dblaneyfan wrote:Absolute wine noobie here, needing some serious education and help. I want to pick up some nice wines as a gift for some family members, possibly keep a bottle for myself. My experience is pretty much summed up by mentioning Principato Rossato, port punch, and cooking wines.

With that shameful admission out of the way, how does this compare to the Olive Garden house wine? (I mention this wine particularly because that is the only definite name/taste that I have associated in my mind.) I've had zin's, etc, but I just wanted a comparison, is it sweeter, is it heavier, does it linger, etc.?

I would characterize this wine as being a little bit more complex, dried fruit flavors, with a little more acid that helps complement food. Another way of describing this wine is that it’s a savory wine (not sweet)

You need to be aware that the wine is unfiltered, so that when you receive it, you can allow it to rest a bit before serving it. Otherwise, your impression of this wine will be totally different. Hope this helps…

Its been a bit since I've purchased here; but I noticed last night that my reds are getting low. This sounds very tasty & can't wait to give it a try!

bsevern wrote:Interesting, same region as Gazzi. Although they couldn't technically call it Los Carneros fruit, it's literally across the street where the AVA boundary starts according to Scott Harvey.

Correct, highway 37 cuts the Gazzi Vineyard off. Carneros has many micro climates and not sure about this wine. The specs look good. I like the pH and alcohol.

btuck895 wrote:I live by that motto.
Unfortunantly I live in an apartment and since I discovered wine.woot, my roommate is getting slightly annoyed and has discussed an intervention.

I wish I had a roommate to have an intervention. Alas, I have simply filled my closets and covered the bed in my guest room with boxes if wine...

twstdvn wrote:I would characterize this wine as being a little bit more complex

This has to be a huge understatement compared to the house wine at OG!

twstdvn wrote:Thanks Kevin... Sorry... ;) Hey - are we going to try and plan a winemaker dinner in Bloomington sometime in May/June?

Thanks tons for YOUR continued support too!

I'm Marc, not Kevin, and from NYC, but that's ok. The interwebs can make it hard to distinguish the many anonymous people

Would definitely be in for a winemaker dinner in NYC though ;)

If only Massachusetts would allow woot to ship to us :?

Has anyone else experienced inconsistency or the complete lack thereof of the daily woot deal emails?

mschauber wrote:I'm Marc, not Kevin, and from NYC, but that's ok. The interwebs can make it hard to distinguish the many anonymous people

Would definitely be in for a winemaker dinner in NYC though ;)

Sorry about that Marc... I would LOVE a distributor in NYC! I just spoke to my good friend Peter last night who lives in the City (moved there to get married...) and we were talking about just that... In fact, Peter helped me with the 2008 vintage!

baconsizzle121 wrote:If only Massachusetts would allow woot to ship to us :?

You didn't here this from me - but sometimes I can be coaxed to find a way to help folks out who are not on the woot approved shipper list... contact me directly through the website to see if we can work something out...

ScottHarveyWines wrote:Correct, highway 37 cuts the Gazzi Vineyard off. Carneros has many micro climates and not sure about this wine. The specs look good. I like the pH and alcohol.

This vineyard source is highway 116/arnold drive just north by about 500 yards from the Carneros Highway turnoff. It's on the west side of the road... You can see a good view of it using Google Maps/Earth feature. When looking down at that intersection, just move up to the first developed property where there's a house. Most of the fruit came from the 667 vineyard next to the house - street view gives you a good look!

mschauber wrote:I wish I had a roommate to have an intervention. Alas, I have simply filled my closets and covered the bed in my guest room with boxes if wine...

I thought I was the only one that did that!

twstdvn wrote:Is there any room at your office? I had this Russian guy (smart network hacker, oh, I mean administrator) who used to work for me back when I was an IT geek. He used to store his wine in our server room in some cabinets that he brought in. He told me that it was perfectly temperature controlled - and his wife wouldn't discover his stash...

That would be an awesome plan except for the company policy on alcohol and the random searches with dogs...

It's easier to placate the roommate with an occasional bottle of Grey Goose LOL

twstdvn wrote:You didn't here this from me - but sometimes I can be coaxed to find a way to help folks out who are not on the woot approved shipper list... contact me directly through the website to see if we can work something out...

I have to wait until I'm 21 too, but thanks for the offer :P

baconsizzle121 wrote:I have to wait until I'm 21 too, but thanks for the offer :P

LOL - ok, someday! When you're ready - let me know...

Tasting note comment - I popped a bottle open this morning and shared it with my cellarmaster, another winemaker and my tasting room dude... The first thing that hit me on the nose was some cigar box and earth with some notes of violets.

Bright acidity, w/ spice & jolly rancher flavors with some alpine strawberry notes on the finish.

My mouth starts to water thinking about serving this with a grilled lamb chop accompanied with a gorganzola butter.

twstdvn wrote:I would characterize this wine as being a little bit more complex, dried fruit flavors, with a little more acid that helps complement food. Another way of describing this wine is that it’s a savory wine (not sweet)

You need to be aware that the wine is unfiltered, so that when you receive it, you can allow it to rest a bit before serving it. Otherwise, your impression of this wine will be totally different. Hope this helps…

this does souund very good, with recommendations from some good people on here too

twstdvn wrote:I keep telling folks to think French - this is a Pinot Noir with finesse. The color is light (I don't add enzymes or mega purple) and the flavors are pure - some strawberry, jolly rancher cherry, earth and leather notes.

The acidity makes it a great food wine - and because it's unfiltered, you won't want to shake it up before you pour a glass. My recommendation is to decant and enjoy the pure berry flavors.

This sounds like the perfect wine to bring to a BYOB French cooking lesson I'm going to be taking with some buds. The French wines I have are a little too heavy for the menu and for a couple of the girls' tastes. The Zinfandel you offered last year was fantastic, so I am intrigued to try your pinot.

I hope you will be visiting Illinois again, this time a little closer to the Chicagoland area.

funbunny wrote:This sounds like the perfect wine to bring to a BYOB French cooking lesson I'm going to be taking with some buds. The French wines I have are a little too heavy for the menu and for a couple of the girls' tastes. The Zinfandel you offered last year was fantastic, so I am intrigued to try your pinot.

I hope you will be visiting Illinois again, this time a little closer to the Chicagoland area.

Good call - just be careful when transporting because of the sediment. Drop me a line for some ideas...

I'm hoping to hit Illinois sometime in May or June - not sure yet what these dates will be... and I'm hoping to pick up one more account in Chicago!

twstdvn wrote:Good call - just be careful when transporting because of the sediment. Drop me a line for some ideas...

I'm hoping to hit Illinois sometime in May or June - not sure yet what these dates will be... and I'm hoping to pick up one more account in Chicago!

There is a wine shop here in Downers Grove that I think your wines would be a perfect fit for. The Girl that owns it hosts many meet the winemaker tastings and dinners. I'll email you the contact info for the shop if you are interested. I'll also email you about the transportation suggestions. Thanks!!

I got a chance to meet Jon at a winery tasting event in Monrovia, CA at a specialty local wine/cheese shop that unfortunately had to close down due lack of foot traffic. I tasted through most of Jon's lineup (6-8) wines and really enjoyed them all from what I remember. No specific notes since it was probably a year ago. But I loved his chard, Pinot and especially his estate zin which at the time I felt was the best zin. I had ever had. My wife loved the voignier.

It was good to briefly talk to Jon then and its great to see his wines and his participation on WW.

I would love to grab a set of these but am at capacity.
Any of my friends want to split?

Found my splitters! In for 1!
Edited for (sp)

Can you tell us anything about the terroir, soils etc of this vineyard you used?

twstdvn, I've seen your name before round here.. you sell other wine here, or just hang around woot?!

dblaneyfan wrote:
With that shameful admission out of the way, how does this compare to the Olive Garden house wine? (I mention this wine particularly because that is the only definite name/taste that I have associated in my mind.) I've had zin's, etc, but I just wanted a comparison, is it sweeter, is it heavier, does it linger, etc.?

That's a very good question to ask. Here's how I look at it.

Olive Garden makes some nice Italian meals. They are a big chain restaurant and their goal is a uniform dining experience time after time across all restaurants - they are like Italian meal factories. Hundreds of meals a night. On the west side of Colorado Springs, there is this little Italian restaurant called Paravinci's. They serve a few tens of meals each night. Chef Franco walks out of the kitchen and talkes with the diners about what is on special. Now, I can get Chicken Parm at both places, but the dish at Paravinci's is more nuanced in flavors, has a bit more of a unique personality, has fresher ingredients, feels a bit closer to the land and the people. I happen to like Chef Fanco's style of Chicken Parm, and his Veal Saltimbocca and his Veal Valeria and ....

Mass produceed meals, mass produced wines. Gourmet meals, gourmet wines.

Through wine.woot we are getting in touch with those little "local bistro wineries" making small batches of wines full of the flavor of the land and unique to the style of the people making them.

Not that the big factories do not turn out decent wine - my "house red" is made by the shipload by a big outfit in the Rhone valley - but it does not have the character of the wines offered here.

Now, the risk is you may not like the character...so that's where this wonderful banter comes in. Like I did today - I have never tasted these wines before, but the descriptions and the analysis (heck, I'm a chemist) tell me I probably will like it...so some bottles will be on their way and I'll find out. What fun!

liverman wrote:Olive Garden makes some nice Italian meals.

I was with you until this point.

richardhod wrote:Can you tell us anything about the terroir, soils etc of this vineyard you used?

twstdvn, I've seen your name before round here.. you sell other wine here, or just hang around woot?!

Hi Richard - you and I have chatted before. Yes – I have been active on & off, buying wines and commenting on the wines and winemaker that I’m familiar with.

The soil type for this particular vineyard is sandy loam – the location is probably the warmest part of the Los Carneros area because it’s further inland and further north than the rest of the AVA from San Pablo Bay. This also means that fog burn-off occurs first here vs. the rest of AVA, allowing for great Pinot Noir still wines…

cortot20 wrote:I got a chance to meet Jon at a winery tasting event in Monrovia, CA at a specialty local wine/cheese shop that unfortunately had to close down due lack of foot traffic. I tasted through most of Jon's lineup (6-8) wines and really enjoyed them all from what I remember. No specific notes since it was probably a year ago. But I loved his chard, Pinot and especially his estate zin which at the time I felt was the best zin. I had ever had. My wife loved the voignier.

It was good to briefly talk to Jon then and its great to see his wines and his participation on WW.

I would love to grab a set of these but am at capacity.
Any of my friends want to split?

Found my splitters! In for 1!
Edited for (sp)

Thanks CT - Yes, VERY sad that Tom and Janet had to close shop! I loved that venue and the owners were my kind of people! I'll be down in Southern California in April - and am hoping to do a winemaker dinner up in Big Bear...

Thank you for your support!
Cheers...

funbunny wrote:There is a wine shop here in Downers Grove that I think your wines would be a perfect fit for. The Girl that owns it hosts many meet the winemaker tastings and dinners. I'll email you the contact info for the shop if you are interested. I'll also email you about the transportation suggestions. Thanks!!

Perfect - my email address is jon@inspirationvineyards.com - Downers Grove is VERY close to where I home base (Maple Park)... I would love to make an appointment and show her my wines.

twstdvn wrote:Thanks CT - Yes, VERY sad that Tom and Janet had to close shop! I loved that venue and the owners were my kind of people! I'll be down in Southern California in April - and am hoping to do a winemaker dinner up in Big Bear...

Thank you for your support!
Cheers...

foot traffic is likely an issue in southern California (can't find that clip from LA Story, but you know why!)

twstdvn wrote:Hi Richard - you and I have chatted before. Yes – I have been active on & off, buying wines and commenting on the wines and winemaker that I’m familiar with.

The soil type for this particular vineyard is sandy loam – the location is probably the warmest part of the Los Carneros area because it’s further inland and further north than the rest of the AVA from San Pablo Bay. This also means that fog burn-off occurs first here vs. the rest of AVA, allowing for great Pinot Noir still wines…

thank you, yes indeed i know you've been aroud here!
Great information, thank you.. so warmer, but still moderate weather in nothern Carneros I presume.. how do you keep it from going hot and Big, like the less-pinoty Pinots we sometimes get in warmer AVAs? How might this be different from Saintsbury or Kent Rasmussen. I'm guessing it's not like the darker Buena Vista Ramal either!

twstdvn wrote:Thanks CT - Yes, VERY sad that Tom and Janet had to close shop! I loved that venue and the owners were my kind of people! I'll be down in Southern California in April - and am hoping to do a winemaker dinner up in Big Bear...

Thank you for your support!
Cheers...

SoCal... You calling Big Bear SoCal, or might you be making it closer to the border; say San Diego area?

rjquillin wrote:SoCal... You calling Big Bear SoCal, or might you be making it closer to the border; say San Diego area?

I would love to find additional venues in San Diego who would sell my wine. I have some very close friends who live there that I can stay with when I come down...

richardhod wrote:thank you, yes indeed i know you've been aroud here!
Great information, thank you.. so warmer, but still moderate weather in nothern Carneros I presume.. how do you keep it from going hot and Big, like the less-pinoty Pinots we sometimes get in warmer AVAs? How might this be different from Saintsbury or Kent Rasmussen. I'm guessing it's not like the darker Buena Vista Ramal either!

No - this vintage is light and the answer is that I try and pick earlier than most folks like to. My hardest year was in 2006 because it came in really late and therefore high in sugar.

twstdvn wrote:No - this vintage is light and the answer is that I try and pick earlier than most folks like to. My hardest year was in 2006 because it came in really late and therefore high in sugar.

reminds me of Rasmussen too

richardhod wrote:foot traffic is likely an issue in southern California (can't find that clip from LA Story, but you know why!)

Yea - Especially in Monrovia where they were located. It was a busy blvd...

twstdvn wrote:Yea - Especially in Monrovia where they were located. It was a busy blvd...

I was sad to see them go as well. But they really survived on their by the glass sales during the early evenings.

The bottle pricing was too much for me and I never bought anything from them. I did love their cheese sampler plates though.

Any chance we might ever get a run on your estate zin?

cortot20 wrote:I was sad to see them go as well. But they really survived on their by the glass sales during the early evenings.

The bottle pricing was too much for me and I never bought anything from them. I did love their cheese sampler plates though.

Any chance we might ever get a run on your estate zin?

Not the estate I'm afraid - but thanks for asking... Our AV Zinfandel will likely be offered again - but since I only make 25 cases of the old vine, it's on a first come first serve basis with the wine club and a few small wine shops that I have developed good relationships with.

My next old vine, won't be out until next March. In 2010, weather conditions wiped out everything. I am lucky enough to have almost enough to make 50 cases from 2011 because of good growing conditions. So it will come up first for the wine club and then will likely be available on our website. It will release next March and by end of summer, if not before, it will be gone.

Thanks for asking...

[quote postid="4900226" user="liverman"]...

Mass produceed meals, mass produced wines. Gourmet meals, gourmet wines.

Through wine.woot we are getting in touch with those little "local bistro wineries" making small batches of wines full of the flavor of the land and unique to the style of the people making them.

Not that the big factories do not turn out decent wine - my "house red" is made by the shipload by a big outfit in the Rhone valley - but it does not have the character of the wines offered here.

Now, the risk is you may not like the character...so that's where this wonderful banter comes in....quote]

Greg - I had to respond, but was at a function earlier today and couldn't type my response. I couldn't agree more with some of your comments that I have re-posted here... The last comment reminds me of a story...

I was once at a VERY large commercial wine tasting. The blowhard I was standing next to represented LARGE winery. I put any winery making over 100,000 cases of wine a year in the LARGE camp. (funny, but I have debated this with owners of these LARGE wineries who still consider themselves small... but I digress)

Anywho - this guy tries my wines and I try all of his. All of his wines were well made, clean and non-offensive - in one word - boring... He turned to me with a large frown on his face and I asked what was wrong.

He answered, I really like your wines because they have tons of personality, but aren't you afraid of how you are going to sell these? I was totally confused and asked what he meant - he said, and I'm quoting - "these wines have character and are distinctive. Yes, they are clean wines but they are truly expressive... I just don't know how you are going to convince wine buyers to pick them up because some people may not like them because they are SO distinctive..."

I asked him how many cases of his Pinot Noir he made and he proudly replied 20,000 (and it was their smallest lot.) I turned to him and said that I only made 150 cases of mine... He then turned to me and asked, "So when you say you produce between 1000 and 1500 cases of wine, that's your TOTAL annual production?"

I said Yes - I can afford to be distinctive.

twstdvn wrote:[quote postid="4900226" user="liverman"]...

Mass produceed meals, mass produced wines. Gourmet meals, gourmet wines.

Through wine.woot we are getting in touch with those little "local bistro wineries" making small batches of wines full of the flavor of the land and unique to the style of the people making them.

Not that the big factories do not turn out decent wine - my "house red" is made by the shipload by a big outfit in the Rhone valley - but it does not have the character of the wines offered here.

Now, the risk is you may not like the character...so that's where this wonderful banter comes in....quote]

Greg - I had to respond, but was at a function earlier today and couldn't type my response. I couldn't agree more with some of your comments that I have re-posted here... The last comment reminds me of a story...

I was once at a VERY large commercial wine tasting. The blowhard I was standing next to represented LARGE winery. I put any winery making over 100,000 cases of wine a year in the LARGE camp. (funny, but I have debated this with owners of these LARGE wineries who still consider themselves small... but I digress)

Anywho - this guy tries my wines and I try all of his. All of his wines were well made, clean and non-offensive - in one word - boring... He turned to me with a large frown on his face and I asked what was wrong.

He answered, I really like your wines because they have tons of personality, but aren't you afraid of how you are going to sell these? I was totally confused and asked what he meant - he said, and I'm quoting - "these wines have character and are distinctive. Yes, they are clean wines but they are truly expressive... I just don't know how you are going to convince wine buyers to pick them up because some people may not like them because they are SO distinctive..."

I asked him how many cases of his Pinot Noir he made and he proudly replied 20,000 (and it was their smallest lot.) I turned to him and said that I only made 150 cases of mine... He then turned to me and asked, "So when you say you produce between 1000 and 1500 cases of wine, that's your TOTAL annual production?"

I said Yes - I can afford to be distinctive.

Congratulations! You broke my SIWBM. One! If I really didn't have too much wine and so many known things on offer this week I'd get more. I'm sure this will be amazing! Love to come and see you guys.. I'm in the Bay this next couple of weeks!