Glad I got the Zin instead another Riatta

JanKris Sampler - Five Pack
$39.99 + $5 shipping
Condition: Red
Products:
1 2006 Merlot
1 2004 Picaro
2 2004 Riatta
1 2003 Syrah
Zin replaced by another Riatta.
CT Links above.

in for one.

Apparently WD's "You give us wine, we give you cash" pitch is quite a heater.

So glad I stopped reading the comments on the original offering long enough to click on the main page!

Last wooter to woot: AndDale2

Glad the wife noticed it was back up. And California looks the most lovely shade of plum!

skelator818 wrote:Glad the wife noticed it was back up. And California looks the most lovely shade of plum!

This is my first venture into woot wine, been lurking for a while but this is my first purchase.

Nice to get a second chance.


JanKris Sampler - Five Pack
Current numbers (updated each minute)
First sucker: fwWNZOLc7aEKE8
Speed to first woot: 17h 16m 4.453s
Last wooter to woot: jims19

I got my labrat sample of the Riatta.
It is a nice food wine with the extra spice from the zin.

I am still a noob when it comes to wines, but I have to say I have enjoyed this one so far.

How good is this deal?

You know ... it's the same as yesterday, but with a different mix of wines. Click the link for the updated sheet.

Sweet. Ordered 2 from the first batch. Didn't think it would let me order 2 more, but it did. I Guess technically this is a different offer.

dbergeron wrote:This is my first venture into woot wine, been lurking for a while but this is my first purchase.

Glad to see you on the board! Welcome. This winery offered (last offering) good everyday wines (think pasta, pizza, cheese, fruits, etc) It's not the best of the bunch, but it certainly wasn't the worst, either. Great price point for you to jump in with. But now that you've started, you're in big trouble! Wait until WD brings in the big guns - the type you have for big nights.

Enjoy! It's nice to have you come out of lurkdom and join us.

Winedavid39 wrote:now that's a pretty good indication of a positive labrat report.

No I think a "positive labrat report" can truly only come from ones self.

hint

Hey first sucker, how in the world do you remember that combination of letters and capitalization?

Ok I'm 95% in on this, any rats on the Riatta considering this is now 40% of this new offer? With the Zin it's more variety and less risk.

WD since the rats are MIA and you've probably tasted all of these recenlty, push me over the edge with the Riatta, trust me it wont take much.

jwink wrote:Ok I'm 95% in on this, any rats on the Riatta considering this is now 40% of this new offer? With the Zin it's more variety and less risk.

WD since the rats are MIA and you've probably tasted all of these recenlty, push me over the edge with the Riatta, trust me it wont take much.

Look up a few posts... The guy who ratted the Riatta re-upped for another 2...

Edit: Oh and there is NO way the first wooter will ever log in once they clear their browser, no way!

mother wrote:Look up a few posts... The guy who ratted the Riatta re-upped for another 2...

Thanks I thought he did the Picaro in the other forum. And oops missed that alltogether so brief...

jwink wrote:Thanks I thought he did the Picaro in the other forum. And oops missed that alltogether so brief...

If you don't like the Riatta I'll trade you my Merlot for it

mother wrote:If you don't like the Riatta I'll trade you my Merlot for it

Not worth the shipping for a $9 bottle, but thanks for the offer...still deciding on one vs two; one vs. two; 1 v 2; 1 or 2; 1; 2; 1; 2; 2; 2; 2; 1; 1; 2; 1; 2; 1; 2; 1; 2;

Ugh I may have to filp a coin.

In case you missed it in the previous box, here is a repost of my labrat report
======

WD, thanks for the opportunity to labrat! I hope I will make you proud.
I guess it won't make a difference to sales at this point (sold out! as of this writing, 5pm est) but I'm happy to give some opinions.

LAB RAT REPORT:

Well, WD picked the right labrat this week.
I'm a TA for a course called "Understanding Wine and Beer" at Cornell (you heard of it?), so I thought I would use this, my first labrat opportunity, to let all the TAs and the professors have a taste and get their opinions on this wine. Lots of reviews for the price of one!

Below is my review, followed by a summary of their comments.

JANKRIS PICARO 2004

Label: Gaudy purple and gold, with parallel faces like the girl scouts' logo. Yikes. But you can't judge a wine by its label (especially when it's free! [thanks WD!])

Color: a tinge of reddish orange peeking through the normal deep purple of a young wine; it's starting to show its age, but just slightly.

Nose: Honestly, at my first sniff i got an interesting aroma: shellfish. like shrimp shells. Further down, i got sawdust, like a freshly cut 2x4. Eventually this led into some dark fruit, blueberryish characteristic jammy zinfandel notes.

Palate: At first sip, I felt this in my cheeks. The astringency puckered them right up, an experience that I've rarely had in a non-experimental wine before. That being said, it wasn't altogether unpleasant. I like a wine that firmly announces its presence in one's mouth, like a medieval herald's trumpet (you know, with the big banner on it). Dun da da DAH! WINE!
It's a bit woody, maybe owing to time spent in barrels?
It also had a hint of sweetness, which called me back to the fruit. I wouldn't be surprised if this has a bit of residual sugar.
On the palate I was reminded of a wine I had a little while ago, Viña Borgia (garnacha). It had juuuust a tinge of bitterness to go along with the astringency, what one might call "oaky tannin".

TA and Professor Comments:

PROFESSOR 1 picked up some red fruit on the nose. As a habitual Burgundy drinker, he found the astringency a bit overwhelming. I believe the word he used was "intense".

TA 1 (the head TA, son of a Napa winemaker) found that it had "not a lot of spice" and some "oaky tannins"

TA 2 found it "rich in flavor" and "powerful"

TA 3 got a bit of reduction on the nose (which i bet could explain my shellfish?). She also was having trouble getting fruit notes.

PROFESSOR 2 was by far the most loquacious. He picked up, in addition to jammy fruit, rosemary. On the palate (specifically, on expectoration) he got cedar and mint, with a little bitterness. He conjectures that the "harshness" he perceives is a combination of the high acidity and astrigency. He guessed that this wine would sell for $20 or so, so if you bought it, you've got that going for you.

Overall: I think this is a decent everyday wine, and I think the price point is more than appropriate. I've got another bottle coming, and I might stick it away for a year or two and see what happens with it. My guess is that the astringency will come down and it will be a lot more drinkable. I suggest pizza or lasagna with it.

I will try it again tonight with some dinner and post any further opinions.

Didn't this just sell out?

esperanto wrote:In case you missed it in the previous box, here is a repost of my labrat report
======

WD, thanks for the opportunity to labrat! I hope I will make you proud.
I guess it won't make a difference to sales at this point (sold out! as of this writing, 5pm est) but I'm happy to give some opinions.

LAB RAT REPORT:

Well, WD picked the right labrat this week.
I'm a TA for a course called "Understanding Wine and Beer" at Cornell (you heard of it?), so I thought I would use this, my first labrat opportunity, to let all the TAs and the professors have a taste and get their opinions on this wine. Lots of reviews for the price of one!

Below is my review, followed by a summary of their comments.

JANKRIS PICARO 2004

Label: Gaudy purple and gold, with parallel faces like the girl scouts' logo. Yikes. But you can't judge a wine by its label (especially when it's free! [thanks WD!])

Color: a tinge of reddish orange peeking through the normal deep purple of a young wine; it's starting to show its age, but just slightly.

Nose: Honestly, at my first sniff i got an interesting aroma: shellfish. like shrimp shells. Further down, i got sawdust, like a freshly cut 2x4. Eventually this led into some dark fruit, blueberryish characteristic jammy zinfandel notes.

Palate: At first sip, I felt this in my cheeks. The astringency puckered them right up, an experience that I've rarely had in a non-experimental wine before. That being said, it wasn't altogether unpleasant. I like a wine that firmly announces its presence in one's mouth, like a medieval herald's trumpet (you know, with the big banner on it). Dun da da DAH! WINE!
It's a bit woody, maybe owing to time spent in barrels?
It also had a hint of sweetness, which called me back to the fruit. I wouldn't be surprised if this has a bit of residual sugar.
On the palate I was reminded of a wine I had a little while ago, Viña Borgia (garnacha). It had juuuust a tinge of bitterness to go along with the astringency, what one might call "oaky tannin".

TA and Professor Comments:

PROFESSOR 1 picked up some red fruit on the nose. As a habitual Burgundy drinker, he found the astringency a bit overwhelming. I believe the word he used was "intense".

TA 1 (the head TA, son of a Napa winemaker) found that it had "not a lot of spice" and some "oaky tannins"

TA 2 found it "rich in flavor" and "powerful"

TA 3 got a bit of reduction on the nose (which i bet could explain my shellfish?). She also was having trouble getting fruit notes.

PROFESSOR 2 was by far the most loquacious. He picked up, in addition to jammy fruit, rosemary. On the palate (specifically, on expectoration) he got cedar and mint, with a little bitterness. He conjectures that the "harshness" he perceives is a combination of the high acidity and astrigency. He guessed that this wine would sell for $20 or so, so if you bought it, you've got that going for you.

Overall: I think this is a decent everyday wine, and I think the price point is more than appropriate. I've got another bottle coming, and I might stick it away for a year or two and see what happens with it. My guess is that the astringency will come down and it will be a lot more drinkable. I suggest pizza or lasagna with it.

I will try it again tonight with some dinner and post any further opinions.

GREAT POST. Please stick around and contribute more in the future!

(WD, I think we have a new frequent ratter!)

a new offer without the zin

interesting

SirVancelot wrote:Sweet. Ordered 2 from the first batch. Didn't think it would let me order 2 more, but it did. I Guess technically this is a different offer.

I got 2 from the last batch, I might hop on for another two thanks for letting me know.

I opened up the Zin, about 45 minutes ago. I really wish the Zin was in this offer.

I wonder if I should rat the Zin in the other thread?

SirVancelot wrote:Sweet. Ordered 2 from the first batch. Didn't think it would let me order 2 more, but it did. I Guess technically this is a different offer.

Hey, as long as you pay another $5 shipping each order, I bet the winery owner would be happy to sell his entire sock!

edit: funny that s t o c k is replaced with sock!

jwink wrote:Hey first sucker, how in the world do you remember that combination of letters and capitalization?

Ten bucks says his password is "abc123"

JanKris Sampler - Five Pack
Current numbers (updated each minute)
First sucker: fwWNZOLc7aEKE8
Speed to first woot: 17h 16m 4.453s
Last wooter to woot: MaskedMarvel

jwhite6114 wrote:How good is this deal?...

jwhite - you need to make your sig so that when we hover over the various different woot boxes.... it reflects the appropriate message "... is better than everyone else, etc"

Hey WD, Gatzby or Code Monkeys: I'm about to check out and the final confirm page has the four wines but just 1 bottle each it's not coming up with two (2) of the Riatta. Is that coding carryover from the prior offer?

I'm sure you're good for it WD if somehow an error occurs in shipping.....

Edit: I see the account receipt has it correct.

I'm in. Not a huge zin fan (I think it can be downright swill at times). So I passed on the first offering. Couldn't rationalize not buying it after the woot gods seem to have heard my thoughts.

Now I'm only hoping the Picaro is not a cheap zinfinadel slap in the face.

houtx wrote:I'm in. Not a huge zin fan (I think it can be downright swill at times). So I passed on the first offering. Couldn't rationalize not buying it after the woot gods seem to have heard my thoughts.

Now I'm only hoping the Picaro is not a cheap zinfinadel slap in the face.

Well the Picaro is 50% zin, so it's likely it will have strong overtones that are softened by the merlot and cab. On the Riatta the zin should be even more in the background at 25%.

The winery owner has to be ecstatic - the first sell-out took care of almost 800 CASES of product.

Now, he just has to figure out how to ship it out to 1000 plus different customers...

Evening All,

The news is that the wine allocated for the whole promotion was 'sold out' within one and a half days! With the great value for money it's great to see so many people took the chance to buy.

This promotion was given all our 2004 Zinfandel but the extra 2005 Riatta isn't a minus. This is one of the 'everyday' wines I really enjoy. There have been comments on its character which I describe as savory. The Sangiovese is responsible for this and it is a parcel I will be watching closely next harvest.

For those interested, the website is planned to go 'live' on Thursday and is worth a look.

chriscameron wrote:Evening All,

The news is that the wine allocated for the whole promotion was 'sold out' within one and a half days! With the great value for money it's great to see so many people took the chance to buy.

This promotion was given all our 2004 Zinfandel but the extra 2005 Riatta isn't a minus. This is one of the 'everyday' wines I really enjoy. There have been comments on its character which I describe as savory. The Sangiovese is responsible for this and it is a parcel I will be watching closely next harvest.

For those interested, the website is planned to go 'live' on Thursday and is worth a look.

Thanks Chris, looking forward to it and congrats on one of the biggest wine.woot successes in recent history.

I assume this is you too:http://www.ccvwines.com/wines.html When can we anticipate some of those on here?

PetiteSirah wrote:GREAT POST. Please stick around and contribute more in the future!

(WD, I think we have a new frequent ratter!)

that would be be awesome.

anyway, here's

LAB RAT REPORT 2: the search for more wine

same wine JANKRIS PICARO 2004

Pícaro is Spanish (and possibly Italian?) for "rogue". Admittedly this blend is slightly unconventional. 50% Zinfandel with 50% Bordeaux varietals (25% Cabernet Sauvignon and 25% Merlot)? Anyway, here's how it all went down later on in the day.

I used about 2/3 of the bottle on me (well, a lot on me) and the other TAs and professors in my class. It sat in the bottle until I brought it home for dinner, which was turkey and black bean soup. Smoky was what I picked up on the nose, something I had thought before but neglected to write down. High toast on the barrels? It still had a little harshness, again probably owing to the combination of high acidity and palpable astringency.

A little bit of sediment/tartrate ended up at the bottom of some glasses, so this is either unfiltered or not cold-stabilized or both. maybe some filtering or fining would have helped.

Dessert, though, turned me around. I recently received a heart-shaped box* of chocolates and decided to hit up the Whitman's messenger boy with my last glass of this wine.

... Nice. I don't know what it is about chocolate and red wine, but THIS was really enjoyable.

All in all, the wine seems a little off balance, with individual components like acid, tannins, and alcohol coming through a bit awkwardly, but hey, what do you want for eight bucks a bottle from Paso Robles?

*ps now i have nirvana's "heart-shaped box" in my head...

Copying this over to the new thread as well...

Labrat checking in...2006 Merlot. I tought it was going to be easier for my first time since it was sold out but now it is available again so I have to try harder. My wife leaves in the morning but she also participated in the tasting. I am going to copy some format from the above labrat since I'm not entirely sure this will be the greatest review ever.

Background: Over the last year, I have developed a much greater taste for Cab above all else. I just recently had the Pinot for Roessler and realized that I need to keep drinking Pinot! Merlot was my go-to wedding drink because it is usually available there and I do enjoy but have never had a lot of high quality merlot's.

First Tasting...
Look: I feel, like others, that the label looks very nice. I'm not huge into the label and I don't think it means anything about what is inside but figured I would comment

Color: I felt it was a garnet color. My wife said brick but I would think a dark red brick if you were thinking that way. It was cloudy but there was no sediment that was visible to either of us.

1st Sniff: Saw dust, saw dust, and more saw dust. I can't say that at first smell, we got anything else.

Deeper: There are some definite berry flavors in there. Our palates are not developed enough to tell you exactly which ones yet but we are working on it! The saw dust was still powerful but you could get more on the second sniff.

Taste: Acidic, Oaky, strong tannins (bitter) at first taste. This was pretty dry and the taste definitely lasted. We both felt that berries came into play once swallowed although the flavor continued for a long period.

Overall: We are still in the process of drinking the wine. I will be posting more as we continue to drink. I feel that this is definitely going to open up and become a much fuller wine for us. We are not the most complete wino's out there yet but our first responses were this:

Wife: She didn't like it right away. Too bitter and acidic.
Myself: Very strong tannins. I felt it needed time to open up.

Update (1 hour later): We both feel that it is smoother and the flavors are coming out. The saw dust is less over-whelming and it has become more of that Merlot taste that I know already.

WD: Seriously, thank you so much for the chance to try and rat a wine. It may not have been perfect but we feel that this helped us gain incredible knowledge. It is very possible that I will be in for some more later tonight but I am waiting to see how this opens up before buying. We don't have much merlot around and for the price, I don't think that there would be much that could beat it from around the stores!

esperanto wrote:

... Nice. I don't know what it is about chocolate and red wine, but THIS was really enjoyable.

Maybe it's just me, but it's hard to find a red wine that doesn't go well with dark chocolate...

esperanto wrote:that would be be awesome.

anyway, here's

LAB RAT REPORT 2: the search for more wine
*Snip report*

And a Spaceballs reference to boot!!