andyduncan wrote:I hear that as a baby, the first time his mother gave him a bottle of milk, he immediately deemed it to be from her "western" appellation and recommended that she "Lay it down in the cellar for a few years" so that the flavors might integrate better.

And at 64°!

andyduncan wrote:I hear that as a baby, the first time his mother gave him a bottle of milk, he immediately deemed it to be from her "western" appellation and recommended that she "Lay it down in the cellar for a few years" so that the flavors might integrate better.

Um...wouldn't that make cheese instead of wine?

Checked out my local store and saw just the Pinot for $44. With the good reviews and the unbeatable price, I decided to make my first purchase on wine.woot! WOOT!

pswakopf wrote:Checked out my local store and saw just the Pinot for $44. With the good reviews and the unbeatable price, I decided to make my first purchase on wine.woot! WOOT!

Kewl, and congrats on your first buy.
Was that the '05 Pinot ? Although I'm waiting on the labrats, your post makes this deal that much sweeter.

***LABRAT REPORT***
So, who has wine stains all over their cube/desk, has a WCC business card, a GunBun baseball cap, and an empty bottle of GunBun Merlot? *points thumbs at self* THIS GUY!"

I was lucky enough to be chosen as a Labrat and am happy to report that I've taken the task very seriously and have spread the wine tasting to others I work with. Sadly, however, my ISO supply of desk articles doesn't include a cork screw, so I had to resort to using a screw driver to push the cork into the bottle. Sadly, however, the day's worth of meetings didn't leave me with a lot of mental power...So...I discovered that pushing in a cork forces the wine to be compressed and as such, the wine will spew all over the place once the cork is forced out of the way.

The good news is that the nose on this wine is awesome. Whether it's sniffed on a stack of papers, on the front of an LCD, or the sleeve of a dress shirt...This is good stuff. (Fortunately I wore a wine-colored shirt today!)

Anyway...

Along with not having a cork screw, I didn't have proper wine glasses so I had to resort to the classic Styrofoam cup. When swirling the wine, I just didn't get the legs I would have expected, but I decided it wasn't the wine's fault.

For those of you that know me well, or even moderately well, you'll know that I either like a wine or I don't. But, I'm not as good as others at picking out flavors or smells. However, I can tell immediately whether a wine taste or smell is something I like.

While the wine was just slightly astringent at the beginning, it did mellow out fairly quickly and when it did it gave way to a very well balanced wine. It is definitely not a "fruity" wine, but is one that I would consider to be "old world" style. Along with being well balanced, there were a fair amount of tannins in the mouth feel, but it wasn't overwhelming and led to a really good taste/feel for this wine.

As I continued to drink the wine, I couldn't decide whether I liked the nose or the taste better. (You know how some wines make you want to plant your nose in the glass to give it a good sniff like it's a dog in heat?...Well...Maybe that's just me...) Regardless, it smells damn good...That's all I'm saying. And, to go with that smell, it has a very controlled, very smooth, very yummy flavor that makes me wanna yell, "Screw you Miles...I love a good Merlot!"

vaaccess wrote:***LABRAT REPORT***
So, who has wine stains all over their cube/desk, has a WCC business card, a GunBun baseball cap, and an empty bottle of GunBun Merlot? *points thumbs at self* THIS GUY!"

I was lucky enough to be chosen as a Labrat and am happy to report that I've taken the task very seriously and have spread the wine tasting to others I work with. Sadly, however, my ISO supply of desk articles doesn't include a cork screw, so I had to resort to using a screw driver to push the cork into the bottle. Sadly, however, the day's worth of meetings didn't leave me with a lot of mental power...So...I discovered that pushing in a cork forces the wine to be compressed and as such, the wine will spew all over the place once the cork is forced out of the way.

The good news is that the nose on this wine is awesone. Whether it's sniffed on a stack of papers, on the front of an LCD, or the sleeve of a dress shirt...This is good stuff. (Fortunately I wore a wine-colored shirt today!)

Anyway...

Along with not having a cork screw, I didn't have proper wine glasses so I had to resort to the classic Styrofoam cup. When swirling the wine, I just didn't get the legs I would have expected, but I decided it wasn't the wines fault.

For those of you that know me well, or even moderately well, you'll know that I either like a wine or I don't. But, I'm not as good as others at picking our flavors or smells. However, I can tell immediately whether a wine taste or smell is something I like.

While the wine was just slightly astringent at the beginning, it did mellow out fairly quickly and when it did it gave way to a very well balanced wine. It is definitely not a "fruity" wine, but is one that I would consider to be "old world" style. Along with being well balanced, there were a fair amount of tannins in the mouth feel, but it wasn't overwhelming and led to a really good taste/feel for this wine.

As I continued to drink the wine, I couldn't decide whether I liked the nose or the taste better. (You know how some wines make you want to plant your nose in the glass to give it a good sniff like it's a dog in heat?...Well...Maybe that's just me...) Regardless, it smells damn good...That's all I'm saying. And, to go with that smell, it has a very controlled, very smooth, very yummy flavor that makes me wanna yell, "Screw you Miles...I love a good Merlot!"

Friggin' classic Vaac...we need to get your ass to one of the woot gatherings...we'll provide the cork screw.

And that brought flashbacks of my last "push through" attempt (this was with a broken cork). Giant wine geyser to rival Old Faithful...I was still finding wine spots on my ceiling a week later.

Great report man.

vaaccess wrote:***LABRAT REPORT***

***PACKED***

lespaul5807 wrote:Sounds great! Just an FYI, I'm a wine newbie, I'm trying to learn about all the things everyone here keeps posting about (casking and varietals???...sounds scary, but I'll jump in!!).
I've been hesitant to buy any of the wines since I don't know if I'll like them...I enjoy the conversations though.
My first wine woot was the cheese the other day...Can't wait for that to arrive!

Welcome! Don't be afraid and trust your taste buds. (At this point, don't worry about what all of us who've being drinking wine forever like) Your taste will probably evolve over time, but you don't have to force it. You also don't have to spend a ton of money. There are great values here on wine.woot, an opportunity to taste a lot of good wine. Try different varietals, different wines and different styles. I can tell you based on about 55 years experience that you will drink a lot of wine you don't like. Experimentation is the only way to learn. As I like to put it, there are only two things you have to do to become knowledgeable about wine. (My 8 word theory of wine expertise)

1. Pull lots of corks

2. Remember what you taste.

Oh, it'll be fun to listen in here, join in a bit, and perhaps read a bit. We had a thread among the fora under 'world of wine woot' last spring about developing your palate, on which I posted some basics on wine tasting you might find helpful.

Most importantly, ENJOY!

javadrinker wrote:Friggin' classic Vaac...we need to get your ass to one of the woot gatherings...we'll provide the cork screw.

We keep trying to lure him back up to Arlington. *hint*hint* We'd love to see you again!

pswakopf wrote:Checked out my local store and saw just the Pinot for $44. With the good reviews and the unbeatable price, I decided to make my first purchase on wine.woot! WOOT!

music.

WD

cjsiege wrote:We keep trying to lure him back up to Arlington. *hint*hint* We'd love to see you again!

Yeah...Life is crazy busy right now. Hopefully I'll be able to again some day.

I was actually contemplating having a gathering at my place...Who knows, maybe someday!

vaaccess wrote:Yeah...Life is crazy busy right now. Hopefully I'll be able to again some day.

I was actually contemplating having a gathering at my place...Who knows, maybe someday!

You realize the next time you're back in "these parts" you have to stop by, correct?

otolith wrote:You realize the next time you're back in "these parts" you have to stop by, correct?

But of course! I will be sure to allocate enough time. Definitely want to check out the new cellar surrounded by a house that you are building...Or was it a house with a cellar in it? ;)

First sucker: MaskedMarvel
Speed to first woot: 0m 4.530s

Last wooter to woot: ddeuddeg

Finally caved. Tasting notes, labrat reports, etc. Don't know why I waited.

Ugh; I finally decided to jump, and clicked on submit, but nothing happened. Tried again and the same thing happened. So...either I'm getting two orders (but it's like woot.com, right? You can't order again?)...or one...or none....

:P

***LABRAT REPORT***

The day wasn't all bad. Despite a “Fatal System Error” on my PC, and the brutally windswept walk home through a veritable graveyard of dead umbrellas (today's score: Mother Nature 1, New Yorkers 0), there was the pleasant surprise of a bottle of GunBun 05 Pinot Noir to drink. Wicked!

In the interest of full disclosure, I visited G-B in the late 90s (friends of mine in SF adore the winery and insist on taking all their visitors there) and had a great experience. So I pulled the trigger on this immediately. That said, I think my palette has definitely developed/matured since then, and I've not tasted a G-B wine in several years. (This is also PRECISELY why I joined Wine Woot—to be able to get cool, interesting--and affordable--wines like this that rarely make it to the east coast.)

So... the wine:

The retail on this ($40ish) definitely ranges closer to a Saturday night bottle for me than a Tuesday night bottle.

Nose: A bit peppery off the bat. But then mellowed in short order, showing dark berries.

First sip (after 15-20 mins in decanter), tastes like a fairly quintessential California Pinot Noir. A little tight. Bit plummy, actually. Definitely some acid and a little heat (maybe even mint?) on the finish.

45 mins: This is already a different wine now. As it continued to open, the flavor and mouthfeel both grew “richer” and “deeper” to my palette. Really nice. Reminded me a bit of a rather full-bodied (French) Gamay I had recently. That may not be a compliment to the winemaker, but I enjoy Gamay.

1 hour+: Continues to gain depth. Dark fruit. Very lush. Really lush, in fact. I've been drinking a fair amount of French Burgundies recently and this, to me, actually seems “bigger” and “new world” in comparison. You could read that as “less subtle” but... for me, this is a positive.

My girlfriend's palette tends toward juicier/spicier wines and she deems it “delicious” (not that either of us would say there is a lot of spice here).

We ate some some cheeses (aged parm, a goat brie, an Irish bleu) and sourdough baguette with this—not ideal pairings perhaps but the wine still held up nicely. Will definitely serve with meat when my order arrives.

Conclusion: After 90+ minutes, the wine had become almost a bit “chew-y” (in a good way). Still very lush. A little sour cherry showing up now. Definitely enough backbone to hold up to a piece of lamb. I'm no wine expert, but I have drank (drunk?) an awful lot of the stuff. This, to me, is a solid and really lovely wine. Especially at this price. I wish I'd ordered more now.

I hope this has been helpful, and appreciate the opportunity to contribute to the community!

SO! Here it goes, the first RAT report for the woot.
Thanks for another wooter in my office which had helped me with the first tasting notes in my life!!!

I am not good with the words, and will keep it simple so you guys will get an idea how the wine is.

2005 Mountain Cuvée

First impression after opening up.
Medium body, hot which you will deffinately feel the alcohol, and of course the SPICE will be the first things to be noticed.

After about an hour decanting, slightly chewy.

I usually drink wine by itself, but this one would be a one which would go with Italian Food. (tomato sause base) Which it seems like a Chanti taste. We didn't really feet the MERLOT which consists over 60% of blend.
Some chocolate, but we all didn't taste the fruit which was described in the winery website, what ever kind of berries at all.

So the conclusion is,,,,,
May need another 1 or 2 year, and should age well.

I do see some great reviews on other wines, so can't wait to try them.
(since I have gotten 2 sets!!)

Hope this would help some of you out there!

Finally got around to clicking some of the links on the main page. Did you guys check out the Bundschu Tribute? Oh man is that classic!!! And damn wine makers know how to drink.

psmurf wrote:Kewl, and congrats on your first buy.
Was that the '05 Pinot ? Although I'm waiting on the labrats, your post makes this deal that much sweeter.

Correct, it was the '05 Pinot. I didn't see the Merlot or Cuvee but I expect they would have been in the same price range had they been there.

First Woot! First Woot! (Figures it would be wine...) Thanks for the helpful feedback in the forums.

P.S. How do I locate the thread mentioned by RPM ("We had a thread among the fora under 'world of wine woot' last spring about developing your palate, on which I posted some basics on wine tasting you might find helpful.")?

sorted123 wrote:***LABRAT REPORT***
I wish I'd ordered more now.

Packed! Email service to up your order I'm sure they'll be happy to.

kuni wrote:SO! Here it goes, the first RAT report for the woot.

And you're packed!

And I just burned my tongue on my coffee... ow...

chipandstephanie wrote:First Woot! First Woot! (Figures it would be wine...) Thanks for the helpful feedback in the forums.

P.S. How do I locate the thread mentioned by RPM ("We had a thread among the fora under 'world of wine woot' last spring about developing your palate, on which I posted some basics on wine tasting you might find helpful.")?

Behold, my l337 wine.woot google skillz

Thread's entitled "A Cat Died in My Mouth! (or) How To Develop The Professional Palate YOU Want!"

In for one..........a bit tentative about the vineyard but if WD gives it a go ahead and the rats seem convinced..........im in for one........good day.................so, are we looking at a trio of whites from the same vineyard tomorrow? hmmmm?

vaaccess wrote:***LABRAT REPORT***
...
So...I discovered that pushing in a cork forces the wine to be compressed and as such, the wine will spew all over the place once the cork is forced out of the way.

The good news is that the nose on this wine is awesome. Whether it's sniffed on a stack of papers, on the front of an LCD, or the sleeve of a dress shirt...This is good stuff. (Fortunately I wore a wine-colored shirt today!)
...

ROFLMAOPIMP, Coffee on Monitor, etc. etc.

javadrinker wrote:Um...wouldn't that make cheese instead of wine?

Thimble cheese!

http://www.postpunkkitchen.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=9875

In for one.

GunBun sponsored a wine tasting booth at a fundraiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters of the North Bay here in Napa. Great wine. Good people.

Winedavid39 wrote:i understand he requested it be decanted.

It always comes back to the decanters with you, doesn't it?

Rat reports convinced me!
Very excited to try the pinot and merlot.
do you guys know if napa / sonoma wineries are typically open between xmas and new years? going to be out there with some friends

And for those still on the fence, here's a link to where we start mentioning Gun Lock Bun Shoe during this past summer's RPM Historical Tour (in the Field Notes Thread in the World of Woot Wine Section).

And I still liked the pantomime .... made me remember it better.


Edit: And a link to TMR's post with GB Pics during RPM Tour

The discussion has been really great this week and I'd really like to buy. But I don't have any room for wines that need a good bit of time to lay down.

gcdyersb wrote:The discussion has been really great this week and I'd really like to buy. But I don't have any room for wines that need a good bit of time to lay down.

To respond to your use of the word need, I looked back at Jeff's post on cellaring, and here it is:
The Pinot is now through 2010
The Cuvee is now through 2010/11
The Merlot is 2015+

Aging is in the eye of the beholder.

Not trying to talk you into anything here, but you shouldn't pass this up just because you think you need to cellar them for a long time. Even if you drink them all by end of 2008, you'll have a very enjoyable experience, especially at these prices.

ddeuddeg wrote:To respond to your use of the word need, I looked back at Jeff's post on cellaring, and here it is:
The Pinot is now through 2010
The Cuvee is now through 2010/11
The Merlot is 2015+

Aging is in the eye of the beholder.

Not trying to talk you into anything here, but you shouldn't pass this up just because you think you need to cellar them for a long time. Even if you drink them all by end of 2008, you'll have a very enjoyable experience, especially at these prices.

I have no doubt these would be good now. But my current wine strategy is to hold wines that likely would benefit from a bit of aging and stick to "drinking now" wines that will expand my palette or are specifically built for youthful drinking (i.e. cost under $15).

Basically, I'm only willing to murder babies in the name of knowledge. And there ain't room in the fridge for any more babies!

gcdyersb wrote:I have no doubt these would be good now. But my current wine strategy is to hold wines that likely would benefit from a bit of aging and stick to "drinking now" wines that will expand my palette or are specifically built for youthful drinking (i.e. cost under $15).

Basically, I'm only willing to murder babies in the name of knowledge. And there ain't room in the fridge for any more babies!

You would have enjoyed rpm's comment to Peter Wellington about the double magnum of his '95 Cabernet Sauvignon which Peter opened for us at dinner one night on the rpm tour last July. The wine was truly magnificent, ask anyone who had any (including rpm). Nevertheless, rpm felt that it could have continued to improve with still further aging, and said with a smile, "Peter, we'll forgive you that act of infanticide."

vaaccess wrote:But of course! I will be sure to allocate enough time. Definitely want to check out the new cellar surrounded by a house that you are building...Or was it a house with a cellar in it? ;)

Cellar with a house to guard it, and keep his wife and kids close as well.

In for 2..the rats got me!

What is the definition of "cuvee"? I thought it had to do with sparkling wine, but this bottle seems to be more of a Meritage-type and definitely not a sparkler. For that matter, what is the definition of Meritage? I probably abused it just now, but not knowing the definition of a word doesn't always stop me from using it.

merbill wrote:
What is the definition of "cuvee"? I thought it had to do with sparkling wine, but this bottle seems to be more of a Meritage-type and definitely not a sparkler. For that matter, what is the definition of Meritage? I probably abused it just now, but not knowing the definition of a word doesn't always stop me from using it.

Wikipedia

Google

And for Meritage - The Meritage Wine Association

white delight trio tomorrow? any takers? :P

boaz38 wrote:white delight trio tomorrow? any takers? :P

I was already there. Nobody was willing to bet.