kylemittskus wrote:OH! NICE!!! Ten years it is.

Yeah, I'm gonna try to hide one on the very very bottom of my wines and keep it as long as I can. When I opened my last Little Vineyards from the last offering I wished that I had more to keep around for longer because you can tell they are only going to keep getting better. And that one was outstanding when I opened it.

kylemittskus wrote:I have more posts than you and you are only 6 months "older" than I am!!!

PSquishy. Shut up. Really. And I mean that in the nicest, sweetest way possible

kylemittskus wrote:I have more posts than you and you are only 6 months "older" than I am!!!

As UBlink said, quality not quantity;) I'm 11 months "older" than you, and only have one tenth of the number of posts as you do. I guess I should find the time to be more active on the boards. I had no idea how very few posts I actually had until you said something and I looked!

kylemittskus wrote:I have more posts than you and you are only 6 months "older" than I am!!!

Quality is much, much important than quantity. CJ has quality in spades. She's a wonderful person, and a valued contributor.

expressio unius est exclusio alterius

Woo hoo! I've been labratted for the first time ever! Just received my golden ticket at work. The bottle is slightly warm to the touch, so I'll take it home let its temperature come down slowly, wait until the wifey gets home from work, and we'll give it the ol' sniffy sniff and sippy sip.

While I'm not blessed with the Vaynerchuk-esque tastebuds, I'll do my best to call is as I taste it.

Thanks WineDavid!

My first w.w and I'm hoping you guys don't let me down on the reviews and hype! I don't actually drink but I figure the gf will enjoy it! If only I liked the taste of alcoholic beverages :-(

I'm also curious as to whom handles the wine during shipping and if we get tracking numbers etc. I typically work in the office but it's so large I had it shipped to my home address given that I have the luxury of working remotely. I just hope I get a tracking number so I know when to be home for when it shows up!

mstang1988 wrote:My first w.w and I'm hoping you guys don't let me down on the reviews and hype! I don't actually drink but I figure the gf will enjoy it! If only I liked the taste of alcoholic beverages :-(

I'm also curious as to whom handles the wine during shipping and if we get tracking numbers etc. I typically work in the office but it's so large I had it shipped to my home address given that I have the luxury of working remotely. I just hope I get a tracking number so I know when to be home for when it shows up!

you might, it depends on what side of the country you are on and if they update the tracking numbers. I get a tracking number most of the time, all the time since summer shipping, but I does stay in billing information received until it gets to the east coast.

Just started sipping a bottle from my cellar (if Little 2004 CS, lest I not be clear). So this is not an official labrat report, but the offer got me interested in a bottle of Little.

Color is a nice deep garnet, still able to see through. Cabernet fruit on the nose. There is a little alcohol on the nose in the cheap glass I am using, but no heat when I drink. Still a little tight tannins, so needs more than 30 minutes to open up. The tannins are smooth, not chalky. Good long finish.

This wine has plenty of time left. No need to rush to drink it.

I may post more on this later.

polarbear22 wrote:Just started sipping a bottle from my cellar (if Little 2004 CS, lest I not be clear). So this is not an official labrat report, but the offer got me interested in a bottle of Little.

Color is a nice deep garnet, still able to see through. Cabernet fruit on the nose. There is a little alcohol on the nose in the cheap glass I am using, but no heat when I drink. Still a little tight tannins, so needs more than 30 minutes to open up. The tannins are smooth, not chalky. Good long finish.

This wine has plenty of time left. No need to rush to drink it.

I may post more on this later.

This should be another testament to the high regard in which we hold Little Vineyards. It's amazing how many volunteer labrats we're getting for this offer. Clayfu and I are opening my bottle of this one a little later this evening too. Still waiting to hear what Sparky and Tim thought about their bottle last night.

Sorry, not sure that the bottle lasted until it had fully opened up. It was wonderful. Very smooth and long finish. This is just a really nice Cab. It complemented the rubbed and grilled pork chops, and went well with the little piece of dark chocolate. Definitely one of those nights when I wish my wife didn't drink wine, so I could have more. (Don't have to worry about her reading this, she knows I am a wine hog.)

Java - I look forward to your labrat report. I did not set the bar too high for wine rating skills.

javadrinker wrote:Still waiting to hear what Sparky and Tim thought about their bottle last night.

You know I'm the strong, silent type. (To the extent compatible with being a delicate flower, of course.)

I will say there were wine stains 2/3rds of the way up the cork, so our experience may not be representative. We opened it about 8pm, and it peaked an hour or so in. After three hours, it was not showing at its best.

I didn't get any astringency until I tried some of the dark chocolate that Sparky brought. He thought the chocolate countered the astringency.

-- T

timbyrd wrote:You know I'm the strong, silent type. (To the extent compatible with being a delicate flower, of course.)

I will say there were wine stains 2/3rds of the way up the cork, so our experience may not be representative. We opened it about 8pm, and it peaked an hour or so in. After three hours, it was not showing at its best.

I didn't get any astringency until I tried some of the dark chocolate that Sparky brought. He thought the chocolate countered the astringency.

-- T

We also had wine farther up the cork than normal, nearly halfway. But the wine was still good.

timbyrd wrote:You know I'm the strong, silent type. (To the extent compatible with being a delicate flower, of course.)

I will say there were wine stains 2/3rds of the way up the cork, so our experience may not be representative. We opened it about 8pm, and it peaked an hour or so in. After three hours, it was not showing at its best.

I didn't get any astringency until I tried some of the dark chocolate that Sparky brought. He thought the chocolate countered the astringency.

-- T

Assistant Volunteer Labrat (codename: Igor) reporting!



Sorry for the delay, but I wanted to find my notes from the RPM Tour visit to Little Vineyards (we tasted their '04 & '05 CS) and upload the pics. System crashed during the pictures portion.

You can kind of see the cork in the bottom left of the picture above (sorry, should have taken a picture of the cork itself). It looked okay, other than their were wine stains about 2/3's around the cork. Didn't seem too soft. Opened it around 8:00pm, and we tasted it throughout the evening til about 11:00 pm when I left.

I brought some Brix (Extra Dark Chocolate - for CS) along. As TB mentioned, I thought it cut some of the tartness, and he thought it was more tart with the chocolate.

The wine had a very nice Ruby Red color, with medium depth but very clear. I think we both got Earthy aromas of medium intensity. But I never got anything other than that for aromas. Unexpected, since I don't remember the earthy aroma from the RPM tasting.

I thought it had a medium body, tart acidity, medium tannins, low intensity, and a short finish.

It never improved (to me), which leads me to believe the wine may have been "cooked". It just didn't seem like a CS, nor did it taste the way I remember it did during the RPM tasting. I remember enjoying both the '04 and '05 from the tasting, per my notes.



I'm trying to see if I can zoom in on the cork in this picture, since my camera took it at 22mb, so I should be able to, if my software would only cooperate.


Edit: Okay, here's the cork.



It's behind the plastic wrapper, but you can see the red stains on the side of the cork.

Javier and I (clayfu) also have the stained cork, but it doesn't taste cooked to us.

A bit of heat mars the medicinal cherry flavor on the nose with hints of cocoa. Toasted oak with jammy ripe bold strawberries with a streak of green pepper and medicinal herbs. It's a pretty big wine. Even though it is a big wine, it's not a mouthful of wine that's typical of "higher" end "big" cabs. Your whole mouth isn't covered with any of the jamminess which.. kinda vacuums. About a 5 second finish with a backbone of tannins.

This is not a long lived wine, also typical of big cabs, very ripe fruit but going to be short lived. You're looking at a drinking window of about 5 years at the most. I would guess even less based on the fact that the fruit in the wine almost completely disappears within 1.5-2 hours with some air contact. The wine is alot thinner and it turns into tart/sour cherries opposed to gobs of ripe strawberries.

This seems like a consume NOW type of wine, just pop and pour. Also, I think it's a decent $15-20 cab.

Ooh that chocolate would make a great side deal: Brix

Cesare wrote:Ooh that chocolate would make a great side deal: Brix

Tim seemed to like it.

It's bouncing!

Cesare wrote:It's bouncing!

Need more Rat reports fast!

MarkDaSpark wrote:Assistant Volunteer Labrat (codename: Igor) reporting!



Sorry for the delay, but I wanted to find my notes from the RPM Tour visit to Little Vineyards (we tasted their '04 & '05 CS) and upload the pics. System crashed during the pictures portion.

You can kind of see the cork in the bottom left of the picture above (sorry, should have taken a picture of the cork itself). It looked okay, other than their were wine stains about 2/3's around the cork. Didn't seem too soft. Opened it around 8:00pm, and we tasted it throughout the evening til about 11:00 pm when I left.

I brought some Brix (Extra Dark Chocolate - for CS) along. As TB mentioned, I thought it cut some of the tartness, and he thought it was more tart with the chocolate.

The wine had a very nice Ruby Red color, with medium depth but very clear. I think we both got Earthy aromas of medium intensity. But I never got anything other than that for aromas. Unexpected, since I don't remember the earthy aroma from the RPM tasting.

I thought it had a medium body, tart acidity, medium tannins, low intensity, and a short finish.

It never improved (to me), which leads me to believe the wine may have been "cooked". It just didn't seem like a CS, nor did it taste the way I remember it did during the RPM tasting. I remember enjoying both the '04 and '05 from the tasting, per my notes.



I'm trying to see if I can zoom in on the cork in this picture, since my camera took it at 22mb, so I should be able to, if my software would only cooperate.


Edit: Okay, here's the cork.



It's behind the plastic wrapper, but you can see the red stains on the side of the cork.

The wine looks realy pale

jaykid007 wrote:Need more Rat reports fast!

There were three volunteers But yeah, still waiting on the 'real' rats.

jaykid007 wrote:The wine looks realy pale

Nope. Nice dark ruby red.

cheron98 wrote:There were three volunteers But yeah, still waiting on the 'real' rats.

I'm here, I'm here! It's bouncing, I'd better be quick! We in no way said we were 100% qualified to present tasting notes, but here goes our best efforts. We popped and poured, not being the patient types! There were four of us. I tried to write down everyone's initial reactions.
Nose: Chocolate, plum, musty (like an old library - but in a good way), cherry (yeah, the husband always says that if it's a red, but I got it too this time), berries, big ripe berries, a definite amongst all of us. Leather, one said OLD leather.
Color: I said ruby, hold it up to the light and it has a brilliant hue. Others said plum. One asked if they really had to say what color it was, who cares, she just wanted to taste it.
Taste: tanins were not heavy at all, very low oak flavor on this one, if at all, and berries were a stand out. Remember, we didn't let it sit at this point.
This was pre-dinner, we tasted with Blue corn chips and a homemade al fresco salsa. I would not have expected this to be a good pairing, we all really liked it though.
Wine responses:
T: I like it...a lot.
A. It is innundating me with taste
C: I really like it, and would give it a 5 (out of 5 after I prodded).
Me: Mmmm....I wish we hadn't jumped right in!
C: Can I have some more?
That last to me is the indicator of a great wine. If someone asks for more
After a half hour it had opened up very nicely. The minimal tannins that were there smoothed out really nicely. It also gets a lot more berry smell as it opens up.
I don't think this is a long lasting wine. I think probably another hour or so and it would have peaked. Very yummy none the less. I disagree with the winery website stating it would cellar for 10 years. I was in for 3, and I think I'll pop one every 5-6 months or so. I think past 5-6 years and the wine will be beyond it's prime.
However, this was a fabulous wine, and the price point wine.woot is offering it at makes it more than a bargain, even if your not a labrat. Hopefully this gets posted before the giant yellow buttons stops a bouncin'

cheron98 wrote:There were three volunteers But yeah, still waiting on the 'real' rats.

I'm here, I'm here! It's bouncing, I'd better be quick! We in no way said we were 100% qualified to present tasting notes, but here goes our best efforts. We popped and poured, not being the patient types! There were four of us. I tried to write down everyone's initial reactions.
Nose: Chocolate, plum, musty (like an old library - but in a good way), cherry (yeah, the husband always says that if it's a red, but I got it too this time), berries, big ripe berries, a definite amongst all of us. Leather, one said OLD leather.
Color: I said ruby, hold it up to the light and it has a brilliant hue. Others said plum. One asked if they really had to say what color it was, who cares, she just wanted to taste it.
Taste: tanins were not heavy at all, very low oak flavor on this one, if at all, and berries were a stand out. Remember, we didn't let it sit at this point.
This was pre-dinner, we tasted with Blue corn chips and a homemade al fresco salsa. I would not have expected this to be a good pairing, we all really liked it though.
Wine responses:
T: I like it...a lot.
A. It is innundating me with taste
C: I really like it, and would give it a 5 (out of 5 after I prodded).
Me: Mmmm....I wish we hadn't jumped right in!
C: Can I have some more?
That last to me is the indicator of a great wine. If someone asks for more
After a half hour it had opened up very nicely. The minimal tannins that were there smoothed out really nicely. It also gets a lot more berry smell as it opens up.
I don't think this is a long lasting wine. I think probably another hour or so and it would have peaked. Very yummy none the less. I disagree with the winery website stating it would cellar for 10 years. I was in for 3, and I think I'll pop one every 5-6 months or so. I think past 5-6 years and the wine will be beyond it's prime.
However, this was a fabulous wine, and the price point wine.woot is offering it at makes it more than a bargain, even if your not a labrat. Hopefully this gets posted before the giant yellow buttons stops a bouncin'

jenludwig wrote:I'm here, I'm here!

Packed! Thanks for the awesome report

cheron98 wrote:Packed! Thanks for the awesome report

Thank you. We tried, and I've always been a bit nervous that we would be chosen for the prestigious labrat duties. May not be as well written as some, but it was definitely our honest opinions. We enjoyed the experience and would welcome it again whenever it is deemed appropriate. Not too awful for a "near lurker" now was it kylemittskus?

jenludwig wrote:Thank you. We tried, and I've always been a bit nervous that we would be chosen for the prestigious labrat duties. May not be as well written as some, but it was definitely our honest opinions. We enjoyed the experience and would welcome it again whenever it is deemed appropriate. Not too awful for a "near lurker" now was it kylemittskus?

Pay no attention to PSquishy ...

Very well done labrat work! Honest opinions always count for a lot here. Two up!

Begin

Just a reminder that the SoCal Lobster Fest is on Sunday. Anyone in the LA area feel free to join us on Sunday, around 11 am in San Pedro.


end

My first lab rat report. I was going to report aftet tasting upon opening and then again after decanting for an hour or two, but seeing as how the button is bouncing, I'd post my initial impressions.

Disclaimer: I have thoroughly enjoyed 2 previous offerings from Little on Woot, so this is a lot like asking a rat to rate cheese. I have not read any other lab rat reports, so I am posting and then I will read others to see how my opinion matches. I am no expert, but I enjoy big fruity reds, especially Cabs, Zins, and Petite Sirahs.

Upon opening, I noticed that the cork is only pale purple, with some bleeding about 1/3 the way up the cork. I was expecting a deeper coloring for a 2004. There was no crystalization on the cork.

The color of the wine is deep, dark purple. I noticed no sediment as I poured to a decanter.

Poured my first glass straight away into my big-ass glass. Gave it a swirly-swirl, then a sniffy-sniff (too many episodes of WLTV). The nose is very hot right out of the bottle. It overwhelms the hints of Cabernet fruit. This alone to me suggests a need to decant or cellar.

In the mouth, it is very smooth up front, but the heat kicks in mid- to back palate. It is tannic, but did not make my face pucker, I'd quantify them as 'medium', and it lingers briefly. I'm noticing more oak than fruit, which is in stark contrast to the '03 that I had last weekend, which seemed completely opposite. Personally, I am enjoying this every bit as much, but for different reasons. It's funny how the 'same' wine can vary so much from year to year.

My initial impressions are that it ought to improve after opening up. My amateur opinion is that it will cellar pretty well for a few years.

---

After 20 minutes in the glass, the heat on the nose has diminished somewhat, allowing some of the fruit to get through. Ditto in the mouth... much smoother after letting it stand for a bit.

Will try it again in another hour or so.

In for only 1 after all was said and done. I enjoyed the bottle we had and it went well with the Rock Band 2 game Clayfu forced me to buy. I just didn't buy more because it really didn't seem like this wine would age well for much longer. Probably just a few years.

BTW TimByrd showed up. He's not the rock god he portrays online. In fact, the singing skillz were minimal at best.

javadrinker wrote:In for only 1 after all was said and done. I enjoyed the bottle we had and it went well with the Rock Band 2 game Clayfu forced me to buy. I just didn't buy more because it really didn't seem like this wine would age well for much longer. Probably just a few years.

BTW TimByrd showed up. He's not the rock god he portrays online. In fact, the singing skillz were minimal at best.

Did he taste your bottle and compare it to his from last night????

And he is a Harp God!

It's an hour later than my initial report. The nose has more fruit than before and less heat, as may have been predicted. Much smoother in the mouth as well. It's now leaving its tannic footprint on my inner cheeks. Definitely dryer than the '03.

The wifey also found it to be less of a fruit bomb, but found it to be smooth and also enjoyed it thoroughly.

And, I've learned that it does not pair well with Healthy Choice Frozen Fudge bars. It definitely calls for dark chocolate.

Thanks, WineDavid, for the opportunity to be a rat for a day. Especially on this, the 17th most important day of the year, Talk like a Pirate Day. Arrrrrrrrrrrrr!

jpkrause wrote:It's an hour later than my initial report. The nose has more fruit than before and less heat, as may have been predicted. Much smoother in the mouth as well. It's now leaving its tannic footprint on my inner cheeks. Definitely dryer than the '03.

The wifey also found it to be less of a fruit bomb, but found it to be smooth and also enjoyed it thoroughly.

And, I've learned that it does not pair well with Healthy Choice Frozen Fudge bars. It definitely calls for dark chocolate.

Thanks, WineDavid, for the opportunity to be a rat for a day. Especially on this, the 17th most important day of the year, Talk like a Pirate Day. Arrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Good Job! Polly want a cracker?

And both of your reports are in the Labrat thread.

First sucker: MaskedMarvel
Speed to first woot: 0m 52.577s

Last wooter to woot: wootvirgin69

PHEW! Just got home from the lovely 14-inning marathon (embarassing loss) between the lowly Padres & Nats, and saw that button....she is a bouncin'!

I'm sad to have logged in so late and now the wanted button is jumping. Drat. Plus have way too much wine. Sigh. Just wanted to comment in case my experience with the 2003 will help at all with the final decision. Funny enough my parents and I just finished off the Little Vineyards 2003 Cab which was fantastic. Unfortunately I have a cold and can't tell you much except that straight from the wine fridge we found it to be super dry with first glass straight from the wine fridge, dad said it smelled great (my poor stuffed up nose), I think the consensus was that it had a super deep flavor profile and as we decanted it took on a silky smooth characteristic with fruit tastes to be very prominent, almost sweet.
My father and I love cabs and found it to be super drinkable. We ate it with some snacks of olives and parmesean and shrimp crackers (don't ask). We followed it up with a red blend I had handy. My mother (who is not a fan of cabs) did not like the LV very much, not even after it had decanted for a while. It wasn't until she tried the blend that she said the LV was good. The blend was pretty lightweight in comparison to the LV.

Not sure if this will help in deciding about the 2004 that's on sale now, but I am VERY sad that I only had the one bottle.

Thanks labratters for all the excellent reports. Seems like a nice wine, but the "drink now" comment tells me I have to pass.

Little Vineyards - Two Pack
Current numbers (updated each minute):

First sucker: MaskedMarvel
Speed to first woot: 0m 52.577s

Last wooter to woot: txmusicman49

Could hold out no more, although available storage space limits me to one set.

I agree with the official labrats that this is a wine that you can pop and pour. It does open up some, but not so tight that you can't drink it right away.

Winery aging esitmate was based on bottling. But there is no reason to try and push this to the 10 year point. Plan on another three to four years, and I think we will all be safe that we will not be disappointed by an "over the hill" wine.

Time to ride.

First sucker: MaskedMarvel
Speed to first woot: 0m 52.577s

Last wooter to woot: ERMD

Better late than never. What can I say; busy at work

First sucker: MaskedMarvel
Speed to first woot: 0m 52.577s

Last wooter to woot: yathink2


So very glad that it was still here this morning

guswoots wrote:I'm sad to have logged in so late and now the wanted button is jumping. Drat. Plus have way too much wine.

....

I see this (too much wine) comment a lot and finally I am forced to what is evidently the obvious conclusion(s). I am either much more poverty stricken than most or (more likely) I drink far too much wine. I cannot imagine having too much wine.