "HELLO, WORLD!"
20 GOTO 10
30 END)

smlauren wrote:Here's old school.........

HELLO CSECT
USING *,12
SAVE (14,12)
LR 12,15
WTO 'Hello, world!'
RETURN (14,12)
END HELLO

definitely paleoscholastic!!

1st time LabRat checking in. FedEx arrived as I was pulling out of the driveway on my way to Reno. She presented me with the 05 Tempranillo. We're planning on going to an Italian restaurant tonight, and the wine will come along. Report late tonight, or tomorrow morning.

foobarski wrote:I always liked the, um, BASIC simplicity of:

10 PRINT "HELLO, WORLD!"
20 END

(or if you're a troublemaker,
10 PRINT "HELLO, WORLD!"
20 GOTO 10
30 END)

<BREAK>

UbiDubi wrote:1st time LabRat checking in. FedEx arrived as I was pulling out of the driveway on my way to Reno. She presented me with the 05 Tempranillo. We're planning on going to an Italian restaurant tonight, and the wine will come along. Report late tonight, or tomorrow morning.

wow, that's a great idea! i never thought of bringing the lab rat bottle for a corking fee experience. cool

eljefetwisted wrote:I am around today (Tuesday) but then I will be traveling tomorrow and I'll be out of town thru the rest of the wine.woot time

really appreciate the insights and information.

wondering if you can explain the differences between the various tempranillos, granaches and mourvedes in the various offerings. just availability for sourcing or is there some real differences that the alchemey process then takes in a different/preferred direction rather than from a single vineyard.

on the aging, you mentioned earlier on that you want to avoid over-oaked final product (think that's an accurate paraphrase ). does the % of old and new oak temper the "oakiness" while also allowing you to cycle in new barrels?

finally, any statistically significant differences in the pH levels: seems like they're all in the food friendly range (even though they may pair up differently).

enjoy vegas.

Hammerofthegods wrote:El Jefe (and the rest of the wootaholics out there)

Won't be at the winery on Friday I am sad to say................

With the wife unable to have any for the next nine months, I am going to be gentle for her...... doesn't mean I won't partake in any, but I can't see visiting wineries when she can't drink.

Found out this morning (Kaiser called) that the stork will be arriving at the ***** household in late Feb. or early March.............

Now to find some really, really good Champagne...............

Richard

Congratulations! We're going to miss your informative and enjoyable reports, tho.

eljefetwisted wrote:Congrats! Why not enjoy visiting wineries together and selecting wines to enjoy after the blessed event? It means you'll have to spit everything you taste, but that's a good habit to get into anyway.

NB - If you visit Twisted Oak and spit everything you taste, and dump the excess, rather than being offended by the waste I will be impressed by the fact that you are giving yourself the best chance to enjoy and properly evaluate the many wines you are tasting. It's a tasting room, not a "drinking room". Taste, evaluate, enjoy, buy your favorites, and then get totally %@#$!-faced in the comfort and safety of your own home. Or something like that.

You are correct sir and my wife and I have decided that we need to do more spitting and less drinking (hey, I'm doing the driving so I need to be extra careful anyway)


See ya chicken lovers on Saturday (not you of course, you will be enjoying the wonderful and mild temps in Vegas.....)

eljefetwisted wrote:Not quite frustrated but I don't get to write as much as I used to...

C HELLO WORLD IN FORTRAN
C
PROGRAM HELLO
PRINT *, "HELLO WORLD!"
STOP
END

I'm old school...

000100 IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.
000200 PROGRAM-ID. HELLOWORLD.
000300
000400*
000500 ENVIRONMENT DIVISION.
000600 CONFIGURATION SECTION.
000700 SOURCE-COMPUTER. RM-COBOL.
000800 OBJECT-COMPUTER. RM-COBOL.
000900
001000 DATA DIVISION.
001100 FILE SECTION.
001200
100000 PROCEDURE DIVISION.
100100
100200 MAIN-LOGIC SECTION.
100300 BEGIN.
100400 DISPLAY " " LINE 1 POSITION 1 ERASE EOS.
100500 DISPLAY "Hello world!" LINE 15 POSITION 10.
100600 STOP RUN.
100700 MAIN-LOGIC-EXIT.
100800 EXIT.

Even older school.

While I haven't had the wines in this offer I did have, and review their Petite Sirah last month on my blog.You can read the full review at the link below.. But In short I found it to be well made and true to varietal. These wines are likely well worth checking out.

Read my review here

HitAnyKey42 wrote:I won't be there to accept delivery, so I'm kinda screwed now in that it'll sit in the UPS warehouse all weekend until I'm able to pick it up. I wonder if they're open for pickups on Sat.

Usually not, unfortunately. I wish UPS would make some kind of "intercept package" thing to get the delivery address changed or to immediately put it on hold. Then when they do a destination scan, it could yell at them and be like 'YO! New address! Here's a new label for it *spit out new label*'

JOATMON wrote:000100 IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.
000200 PROGRAM-ID. HELLOWORLD.
000300
000400*
000500 ENVIRONMENT DIVISION.
000600 CONFIGURATION SECTION.
000700 SOURCE-COMPUTER. RM-COBOL.
000800 OBJECT-COMPUTER. RM-COBOL.
000900
001000 DATA DIVISION.
001100 FILE SECTION.
001200
100000 PROCEDURE DIVISION.
100100
100200 MAIN-LOGIC SECTION.
100300 BEGIN.
100400 DISPLAY " " LINE 1 POSITION 1 ERASE EOS.
100500 DISPLAY "Hello world!" LINE 15 POSITION 10.
100600 STOP RUN.
100700 MAIN-LOGIC-EXIT.
100800 EXIT.

Even older school.

Whoa, I miss my mainframe cobol ;)

marekny7 wrote:My recent addiction to wine.woot is completely justified now. Fed Ex just knock on my door with a bottle of Twisted Oak Tempranillo. My report will follow later on tonight. Thanks WD.

Excellent! Welcome to the rat pack - I look forward to reading your thoughts on this

Hammerofthegods wrote:El Jefe (and the rest of the wootaholics out there)

Won't be at the winery on Friday I am sad to say................

With the wife unable to have any for the next nine months, I am going to be gentle for her...... doesn't mean I won't partake in any, but I can't see visiting wineries when she can't drink.

Found out this morning (Kaiser called) that the stork will be arriving at the ***** household in late Feb. or early March.............


Now to find some really, really good Champagne...............


Richard

Way to go Hotg! Congratulations!

Our's is due Thanksgiving. Our 3 year old needs someone shorter to boss around.

Now remember: with our wives in their condition, we're drinking for two now.

UbiDubi wrote:1st time LabRat checking in. FedEx arrived as I was pulling out of the driveway on my way to Reno. She presented me with the 05 Tempranillo. We're planning on going to an Italian restaurant tonight, and the wine will come along. Report late tonight, or tomorrow morning.

Try Rapscallion while you are in Reno. Great seafood etc. and they have our Petite Sirah on the list ;)

eric9tx wrote:See winefarm's post above. I think the idea is that if it ships on a Friday then it will be travelling all weekend and not sitting in a (possibly) hot warehouse.

My shipment arrived at work yesterday and I plan to TY one on tonight!