chipandstephanie wrote:Big thanks to andyduncan - I checked the all nine foils. All but 4 spin freely (1-2 after a little resistance). 4 however, were tight enough to remove the foil and check...

Of the 4 with foils removed, 3 check out fine...

1 bottle (a Ty Cab) is toast - the cork is completely soaked on top (I expected this, as I looked more closely at the bottle and found the residue from drippage all over the bottle).

So...I will email service for a replacement, BUT
I need to know whether I should be concerned about the whole shipment or just the 1 bottle showing distress.

The two competing thoughts appear to be (1) wine is resilient, therefore no distress = no worries; and (2) they all traveled together - if one went down, they all went down.

Sage words of wisdom????

My first wine woot was cooked when it arrived...and oddly enough it was Ty wines...

When all was said and done, the shipment was about half and half. Some of the wines were definitely damaged, but some were just fine. If the bottle doesnt look like its been too hot, then I wouldn't worry too much about it.

I actually opened a Ty Merlot a couple months ago that was cooked, and then opened one that wasn't to compare. I should post my tasting notes...if I can get over summer laziness....

Collegebob wrote:The fact that the Merlot tasted better the second day when chilled points out why it is usually recommended to drink wine at cellar or room temperature. This means for red wines in the 50s or low 60s. Remember wine is made from a fruit and how many fruits do you know that taste better warm than cool or chilled?

I tend to find, for both white and reds, both are better approaching a middle ground between cellar temperature (55 +/- 4) and room temperature (75 +/- 4). Too warm and the wine isn't refreshing, and alcohol becomes more prominent. Too cold and the aromatics are suppressed, and often times with reds the fruit seems suppressed.

I'm in Atlanta and got my 6 bottles of the Ty Canton today (my first Wine Woot, yay). There were no outward signs of cooking (no wet bottles, etc). The bottles were packed in the cardboard forms with the small gel cooling packets. Don't know what the bottle temperatures were when they arrived, as they were received by my leasing office and sat in their air conditioned room for 3 days until I could pick them up. 4 foils turned with little or no effort, 1 stuck a little, and the 6th wouldn't budge. After reading the comments about the fact that the foils don't matter for preserving the wine, I pulled off all 6 foils just to be sure. All corks look pristine, no wine on top or appearance of being pushed up. Guess I'm safe. Hooray! Now I just have to find some time to drink one.

The price is right on the current woot, but can't pull the trigger -- sounds like it's got a little more bite than I'd like even in a cab (despite being a merlot... if that makes sense). Thanks for all the fantastic comments, and it's very cool getting the insightful commentary from the wine maker.

zTimothyBz wrote:Can someone point me to an explanation about why "drinks like a cab" is a good thing?

I'm associating it with "wow, I thought you were a woman but now you feel like a man" - and the best I can say for that is it's an improvement on Java, Sparky or Bowtie talking about their g-strings or taking a shower in the pub threads.

-- T

I was kind of wondering about this, too. Cab S is a burly, tough grape. It probably needs more heat to develop fully and has the structure to support more fruit, alcohol and so on.

I'm hoping by "Merlot that drinks like a Cab," it's more about the structure of the wine. So instead of being flabby and weak, it has tannin and acid as a backbone. But that could just as easily mean big and burly, in which case I'd just rather have a Cab S.

To be honest, this Merlot anti-hype followed by hype to counter the anti-hype is starting to bug me. So many people hate Merlot, but their reasoning often has nothing to do with the grape. Hollow mid-palate is oft-cited, but good Merlot is round and traditionally complements the more hollow Cab S. That's a non-starter. What people really hate is probably that it's often mass-produced with low quality and often made in a style incompatible with the fruit. But the grape gets blamed.

I wish someone could explain:

1. What is really characteristic of Merlot.
2. What climates and soils it prefers relative to Cab S.

zTimothyBz wrote:Can someone point me to an explanation about why "drinks like a cab" is a good thing?

I'm associating it with "wow, I thought you were a woman but now you feel like a man" - and the best I can say for that is it's an improvement on Java, Sparky or Bowtie talking about their g-strings or taking a shower in the pub threads.

-- T

I guess from my side, I'm trying to let people know that the wine has some tannins and isn't a fruit roll style of Merlot. It leans more towards the darker and dried fruit flavors. This is also a '05, so it does have a little age on it.

Ah to heck with it, forget my prior post, I'm gonna order one of the Merlot just because all these comments/questions/concerns have made me too curious not to try it. Thanks alot guys! ;)

gcdyersb wrote:I was kind of wondering about this, too. Cab S is a burly, tough grape. It probably needs more heat to develop fully and has the structure to support more fruit, alcohol and so on.

I'm hoping by "Merlot that drinks like a Cab," it's more about the structure of the wine. So instead of being flabby and weak, it has tannin and acid as a backbone. But that could just as easily mean big and burly, in which case I'd just rather have a Cab S.

To be honest, this Merlot anti-hype followed by hype to counter the anti-hype is starting to bug me. So many people hate Merlot, but their reasoning often has nothing to do with the grape. Hollow mid-palate is oft-cited, but good Merlot is round and traditionally complements the more hollow Cab S. That's a non-starter. What people really hate is probably that it's often mass-produced with low quality and often made in a style incompatible with the fruit. But the grape gets blamed.

I wish someone could explain:

1. What is really characteristic of Merlot.
2. What climates and soils it prefers relative to Cab S.

Merlots tend to have great core of fruit that focuses on the mid palate, this is why it's such a great blending wine. Alone, they can be a little one dimensional, but again that is where they can really help a Cabernet or Cabernet Franc. Another wooter mentioned the over cropping and lower end Merlots that have hurt the reputation of Merlot over the years and I would have to agree. I believe some of this is going on with Pinot Noir right now also. As for the soils, as I mentioned in a earlier post, they can handle a more vigorous soil like clay. This is not to say that they don't thrive in other soils because they do. I think when people find deep soils or clay, they think of planting Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc (at least in the Napa Valley).

slo88a wrote:Ah to heck with it, forget my prior post, I'm gonna order one of the Merlot just because all these comments/questions/concerns have made me too curious not to try it. Thanks alot guys! ;)

That's what we are here for....

Curiosity got me as well, in for one.

Vastly different wine the next day after chilling down to ~60F, I'm enjoying this a lot more. A lot more open, this is a nice glass of wine.

slo88a wrote:I'm in Atlanta and got my 6 bottles of the Ty Canton today (my first Wine Woot, yay). There were no outward signs of cooking (no wet bottles, etc). The bottles were packed in the cardboard forms with the small gel cooling packets. Don't know what the bottle temperatures were when they arrived, as they were received by my leasing office and sat in their air conditioned room for 3 days until I could pick them up. 4 foils turned with little or no effort, 1 stuck a little, and the 6th wouldn't budge. After reading the comments about the fact that the foils don't matter for preserving the wine, I pulled off all 6 foils just to be sure. All corks look pristine, no wine on top or appearance of being pushed up. Guess I'm safe. Hooray! Now I just have to find some time to drink one.

The price is right on the current woot, but can't pull the trigger -- sounds like it's got a little more bite than I'd like even in a cab (despite being a merlot... if that makes sense). Thanks for all the fantastic comments, and it's very cool getting the insightful commentary from the wine maker.

The majority of "foils" out there are plastic capsules, there are some wines that still use an actual foil-metal material in them....nonetheless the way they're attached to the bottle is with some heat just like shrink-wrap so they snug up. One could reason that if overly exposed to heat they may tighten up more, but heat guns are significantly hotter than any ambient temprature a shipment would encounter, even in Death Valley inside of a UPS truck.

There seems to be a lot of conerns with these Ty's and it may be a UPS issue once they pulled the trucks away from the woot warehouse. In theory I shouldn't have any issues with them shipped to the Midwest, but I'll yank the capsules to make sure (no gel packs for mine).

Going back to an earlier comment I made the feedback from others seems to validate that: gel packs + cardboard shipping forms = minimal protection from heat while in transit.

Sorry for the thread hijack. Trent, congrats on what will sure to be your second sellout in your debut. I'm sure WD will get you back....and don't be a stranger in the forums.

Bouncy bouncy.

And Jwink: I think the idea is that if the wine leaked, it would then dry inside the foil toppers and make them stick to the bottle. Heat = wine leak = wine sticky. Not heat = tightening the foil. At least, that's what I thought.

was going to wait on the rats...but the bouncing "I want one"
button motivated me to buy now.

In for two...

-glen

kylemittskus wrote:Bouncy bouncy.

And Jwink: I think the idea is that if the wine leaked, it would then dry inside the foil toppers and make them stick to the bottle. Heat = wine leak = wine sticky. Not heat = tightening the foil. At least, that's what I thought.

I agree, what I didn't articulate is that if they are over heated when shrink wrapped, that could also provide the preception that there could be some leakage.

I "made" a few cases at a "city winery" a couple of years ago and they let me participate in the bottling process and I did "toast" a few capsules before getting the hang of the right heat and touch needed.

EDIT: I did check the Ty's and he uses a "foil" with a metal material content to them, so they may be naturally more hard to turn or rotate. I didn't find any problems with my corks and I was unable to turn the capsules at all prior to checking.

gstine wrote:was going to wait on the rats...but the bouncing "I want one"
button motivated me to buy now.

In for two...

-glen

Speaking of, the rats utterly failed this time around. What the hell?! Aside from those who actually checked in. We're missing more than half of them.

jwink wrote:I agree, what I didn't articulate is that if they are over heated when shrink wrapped, that could also provide the preception that there could be some leakage.

I "made" a few cases at a "city winery" a couple of years ago and they let me participate in the bottling process and I did "toast" a few capsules before getting the hang of the right heat and touch needed.

Gotcha.

CREIGHTONatNY wrote:
"Well I just pulled the merlot out of the ‘fridge and poured it into my glass

W O W what a difference."

In case anyone is on the fence, here is what made me fall off: Although chilling wine typically hides flaws and in this case the flaw sounds to be one of too much alcohol/heat. It sounds like this wine is well worth the $13/bottle on a single order. That is, I don't expect to be floored by this though I will be pleasantly surprised if I am wrong and if additional settling time reincorporates a smoother structure to the wine. On the other hand, if I am heading to a party or a friend's for a relaxed dinner and can grab this as a general bottle with confidence that it won't displease or a second bottle after the tongue is drunk, then it has paid it's due.

Further, given the reviews that we have seen, there is also a large part of me that is just curious and willing to shell out for that curiosity.

Regardless, thanks for making another winery I have never come across available!

Went in for one...the price is right, and I loved the wine maker's participation- excited to try it.

As much as can be told from the rat's participation, this looks to be the kind of Merlot that I will be happy to have. In for two.

By the way, that broker's page with all the listings and such is awesome! It almost makes one want to up and leave for Cali tomorrow...

jwhite6114 wrote:How good is this deal?

From the back yard to the front porch ... what an easy drinking (and sweet dealin') week.

Click the link above for all of the normal details.

How did you make that spreadsheet? Do you make one every week?

jakewootwoot wrote:How did you make that spreadsheet? Do you make one every week?

Every single week. Contrary to popular belief, Mr. White is the Kazaam (1996); not Mr. Brown.

And it's a google document so it can be shared.

ltraffis wrote:Darn...did I just coin a new word for this site??? ""Wootelligent...intelligent woot information!

I second your new Woot word entry. Let it be a part of the Wootnacular.


Ooh...and now I've done it too.

Bouncing! Get off your ...

Winedavid39 wrote:Yes, JWhite provides a great service (and keeps us honest). and he really is the Kazaam (1996)(love woot filters).

Ooh, there are fun filters. That's the Kazaam (1996). Or the dog's bollocks.

richardhod wrote:Ooh, there are fun filters. That's the Kazaam (1996). Or the dog's bollocks.

apple strudel, this is fun

Let me be the first.

Statistics

Speed to First Woot:
0m -20.-803s
First Sucker:
vwap
Sellout Time:
Sunday, May 31, 2009, 4:25:40 AM Central Time
Wooter To Blame For Sellout:
gediger
Item quantity:
800
Order Pace:
5m 43.925s
Woot Wage:
$355.89 (revenue per hour)

Congratulations! I'm glad. Glad I got my order in for two before the deadline. Can we have a clue now, sir?

Trent, congrats on two back to back sellouts, and thank you for your active participation. It's folks like you who make this site so entertaining and useful.

gcdyersb wrote:I tend to find, for both white and reds, both are better approaching a middle ground between cellar temperature (55 +/- 4) and room temperature (75 +/- 4). Too warm and the wine isn't refreshing, and alcohol becomes more prominent. Too cold and the aromatics are suppressed, and often times with reds the fruit seems suppressed.

I notice the same thing with beer, as well as with wine. Too cold and a great beer's flavors are dumbed down, just like the flavors of a great wine.

kyle83uw wrote:Went in for one...the price is right, and I loved the wine maker's participation- excited to try it.

Thank you

SmilingBoognish wrote:Trent, congrats on two back to back sellouts, and thank you for your active participation. It's folks like you who make this site so entertaining and useful.



I notice the same thing with beer, as well as with wine. Too cold and a great beer's flavors are dumbed down, just like the flavors of a great wine.

Thank you, it's a great venue to get my name out and be able to communicate with the most important part of the sales segment - the consumer. I would love to hear what everyone thinks of the wines, please feel free to email me at trent@moffettvineyards.com or info@welovewine.com

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR A GREAT WEEK!!

Methinks it be time for a clue WD. I have money I want to spend!

kylemittskus wrote:Methinks it be time for a clue WD. I have money I want to spend!

Get your tax refund or something?

thrawn1020 wrote:Get your tax refund or something?

Over budgeted myself. I thought I was a bit over my month's budget but I'm a bit under and next month budget starts Tuesday. Here's hoping for some interesting whites, roses, sparklers, or Tytanium.

kylemittskus wrote:Methinks it be time for a clue WD. I have money I want to spend!

Wow~ I wish I can say that... I do agree about the clue thing tho...

kevinx82 wrote:Wow~ I wish I can say that... I do agree about the clue thing tho...

It can be slightly altered to: "I have no money, but still want to, and will inevitably, spend it because I am a wine.woot addict according to the list." Either way, we're all doomed to a life of impecuniousness and inebriation, so cheers to that!

CTmasterblender wrote:That's what we are here for....

Much appreciated!

WD - it is great to have the winemakers here on the forums - thanks!

Wyoming- The Cowboy State, Big Wyoming, The Equality State. Population 493,782. The brightest state on the Woots by State map for the last two woots. What gives cowboys?

Corrado wrote:I recall Peter saying that the tin (foil) caps a bit more than the PVC (plastic). This is by no means scientific, but I've found that 'better' wines will be foil-topped, but cheaper wines will be plastic-topped.

There probably is a legitimate correlation since the presentation of the bottle (and, therefore, the wine) is affected. Winemakers making cheap wine that they know is cheap wine won't spend the money on tin. Good winemakers making wine on a budget may not splurge on tin. Folks making wine that they're selling for a premium price will almost always spend the extra few pennies per bottle on the foil caps.

Was it ever explained why the tops, foil, plastic, or wax, were needed at all? I have purchased wines with just a wax dollop and some bottles have none of the above, just bottle and cork.

kylemittskus wrote:Was it ever explained why the tops, foil, plastic, or wax, were needed at all? I have purchased wines with just a wax dollop and some bottles have none of the above, just bottle and cork.

I think it was explained upthread somewhere that winemakers are required to have a unique logo or something on the end?