Porter-Bass 2008 Heintz Vineyard Chardonnay - 4 Pack
$79.99 + $5 shipping
CONDITION: White
PRODUCT: 4 2008 Porter-Bass Heintz Vineyard Chardonnay, Russian River Valley
CT link above

Winery website

Just speculating on how Cesare always gets the first post with all the great information. I read somewhere that he is not a Woot employee, so Cesare is obviously an old man with Sundowners syndrome.Just look at that mug shot, it is totally fake!Maybe I am mistaken, and he is a Wootbot and that technically makes him "employed" by Woot. Maybe he is a stay at home mom with insomnia? He could be a paid Shill who works for every winery known to man. And this is his job man! Or perhaps he is just a vampire. IDK what do you guys think?

For the winemaker, how long will these cellar for?

Winery price $30
"Winemaking: We picked the Heintz Chardonnay on October 7. The fruit was destemmed and pressed to barrel where it underwent a native fermentation beginning at 23.5 Brix. The wine was aged in French oak 30% was aged in a new French oak 500 Liter puncheon.. For the first half year the wine was stirred bimonthly. The wine had a slow and steady secondary fermentation. We bottled August 1"

But no further specs like we are accustomed to seeing here.

Luke...?

I would be happy to answer any questions about the wine some may take a few minutes to look up.

lukebass wrote:I would be happy to answer any questions about the wine some may take a few minutes to look up.

Thanks Luke! How long do you believe these will cellar for?

cyclebex wrote:Just speculating on how Cesare always gets the first post with all the great information. I read somewhere that he is not a Woot employee, so Cesare is obviously an old man with Sundowners syndrome.Just look at that mug shot, it is totally fake!Maybe I am mistaken, and he is a Wootbot and that technically makes him "employed" by Woot. Maybe he is a stay at home mom with insomnia? He could be a paid Shill who works for every winery known to man. And this is his job man! Or perhaps he is just a vampire. IDK what do you guys think?

He works for wikipedia and just cant get enough posting things that link to other things so he does this on the side. Not theory, fact!

The Heintz Vineyard is famous for aging very well. I just decanted a bottle and after two hours it was opening up and tasting great this is an indicator that it has structure to age. If one has the patience I think three to five years would be a safe cellar time.

Interesting that Mill went in on a white wine offering.

cyclebex wrote:Just speculating on how Cesare always gets the first post with all the great information. I read somewhere that he is not a Woot employee, so Cesare is obviously an old man with Sundowners syndrome.Just look at that mug shot, it is totally fake!Maybe I am mistaken, and he is a Wootbot and that technically makes him "employed" by Woot. Maybe he is a stay at home mom with insomnia? He could be a paid Shill who works for every winery known to man. And this is his job man! Or perhaps he is just a vampire. IDK what do you guys think?

He is in fact human. The fact that he always gets the first post and is often mistaken for a bot comes up at pretty much every gathering that he's at.

lukebass wrote:The Heintz Vineyard is famous for aging very well. I just decanted a bottle and after two hours it was opening up and tasting great this is an indicator that it has structure to age. If one has the patience I think three to five years would be a safe cellar time.

Sounds good to me! In for one, Thanks!

I tasted the '08 Heintz vineyard chard from Littorai earlier this summer and it was a gem. It was also $50+. If this is anything like it, it's a steal.

We are in the midst of our first storm of the season. I must go make sure nothing is floating away. I will return in the morning to answer questions.

I have only a phone connection.

I will first confirm that is my labrat report. Thanks to Texacaliali.

And I just ordered. This wine needs aging, or a decant and some patience.

SWIBM has to take a break for this one after tasting.

I was incredibly excited to see this bottle in our package - while I am not very familiar with Porter Bass as a winery, all of the Sonoma superstars make a Heintz Vineyard chardonnay and I had high expectations.

As advised by the labrat email, we decanted - and the wine sings with air. Give it an hour or two, and to further overuse a meaningless phrase, you have a wine that tastes very 'Burgundian.'

Because it's late, here are my tasting notes, list style:
nutty, toasty nose with heat that blows off somewhat over time
golden yellow, lemony color
unfiltered?
slight roundness
big minerality
apple, apricots
obvious oak, but not distracting
interesting, balanced
bright acidity, killer structure, integration
A freaking great bottle of wine

Having consumed way too much 7-8% ries this summer, this is hitting like a freight train... the alcohol provides a slight harshness that I'm out of practice with.

Our dinner was:
sauteed shrimp w/ butter, garlic, and chives
carrots braised w/ ginger in butter and oj
mizuna salad
Paired brilliantly, especially with the dishes containing butter.

I was looking forward to seeing the price here, and at $21.25/bottle shipped, I will definitely go in for a 4-pack.
A huge thank you to Porter Bass and Woot for this opportunity!

Is winery website working for anyone? It wouldn't work at all this weekend and still won't work for me. Even Caesar's kink. Though it could be poor connection.

and "Yeah" for woot birthday code. I actually remembered to use it.

Was up in Guerneville yesterday. Wish I had known about the winery, would have stopped in (assuming there's a tasting room open during week).

This storm is not fun, got pretty crazy over night here in Bodega Bay.

cyclebex wrote:Just speculating on how Cesare always gets the first post with all the great information. I read somewhere that he is not a Woot employee, so Cesare is obviously an old man with Sundowners syndrome.Just look at that mug shot, it is totally fake!Maybe I am mistaken, and he is a Wootbot and that technically makes him "employed" by Woot. Maybe he is a stay at home mom with insomnia? He could be a paid Shill who works for every winery known to man. And this is his job man! Or perhaps he is just a vampire. IDK what do you guys think?

Cesare is real, walks and talks. I think he is speculating that woot TRICK OR TREAT!'s will one day be the currency of the land. And he will have cornered the market. Must be the Italian in him.

cyclebex wrote:Just speculating on how Cesare always gets the first post with all the great information. I read somewhere that he is not a Woot employee, so Cesare is obviously an old man with Sundowners syndrome.Just look at that mug shot, it is totally fake!Maybe I am mistaken, and he is a Wootbot and that technically makes him "employed" by Woot. Maybe he is a stay at home mom with insomnia? He could be a paid Shill who works for every winery known to man. And this is his job man! Or perhaps he is just a vampire. IDK what do you guys think?

I think if it bugs you this much then maybe you can try to beat him to the punch sometime or find your own "quality post" contributing niche. ;)

I'm still po'd. Sent woot a couple emails from the write us page and no reply. Not characteristic of woot at all. PM'd WD as he asked, no reply....Is woot on Holiday? This is worse than SmartPost shipping.

Even Amazon can't muck this up this bad.

Anticipated ship date is still Sep 23, 2011 and nothing but on 9/18/2011, I successfully wooted and paid though. (barely remember what for)

Let me count after 5 business days...Sept 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th, 28th, 29th, 30th....won't ship this weekend, Oct 1st, Oct 2nd, Oct 3rd....

I said if my order doesn't ship before my Xanax runs out it's gonna get fugly woot.

Oct 4th, October 5th....still "Initiated"

Guys, that was TWENTY SIX offerings ago now???

Last day for Xanax - suggest you FedEx me some

Love reading the posts each day... actually look forward to it. Never have much to add. Really don't now either, other than this wine is as incredible as the Rats have indicated. Not a chard drinker at all, the butter is a big turn off. As others have said, if butter is what you're after you best be heading east.

This has slight oak, a little mineral. I have had this wine with oysters and the pairing is wonderful (and I've never decanted).

When I saw this pop up, I couldn't believe it. Great wine by an even greater fella, enjoy!

Woody1 wrote:Guys, that was TWENTY SIX offerings ago now???

Last day for Xanax - suggest you FedEx me some

It's a conspiracy. Woot loves everyone except for you.

The storm has passed after giving us an inch and a half of rain. Now if it dries out for a couple of days we will be able to get back into the vineyard to pick fruit. Since Littorai has come up a couple of times we sell Littorai Pinot and Chardonnay grapes which they bottle as Mays Canyon.

Personally, I'd be all over this offer (at a lower price-point). Thanks for participating!
-David

ojiikun wrote:I tasted the '08 Heintz vineyard chard from Littorai earlier this summer and it was a gem. It was also $50+. If this is anything like it, it's a steal.

they got good ketchup also

I have been working with the Heintz Vineyard fruit for years and have always loved the unique balance of stone fruits, earth and richness. Due to the coolness of the site there is great acidity that keeps the palate fresh and the finish clean. It is a bold wine but with every passing month you can see the flavors knitting together becoming more delicate and balanced. In a few years this wine will be fantastic and at this price a great deal.

Yep, would be a lot more likely to buy, and probably 2 or 3, if the winery website worked. I would like to know more about the winery but can't connect.

redwinefan wrote:Interesting that Mill went in on a white wine offering.

you know I had the same thought when I saw that-I also had the thought that he must have one dynamite wine cellar.

We are currently making on average about 1,000 cases total production. We make an Estate Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Zinfandel. The only off site grapes we have used are the Heintz Chardonnay. I am always looking for exciting vineyards to work with but I want organic grapes, grown in cool climate regions on interesting land which has been hard to find.

I have been in contact with my website host and they see no problems. What program are you using ? our website is www.porterbass.com in case you had an incorrect address or link. Sorry I can't be of greater help. We use firefox and have had no problems

lukebass wrote:I have been in contact with my website host and they see no problems. What program are you using ? our website is www.porterbass.com in case you had an incorrect address or link. Sorry I can't be of greater help. We use firefox and have had no problems

Try this link for website http://yfuse.hqurv.servertrust.com/

G*$ D@#$&%!!!!! I just typed my entire report and then lost it. Anyway, as I was saying...

First of all, allow me to apologize. I was supposed to rat for the sake, but didn't get the package until today due to confusion (on my parents' part) as to what the FedEx guy tried to deliver. They thought it was their wine club shipment. It wasn't. I hate absent rats and I became one. Please forgive me.

Second of all, due to the heat we've had in So Cal this past week (except now it's raining), this wine is cooked. My report isn't going to be worth much because of that. I can get nothing from the bouquet besides cooked, bad smell, and the palate is more of the same. However, I can tell you that this wine has two things that I can discern even though it's cooked. The first is that the mouthfeel is fantastic! Creamy and rich, maybe even slightly viscous. The other is that this wine has a strong, acidic backbone. Oysters, white fish, scallops, ankimo, I want them all with a bottle of this and I'm set. Again, I have no perception on the wine's actual flavor profile, but the acidity along with the creamy rich mouthfeel leads me to come to the following conclusion:

If you're dropping $25-$50 and up on White Burgundy (I have been), this is easy @ $21/bottle, IMHO. Other rats whom I trust (Polar Bear) say this has minerality. If they say so, I believe it. Add that to the mouthfeel and the acidity that I can perceive, this is an EASY buy at $21. Yes, I know it's $21. But look at Burg prices.... did you look? Good. EASY. This is some serious juice. And if I can tell that without any flavors, I'm impressed.

For reference, I have no problem blasting a wine that I am given to rat (I've done it before). I tend towards bigger wines. I like more fruit than earth, but want both. Favorite varietal is PS. Favorite white is Roussanne. Favorite region is the Rhone. Favorite color is orange. Oh, that's not necessary. Sorry. In m whites I like big mouthfeel, acid, and these days in my Chards, some butter, vanilla, etc.

I don't know how much help I'll be able to be with my cooked bottle, but I'm around all the time (the experts call me "addicted") so if you want any clarifications, just post.

Thanks WD, as always. Sorry I screwed up with the Sake, but I think we're even since my bottle is cooked.

lukebass wrote:I have been in contact with my website host and they see no problems. What program are you using ? our website is www.porterbass.com in case you had an incorrect address or link. Sorry I can't be of greater help. We use firefox and have had no problems

I use IE on my laptop and whatever browser came with the HP Touchpad. Not st home so only the Touchpad and it isn't working. I can get s mobile site on my iPhone. Not sure if I tried the phone thus weekend.

I see a preview site with Google but can't load it.

Wish I had thus wine here. Every town seems to have their own oysters. And I see them for a $1 each in many places. I think I should just drop $20 and eat up.

I'm curious about ratting. Why do some people get to participate in ratting multiple times, yet others zero??

I've been on wine.woot since buying a Chase Family Cellars two pack on 7/16/08, yet never once got the opportunity to rat, although I've signed up, multiple times

Just curious how it really works?