polarbear22 wrote:You are too fast. I decided to edit the scores a little. Can you overlay with my revised scoring.

It's the 8 arms. Got it. Just curious - how do you decide on your scoring for the color? It's pretty rare to see a color score below 4.

INTLGerard wrote:EHP

Packed

Why isn't this bouncing yet? Are we getting the entire yearly output of the winery?

As an observation, 40 barrels strikes me as the entire yearly output of, say, Little Winery.

cheron98 wrote:It's the 8 arms. Got it. Just curious - how do you decide on your scoring for the color? It's pretty rare to see a color score below 4.

I just decided the color was a little light. But it should be for the varietal. But if a full bodied Cab/PS gets a color rating of 5, should this be less?

Main thing, I was not comfortable giving this an overall 89. It is in the right fange, but a little lower in my mind. So color was one of the ones I picked on.

Have you ever seen a rating scale for these categories? All I have are the categories and weights.

yarhargoat wrote: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.

I am relatively new to wine, drinking it for a year now. And I can say that I am not that adept in explaining yet the major differences between the different wines. I am still learning. I can just say that I really like something or I don't. I am just now beginning to distinguish the different flavors and such. I can say that I think that the EHP is a much smoother wine than the other two that I have tried. And I can see it having wider appeal than the other two (Humbug and the Toothstejnn) . I thought that the Toothstejnn was way bitter at this point. I do think that age will help that immensely. I thought the Humbug was okay when I first got it. I need to open a bottle and see how much better it has gotten with time. I did like the Humbug more than the Thoothstejnn. By far though from first sip, I really like the EHP.

Finally pulled the trigger on this one. My last Woot Cellars wine was MP and I loved it (hell, wish I would have bought more than 6). After reading the labrat reports and such, I figured why not give it a shot to have some unique bottles waiting to mature and some fantastic Christmas gifts.

polarbear22 wrote:I just decided the color was a little light. But it should be for the varietal. But if a full bodied Cab/PS gets a color rating of 5, should this be less?

Main thing, I was not comfortable giving this an overall 89. It is in the right fange, but a little lower in my mind. So color was one of the ones I picked on.

Have you ever seen a rating scale for these categories? All I have are the categories and weights.

Not really, but my understanding is that color should generally be scored on clarity (shouldn't be a cloudy wine), how appropriate the color itself is to the varietal (a PS should not be pale, a zin should not be black, a white should not be rose), the depth of the color (can you see a light through it), and the top layer (does the color bleed to the edge or is there a clear meniscus on it, and if so, how badly). I would expect a sangio/cab/merlot blend to be ruby toned, garnet at the deepest. I'd be a little worried if it was darker or lighter than that. A 3 to me means that either the color itself was slightly unexpected or you got some cloudiness to it, and it had a 1/8"-3/16" clear meniscus.

Edit: Maybe my next blog post will be a post about my understandings and explanations of how I score stuff and what I take points off for.

I am entirely shocked it is still there, with no bouncing.....

cheron98 wrote:Not really, but my understanding is that color should generally be scored on clarity (shouldn't be a cloudy wine), how appropriate the color itself is to the varietal (a PS should not be pale, a zin should not be black, a white should not be rose), the depth of the color (can you see a light through it), and the top layer (does the color bleed to the edge or is there a clear meniscus on it, and if so, how badly). I would expect a sangio/cab/merlot blend to be ruby toned, garnet at the deepest. I'd be a little worried if it was darker or lighter than that. A 3 to me means that either the color itself was slightly unexpected or you got some cloudiness to it, and it had a 1/8"-3/16" clear meniscus.

Edit: Maybe my next blog post will be a post about my understandings and explanations of how I score stuff and what I take points off for.

Good point. I will change the score, again. Sorry. But I don't want folks thinking the color is off. No cloudiness, and color stays true to the edge.

One poster said the wine had vanilla on the nose, another said chocolate, albeit with a "?". I have often thought I detected chocolate, only to have a more sophisticated nose claim vanilla. Why do these two aromas get confused in our noses? Are they chemically related? There must be a wise soul that can explain...

grammiedaboss wrote:One poster said the wine had vanilla on the nose, another said chocolate, albeit with a "?". I have often thought I detected chocolate, only to have a more sophisticated nose claim vanilla. Why do these two aromas get confused in our noses? Are they chemically related? There must be a wise soul that can explain...

Because chocolate has vanilla in it.

I am interested by all the negative Toothstein comments. I am not an expert and I will say that when I tasted this wine my expectations were set at $10 food wine level. However I loved it from first sip. I was intrigued from my first taste and the bottle disappeared quickly. I found the wine easy drinking with a great flavor. Definitely not as layered as some other wines. However if I am having a pizza and a movie I am often not in the mood for deeply layered wines. I think it was fantastic QPR and most nights I have to talk myself out of opening another bottle so I can cellar some to see how it develops. I may not have a great palette but in all honesty the memory of this wine has stayed with me longer than most. It is a great value for an every day drinker. Hearing that EHP is better has been great news. However I hope it carries the same simplicity in flavor as I intend to gift it and find that for most non wine drinkers the simple is appreciated over the complex.

I am very, very excited to be giving my first labrat notes. Here goes:

This is 15 minutes after opening, at room temperature, no food:

Color - light in color, definitely somewhat transparent but consistent to the edge, almost the color of a pomegranate juice cocktail or a berry tea, closer to red than purple

Nose - mostly cherries, i get just a bit of cinnamon or spice as well. there is also a very slight mineral aspect that seems to be wearing off over time. a tiny bit of heat/alcohol note on the nose that also seems to be getting more slight as it opens.

Flavor - cherries and cranberries. i think this wine is notable in that I taste NO oak at all, it is very fruit forward with some very slight mineral notes that, like the nose, seem to be wearing off a bit. Maybe a bit of a sour note on the finish, which is tasty. Finish lingers for about 30 seconds.

Mouth feel - very smooth, not much by way of tannins or acidity

Overall - I really like this wine. It find it easy to drink on its own (have not tried with food yet). I can see how some folks will not like this wine though, if you know what you like and your type of wine is the typically european, lots of meat and soil flavor, tannic, thicker wine... then this wine is not for you. This does not actually taste like the other Tuscans I have sampled, as it is a little fruitier.

For $10, it's a no-brainer.

iceeblue7 wrote:I am interested by all the negative Toothstein comments. I am not an expert and I will say that when I tasted this wine my expectations were set at $10 food wine level. However I loved it from first sip. I was intrigued from my first taste and the bottle disappeared quickly. I found the wine easy drinking with a great flavor. Definitely not as layered as some other wines. However if I am having a pizza and a movie I am often not in the mood for deeply layered wines. I think it was fantastic QPR and most nights I have to talk myself out of opening another bottle so I can cellar some to see how it develops. I may not have a great palette but in all honesty the memory of this wine has stayed with me longer than most. It is a great value for an every day drinker. Hearing that EHP is better has been great news. However I hope it carries the same simplicity in flavor as I intend to gift it and find that for most non wine drinkers the simple is appreciated over the complex.

+1...Thanks for taking the time to post my thoughts so concisely...

iceeblue7 wrote:I am interested by all the negative Toothstein comments. I am not an expert and I will say that when I tasted this wine my expectations were set at $10 food wine level. However I loved it from first sip. I was intrigued from my first taste and the bottle disappeared quickly. I found the wine easy drinking with a great flavor. Definitely not as layered as some other wines. However if I am having a pizza and a movie I am often not in the mood for deeply layered wines. I think it was fantastic QPR and most nights I have to talk myself out of opening another bottle so I can cellar some to see how it develops. I may not have a great palette but in all honesty the memory of this wine has stayed with me longer than most. It is a great value for an every day drinker. Hearing that EHP is better has been great news. However I hope it carries the same simplicity in flavor as I intend to gift it and find that for most non wine drinkers the simple is appreciated over the complex.

I completely agree. +1

Some people just plain enjoy the simpler, more fruit forward wines.

Still no bounce? They must have made an ocean of this.

People, please! Artists use a palette for their paints. We use a palate for tasting.

ddeuddeg wrote:People, please! Artists use a palette for their paints. We use a palate for tasting.

I dunno. I think Jopo uses a palette. Or maybe a pallet.

kramsauer wrote:Still no bounce? They must have made an ocean of this.

which can either be good or bad, as to why there would be so much stock, and available so cheaply ... wish we had participation on these woot cellars

tkastorff wrote:which can either be good or bad, as to why there would be so much stock, and available so cheaply ... wish we had participation on these woot cellars

Of course, they were selling halfcases of TS just a little bit ago, so maybe people are all tapped out. Then again, that doesn't sound like the wine.woot crowd. It's more of a reinforcement loop.

cjsiege wrote:I dunno. I think Jopo uses a palette. Or maybe a pallet.

Where is Jopo? Haven't seen him around here in a while. Any connection to the gas prices going below $2?

After four hours, this wine still tastes great. Most of the spice is gone, but the fruit is strong. DW still has some pepper on the finish. A little more of sour cherry than at the start.

Very nice wine. How can I sneak an extra order into the house?

Since I enjoyed the Tøøthstejnn so much and everyone says this is even better, I've ordered a case and gifted myself...er- a very close friend- another case.

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

Hey...you talking about me again?

Cesare wrote:Because chocolate has vanilla in it.

I know that, but it seems like I could distinguish between cocoa and vanilla in wine. Perhaps I don't have a very sophisticated palate. Or, hideous thought, I have an "aging palate." shudder. Any experts out there that know about palates? SB?

yarhargoat wrote:I completely agree. +1

Some people just plain enjoy the simpler, more fruit forward wines.

Hmmm. the wine is not "deeply layered" but those of us who were disappointed in it enjoy "simpler" wines.(I was going to say "the fact is", but of course, there are no facts when it comes to taste (de gustibus non est disputandum and all that)); in any case for me, and some others, apparently, Tooth was thin and lacking flavor, layered or otherwise. I can't imagine how anyone found it "bitter."

That's what makes horse racing, as my father used to say.

grammiedaboss wrote:I know that, but it seems like I could distinguish between cocoa and vanilla in wine. Perhaps I don't have a very sophisticated palate. Or, hideous thought, I have an "aging palate." shudder. Any experts out there that know about palates? SB?

I wonder if it just we women that can tell the difference better between chocolate and vanilla. Our bodies seem to crave a certain chemical in chocolate and I think we would have that 'It's chocolate!' when we smelled it. There are always the few women who do not like chocolate but for the majority I would say it is like a drug we crave from time to time so hell yes our noses would sure perk up when we got a whiff over the smell of vanilla any day.

After that long post...is it the guys who cannot tell the difference? Pony up boys...

How is this still available?

What a night,,,left work and by the time I got home I was in a Lake Erie lake effect snow storm. haven't read email for a couple days, but main concern was to clear the drive of 6" of wet snow. Wasn't going to clear off the walk to the front door, but I saw tracks to the front door. Thought maybe a package came. As the snowblower made it to the front door, I saw a delivery ticket on the front door. Darn it, UPS was here and and they didn't follow protocol...they deliver to my neighbor. Yikes, it's a FEDEX Tag!!!! Could this be the golden ticket??? Ran into the house and it was 7:30 pm. I had an hour to pick it up. Told the wife what happened and her response was "your going out into that foul weather to pick up a bottle of wine?" My response was "Bye". I backed the Jimmy out the drive, kicked it into 4 wheel drive and headed north. I slid through the first stop sign, and stayed focused. Got to the main streets and they weren't bad. Headed I-71 North and only 2 of 3 lanes were opened. Then I ran into slow moving traffic - 45 mph. This isn't good. then all of a sudden I thought of how I just go for it on this site. Try it, you may like it. So I said: Come Rudy, Deny, and Dixy lead me down the path. Into the third lane I went, passing three weiners driving on wet pavement. Passed them then pulled over back into a safe lane. Ironically got behind a UPS truck. (UPS and Fedex are on the same street. Ok guys..follow that truck. Got the golden ticket made it home and opened the package 1/2 hr ago.

Corrado wrote:One of the things I struggle with when 'rating' wine objective how to apply the objectivity. To really and truly rate a wine, you must do so blind. If you taste blind, you will not know the blend (if you're good, you can make a logical guess), so rating based on how varietal-specific (sorry, Peter, I know that's not the proper usage, but I can't bring myself to say grape-specific) the characteristics of the wine are.

In the end, I try to rate (and describe) what the wine does for me. Being a Sangiovese does not excuse a wine for having a short finish, nor does it excuse a Zinfandel from being hot on the palate or a Petite Sirah from having oppressive tannic structure without the fruit to back it up.

Whew, Corrado, them's fightin' words.
Maybe that's why I always look forward to your comments.
(obvious suck up, but true).

speedoo wrote:No. It would be very kind of you, actually. Cuz then I would not feel so gluttonous about getting three cases.

Glad to see I wasn't the only one!

grammiedaboss wrote:One poster said the wine had vanilla on the nose, another said chocolate, albeit with a "?". I have often thought I detected chocolate, only to have a more sophisticated nose claim vanilla. Why do these two aromas get confused in our noses? Are they chemically related? There must be a wise soul that can explain...

vanilla is added to most chocolate, maybe that has something to do with it?

The smoke detectors are going to sell out before this??

Cesare wrote:Because chocolate has vanilla in it.

I gotta learn to read ahead

polarbear22 wrote:Clever, tricky wife. She put the real EHP into a decanter and put some of my homemade wine into the bottle for "realism".

I'll be able to post a full labrat report later today.

Damn...That's a hard core practical joke!

Opened the package to only to find the golden ticket and... To the juice... Opened the bottle, popped the cork. In great shape. Poured a little out and did the sniffy sniff. For a just opened bottle, it was very nice, not hot, with mild fruit, little tobacco maybe from the cork. Color: Typical of this variety. brick red, lightly translucent with little in the glass. A swirl, sniff and taste. WOW, nice. Very smooth with strawberries, second taste maybe some cherry. Wait...go to the basement and get some Tooth...Same process...the Tooth is more sour and a little bite, a little lighter in color, but not much....I like the EHP more because it's smoother.

ltraffis wrote:What a night,,,left work and by the time I got home I was in a Lake Erie lake effect snow storm. haven't read email for a couple days, but main concern was to clear the drive of 6" of wet snow. Wasn't going to clear off the walk to the front door, but I saw tracks to the front door. Thought maybe a package came. As the snowblower made it to the front door, I saw a delivery ticket on the front door. ...I backed the Jimmy out the drive, kicked it into 4 wheel drive and headed north. I slid through the first stop sign, and stayed focused. Got to the main streets and they weren't bad. Headed I-71 North and only 2 of 3 lanes were opened. Then I ran into slow moving traffic - 45 mph. This isn't good. then all of a sudden I thought of how I just go for it on this site. Try it, you may like it. So I said: Come Rudy, Deny, and Dixy lead me down the path. Into the third lane I went, passing three weiners driving on wet pavement. Passed them then pulled over back into a safe lane. Ironically got behind a UPS truck. (UPS and Fedex are on the same street. Ok guys..follow that truck. Got the golden ticket made it home and opened the package 1/2 ago.

Jimmy?!?!?!
U gots to get yourself a real car that's heavy and loves gas for those treacherous winters, like an Excursion or Expedition, so you can run right over them! Here in Minnesota, the state where nothing is allowed, a few of us delight in our monster gas guzzlers which will roll over the weenies, if necessary! (I used to be a proponent of efficient Japanese cars, until a soccer mom in a Grand Caravan rear ended my Altima at a red light and almost killed my 3 year old strapped in his car seat. GC had at most a scratch, Altima was toast. Next day, bought the biggest heaviest monster I could find and haven't had a problem in 5 years. Kids are thriving despite other stupid drivers and I've never regretted paying the price for the safety. So much for lessons in harsh reality.)