Maroon Napa Valley Shiraz/Zinfandel
$59.99 + $5 shipping
CONDITION: Red
PRODUCTS:
2 2007 Single Vineyard Shiraz
1 2007 Zinfandel
CT links above

Winery website

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well, Maroon 5 is good. You think a Maroon 3 is 3/5 as good?

richardhod wrote:well, Maroon 5 is good. You think a Maroon 3 is 3/5 as good?

This wine has taken it's toll on me
She said Shiraz too many times before
And her heart is dripping like Zinfandel
But I had no choice, 'cuz I won't say Shiraz anymore

Deals.woot has a Vintage Vac Wine Sealer twofer sale on today. Any good?

Sooooo tempted to buy. But, RRFWLIWBM is in effect.

unclemonty wrote:Deals.woot has a Vintage Vac Wine Sealer twofer sale on today. Any good?

Reviews don't look too good.

Usually, when I open a bottle, I'll immediately pour half into an empty 375 (I keep a few of these lying around), put a cork in it and stick it in the fridge. If there's anything left from the remaining half, I just cork it and put it in the fridge. Cheaper and easier than fiddling around with various doodads.

I found a review on youtube.

Link

I don't think he's a very good wine critic, but I have heard rabbits are excellent at removing corks.

The sample size on CT is a bit small admittedly, but I've enjoyed Maroon Cabs (2007 and 2008) , and I have to admit the lower alcohol Zin (than many Napa Zins) makes this more appealing to me. I'll have to do some research and report back I suppose...

Can anyone recommend this? How does it taste? Great deal but I've never bought this particular red.

I've had a couple of bottles of the Maroon Napa Valley Chiles Valley District Zin and it was excellent. Dark fruit, jam, pepper, well balanced, everything a proper California Zin should be, and then some (love the glass stopper, very elegant touch).

I've also had the 2007 Maroon Cabernet Sauvignon Old "M" Block Maroon Vineyard, and it's excellent.

The Shiraz is a wildcard for me, and I'm definitely on the fence on this one. If it was a mix of their Cabs and Zin, autobuy, even two Zins and a flyer on a bottle of Shiraz would be enticing, but it's more challenging with one really good bottle and two unknowns (to me).

I'd love to hear from the winery about their Shiraz.

If only it was 2 zin and 1 shiraz...or no shiraz.

Pass on this one.

The 07 Zin was available some time ago on a competitor's website (WTSO) for 13.99 a bottle with free shipping if you purchased 4 bottles. This wine sells for $39 a bottle on the winery website. The WTSO price represented a whopping 65 per cent discount from retail. The 07 maroon M Block with a winery website retail price of $60 sold for $20.99 on WTSO, which represented a similar 65 per cent discount. If the shiraz was given a similar discount from the winery website price of $32, it would yield an indicated value of around $11 for a total deal value of around $36 for this offer. I haven't tried any of these wines yet. Need to PASS on this one WD et al....price is just NOT attractive.

I would expect the woot deal to be better than a competitor's....ALWAYS!! C'mon guys, you CAN do better!

I'm interested in why the winery chose to label this "Shiraz" instead of Syrah. Are they going for a big in your face Aussie style, and chose the name to give the consumer an idea of what to expect? Inquiring minds want to know.

chukon99 wrote:Reviews don't look too good.

Usually, when I open a bottle, I'll immediately pour half into an empty 375 (I keep a few of these lying around), put a cork in it and stick it in the fridge. If there's anything left from the remaining half, I just cork it and put it in the fridge. Cheaper and easier than fiddling around with various doodads.

We usually finish a bottle, but I've got a 16 bottle nitrogen based wine serving bar for stuff we only want partials of.

I'm where bobrush12866 is on this one.

I do not know this producer, but there are positive reviews on the Zin (in the offer) and the Cab (not in the offer) and one decent review on CT for the Syrah/Shiraz. OK - these are probably decent drinkers.

The tasting sheet for the Shraz on the winery website says "Drink Now Through 2012". That says - time to drink up folks!

Putting those together and looking at about $20.20 for the Syrah and $24.60 for the Zin (shipped)...not doing it for me value-wise.

Thanks!!

I wonder how WTSO is able to offer 50-65% discounts off retail when wine.woot usually offers 30-40% off? Is WTSO working on a much slimmer profit margin or do they have more negotiating power... or both?

This offer is 40% off retail but does pale in comparison to the previous WTSO deals.

bobrush12866 wrote: If the shiraz was given a similar discount from the winery website price of $32, it would yield an indicated value of around $11 for a total deal value of around $36 for this offer. I haven't tried any of these wines yet. Need to PASS on this one WD et al....price is just NOT attractive.

I would expect the woot deal to be better than a competitor's....ALWAYS!! C'mon guys, you CAN do better!

I get your frustration, but this is why wineries are afraid to discount their wines and start with a high sticker price. Once someone sees a discount, it's expected every time. That's not realistic and you're feeding into a system the benefits neither customer nor producer.

chipgreen wrote:I wonder how WTSO is able to offer 50-65% discounts off retail when wine.woot usually offers 30-40% off? Is WTSO working on a much slimmer profit margin or do they have more negotiating power... or both?

This offer is 40% off retail but does pale in comparison to the previous WTSO deals.

Isn't Woot sourcing directly from the winery? WTSO could be sourcing from anywhere--winery, distributor, fell off of a truck, damaged goods. Though probably distributor makes the most sense. It seems like sometimes they dump wine at close to cost when they need to move it or drop the producer. I can't imagine a winery would want to damage their brand by selling at 30% list.

My guess is Maroon is as upset with WTSO as folks are here with Maroon. Personally, I'd say just move on and stop acting like WTSO one-time price is normal. If $20 is not a fair price to you, don't buy. If it is, then accept that the WTSO price isn't coming back.

gcdyersb wrote:My guess is Maroon is as upset with WTSO as folks are here with Maroon. Personally, I'd say just move on and stop acting like WTSO one-time price is normal. If $20 is not a fair price to you, don't buy. If it is, then accept that the WTSO price isn't coming back.

I'm a WD fan from way back and would always prefer to buy here, but WTSO has the occasional excellent offer. FWIW, while Maroon isn't a top-5 brand on WTSO (in regards to frequency of offering), it sure isn't uncommon. From my WTSO email offers there were at least 8 from Maroon in the last 6 months - one as recently as 04-Mar-12...so I can't see how the WTSO offer(s) won't return again "soon".

gwg66 wrote:I'm a WD fan from way back and would always prefer to buy here, but WTSO has the occasional excellent offer. FWIW, while Maroon isn't a top-5 brand on WTSO (in regards to frequency of offering), it sure isn't uncommon. From my WTSO email offers there were at least 8 from Maroon in the last 6 months - one as recently as 04-Mar-12...so I can't see how the WTSO offer(s) won't return again "soon".

Exactly! The WTSO offers for Maroon wines have been on a fairly regular basis with discounts routinely ranging from 62% to 64% OFF WEBSITE RETAIL.

Don't get me wrong here.....I have been a VERY LOYAL WINE WOOTER with 91 wine woots since I joined in May-2006. All I am saying it that Wine Woot should have the clout to be able to buy at the BEST price and pass the savings on to us. NOT SO WITH THIS DEAL..... someone goofed. WD and others should have been aware that WTSO has been selling Maroon at a steep discount and came up with a deal that was better or move on to someone else.

Let's face it....we're all here for the same thing....GOOD juice at the BEST price possible...nothing more......other than the close kinship of fellow wooters!

Bring on the next deal!!

My comments are not based on "better deal on Xyz".

My comments are based on the fact that I ma generally in the market for <$20 wines. Preferably <$15. I go more than that when I have had personal experience with the wine/producer or when the reviews really really blow me away.

On the face of the info I have, I don't see the value for this offer here today..for me.

Hint: This is an invitation for someone to supply more information about this wine that can convince me it ranks higher than some re ent Zins and Syrahs that I have seen here in the last month or so that came in below $20/bottle.

The fact that I could have gotten this same wine for less somewhere else is shame on me for not being a more astute consumer.

bobrush12866 wrote:The 07 Zin was available some time ago on a competitor's website (WTSO) for 13.99 a bottle with free shipping if you purchased 4 bottles. This wine sells for $39 a bottle on the winery website. The WTSO price represented a whopping 65 per cent discount from retail. The 07 maroon M Block with a winery website retail price of $60 sold for $20.99 on WTSO, which represented a similar 65 per cent discount. If the shiraz was given a similar discount from the winery website price of $32, it would yield an indicated value of around $11 for a total deal value of around $36 for this offer. I haven't tried any of these wines yet. Need to PASS on this one WD et al....price is just NOT attractive.

I would expect the woot deal to be better than a competitor's....ALWAYS!! C'mon guys, you CAN do better!

According to my invoice the Zin from wtso was $14.99/bottle, perhaps they offered it for less later?

gcdyersb wrote:Isn't Woot sourcing directly from the winery? WTSO could be sourcing from anywhere--winery, distributor, fell off of a truck, damaged goods. Though probably distributor makes the most sense. It seems like sometimes they dump wine at close to cost when they need to move it or drop the producer.

TC'S Merlot was on WTSO and he said that they didn't get it from him. Distributors unloading product = WTSO.

I have to admit that despite only being here a few months and having made WAY too many wine.woot purchases, for the most part I have not been impressed with the pricing.

I look at wine.woot as making wine available to me that I wouldn't have access to otherwise living in New York city. When I've contacted some of the bigger resellers in the area they have been unable to get many of the wines available here.

I'm guessing, based on comments & discussions by people who have been here for years, that wine.woot has fallen into the category of stores that create a niche for themselves and then out grow that niche and see $$'s on the back of their eyelids when they go to sleep at night. I could be wrong, but that's the impression I have.

chipgreen wrote:I wonder how WTSO is able to offer 50-65% discounts off retail when wine.woot usually offers 30-40% off? Is WTSO working on a much slimmer profit margin or do they have more negotiating power... or both?

This offer is 40% off retail but does pale in comparison to the previous WTSO deals.

You raise some good points, WTSO has had some smoking deals, and while I adore WW, and they allow me (enable me to try some great wines, I would agree the QPR from WTSO is typically much better. Case in point, a rare Napa Valley cult wine appeared on WTSO - Toad Hall So Rare. Goes for $150/bottle, WTSO had it for $40/bottle. It was an amazing wine, and I wish I'd bought more. Or there was the 1998 Raymond Vineyards Generations Library Collection Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon that goes for $85 at the winery when released, more as a library wine, and it sold for $26.99.

Don't get me wrong, I've picked up a lot of great wines from WW, but now that you mention it, they probably could do better at times.

mschauber wrote:I have to admit that despite only being here a few months and having made WAY too many wine.woot purchases, for the most part I have not been impressed with the pricing.

I'm guessing, based on comments & discussions by people who have been here for years, that wine.woot has fallen into the category of stores that create a niche for themselves and then out grow that niche and see $$'s on the back of their eyelids when they go to sleep at night. I could be wrong, but that's the impression I have.

That's completely different from the opinion I have. Just off the top of my head I can think of several outstanding deals: Scott Harvey, Wellington, Twisted Oak, Corison, Kent Rasmussen, Davis Family. The combination of quality and price of these is, to my mind, pretty unbeatable. I really challenge you to find a $15 zin that's as good as Scott's or a $20 PN as good as Guy's. If you can, I'd love to know what they are, because I haven't been able to find them. I'll be the first to admit that not every offer is great, but the level of griping that goes on seems really disproportionate considering all of the great deals that WD et al. have put together.

Personally, I'm not interested in finding wine at the BEST price. I'm much more interested in (A) finding good wine at a FAIR price, (B) finding winemakers that I want to support through direct purchases, and (C) learning more about wine by hearing from the winemakers themselves and the more experienced members of this community. I've found nowhere else that puts those things together the way wine.woot has.

4 more wine woot off deliveries due today, :-)

kylemittskus wrote:TC'S Merlot was on WTSO and he said that they didn't get it from him. Distributors unloading product = WTSO.

That makes sense. It's a different business model. Certainly the winemaker participation here adds value, as does the community aspect and the lab rat program did as well when it was active.

I have purchased a number of wines from woot based on those factors, so rock-bottom pricing isn't the end all but I was curious at how a less established wine "daily deal" type of site has been able to regularly trump the discounts that woot offers. I think your comment probably explains it.

catfishhunters99 wrote:I'm interested in why the winery chose to label this "Shiraz" instead of Syrah. Are they going for a big in your face Aussie style, and chose the name to give the consumer an idea of what to expect? Inquiring minds want to know.

Paul Maroon wanted to honor the varietals origin, which is the city of Shiraz in Iran.

bsevern wrote:I've had a couple of bottles of the Maroon Napa Valley Chiles Valley District Zin and it was excellent. Dark fruit, jam, pepper, well balanced, everything a proper California Zin should be, and then some (love the glass stopper, very elegant touch).

I've also had the 2007 Maroon Cabernet Sauvignon Old "M" Block Maroon Vineyard, and it's excellent.

The Shiraz is a wildcard for me, and I'm definitely on the fence on this one. If it was a mix of their Cabs and Zin, autobuy, even two Zins and a flyer on a bottle of Shiraz would be enticing, but it's more challenging with one really good bottle and two unknowns (to me).

I'd love to hear from the winery about their Shiraz.

The Shiraz is a limited production wine produced with our Wine Club in mind. Its fruit driven with a peppery aroma.

kellydarter wrote:Paul Maroon wanted to honor the varietals origin, which is the city of Shiraz in Iran.

This theory, which was the basis for Aussies calling it Shiraz, was disproven years ago by DNA studies.

SonomaBouliste wrote:This theory, which was the basis for Aussies calling it Shiraz, was disproven years ago by DNA studies.

Peter 1, Winery 0

Ty Caton on WTSO = distributors dumping product. Ty Caton on Woot = hold on to these gems, they need aged. They were the same wine. (Okay, I don't remember the off-label Merlot offered here, which is what I do from WTSO)

I am not impressed with a woot discount if the "discount" is that the wine needs to be cellared for 3 years to be enjoyed, and the winemaker is simply turning goods into capital. That is how a lot of the time it seems to work around here. That said, I don't expect to buy many cellarable wines from WTSO. They are likely at the end of their drinking life, and their "provenance" (brushes the dirt off my shoulder) is less of a concern with me than perhaps others.

Woot gives me access to tiny wineries that I pay decent prices for their wine, but make off like a bandit with shipping. That is great with me. Selling wines that other sites, even through distributors, sold for less? Not so much.

chukon99 wrote: .......... Just off the top of my head I can think of several outstanding deals: Scott Harvey, Wellington, Twisted Oak, Corison, Kent Rasmussen, Davis Family. The combination of quality and price of these is, to my mind, pretty unbeatable. ..........
Personally, I'm not interested in finding wine at the BEST price. I'm much more interested in (A) finding good wine at a FAIR price, (B) finding winemakers that I want to support through direct purchases, and (C) learning more about wine by hearing from the winemakers themselves and the more experienced members of this community. I've found nowhere else that puts those things together the way wine.woot has.

Ditto. Bring back the Davis Family. Guests drank my Cuveé Luke before I could try it.

I also agree with your A. B. and C. comments. Wine.Woot is great, educational and offers something that Lot18 or anything else does not do for me. I find I window shop everywhere and buy here the most.

chukon99 wrote:I'll be the first to admit that not every offer is great, but the level of griping that goes on seems really disproportionate considering all of the great deals that WD et al. have put together.

I am going to guess this is really the issue. Even with the non-wine-Thursday, there has been a disproportionate amount of sub-par offerings. I think all of us that have browsed the site for years tended to think the quality would remain the same.

You just simply cannot offer wines at such a discount day-in-and-day-out. Like has been mentioned, it will devalue the winery's brand. There is something to be said about gaining new customers, but another to be said about being a fool.

Even with this economy, I am guessing wineries have found their sweet-spot. I won't mention names, but we do get some awesome deals on here. Then. we also get some goats. Some, ehm, "distributor's" (Seriously, guys, you really think the Euro wines have the winemaker discussing it with us? Get real.) selling wine.

I have tons of respect for "friends-of-woot." They are my first stops in wine country, wine club subscriptions, and word-of-mouth, but others? They are what they are. 7-days-a-week yields crappy offerings.

What the f*** are you guys talking about?

1) Wine.woot almost always beats any other price out there that has ever been available. Every single offer? Of course not. Most? Absolutely. Take shipping into consideration and it's no contest.

2) The move from 1 to 3 to 7 offers a week is going to necessarily increase the number of offers you're not interested in. More offers =/= more offers you want. However, it does mean more choices. The fact that you don't want every new offer, of even most, doesn't a) make them bad deals or b) make all of woot's offers bad deals.

3) Some of you are complaining that the wineries are/want to make $$ and sell wine? No sh*t, they do! Damn them for not doing us boozers charity work? Come on! And so does woot? The horror! Companies exist to make money. Are you working for free?

4) Exposure to new wines and producers is something that these type of sites do. Is woot better or worse than any other? No. But they are specific. W.W. does primarily CA wines. I go to other sites for different kinds of wines and different exposure.

5) Community puts W.W. above every other site. Not just us, but the presence of wine representatives (normally) is invaluable, IMO, to wine education.

By the way, I'm passing on this offer. That doesn't, however, make me arrogant enough to assume that my lack of interest in it makes it a poor deal.

Wow! Lot's of negative vibes today. I feel like my happy little 'Wine Woot World" is having a rough day. All I can say is that I have been introduced to some great, and, some just OK wines here that I never would have tried otherwise. I have been educated by the comments of many of the members of the community. This is an added value compared to the reviews on WTSO that are always from the same person. I feel that although I may not have always gotten the cheapest price, I have always gotten a very good, fair value. If there is a wine you don't feel is a good value there is a simple solution. Don't buy it! Quit griping! Maybe you can start commenting on WTSO's forum. Oh yea, there isn't one!

kylemittskus wrote:
(Bigpost)

Personally, I don't give a Potty Emergency!. However, you are like a zealot. This offering is sub-par. End of story. We all pass. We can discuss again over a Wellington offer. No? I'll see you then.