mommadeb1 wrote:anyone try the Castlebank
Giulia's Vineyard
Dry Creek Valley
Old Vine Zinfandel 2009 ? WTSO has it for 11.99

I ordered this the last time it was up, but had it one shipping hold that is just now shipping so sadly I haven't a clue if it's good juice or plonk.

bsevern wrote:Thanks for the heads up on this. I used my $20 credit and they had free shipping, so I got it for $49 delivered. I'm not familiar with Beaujolais wines, is this something that is meant to drink now, or does it need aging?

NOW! Some Beujo can age a bit, but Nouveau isn't in that category.

kylemittskus wrote:NOW! Some Beujo can age a bit, but Nouveau isn't in that category.

This. Nouveau is a quick, unstructured wine from this harvest's grapes. Put a slight chill on it and have fun!

froboy419 wrote:Which Gilt City did you see this on?

My receipt claimed New York but I visit Los Angeles...

bsevern wrote:I ordered this the last time it was up, but had it one shipping hold that is just now shipping so sadly I haven't a clue if it's good juice or plonk.

let me know when you try it... it seems to come up a bunch!

mommadeb1 wrote:let me know when you try it... it seems to come up a bunch!

I sure will, and thanks everyone for chiming in on the Beaujolais!

froboy419 wrote:Which Gilt City did you see this on?

I just purchased it from the LA Gilt City:

http://www.giltcity.com/national/gilttaste

This seems like an excellent deal since Gilt Taste has a lot of nice food and wine but at pretty much retail price, so this will give you half off depending on how bad the shipping charges are.

I haven't gone through the wines yet, but the fact that they also stock Blue Bottle coffee was enough to make me bite on the voucher. You have to use it all in one purchase though.

AMEX Small Business Satuday is coming up on 11/26, and if you spend 25 bucks at a small business that day you will get a $25 statement credit a couple of weeks later.

Only reason I mention it here is that I just got an email from my local wine shop mentioning that they are one of the small businesses involved in the promo.

Could be a good score if you have a couple of cards and a local wine shop that is participating.

Just register your cards here - https://www.facebook.com/SmallBusinessSaturday?v=app_165267296827487#!

You can also see which business are participating on that same page.

Ravenswood 2007 Teldeschi Vineyard Zinfandel is selling for $22.99 via an email offer from wineshopper (aka wine.com) with free shipping over $99.

This is $30+ in the stores...

Free shipping on Lot18 if you've got credits to use up.

redwinefan wrote:I just purchased it from the LA Gilt City:

http://www.giltcity.com/national/gilttaste

Agreed, this could be a decent deal if used properly. I searched the prices of two of their collections (Dinner Party and Screwcap Whites) and they are basically selling at "best web price," plus $10 - $20 shipping. So, deal gives you half price on retail, plus shipping. If used correctly, should be a good purchase!

I'm considering using on Dunham Cellars Lewis Vineyard 2007 Collection (http://www.gilttaste.com/products/122017136-dunham-cellars-lewis-vineyard-collection). $130 all-in is pretty much the best price you'll ever find on this trio, and after visiting their cellars (and bringing home the 2007 Pursued By Bear) I'm pretty sure these will be worth it.

froboy419 wrote:Agreed, this could be a decent deal if used properly. I searched the prices of two of their collections (Dinner Party and Screwcap Whites) and they are basically selling at "best web price," plus $10 - $20 shipping. So, deal gives you half price on retail, plus shipping. If used correctly, should be a good purchase!

I'm considering using on Dunham Cellars Lewis Vineyard 2007 Collection (http://www.gilttaste.com/products/122017136-dunham-cellars-lewis-vineyard-collection). $130 all-in is pretty much the best price you'll ever find on this trio, and after visiting their cellars (and bringing home the 2007 Pursued By Bear) I'm pretty sure these will be worth it.

I was planning on skipping this deal until I saw the Weimer Late Harvest. Thanks for bringing this up!

ejcory wrote:I was planning on skipping this deal until I saw the Weimer Late Harvest. Thanks for bringing this up!

And I need to remember to log out of that account after making a purchase! Weimer Late Harvest, good A Day of Thanksgiving (1951)

froboy419 wrote:
I'm considering using on Dunham Cellars Lewis Vineyard 2007 Collection (http://www.gilttaste.com/products/122017136-dunham-cellars-lewis-vineyard-collection). $130 all-in is pretty much the best price you'll ever find on this trio, and after visiting their cellars (and bringing home the 2007 Pursued By Bear) I'm pretty sure these will be worth it.

The Dunham looks like a good choice. I'm going to have to do some serious thinking about what to buy.

Did anyone get in on the 2002 Raymond Vineyards Library Collection Rutherford Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve WTSO had for $19.99/bottle (they say the retail is $80) ???

Loving Rutherford area cabs, especially with some age on them, I couldn't resist.

There's been a lot of nice deals up the past few weeks, I'm running out of room

As a heads up to you Sauternes fans... for the price of the $150 Gilt coupon, you could have a 2005 750ml of Y'quem.
Too rich for my blood, but not for HAK!

They sure have some fancy wines on Gilt Taste. The delivery charges are a little steep though, so it seems that the best way to use your voucher is to batch everything from the same winery to minimize delivery charges.

I picked up some wines I would never consider touching at their retail price:

The Relic Collection
And the Obsidian 2007 Cab
Along with 4 pounds of Blue Bottle (I'm very excited about this since I won't be opening the wines for a long while)

bsevern wrote:Did anyone get in on the 2002 Raymond Vineyards Library Collection Rutherford Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve WTSO had for $19.99/bottle (they say the retail is $80) ???

Loving Rutherford area cabs, especially with some age on them, I couldn't resist.

There's been a lot of nice deals up the past few weeks, I'm running out of room

That's a great price. Raymond makes some nice Rutherford Cabs. For $20, you cant go wrong. $80 retail seems like a big stretch though.

bsevern wrote:Thanks for the heads up on this. I used my $20 credit and they had free shipping, so I got it for $49 delivered. I'm not familiar with Beaujolais wines, is this something that is meant to drink now, or does it need aging?

Beaujolais Nouveau is most definitely a drink now. It's intent is to be the first wine of the vintage and is made via carbonic maceration (basically the juice is fermented in the grape before crushing). This produces a light fruity style that is typically low in the tannins and acidic structure needed for long term aging.

That's only Beaujolais Nouveau. The rest of Beaujolais wines -- collectively the Beaujolais Cru wines -- are another story. Like Nouveau, they're made primarily from 100% Gamay, but are given a "traditional" treatment including standard alcoholic fermentation of the juice after crushing the grapes. Gamay does incredibly well in Beaujolais and while nearly all of the Cru wines can be consumed on release the best will yield good results with a 5-10 years of age. I had a 10-year-old Brouilly that was on par with some good mid-range Burgundies (for quite a bit less pricewise).

Okay, there is a class that's not Cru and not Nouveau. The Beaujolais Supérieur, Beaujolais Villages, and "straight" Beaujolais are in order along the way between the Cru and Nouveau. If you're looking to dabble in Beaujolais, I'd go straight to the Crus. Fleurie and Brouilly are arguably the top and easiest to find, but they're all worth looking into and they're almost always priced right.

But do enjoy the Nouveau. I've read the reviews of the Drouhin on CT and it looks like even "serious" wineaux can appreciate this offering. Too bad it won't make it by Thanksgiving as it's a great family friendly wine (meaning even your teetotalling gradma will enjoy a sip) and goes well with the culinary mosaic that makes up American Thanksgiving dinner. I'm looking forward to mine.

iByron

beefytaco wrote:As a heads up to you Sauternes fans... for the price of the $150 Gilt coupon, you could have a 2005 750ml of Y'quem.
Too rich for my blood, but not for HAK!

Note that this is not the D'yquem Sauternes, but their even rarer Bordeaux Superieur Blanc; a dry white wine.

I'd heard of Ygrec ("Y") before but was pretty shocked to see that price! You better really love Sauvignon Blanc!

iByron

iByron wrote:Note that this is not the D'yquem Sauternes, but their even rarer Bordeaux Superieur Blanc; a dry white wine.

I'd heard of Ygrec ("Y") before but was pretty shocked to see that price! You better really love Sauvignon Blanc!

iByron

Aha! Thanks for the clarification. I sure like Sauv Blanc, but I'm not sure that I can justify this one!

redwinefan wrote:They sure have some fancy wines on Gilt Taste. The delivery charges are a little steep though, so it seems that the best way to use your voucher is to batch everything from the same winery to minimize delivery charges.

I picked up some wines I would never consider touching at their retail price:

The Relic Collection
And the Obsidian 2007 Cab
Along with 4 pounds of Blue Bottle (I'm very excited about this since I won't be opening the wines for a long while)

How soon did the voucher show up in your account? In the fine print is states it will available to use 48 hours after purchase.

RaiderSPE wrote:How soon did the voucher show up in your account? In the fine print is states it will available to use 48 hours after purchase.

45min?

beefytaco wrote:Aha! Thanks for the clarification. I sure like Sauv Blanc, but I'm not sure that I can justify this one!

"Y" d'Yquem is bling in a bottle. I'm sure it's very good -- like the Sauternes, they only make it in good years -- but it's the sweet stuff that they're known for (which, btw, is selling for $900-1,000 for a 750ml of 2005) and that we all crave.

If you want a good dry Bordeaux Blanc from a 1er Cru Sauternes house, seek out "G" de Château Guiraud. They age it in barrels that were originally used to hold Sauternes from the previous release. Gives it a nice round feel and a nose that's off the chain!

And at $17.99/bottle, "G" is a wee bit more affordable than "Y."

iByron

redwinefan wrote:That's a great price. Raymond makes some nice Rutherford Cabs. For $20, you cant go wrong. $80 retail seems like a big stretch though.

It looks like the it had been selling for around $32. Some complain it tasted "hot", and since it was a "Library" wine, I imagine it wasn't continue to improve with aging.

Still, $20 for a reserve cab? Worth a shot...

iByron wrote:Beaujolais Nouveau is most definitely a drink now. It's intent is to be the first wine of the vintage and is made via carbonic maceration (basically the juice is fermented in the grape before crushing). This produces a light fruity style that is typically low in the tannins and acidic structure needed for long term aging.

That's only Beaujolais Nouveau. The rest of Beaujolais wines -- collectively the Beaujolais Cru wines -- are another story. Like Nouveau, they're made primarily from 100% Gamay, but are given a "traditional" treatment including standard alcoholic fermentation of the juice after crushing the grapes. Gamay does incredibly well in Beaujolais and while nearly all of the Cru wines can be consumed on release the best will yield good results with a 5-10 years of age. I had a 10-year-old Brouilly that was on par with some good mid-range Burgundies (for quite a bit less pricewise).

Okay, there is a class that's not Cru and not Nouveau. The Beaujolais Supérieur, Beaujolais Villages, and "straight" Beaujolais are in order along the way between the Cru and Nouveau. If you're looking to dabble in Beaujolais, I'd go straight to the Crus. Fleurie and Brouilly are arguably the top and easiest to find, but they're all worth looking into and they're almost always priced right.

But do enjoy the Nouveau. I've read the reviews of the Drouhin on CT and it looks like even "serious" wineaux can appreciate this offering. Too bad it won't make it by Thanksgiving as it's a great family friendly wine (meaning even your teetotalling gradma will enjoy a sip) and goes well with the culinary mosaic that makes up American Thanksgiving dinner. I'm looking forward to mine.

iByron

Great info, thank you!

I was kind of thinking this would be nice to have out at Thanksgiving for my 2 buck chuck loving aunt & uncle (although they love to drink your good wine, they don't taste the difference between it and the cheap stuff - sigh). They'll just have to wait until Christmas

RaiderSPE wrote:How soon did the voucher show up in your account? In the fine print is states it will available to use 48 hours after purchase.

I purchased mine last night before I went to sleep, and it was in my account this morning.

iByron wrote:Note that this is not the D'yquem Sauternes, but their even rarer Bordeaux Superieur Blanc; a dry white wine.

I'd heard of Ygrec ("Y") before but was pretty shocked to see that price! You better really love Sauvignon Blanc!

iByron

Interesting. In Cellar Tracker, the Producer is shown as Lur-Saluces. I'm guessing the chateau does that on purpose so as not to confuse it with the sauternes that is associated with Chateau D'yquem?

HitAnyKey42 wrote:Interesting. In Cellar Tracker, the Producer is shown as Lur-Saluces. I'm guessing the chateau does that on purpose so as not to confuse it with the sauternes that is associated with Chateau D'yquem?

That's a CT thing. Lur-Saluces is the family that either owns or founded d'Yquem (I forget which).

If you look on the d'Yquem web site, they highlight "Y" as part of the Château d'Yquem family. "Yquem's other exception" is the headline they use.

iByron

iByron wrote:The rest of Beaujolais wines -- collectively the Beaujolais Cru wines -- are another story. Like Nouveau, they're made primarily from 100% Gamay, but are given a "traditional" treatment including standard alcoholic fermentation of the juice after crushing the grapes. Gamay does incredibly well in Beaujolais and while nearly all of the Cru wines can be consumed on release the best will yield good results with a 5-10 years of age. I had a 10-year-old Brouilly that was on par with some good mid-range Burgundies (for quite a bit less pricewise).

I'll put in a second vote for the Crus Beaujolais. Aside from the wine being excellent, I had the pleasure of hanging out with a winemaker in his garage/cellar in Cote de Brouilly for a couple hours on a rainy Sunday driving through Burgundy. Aside from him being a very nice guy, we found him by coincidence while looking for somewhere to go in rural France on a rainy Sunday afternoon. He saw us looking around the town hall and invited us to his place for wine. Yeah, wine is great but wine+experience is better.

Now I want to get me some Beaujolais.

Not surprisingly the Drouhin Beaujolais Nouveau Half Case deal at lot18 sold out.

RaiderSPE wrote:Was reading the Terms and Conditions at the bottom of the Gilt City Link and it states that the voucher may not be used for alcohol. Has anyone purchased the voucher yet and then purchased any wine?

redwinefan posted earlier, it sounds like he successfully purchased wine with his voucher:

redwinefan wrote:
I picked up some wines I would never consider touching at their retail price:

The Relic Collection
And the Obsidian 2007 Cab
Along with 4 pounds of Blue Bottle (I'm very excited about this since I won't be opening the wines for a long while)

I totally missed the no alcohol condition. Yes, my voucher seemed to work fine for the wine, so hopefully it went through.

The actual voucher doesn't have the alcohol restriction listed on it.

For fans of aged Pinot Noir, Invino has Nord Estates 2004 Pinot for $17.99 a bottle.

WTSO turned me into a big fan of Nord Estates with their 2004 Napa Valley Red Cuvee and their 2006 Napa Valley Jonquil Vineyards Petite Sirah (delish).

I haven't tried the Pinot, but the vinyard is in the Los Carneros area which is well known for Pinot, and Nord is making some outstanding juice.

They also have some 2006 Nord Napa Valley cab up for $29.99, but I'm holding out for a 2007 Nord Cab

bsevern wrote:For fans of aged Pinot Noir, Invino has Nord Estates 2004 Pinot for $17.99 a bottle.

WTSO turned me into a big fan of Nord Estates with their 2004 Napa Valley Red Cuvee and their 2006 Napa Valley Jonquil Vineyards Petite Sirah (delish).

I haven't tried the Pinot, but the vinyard is in the Los Carneros area which is well known for Pinot, and Nord is making some outstanding juice.

They also have some 2006 Nord Napa Valley cab up for $29.99, but I'm holding out for a 2007 Nord Cab

I loved their Cab. I got it on WTSO last time, and it wasn't $30 a bottle though!

mommadeb1 wrote:I loved their Cab. I got it on WTSO last time, and it wasn't $30 a bottle though!

I kind of suspected that WTSO would also have a better price. Looks like WTSO had the 2005, so for both a year older and less expensive bottle, I'd be in on it (plus free shipping and no tax!). I'm sure it'll come up again, WTSO seems to cycle the same wines through their mill, but this is the first time I've seen the Pinot up.

I hope their Pinot is as good as their Cuvée and Jonquil Vineyards Petite Sirah.

Some sort of offering from Verge will be up on Lot18 in the near future according to their Facebook. I love their Syrah, but I'm fully stocked on that one unless it's a new vintage.

Seems like a good deal on a not very cheap wine on WTSO, who knows how long it will last. Reviews look good, don't know if it is worth that coin, but it is at a rather substantial discount.

Vina Cobos
U Nico
Marchiori Vineyard, Mendoza
Cabernet Blend 2006
By Paul Hobbs

Thanks for the Gilt City heads up. As of last night, the $100 for $50 was sold out, so I had to buy the $200 for $100 jawn.

Oh well...

iByron

jonw747 wrote:It looks like the it had been selling for around $32. Some complain it tasted "hot", and since it was a "Library" wine, I imagine it wasn't continue to improve with aging.

Still, $20 for a reserve cab? Worth a shot...

Last night I had the chance to open a 1990 Raymond cab (not even their reserve) and it was absolutely beautiful. The front end had beautiful acidity which resolved into deep red fruits still with significant life. The finish was beautiful with a slight sweet woodiness.

Best 20 year wine I've had to date (not saying much, but it was still damn good) Makes me look forward to my 20 year corisons even more