turbizzi wrote:Labrat report: In the closest situation I could get to a holiday gathering, I served my bottle of Adequate Gift to a group of friends getting ready to play Settlers of Catan.

Right away, everybody dug the name and the mad libs on the bottle, but surprisingly few people got the 'gift horse' gag.

I dished out small samples in disposable plastic stemware. People who bothered to smell got notes of cherry and berries with hints of coffee and orange peel in the bouquet.

Everybody agreed that it was a solid table wine. I think decaning for an hour or so would have mellowed out the in-your-face tannins, but I don't think it will wow wine neophytes near as well as Monkey Prize or Toothstejnn.

Still, my wife and I enjoyed it just a bit more than Emergency Holiday Provisions. I credit the big fruit up front, the easy finish and maybe what my wife called "hints of espresso."

tenuki wrote:Faux-rat: More general impressions than anything specific as this was after mead, whiskey, some really thin French wine I can't remember and desserts. I had the birthday boy fill out the blanks madlib style beforehand via e-mail. Knowing he had no significant other I just had him name a person, and he picked Obama so that added some nice humor.

Tried a touch right from the bottle, way too tight and chalky. Definitely needs time. One pass through the vinturi helped a lot. It's still muted and needs to breathe (and age). Full bodied, a little heat but less than I'd expect from something nearing 15%, nose muted as I'd mentioned, dark fruit (I'd go with currants as opposed to cherry or blackberry), with a touch of coffee, definitely some young tannins and a long finish. Pretty well balanced, just young. It opened up as game night went on, and people enjoyed it, unfortunately that also means they killed the bottle before I had a chance to return to it

I'm definitely glad I ordered and can't wait to try it again, but will also probably hold the rest until next year. I would certainly not gift it this year to anyone that doesn't know the term decant

timmyjwoot wrote:Just arrived.

Mmmmmm.... this is going to be fun.



Results: definitely more than Adequate. It's dry, as expected, with all those tannins. The fruit seems pretty green to me, not darker fruits but something "zippier". Yeah, I just made up a word. It's not hot at all like the Boss but there's also not any spice here and, like I said, the fruits are brighter and not as deep. I get more of a leather thing from this wine but not a dark "leather-and-cherries" feeling like I get in Merlots... this is different.

Overall I find this wine extremely enjoyable. It's the first time I've ever had a mostly Carignan blend and it's great. At the price I'm strongly considering another box.

thrawn1020 wrote:mmm. Picked mine up tonight as well as the Firestone Chardonnay. My bottles are cold to the touch, as I missed the early delivery attempt and had to pick them up at the distribution center. The Chardonnay to me was still fruit-forward, and I would certainly not say over the hill. It should last for awhile, but even if it doesn't, the price is more than fair. Significantly better than its price point, even for someone inexperienced in the varietal. I'd have been happy to pay 12-15 for what I tasted tonight.

But, back to this most Adequate of Holiday Provisions. The wine is fairly light, and I can see my fingers through it. The aromas and flavors I would describe as somewhat jammy. Cherry Jam, with a little cola in there for now. My bottle is cool to the touch now, though, so I would expect that it would open a bit when it's had time to open, and warm a bit.

Some people say they get hints of tobacco. There's always some question as to whether they mean fresh tobacco or smoked tobacco flavors. I kind of get a tobacco thing, but it's the fresh kind. Tasty, makes you want to eat it.

Per usual, these offers deliver on the premise of value per dollar spent. Nothing oxidative in the aromas or flavor profile, which can be a challenge in this price range. The packaging is absolutely gorgeous. I especially love the woot foil on the top, with the exclamation point, and the wine.woot labeled corks. I look forward to the rest of this bottle over the next few days. I plan to put this one on the counter, and taste it through a couple days, as recommended.

CAGrl wrote:Sorry to everybody, but here's a late lab report. The bottle was delivered Tuesday to my mother in law's house and delivered to my place today. Also, not very good at describing wine.

Opened the bottle, and took a sniff. The nose wasn't overly hot, which to me is a good sign. Even my mother in law agreed. Definitely has a good nose.

I'm not very good at getting all the complexities that are present in the wine, but at first taste, I felt like it had a peppery aftertaste. Very good. Besides that my first thought was that it was smooth. To me this is better initially than Boss Monster was. To me that started out really hot.

After an hour, it has smoothed out more. This is an amazing wine and I am contemplating on whether to buy more. I've never had Carignane and now I want to try more of it.

Hope this helped. And sorry for such a late report.

Offer of 12/10 -- Esoterica 2006 Late Harvest Viognier Trio



This offer's pack:
andyduncan and more and still more
kylemittskus and more and more and yet some more
ArcheDiver announcement and report
spdrcr05
ddeuddeg
tsrblke and more and another
polarbear22 and final
yellowroe
brandeano
PetiteSirah
MarkDaSpark announcement and report
aces219 (delayed) and report

andyduncan wrote:So, Kent, any advice on serving temperature?

kylemittskus wrote:Did the FedEx lady leave a note at my door? Yes.

Did I watch her drive away from my house? Yes.

Did I chase her down? I did.

Did I speed? I might have.

Did I stop at stop signs, risking losing her? I'm in CA so I did one of those fancy CA stops.

Do I have my labrat bottle? YES!

I will post Danielle's and my notes tonight and hang around to answer specific questions. Until then, I will not read the boards lest my tasting be tainted by the TEN other reports. You read that right: ELEVEN rats this time around.

AndyDuncan Labrat post:

andyduncan wrote:Regardless of whatever back-room negotiations and handshake-sealed favoritism, cronyism and other isms that played a part in my getting a labrat bottle (most likely the "Andy Duncan (Still Alive) Memorial Scholarship Fund For Children of Wine Industry Moguls Who's Last Names Rhyme With Ruddert" and associated tax-exempt charities), we received the entirely unfair package this morning and put it on ice. Literally. In the freezer. Next to Jimmy "Two Fingers" McCoy (Technically one of them is a thumb, you can take that particular semantic argument up with the guy who gave him that nickname: Mike "Tiny" Mitchell. Hint: he's not tiny).

But, that is neither here nor there. What is here is wine. To business:



We let it warm up a bit and poured into the only glasses we have, which are red wine glasses. We drank it somewhere around 45-60 degrees (as it warmed up).

Intensely apricot. Apricot preserves. The syrup that drains off a can of apricots. Except way cleaner and more intense. Very sweet. One of these 375s is a four-eight person ordeal. And what an ordeal. The floral nose of the viognier is mixed with more apricots. It's a thick, viscous syrup of a wine – you can't really pull air through it, you just sort of have to slosh it around in your mouth. There's some nice things going on in the midpalate that are difficult to describe, but the important thing is that they're there, it's not a one-dimensional kind of thing. The finish lingers like a piece of hard candy. It's intense, concentrated.

Corruption is a tasty, tasty mistress.

Kylemittskus Labrat Post:

kylemittskus wrote:

First of all, I would like to propose a toast.

To WD and the entire WCC crew and wine.woot. From one offering a week to two offerings a week to three offerings a week, plus gift weeks, and the first successful wine.woot off. Damn fine job!

Onto the wine. BUY IT. Any questions?

Okay, okay. I'll tell you why.

Color: Rich gold to very light orange.

Nose: Very pretty nose of apricot and caramel. There's something else I can't place. Rich, beautiful nose. Not a huge nose, but very nice.

Taste: Somewhat viscous although not overly syrup. In between an off-dry wine and a really cloying wine. Coats the palate. What I dislike about some dessert wines is that they are flabby with no acid. They're sweet and sweet and sweet. With KR's LHV, there's a bit of a sour note on the far back which is nice. Apricot dominates the palate but not jammy apricot. Like a really sweet, real apricot. This wine is not overpowering with flavor or sweetness. It's almost elegant.

Finish: This is where I think this wine stumbles a bit. The finish is a bit short lasting about 5 seconds on the palate and maybe 10 or 15 seconds in the throat.

Aging: From KR's comments and from the weight of it... for a very long time indeed.

Overall: Very very enjoyable. Beautifully made, good fruit, not flabby, not cloying. KR does dessert wines very well. I want more port!!!

If you care about a 100 point rating, I'd call this a 90-91. As it's been sitting here while I type, it's getting better. I think a few minutes in the glass does good things for this wine.

I may post more comments later (I'm going out though) and either myself or someone else will post more tomorrow. The other person is a wine.woot addict by proxy. We split many orders and she finally ordered her own (the truffles). Her name is PARKSKITCHEN so it will either be me or her tomorrow. Or both!

I'll check back later tonight either way in case I missed something or anyone wants to ask me something specific.

"This is nectar."

ArcheDiver chiming in with his Labrat notice.

ArcheDiver wrote:On the first night of Hanukkah
WineDavid Sent to me...

a bottle of esoterica to be labratted...

sorry... doesn't quite fit the tune. Still at work, and first chance I've had to get on the computer all day... something about retail store and holiday season... ah well... it pays the bills... by bills I mean WD's bills. Anyways, I'll be heading home in about 2 hours, promise to post tasting notes later tonight to get those on the fence, off of it, before the weekend runs out. Back in a couple hours.

AndyDuncan Labrat part 2:

andyduncan wrote:Yup, it's one of the bonzai grapevines (not to be confused with Bonzai Pipeline) that were up on woot last week. I thought it was too ridiculous to pass up.

Good to hear about the temp, that's around where we tasted it, it was refrigerated (not technically in the freezer, I lied), and it warmed up pretty quickly in the glasses.

Thanks for the wine Kent, another great bottle.

PolarBear22 Labrat post:

polarbear22 wrote:
OK. Thirty minute drive to the FedEx station. Turns out the driver for my neighborhood had to help fill in for the overnight pick-up guy. Showed up at the station about 30 minutes late. And then another thirty minute drive home.

Dinner. And then to open the labrat bottle.

Viscous on the pour. Dark golden color. Nice floral aromas with a hint of apricot or peach. This is a thick, syrupy sweet wine. Swish it around the mouth and chew it. It is almost that thick. And the finish lasts forever.

SWMBO's first impression was that it was too thick and sweet. Second sip, just too sweet for her. Next thing I knew, it was in my glass. And she switched to Scotch.

I keep sipping at it. It will last most of the night.

I am enjoying this. But I can't drink much more than one glass at a time. So I have no idea how we will go through the six bottles, if I have to drink alone. Then again, I have a couple of decades to figure it out.

I enjoyed this wine. And the flavor is fantastic. But it may be too syrupy and sweet for some. (You'd think that 35% RS would have given a clue to that.)

This bottle will be corked, refrigerated and I will taste and comment tomorrow.

EDIT: Any comments in this review that are negative should not be interpreted as a poor quality wine. This is an excellent well-made wine. It is a style that my wife does not care for, and a little too sweet for me.

tsrblke Labrat post:

tsrblke wrote:First Time Rat here, so be kind.

I had to drive down to the Fedex to pick this up. We (my fiancee and I) drank it it a little warm not wanted to wait to long, so it was around 60ish I'd guess.

Now then to the notes!
Goodnews is Fiancee's not mad that I bought it. So I'll start with her tasting notes. She really liked the small bottle. Once poured, she liked the smell alot. She thought it tasted like Mead, and about the same consistancy (I disagree, but we'll get to me in a minute.) She also commented that it made her wintery throat feel better. She thought it was a perfect winter Wine.

Now My Notes:
I probably should have chilled it a bit more. But impatience got the best of me. I agree that it has Mead charactistics, definite flavors of honey (and roughly the same color.) andyduncan's picture is spot on with the color, not really white, more honey gold. It is very thick (thicker than mead I'd say. Syrup thick) you could tell from the way it poured, but that worked great for it. I thought it had a bit of Alcohol smell on the nose (perhaps that's from working in a lab and being leary of that smell, because it means spill) but there was no Alcohol at all in the test. I really enjoyed it. And am glad I have 3 more on the way. One is certainly replacing cake on NYE Definately a great finish after dinner (after waiting a bit, it's almost a meal in itself.)

tsrblke Labrat post 2:

tsrblke wrote:I'll follow up with this, after breathing a bit (and wrapped in the wine chiller jacket I have to offset my impatience.) I'm getting tastes of butterscotch. My fiancee disagrees and says it tastes of "hard candy, like at the very end when it melts down your throat." Which I will interpret as "butterscotch." to make myself feel better.

Aces219 update post:

aces219 wrote:We are having a baby tonight/tomorrow morning. Which means no tasting notes right now. However, I had 19 bring the bottle to the hospital, so maybe we will pop it to celebrate!

yellowroe Labrat post:

yellowroe wrote:As I said I was picked as a labrat - husband and I drank it after a bottle of Wellington Victory which we devoured during dinner - very good wine.

Half hour later we opened the Esoterica.

Aroma was wonderful - almost like peaches

After the first sip I thought of apricots and peaches. Hubby said definitely peachy for sure. Very sweet and I wish I had some ice cream to pour it on - I bet it would taste wonderful on vanilla ice cream. It was very thick and syrupy so would go well with ice cream. Ummmm!

After taking the second sip my husband thought it tasted like scotch. Don't know why because I don't like scotch and this was very nice. Sweet as can be but a nice after dinner dessert wine. Can't drink too much of this in one sitting because of the sweetness. After my second sip I thought it was almost like a cognac or Grand Marnier but a little thicker and sweeter.
Yes, we liked it but can't have too much at one time. Nice way to end a meal.
Thank you for letting us try it and I'm glad we have more on the way.

brandeano Labrat post:

brandeano wrote:First-time labrat here.

Popped open the lovely designed bottle at ~50F. Light golden color similar to the fresh apricot aroma and taste to follow.

The apricot flavor is certainly quite prevalent, although there is some underlying flavor I found difficult to identify precisely. My accomplice believed it to resemble a caramel flavor although I'm sure something else is at work. Hopefully the other rats shall provide some further insight on this.

You certainly don't have to take much of a sip to get a mouthful of flavor with this one. I've been sipping on it for about two hours now and would be glad and able to through the rest of the night with its potency.

I was expecting a dense syrup with the amount of sugar in this, but it really isn't terribly thick.

The finish is rather short at less than ten seconds, although I haven't experienced many dessert wines with a long finish anyhow.

All-in-all, quite a delightful dessert wine, particularly at this price, as long as you enjoy apricot.

ddeuddeg Labrat post:

ddeuddeg wrote:FedEx guy shows up around 12:45, we're at work, so he leaves a door tag (obviously not our regular guy). It says I can pick it up after 4:30. So we head off to our 6:45 dance lesson a bit early, stopping at the FedEx depot on the way. By the time we stop off at the local Irish pub for a pint of Guinness and a fish fry (gotta show the visitor from Spain some of our local traditions, don'tcha know), the wine had chilled perfectly in our balmy 23° outdoor temperature.
Arriving home, we got a fire going in the fireplace and sat down to sample the Esoterica LHV I'd been looking forward to for almost 24 hours, since receiving George's email.
First impression: a gorgeous amber/honey color, and an equally gorgeous nose that permeated much of the room. A beautiful sweet honey-like fragrance with a hint of peach blossom.
Savor that for a bit, swirl it around, and then just a little sip. A little is quite enough. This is potent stuff, apricot nectar for sure, some spiciness and floral something I can't get a fix on, but it's the same I always pick up in Viognier. There's also a bit of raisin (José, our Spanish friend mentioned Sultanas) and Flaming Fury peaches. They're a very sweet variety we get from the only farmer in WNY who grows them, and we buy them every week they have them. And the wine has a very pleasant glycerin feel in the mouth.
Finish: this is a very sweet wine, but not the cloying sweetness that tends to leave a bitter aftertaste. At least 90 seconds of the lingering apricot flavor and the glycerin feel.
As the wine warmed more toward room temperature, it maintained all of the nose and flavor, but lost a little of the viscosity. No harm there.
I have to admit that I have always had a bit of a sweet tooth, although I generally prefer my wines dry, with meals. This was a time to listen to the winemaker, and have it for dessert rather than with dessert. However, I do have some ideas for desserts I'l try it with. I'm happy to have 6 bottles on the way (9 if the service.woot guys took care of my request to up the order). Right now, it's taking all my will power to resist finishing the bottle this evening.
José said he thought it was "excellent," with an enthusiasm you have to hear to appreciate.

ArcheDiver Labrat Post:

ArcheDiver wrote:Finally made it home from long long day at work. Ate a quick dinner then on to dessert. And oh... what a dessert. It pours smoothly, not quite syrupy, but definetly thicker then your average wine. The color golden, with a hint of amber. An aroma of peaches and honeysuckle make me think of summer, and forget the cold San Francisco rain. Ok... thats used up my poetic ability for the night, so now a little more straight forward with the report.

First taste, I'm getting caramel and honey. Mrs. Diver is tasting apricots. I ask her what dessert she would want this with, before I even finish the sentence she responds with 'creme brule'. Of course she has been trying to get me make creme brule for ages, so her answer is suspect. We both definetly agree with the poached pears idea. Might have to up my order just to get extra bottles to try that with. A bit of actually thought time, and the missus adds she thinks this would pair well with coconut or almolnd desserts. I'm wishing for apple pie right now myself. Also kicking myself for not saving some of last night's Dungeness Crab for tonight. This would have been great finish to fresh cooked crabs. Guess I'm going back to Half Moon Bay to get more when the main shipment arrives.

Going to let my glass sit for awhile, come back to it in an hour and see how its doing then. If there is anything new to report, you will all be the first to here. (Wife has gone to bed, so she'll have to read my thoughts in the morning)

Loweeel/PetiteSirah Labrat Post:

PetiteSirah wrote:Color:amber. Very thick and unctuous; fig bomb nose upon opening the bottle, in the glass apricots, plum wine, lychee and citrus zest underneath the somewhat oxidized white dessert wine typicity.

On the mouth: honey, pears, more lychee, lifts on the finish, not cloying as it goes down.

Generally not my thing as it is a bit too sweet for me. I prefer port style dessert wines, but I am glad I ordered this as I am always interested to try Kent's Esoteric experiments.

How about a Petite Sirah port next time, Kent? And will we see you at Dark and Delicious so you can show those amateurs how it's done?

Gingerly Yours, Loweeel.

Cheron .... don't read this post ....



.... this means you!!!




I haz golden ticket!! Got it late today (7pm from my UPS box) and no email notice. Nothing in any Spam folder.

Will taste tomorrow, but usual suspects all away .... Nostrom0 is in Ohio. I mean Java is busy??? watching the films is up with that??


But zTimothyBz is available. So tomorrow night!!


Edit: Um, err, Saturday night. Since when I posted it was already tomorrow. DOH!


Edit/Edit: Aha! Brother George sent it to an email address I don't use for Woot. And it went to the Junk Mail folder, which is why I didn't see it.

kylemittskus update Labrat:

kylemittskus wrote:I completely agree. It certainly isn't thin but I have had far thicker dessert wines (Rombauer Joy comes to mind. It was thicker, more expensive, and far less complex.)

Also, in my report I mentioned that there was something on the nose I couldn't pin down. Loweeel hit it perfectly: lychee. Now it's all I can smell. Very pronounced and gorgeous.

spdrcr05 Labrat Post:

spdrcr05 wrote:Probably the last rat... my apologies as I didn't get to pick up my bottle from FedEx until this morning as my flight last night arrived after closing.

Drinker profile: Partial to big bad cabs & meaty pinots with strong tannins. I'd say I'm into PS ... but I'm an amateur who gladly listens to PS & others when deciding what to buy & when to drink it. I have recently started to buy & am developing a greater appreciation (thank you iByron for your guidance & informed debate on other topics as always... I've still got your bottles) for the sweeter side of life, as that's all the GF likes to drink.

Onto the wine at hand...

The cork was wet about a 3rd of the way up, which surprised me. The wine poured with a slight viscosity, but was not as thick as I was expecting.

Color: A beautiful glowing amber... I almost wanted to look for a fossil so I could extract some DNA and... oops, sorry, started into my world domination fantasy.

Nose: Upon opening, I got that classic Sauterne diesel hint but it blew off rather quickly and from that point on all I got was apricots, a hint of kiwi & melons... all of it drizzled with a toasty warm caramel.

Taste: Noticeable but not overwhelming alcohol on the palate. The sweetness is strong but not cloying. This reminds me of the thin remains of an apricot / brandy reduction served over french vanilla ice cream. The flavors coat the palate and linger for a good 15-20 seconds... which becomes more pronounced as the wine warms slightly in the glass. There is a definite hint of acidity that prevents this from going over the top.

Overall: A very enjoyable wine. Wonderful to hold in the glass and sip over time. Not too sweet so that a second glass is a consideration for me... which I usually find unthinkable.

GF's 2 word summary: MMMMMMMMM, Yummy! (Sssssshhhhhhhh nobody tell her I got 3 orders)

kylemittskus Part 2:

kylemittskus wrote:

Part Doux:

Danielle doesn't like it. She says it's too sweet and she says the alcohol heat is too much.

The four other tasters all liked it. The finish is longer but I still don't think it's long. PB's palate vs. mine I suppose. Still, very nice wine.

tsrblke Part 2:

tsrblke wrote:

It's worth noting that I finished off the bottle tonight with another friend (fiancee was off celebrating the new car, and I have papers to write.) He felt it was just a tad too sweet for him. He did notice the same alcohol smell when he sniffed it that I mentioned in my report. But also commented that he couldn't taste it. (I wonder if the high sugar pushes more alcohol into vapor, resulting in that smell) Fair note, he's primary a beer man, so this was new for him.
I felt the wine lost a fair bit of flavor in the fridge overnight (it also sat a bit while my friend poured his glass and I worked on dishes, so perhaps that played a part.) That's not to say it had gone bad, it was still quite tasty, there were just less hints of honey and apricot, and I felt some of the sweetness had gone. Again though, still quite tasty, but I think I'll try to finish the whole bottle next time (with more people).
Another thing I noticed, apparently my cork broke when I opened it yesterday. I typically recork using the original cork upside down, and I noticed a crack when I pulled it out of the fridge. I vaugely remember it being in there when I opened the wine last night. Long story short, the cork broke when I pulled it out. Luckily my handy dandy corkscrew prevent it from being a wash. I imagine I did something wrong when opening the bottle the first time.

All and All, this is a very good wine if you're a dessert wine/super sweet wine fan. Low Alcohol content means that the flavor (and sugar) is really the limiting factor in drinking. Personally I'd try to finish the bottle rather than recorking.

Viognier Labrat MarkDaSpark:





Tasted with zTimothyBz and his neighbor Dave. And the Woot Monkeys of course!!



Yes ... All the Monkey ... Black, Blue, Red, Pink, Green, Yellow, Orange, Brown Camo, Orange Camo, Purple, Teal, White, PSychedelic, and the two Mini-Monkeys (Red & Black).




Pretty, pretty cork!



And no, those aren't my fingers behind them!!



Drinker profiles: Tim likes reds (especially Wellington & Corison), but also likes Madeira and Sherries. Dave is a beginning wineaux. MdS likes reds (except PN for the most part), whites (esp. Tablas Creek), and dessert wines (LH, Madeira, Port, etc.) except for IceWines.


Wine Time!!!

The wine poured nicely, but was not as thick as reported by some. Temperature was 58° when tasting began.

Color: Golden Amber … Tim has his own amber for starting his world domination fantasy. (See Pics).




Nose: Upon opening, we got that classic Sauterne hint. Tim and I got was apricots. Dave got overripe cantaloupe as well.

Taste: No alcohol on the palate. The sweetness is strong but not cloying.


We had it on it's own, then with some oatmeal crackers with White Cherry Preserves and Apple Butter to try. Was very nice with an Irish White Cheddar, and went well with some Vanilla Ice Cream as a topping.



Final taste at temperature was 67°


Overall: We all enjoyed it, and there was less than a third left when we were done. Left the remainder with Tim for Irmgard to try.

tb - great deal
d - fruity, good for dessert
MdS - Still love it. Hated to leave remainder with Tim, but glad more is on the way ...


Sweetness: [scale 1 to 5]

t - 4.5
d - 4.5
m - 4.0

Try it with:
All - light custard, crème brulee, flan



Tim had more poignant comments, but none fit for mixed company.

aces219 wrote:Aces and 19 checking in with a last-minute rat report...finally got around to our celebratory bottle of hospital wine. Tasted out of juice glasses with our gorgeous baby across the room.

Aces:
color: amber, clarity of apple juice
smell: apricot with a little petroleum
reminds me of a liqueur for slow sipping as opposed to a dessert wine
has oxidized characteristic reminiscent of cognac/brandy/sherry
syrupy when swirled around in mouth
complex, with lots of flavors if tasted very slowly and swirled for a while
spicy element, cloves maybe?
tastes like heaven after 8 months!

19:
color: golden-brown, the color of a beer
smell: apple
thick
sweet without being too sweet
his kind of dessert wine
likes it, glad we have 3 more bottles coming
Does it pair well with Percocet, aces?
I'm going to have some more!

What a treat! Thanks wine.woot, and sorry we are late with our report...I am sure you understand!

polarbear22 wrote:Final labrat comments.

After three nights, I don't discern much change in this wine. Maybe not quite so mouth coating, which I appreciate. The aromas remain as well as the wonderful flavor.

Last night, I experimented with an ice cube in the glass. It did reduce the sweetness, but took something away from the wine. If I had not tasted full strength, I would have enjoyed the diluted wine. But it really did not add to the wine, but dimished.

Too bad my wife does not like this. I keep going back for more, and since it lasts for several days, I can keep enjoying it.

Offer of 12/14 -- Woot Cellars Sparkling Wine – Two Pack



This offer's pack:
cheron98 (with accomplice oppsie)
Cesare
darlenee1
mother

Cesare wrote:
It's definitely Windsor. Paper label. The back is cool. Notes to come...
Back label:

Cesare wrote:

Labrat report
Bottle arrived just before 7pm nice and chilled already. Stuck it in the fridge while I went out to pick up sushi. TMR- yes, bubbly does go great with sushi.
Popped the bottle gently but it still made a huge Pop. Nice carbonation on this. You can really see it in the glass, looks nice. Color is light, like an American light beer. Nose is decent, some fresh sweet apple and some pear and this musty note on the backend. Not quite the bread/yeasty smell but something else. On the palate this is dry with a little fruit but not sweet and some minerality. Something interesting happens as you taste it though, it dissapears! NO midpalate. Then the finish kicks in fast and it lasts for a good bit. I actually like the finish, nice mellowing flavors. Overall this is pretty basic but that doesn't mean bad. I've had much worse for only slightly less money. It went perfectly with the sushi, it cut through all the salt and was easy drinking and refreshing. I wouldn't pair it with anything heavier than that. Later I tried it with some cookies (non chocolate) and it was also very good together.

oppsie wrote:No time to beat around the bush as eager non-sparkly-loving, Woot Cellars-faithful wine drinkers await my labrat-by-proxy report on Le Reboot, fully hyphenated. I have just returned from my laboratory duties at chez cheron98.

As previously stated, I am not really a fan of sparkling wines. They just don't do it for me. I think fizz, I want to guzzle. Tis human nature. Faced with a choice between sparkly and Franzia, I would pick water.

For those wondering if this is the sparkly to push them off the fence, I come bearing news: it is probably not. It's fine to drink, but I'm not pressing the big yellow button.

Bacon, baking soda, and honeysuckle on the nose. Taste: Michigan winter roadside with a heavy hit of rock salt. No, seriously, it was really salty. I was extremely thirsty after drinking the Reboot, and the finish was very long, minerally salt. It also produced some mucas-like substance in the back of my mouth. Maybe somebody can tell me the chemical makeup of this?

If you're a sparkly-lover, by all means, buy! If you're not...at your own risk.

Megathanks as always to WineDavid for the opportunity to taste and expand my palate. And to all a good night.

So, mother came over to rat with me (he's a rat too!. My husband left us alone to "do our thing" ;)
Upon pouring, the wine is a lovely pale straw color. The bubbles rise vertically, without the vortex pattern I saw in the Mumm offerings. There is no nose tickling.

The nose displays concord grape and green apple on first sniff.
Our first taste is pretty cancellation. There is a lot of malic acid and green apple flavors. There is none of the yeasty sur lees flavor going on, and the mouthfeel is almost astringent.We agreed this would be a great crowd pleaser/wedding wine. I would score it in the low 80's.

Dinner is chicken and chickpeas masala, lentil biryani, and raita with pitas.

The wine is not a food wine. Drinking it with the food takes all flavor from it, to the point that it's like drinking lime seltzer. The exception is the raita, which enhances the wine. Definitely meant to be had with creamy dairy, but not the traditional sparkler pairings like spicy Asian and Indian foods.

After dinner, mother and I decided we like the wine more. Not because we are drunk, but because it has warmed up. AH-HA! Do not serve this straight out of the fridge, but closer to 50 degrees. Now, the nose exhibits lychees and almonds. And the mouthfeel is much creamier. mother said "My tongue feels the opposite of tannic" or something like that.

I would probably up the scoring to mid-80's.
This is decent, but not anything fantastic. The bottle label makes it worth the purchase, but I think there are better bottles for similar pricing.
As a reference, I like Mumm Grand Annee, Veuve Cliquot, and Coppola Blanc de Blancs. I do not like Moet and Chandon white label.

...

mother wrote:Just got back from sharing some reboot with Darlene- she has all the notes, I'm posting from memory.

At first sip (no food, right out of the fridge) the stuff was a major disappointment. Nothing like what oppsie tasted (thank god!) but still not so good. Some malic acid (green apples), short finish, only aroma was what I would term concord grape. Not a particularly smooth mouthfeel. None of the buttery or creamy or bready characteristics we were looking for out of something sur-lee/late disgorges/whatever.

Still cold we then tried it with some Indian type food. This is a drink alone wine. It cannot stand up to strong food- you could have been drinking seltzer with some lime in it. It did go oddly well with the raita however.

After really trying to like the stuff we had resigned ourselves to the fact that neither of us would choose to buy it to drink.

Then something nice happened- It warmed up. What a difference that made! Still no yeasty notes but a nice smooth mouth-feel. More complex nose, some lychee in there with the grapes now! Longer finish. It was actually nice.

It took effort to drink the first half of the bottle, the second half just drained itself.

The labels are awesome but in all honesty you are buying the label as much as the brut. Should make nice mimosas

mother wrote:To be clear- I don't think it's bad. Straight from the fridge it's not so good but it was quite nice once it warmed up 10-15 degrees.

If you eat this with spicy food you will honestly not be able to tell that you aren't drinking lime seltzer, sh*t you not.

The QPR is nowhere near in line with what we've come to expect from Woot Cellars. The extra value comes from the label- at least enough for one order.

The mimosas thing was me being funny... Ok me trying to be funny. Just don't use it to chase shots of sriracha when ice cold and you'll be fine man!

cheron98 wrote:Rat Report: 2001 Woot Cellars REBOOT_



(click images for larger)

...And I kid you not, my computer totally crashed just a minute ago and I had to reboot and retype. Anyway.



Color: 5/5 - Good clarity, pale yellow in color, like wheat. A good number of smallish bubbles floated eagerly upwards from the bottom of the glass to the top. Pretty.

Nose: 11/15 - Pleasant but on the plain side. Granny smith apples were the first thing to come to mind. Zoomba agreed and said like very new granny smiths. Cyborg waxed poetic about honeysuckle and pears. I eventually could see the honeysuckle, but not sure I would've gotten there without the suggestion. I also pulled out some wheat toast.

Taste: 6/10 - Again, pleasant but plain. Predominantly pears and sour apples. Zoomba added really early season white grapes. It was tart, for sure.

Finish: 6/10 - Meh. As oppsie stated, salty. Like rock salt. Very minerally finish, and it lasted forever. Not unpleasant, but not really the kind of finish I like to have.

Aging: 2/5 - It's probably peaking now, so I would definitely have these for New Years and not really plan on holding it for long. May will be interesting to see how these hold up for the Woot Cellars Celebration.

Overall: 3/5 - I didn't dislike it. It didn't rock my socks, either. But we did finish the bottle tonight. It drinks very easily, and will be just perfect for a party when you have food floating around and everyone's in good spirits. We broke out some Brandini Toffee to have with it, and they complemented really well. Could also see having this with a rich cheesecake, soft sweet creamy cheeses, desserts, strawberries.

Total: 83 pts.

Offer of 1/4/2010 -- Riverbench Winery Estate Pinot Noir - Four Pack



2 2006 Riverbench Estate Pinot Noir
2 2007 Riverbench Estate Pinot Noir

This offer's pack:
Nostrademous (2007)
Echols (2006)
SoSiouxme (2006)
McMalbec (2007)

Nostrademous wrote:

I was lucky enough to labrat this wine this week (I got a bottle of the 2007 Pinot Noir). My wife and I finished the whole bottle in one sitting and have the following reactions to share.

Quick side note: the stated alcohol content of the 2007 is 14.2%

- when RiverBench posted and stated "The 2007 is still young, a little rough around the edges. It's darker and has more 'oomph' - just hasn't mellowed out yet" she definitely hit it on the nose. This Pinot is definitely packing some 'oomph' (it's on the heavy-side).

- my wife's first reaction was that it is definitely on the heavy-side and she would not have guessed that this was a Pinot but rather more of a Cab.

- I would definitely suggest that this wine be aged 6-12 months before drinking as currently it tastes a bit young. Hopefully this will smooth out some of the rougher edges.

- I can definitely see this wine being good with some spicy food as it is more intense in flavor and surprises the palate.

Having said the above, the wine definitely grows on you as you drink more and more... I'm very anxious to try the 2006 and see how much smoother/lighter it is.

Echols wrote:

Knock. Knock.

Who's there?

LABRAT!!!!

I was lucky enough to receive a late present from wine.woot.

My wine experience is limited so bare with me....

We were gifted the 06 Riverbench Winery Estate Pinot Noir. Opened it up right away. Both my wife and I were very pleased by the presentation of this Pinot. Poured it straight into a glass, no decantering. Don't think it needs to be decantered, just my opinion. Certainly wouldn't hurt. The 07 might benefit from some time but that remains to be seen.

Very bright burgundy, nice mild earth aromas and strong berries. Not a heavy wine, nice and light like a Pinot should be. Taste hints of berries, maybe strawberries some minor hints of blackberries.

We happened to be eating a grilled chipotle and avocado turkey panini. It was a bit spicy. I must say the unplanned pairing of this 06 Riverbench Estate Pinot paired very nicely with the spice of the sandwich. Says a lot as this sandwich would hold up to a strong Cab.

To sum it up, I wish I would have bough THREE!

Cheers!

SoSiouxme wrote:

Charlie Bucket here! I got the Golden Ticket (i.e. LABRAT) and I've spent the better part of the last two hours preparing for this post.

I was bestowed the 2006 Riverbench Pinot. It's a good thing, because my decanter was dirty and the notes from the wine maker said this was good to go. I trusted her, if only out of laziness.

I'm somewhat ashamed to admit it, but I brought another man to the party. I've always wanted to have a threesome. Me and two strong Pinots. Be still, my beating heart! I decided to line the Riverbench up against last year's wine woot offering of the Kent Rasmussen's 2006 Carneros Pinot. Unfair perhaps, but I wanted to give loyal, Pinot-loving wine wooters a base of comparison.

For the tasting, I assembled some neighbors, my large Reidel goblets, a Chicago style pizza and a notebook.

We started with the Riverbench. The color was a nice garnet shade and he sure smelled good! One neighbor and I smelled the fruit, and the one other neighbor smelled the spice.

We poured the KR to compare shades. The KR was darker, with an earthier scent. A real outdoorsman! Meow.

When we got down to tasting, a metaphor is useful. This was like comparing the two most recent Democratic first ladies - Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama.

The Riverbench was Michelle. It was stylish, approachable, and lovely. A welcome addition to any meal from a BBQ with staffers to a state dinner with crashers.

The KR was Hillary. More complex, serious, bold, definitely fuller. (And no, the legs did not have cankles!) Like Hillary, the KR could stand alone.

All the tasters agreed that both wines were fabulous and in the words of one, "I wouldn't kick either out of bed."

At any rate, I wish I would have ordered more of this offering and can't wait to try the 2007.