Yeah, I would be in if it were not for the recent credit card payment I had to make a result of the 9 orders I made in the past 2.5 weeks.

I hoping for the return of some of 09 Racchus Red, but other than that it would take something amazing to dig back into my wallet.

I just paid the bill for all the rest of the wootoff wines … so I shouldn't have either, but between the winemaker representing so well here and all the accolades, it was a no brainer to get some!

The large button be bouncing...

stillmanbrown wrote:Doing a poster too, send me an email next week. Not sure how big it's going to be, maybe 3' wide but you might want one. I won't be mercenary since I can pay the artist in wine!

Love the graphics on the label, got any extra posters?

TheYoz wrote:Live in NY and would like it by Christmas... scares me that it's being shipped from the WC. Also, would this be ok to drink right at Christmas or should I store it?

I'd hold on to it until Elvis' birthday (1/8) at least, ha! WW and I coordinated shipment to their warehouse in advance (crossing fingers and figuring the Colossus just might sell out so I sent the entire allocation) so it should arrive in less time than most WW shipments, though they'd know more than I.

bsevern wrote:Love the graphics on the label, got any extra posters?

I don't even have one yet, need to test the Rock mods, it's too much more detailed than the rest of the piece and if blown up (magnified, that is) and viewed by the nearsighted and sozzled, we want it to look right. Well, as right as any of my ideas ever look once a visual artist gets hold. You have my email, right? I probably won't see one until next week and then have to give the go ahead for more.

stillmanbrown wrote:Me! Because NH wants me to pay their sales tax, and file monthly statements even if I don't ship any wine into the state. They also force the shipping companies to give them a list of all entities that ship alcohol into the state. So it's smuggling, shipping to a cross-border friend, and Woot can only do the latter. Sorry, but that's too much time and money for a 1.1 man operation.

What sales tax do they want you to pay? We have no income or sales tax in the state, with the exception of tourist type services e.g. restaurant meals. Is there a specific beverage tax for alcoholic beverages? I'd be happy to lobby against that with more information.

Cocontom wrote:What, no bits of green and brown? If you don't catch some broken bottles while somersaulting in a "dive" bar parking lot, it's not a real dive bar!

To the person who asked about drinking it this year- I wouldn't. I love Stillman's wines, but his (non) aging suggestions do not do his wines justice for those of us without a winemaker's palette. When I opened the first Black Zeppelin, I was horrified, because I had a ton of them. After half of the bottle had been Vinturi'd into the decanter, left for an hour, then vigorously shaken in the decanter, then heavily swirled in the glass, it was as phenomenal as the 05.

I'm on the fence for this, only one because of the impending Amex bill, rather than the wine.

I must have overshot the glass, inside and outside! You're right about opening immediately, though this wine is more precocious than the Blacks. So you beat up the 09 BZ, correct?
I once bottled a small lot of Monterey/Santa Cruz Syrah that was accidentally overcharged with CO2 (at the last minute before bottling, not a refermentation). It was a big wine on top of that and required several hours to open as the 1800+ ppm of CO2 needed to go away even before the wine could gasp. Great swill, only had 2 barrels (48 cs) but it was quite the PITA. Used it for parties and dinners where I was present, rather than selling it and attempting to explain what was going on. Fun, but never again!

Last year the FedEx guy "dropped" my Woot Christmas wine and I didn't get it til almost February...according to them, "damaged goods". Please, don't let 'em drop it this year.

Do Want! But boo for no NH or MD shipping! I know NH's laws are not fun, but I was able to ship the Black Zep there (twice) and the recent Red Zep/Vindication mix pack to MD...have you changed states that the winery will ship to or is this unique to the Stillman label?

If you've decided not to pay to ship to either state I will be a very sad panda indeed, as I have liked everything else of yours that I've tried...:-/

wordek wrote:Do Want! But boo for no NH or MD shipping! I know NH's laws are not fun, but I was able to ship the Black Zep there (twice) and the recent Red Zep/Vindication mix pack to MD...have you changed states that the winery will ship to or is this unique to the Stillman label?

If you've decided not to pay to ship to either state I will be a very sad panda indeed, as I have liked everything else of yours that I've tried...:-/

Funny, I just jumped on to take a look.
I see big yellow is bouncing.
I'm at work another 20 minutes or so if you want a wootleg.
Not home 'til 6:15 or so, but I'm guessing that will be too late

Very curious about the 17%.

In for two.

ratnikov wrote:Very curious about the 17%.

In for two.

That's just the natural alcohol that comes from picking so late - but the berries aren't flavor ripe (puckered like Syrah should) and the seeds aren't lignified 'til then. It was actually 17.5 until I blended it down with the barrel of Secret Syrah before bottling - the wine never even started to go through ML. The 2011 we picked in late Oct. is 16.5 but may climb a bit in the cellar as the humidity is under 80% . . .

RE: 17%
When I tasted it,the wine was not hot...
That said, enjoy!

I'm not in on this as I already have some...
Cheers (bounce bounce)!!!
fff

Flybranda wrote:Funny, I just jumped on to take a look.
I see big yellow is bouncing.
I'm at work another 20 minutes or so if you want a wootleg.
Not home 'til 6:15 or so, but I'm guessing that will be too late

YES PLEASE!:-D

flipflopfrank wrote:RE: 17%
When I tasted it,the wine was not hot...
That said, enjoy!

I'm not in on this as I already have some...
Cheers (bounce bounce)!!!
fff

I mouseholed your Longboard Ambassador too. Thanks for the plugs, wish you were here to see me cook with it! (pic on FB)
Go check out gun.woot for all your Fresno needs!

Just poured the last bottle of Colossus into the stew.

And by that, I mean the last bottle from the bottling line - made up of the part bottles that didn't fill, as there was only a gallon or so in the bowl that feeds the carousel.

This has been a great day; minimal trollage, and the usual fun questions that I can give long boring answers to. I'll see if the Colossus posters work, I need to recover some artistic credibility after the last poster offering that seemed to have been misunderstood, or just judged. Thanks for buying my swill! I'll be back in a bit . . .

stillmanbrown wrote:I mouseholed your Longboard Ambassador too. Thanks for the plugs, wish you were here to see me cook with it! (pic on FB)
Go check out gun.woot for all your Fresno needs!

Thanks! - yes, had to leave the last bottle for ya....twas the baby bottle, no?
Thanks also for the mouseholing...tho this one is my new fave, the Longboard is just special....

stillmanbrown wrote:Just poured the last bottle of Colossus into the stew.

And by that, I mean the last bottle from the bottling line - made up of the part bottles that didn't fill, as there was only a gallon or so in the bowl that feeds the carousel.

This has been a great day; minimal trollage, and the usual fun questions that I can give long boring answers to. I'll see if the Colossus posters work, I need to recover some artistic credibility after the last poster offering that seemed to have been misunderstood, or just judged. Thanks for buying my swill! I'll be back in a bit . . .

Stillman...Please let us know how to get a copy of the poster...This blog might be a great place to do it...

Where have all the rats gone? I haven't seen one in months! It was a bad idea to wait for some rattage on this one. =(

imcooliswear wrote:Where have all the rats gone? I haven't seen one in months! It was a bad idea to wait for some rattage on this one. =(

It's not Friday. But you are right. There appear to have been no rat reports since September.

bobrush12866 wrote:Stillman...Please let us know how to get a copy of the poster...This blog might be a great place to do it...

I just got the revised artwork back from the printer, but we haven't decided on the size yet or if I can pay him in wine. So it will be a week or so before I have them! Not sure if they'll be wooted or not, but you can always email me (link at ZeppelinWinery.com)

stillmanbrown wrote:That's just the natural alcohol that comes from picking so late - but the berries aren't flavor ripe (puckered like Syrah should) and the seeds aren't lignified 'til then. It was actually 17.5 until I blended it down with the barrel of Secret Syrah before bottling - the wine never even started to go through ML. The 2011 we picked in late Oct. is 16.5 but may climb a bit in the cellar as the humidity is under 80% . . .

So I guess I am being a bit naive, but what made the picking happen so late? Or is this like a more regular late-harvest but just fermented dry?

rnatalie wrote:It's not Friday. But you are right. There appear to have been no rat reports since September.

I'm not sure if they follow the Friday rule anymore. The last one of my orders I see with rattage is the Sextant Chard on Oct 1 (a Saturday).

ratnikov wrote:So I guess I am being a bit naive, but what made the picking happen so late? Or is this like a more regular late-harvest but just fermented dry?

Well, I did. I'd had the wines made by another winemaker in previous years which were also late picked, but without real concentration - and when I saw the vineyard in June I understood why - the canopy was huge, total California sprawl. So we hedged it immediately and got some light into the fruit zone, and when I was reasonably sure there wouldn't be any more big hot spells (late Sept/early Oct) we leaf thinned to 100% sun exposure. However, the berries were not bagging at 25/26 and the seeds were still mostly green, and the fruit didn't taste right. (It was also holding acid and pH very well, as it should have given the mountain location and very low yields.) It didn't taste right until 28sh. It did ferment dry - the only thing that would have gone wrong - and is definitely not a 'late harvest' style wine, aromatically or flavorfully (is that a word in this context?).

stillmanbrown wrote:Well, I did. I'd had the wines made by another winemaker in previous years which were also late picked, but without real concentration - and when I saw the vineyard in June I understood why - the canopy was huge, total California sprawl. So we hedged it immediately and got some light into the fruit zone, and when I was reasonably sure there wouldn't be any more big hot spells (late Sept/early Oct) we leaf thinned to 100% sun exposure. However, the berries were not bagging at 25/26 and the seeds were still mostly green, and the fruit didn't taste right. (It was also holding acid and pH very well, as it should have given the mountain location and very low yields.) It didn't taste right until 28sh. It did ferment dry - the only thing that would have gone wrong - and is definitely not a 'late harvest' style wine, aromatically or flavorfully (is that a word in this context?).

Awesome. Thanks for the background story! Am already looking forward to the shipment.

Stillman congrats on the sellout (329, an odd number of woots eh?)!!!

As usual, I enjoyed having you on the forum, and I can't wait to try this crazy wine!!

bsevern wrote:Stillman congrats on the sellout (329, an odd number of woots eh?)!!!

As usual, I enjoyed having you on the forum, and I can't wait to try this crazy wine!!

Thankyouverymuch!

stillmanbrown wrote:Thankyouverymuch!

No, thank you very much for creating this beautiful beast of a wine! Looking very much forward to tasting it.

Got my Colossus Syrah today, wow that was F A S T - BRAVO!!!

Received it in Texas today! Thanks ever so much!!

Yee Haw got my 6 btl. shipment this morning.
Great delivery time on this one.

You know how people often preface their tasting notes with a disclaimer of some type? "I don't taste the flavors others taste," or "My palate is not all that educated?" or "I mostly know if I like it or don't like it?"

Well, please add all of those disclaimers to my brief review of Mr. Brown's Colossus Syrah. If you asked me to offer notes on a Romeo & Juliet Churchill, or a Bolivar Belicosos Finos, well, I'd kick ass on that, as I have some deliciously extensive experience when it comes to the fine rolled leaf of Havana and it's environs. But wine? Love it, adore it, been drinking it for more years than I want to admit, but rarely have I been inspired to write about it.

But this wine, this wine, oh, this wine, is inspiring. Inspiring in so many ways. I tasted jam the moment this gorgeous liquid graced my palate. Berries and pulp and texture and power. Depth and a luscious finish. Finish to remind you (in the most compelling of ways!) that you better have another gorgeous sip of this wine before it's been too quickly consumed by those around you. This beauty has wall to wall flavor, flavor packed into it in a manner which I suppose the experts would describe as fully forward. There was no coyness about this stuff at all, no waiting for the perhaps small chance of hints of licorice or a subtle finish with the luminous beauty of butterfly wings. No, folks, no. This Syrah brings it, it fully freakin' brings it, and I have to say that I am positively KICKING myself (and it'd be funny to see that, I might add!) for not having gone the full boat of six bottles for this.

I am not a note taker, one who catalogs his wine, or who worries too much about whether or not I can fit an extra bottle into my wine refrigerator - it's easy not to worry about that when you don't have one. But I do know that I will miss not having more of this kick-ass juice (can I say kick-ass on this family friendly forum?)(what if it's the name of a movie, and thus a proper noun, as opposed to a slightly naughty adjective?) in my wine rack.

All of that said, thank you, Mr. Brown, for this lovely vintage, and for crafting such an exhilarating tasting experience for us. I hope to have the chance to sample more from your vineyard when circumstances allow.

In the meantime, may it be a lovely holiday season for all of my fellow Wooters, and a very happy new year to all.

Best,
JNER

JNER when you start talking about R&J Churchills I raise my eyebrows, but BBF's, OK, now we're talking! Awesome cigars to smoke, I have a few boxes stashed

Anyone ever done a wine.woot herf?

Now that would be something different

Oh, and glad to hear that this wine is AWESOME!!!! Wish I'd bought more too, I shouldn't have doubted Stillman. Wonder how those posters came out?