cheron98 wrote:... best announcement EVER ...

But you didn't Pack it!

bhodilee wrote:your husband is awesome, congrats on the rattage, I hope he's back soon and you can enjoy a couple bottles together.

Thank you, unfortunately we are at the beginning of his year long trip (hes been gone 1 month) to the sand. I am stockpiling wine for his distant return.

dixbry wrote:Thank you, unfortunately we are at the beginning of his year long trip (hes been gone 1 month) to the sand. I am stockpiling wine for his distant return.

Let us know when he returns and we can all raise a toast to the two of you.

dixbry wrote:Thank you, unfortunately we are at the beginning of his year long trip (hes been gone 1 month) to the sand. I am stockpiling wine for his distant return.

If this progresses like the Humbug this will be better next year. Save some for then and let us know when he's back and we'll open some bubbly in your honor.

bhodilee wrote:If this progresses like the Humbug this will be better next year. Save some for then and let us know when he's back and we'll open some bubbly in your honor.

Great minds think alike. Apparently, so do sick and twisted ones.

joelsisk wrote:But you didn't Pack it!

I don't typically pack the announcements. But maybe i'll make an exception just this once

polarbear22 wrote:Great minds think alike. Apparently, so do sick and twisted ones.

Yes they do. Extremely Hilarious Practical joke by your wife by the way

Daystar wrote:My problem was it lacked complexity and was just a very thin wine that IMO lacked flavor. I dont like fruit bombs either. That in itself is keeping me from getting any of this although I'm awfully tempted. I just dont want to end up w/ another 6 bottles that I will use to cook w/. With my luck this will be a magnificent wine that I miss out on, watch!

I think complexity is a strawman. Very few bottles are complex. Most wines under 5 years old are significantly one dimensional, as the fruit will determine the overall profile of the wine.

I would disagree about the flavor comment though.

dll2k4 wrote:Thanks for the offer, but why? We can ship directly to Oregon.

Because of the holiday and needing to be available to accept it. Many travel for the holiday and offices are closed. Was just trying to help

polarbear22 wrote:Let us know when he returns and we can all raise a toast to the two of you.

bhodilee wrote:If this progresses like the Humbug this will be better next year. Save some for then and let us know when he's back and we'll open some bubbly in your honor.

I wholeheartedly agree on all accounts. Do let us know when he returns and we'll have a Woot-wide toast to him. Besides the fact that all of us are always looking for reasons to raise a glass, this would be a particularly good one.

lauratchi wrote:I'm sure we can work something out. You'll be at TMR's wine extravaganza in January. We'll play tradies or something.

you are my new bestest friend EVAR. We shall discuss as the time grows closer.

Daystar wrote:My problem was it lacked complexity and was just a very thin wine that IMO lacked flavor. I dont like fruit bombs either. That in itself is keeping me from getting any of this although I'm awfully tempted. I just dont want to end up w/ another 6 bottles that I will use to cook w/. With my luck this will be a magnificent wine that I miss out on, watch!

FWIW, I agree w/ you on all counts: disappointed in the previous offering (and your reasons), very tempted, and may yet pull the trigger.

cheron98 wrote:I don't typically pack the announcements. But maybe i'll make an exception just this once

I was not saying to pack the announcement as such, but he did put in a comment about the bouquet.

HitAnyKey42 wrote:I wholeheartedly agree on all accounts. Do let us know when he returns and we'll have a Woot-wide toast to him. Besides the fact that all of us are always looking for reasons to raise a glass, this would be a particularly good one.

Absolutely we will! btw, if Judy is lurking, or if anyone knows, how are her two military kids?

I do plan saving a bottle, I can't wait till he can come home and share it with me. And I definately will let every one know when he returns. I am sure that I will be shouting it from the rooftops.

edthebedhead wrote:How was the Tatria??

Teh Tatria was quite nice...Didn't like the Zin from that flight very much...honestly think I might have gotten a bad bottle - VERY GRAINY and sort of sour.

Corrado wrote:I opened a bottle the day of our office's open house (which happened to be the day Toothy arrived). I poured some for a few people who didn't know it was the woot wine (only that I had received more wine that day) and it was received with rave reviews, followed by curses from those who didn't order when I told them what it was (and how much it cost).

All those people were in for 1-2 woots each of EHP.

I'm not saying Toothenstein is on-par with the $30/bottle offerings (which seems to be what some are expecting), but it's considerably more "wine-like" than most $10 -$12 wines I can pick up locally.

I'm not much of a QPR guy, myself, preferring to make as objective a judgment as possible about my juice. But this wine ranked a solid B/B+ for me. It didn't have any of the syrupy cloying aspect I associate with inexpensive US wine, nor was it as fruity/acidic as many a young sangiovese. I'd take a bottle of this over the Zahila or a number of the $15-20 woots I've purchased.

canonizer wrote:I'm not much of a QPR guy, myself, preferring to make as objective a judgment as possible about my juice.

I labratted this (toothstain) and was carefully ambivalent since a fellow just doesn't bite the hand that sends out "free" bottles. I felt that it needed time in the bottle. And pretty much agreed with the negative comments that have been raised in this thread.

BUT, I'm very happy with the buy on a QPR basis. Good table wine with Mediterranean based things which can easily fight a "dramatic" wine. I sure wouldn't want to sit with my yellow pad and run through a check list; but I'd whip up an antipasto and drink a glass or two.

cheron98 wrote:HEY!

This I expect from Sparky, but you? *sniffs* I'm hurt

No, you're not. You saw the wink. And besides, you know that Sparky and I both love you.

So, I do have a friend coming over to help me sample this wine out. But the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to go ahead and post some initial thoughts for everyone. I have three rugrats running around driving me nuts at the moment, so I deserve to crack it open now, right?

Here are my thoughts (taking in mind that I by no means have a highly trained palette):

Look: Light maroon color
Clear and Bright


Smell: Tobacco
Berry
Spice
A hint of chocolate?


Finish: Spice
A little bit of a bite

I think that this is a great everyday drinker. It is very smooth. And I do think that this would be a great wine to give away as a drink. Tasting this has made me decide to purchase another set of 6. And I do like this alot better than the Toothstjnn.

I will add my friends thoughts when she tries it...but I would recommend getting it now before it is gone!

And thank you for letting me be a labrat..it is just what this gal needed!

I think there should be a woot off for woot wine. They could have a random bottle of carp - it would be awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

gotcha packed

As an aside, how does one get the "black box"? is it a certain purchase threshold?

Assuming that not all woot cellars wines are created equal, would anyone be willing to run off a comparison/ranking of all the woot cellars wines over the past couple of years?

Monkey Prize
Humbug
Tøøthstejnn
EHP

(did I miss any?)

yarhargoat wrote:Assuming that not all woot cellars wines are created equal, would anyone be willing to run off a comparison/ranking of all the woot cellars wines over the past couple of years?

Monkey Prize
Humbug
Tøøthstejnn
EHP

(did I miss any?)

Rinfrescante (the first)
Polyphemus (the one after Humbug) (I think)

Out of the three that I have tried I would rank mine:

EHP
Humbug
Toothstejnn

dixbry wrote:Out of the three that I have tried I would rank mine:

EHP
Humbug
Toothstejnn

Care to elaborate? What made each one progressively more superior, according to your palette? Since I'm relatively new to the wine.woot scene, I figure I should at least know what I've missed thus far and what I can look forward to when my case arrives.

wineroot wrote:I am in the East Village if you would like to have it delivered here. I have already ordered my 2 so if you can have it under your name and delivered to me that would work. Not sure how to get in touch.

A fellow wine.wooter has already helped me out. But I appreciate your offer so very much! Thanks!

I caved after all:

Woot Cellars, Emergency Holiday Provisions - Six Pack
Current numbers (updated each minute):

First sucker: joelsisk
Speed to first woot: 0m 2.890s

Last wooter to woot: slightlyslapdash

polarbear22 wrote:Great minds think alike. Apparently, so do sick and twisted ones.

Indeed. But I had no idea yours was so sick and twisted as to pull off such a charmingly clever hoax as that one.

Lighter wrote:I labratted this (toothstain) and was carefully ambivalent since a fellow just doesn't bite the hand that sends out "free" bottles.

IMHO, this is neither fair to the wooters who depend upon an honest evaluation, nor to the guy who sends out the free bottle, hoping for a candid review, especially on his own baby.

ddeuddeg wrote:IMHO, this is neither fair to the wooters who depend upon an honest evaluation, nor to the guy who sends out the free bottle, hoping for a candid review, especially on his own baby.

Not at all. A couple followup questions from folks got every thing out. Remember, QPR?

tkastorff wrote:Where did you find this baby photo of Brock Lesnar, new UFC champ?

jwhite had found it a while back and used it for Loweeel's name on the NoVA/DC#4 participant list. I just had to find the list on the NoVA/DC#4 thread.

Labrat Report

This is pre-food, but the button she is not bouncing, so I twisted my wife's arm to share a glass with me.

Using the Corrado scale, here are my comments.

Color: 4/5
Nice garnet with consistent color to the edges. Not a deep, dark color.

Nose: 12/15
Floral, Fruity (berry), black pepper and hints of a little tobacco and bell pepper as it warms

Flavor: 7/10
Fruit, cherry with spice that seems to diminish as the wine sits. Very nice balance of acidity and fruit. The acidity also seems a little less as it sits.

Finish: 8/10
This has a finish of 45 seconds as the fruit and spice just fades. Initial tastes had some strong black pepper on the finish, but it seems to be going away. I see why some thought this was sweet, as the fruit just lingers.

Aging: 3/5
What do I know? This does not have the tannins that I expect in a way that is a long ager, or a wine that needs aging. But the balance seems like it will allow this wine to hold for a while. (And after the Humbug tasting so much better after a year, I am holding some.)

Overall: 4/5
I like this wine. Great drinking alone, but it has a nice acidity to go well with food. (Will taste with leftover meatball parm grinders in an hour.) Seriously thinking of ordering another case.

Total Score: 88 (call it 87-89)

I may be a little generous in my scoring on flavor and finish, because I like this wine.

My wife made a couple of comments on aroma. More importantly, her first reaction was “very nice”. She does not like to try and pick our aromas and flavors, but she knows if it’s good, it’s good, and this is good. And she put the brakes on a second case.

Someone asked how this ranks with other Woot Cellar offerings. I put it up with Monkey Prize as one of my two favorites, although the Humbug may move up. Above Polyphemus and Toothstejn for me. Can't wait to see how this ages.

Time to go pour another glass.

Cheron - I posted here so more will see it, and then you can pack it with my earlier comments in one post. Thanks for doing that.

polarbear22 wrote:Labrat Report

Got it, packed.

cheron98 wrote:Got it, packed.

You are too fast. I decided to edit the scores a little. Can you overlay with my revised scoring.