chipgreen wrote:Oops. How about that, one of my alter egos.

EDIT: Looks just like me too, doesn't he?

It's ok as long as you don't start having conversations with your alter-egos in public forums.

rjquillin wrote:WD, when are you going to begin shipping? All this talk is making me thirsty.

He's not actually going to ship it, he just said that so you guys would give him all the wine!

2006 Calcareous Zinfandel. My notes entered into cellar tracker:

'Rated 89 points: A strong nose of alcohol on the first pour, which quickly blew off. Nose of blackberry, fig, strawberry preserves and a very faint peppery aroma. Palate of plum and dark cherry; great acidity. Super velvety mouth feel, great balance and still has the structure to go a few more years.....unfortunately this is my last bottle :/'

This was a woot offering from a couple years ago.

07' Wellington England crest syrah.
IMHO his best varietal.

Notes
8/13/2012: Color is dark purple with light around the edges, nice legs as well.
Nose is mostly a blueberry compote, with some earthy notes in the background.
Palate has a slight alcohol burn up front but fades as the fruit and earthy notes come forward.
It really coats the mouth like a nice full bodied wine should.
The finish is medium in length but feels slightly thin, earthiness is much more present in the finish.

Great bottle.

cortot20 wrote:07' Wellington England crest syrah.
IMHO his best varietal.

Cradle robber!

bsevern wrote:Cradle robber!

True.
I tend to buy mostly for consumption within a year or two though. And I know he holds his syrah back if it is library worthy and makes it available later so I have had his devinely aged syrah and love it with 4-5 years on it and 10-12.

cortot20 wrote:True.
I tend to buy mostly for consumption within a year or two though. And I know he holds his syrah back if it is library worthy and makes it available later so I have had his devinely aged syrah and love it with 4-5 years on it and 10-12.

I'm just kidding, I'm sure it's excellent young too.

I have a bottle of 2002 Reserve I got from their club, and a bottle of the 2002 non-reserve from the woot tour. Interestingly when they poured the Syrah Reserve at the woot tour tasting (it was a different year, 2001 I think?) and the 2002 non-reserve Syrah, I thought the non-reserve was superior.

Good stuff!

Lang Wines Après!, by request from the Woot Plus thread.

Review above in CT link. Tastes pretty good, the thin mouthfeel is kind of a bummer but what do you expect from a 750ml bottle of Port for only $15?

bsevern wrote:I'm just kidding, I'm sure it's excellent young too.

I have a bottle of 2002 Reserve I got from their club, and a bottle of the 2002 non-reserve from the woot tour. Interestingly when they poured the Syrah Reserve at the woot tour tasting (it was a different year, 2001 I think?) and the 2002 non-reserve Syrah, I thought the non-reserve was superior.

Good stuff!

His reserve is typically more fruit forward so that actually makes some sense.

2009 Thumbprint three some. yummmmmm

Monkey prize 2

Tastes like a guy who is wearing jeans and a Tee put on a blazer.

Commercial cherry flavor layered with some cedar and tobacco plus a decent vanilla finish.

Iron Horse Estate Chardonnay 2010 $19.99 from WineShopper.

This is one we didn't taste on the RPM tour. Even though the Estate Chardonnay is oaked, it isn't a butter bomb. It has a nice finesse and the body is comparable to the IH Unoaked Chardonnay.

Flavors of apple, pear, and a slight, but not overpowering butterscotch.

2008 Kendric Vineyards Pinot

Delicious light/medium body Pinot

Sam Adams east west kolsch

cortot20 wrote:Sam Adams east west kolsch

Ewwww......

[ NOT a beer person ]

Opened a bottle of 2007 Château Paradis Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence Terre des Anges.

Another outstanding LB buy, really nice with salad and spaghetti night.

2005 Doce Robles Barbera. Fantastic. Acidic, grippy, relatively complex, appropriate ripeness.

klezman wrote:2005 Doce Robles Barbera. Fantastic. Acidic, grippy, relatively complex, appropriate ripeness.

Interesting. I recently had one of their blends (picked it up from Invino) and it was not good. Glad to hear the Barbera was good. Was it from Invino?

ajrod27 wrote:2006 Calcareous Zinfandel.

Still holding up well after day 3.

bsevern wrote:Opened a bottle of 2007 Château Paradis Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence Terre des Anges.

Another outstanding LB buy, really nice with salad and spaghetti night.

And only $5 each. I've got to fish mine out since I'd like to drink them up by the end of summer. Don't want to tempt fate by holding on to a 2007 Rose too much longer.

bsevern wrote:Interesting. I recently had one of their blends (picked it up from Invino) and it was not good. Glad to hear the Barbera was good. Was it from Invino?

I was similarly pleased with a 2005 Sangiovese I picked up at the same time. They were from a random store in Tucson, AZ. I'd heard of them, probably from invino, and the price was right at $9 each to take a gamble, even with the possibility that they were not stored correctly (although I checked that the corks on the bottles I picked were well seated).

redwinefan wrote:And only $5 each. I've got to fish mine out since I'd like to drink them up by the end of summer. Don't want to tempt fate by holding on to a 2007 Rose too much longer.

That was one where I ordered 4 bottles, but the server tripled it and I got, and was charged for a case. Tried one and ended up keeping the entire case, even though they offered to pick up return shipping.

Getting "dragged" to the Hamptons tomorrow for a friend's birthday weekend, and have been asked to bring a case of wine instead of paying rent. Somehow that seems like a bad deal!
The strategy is in the mix - we'll want plenty of refreshing wines, I'll want to dump some unpleasant bottles, we need at least one bottle of bubbles for a celebratory toast, and I need at least one high-dollar wine as a "token" birthday gift.

Perhaps I'm overthinking this.

beefytaco wrote:

Perhaps I'm overthinking this.

This

North316 wrote:This

Hey, don't rub it in!

klezman wrote:I was similarly pleased with a 2005 Sangiovese I picked up at the same time. They were from a random store in Tucson, AZ. I'd heard of them, probably from invino, and the price was right at $9 each to take a gamble, even with the possibility that they were not stored correctly (although I checked that the corks on the bottles I picked were well seated).

I checked CT, and I had the 2006 Doce Robles Robles Rojos. It was flat, disjointed, no fruit, no flavor, probably wasn't made to age and was way past it's prime... I dunno, but it wasn't good.

According to my CT inventory, I have a bottle of 2007 Doce Robles Barbera (somewhere). I'll have to give that one a shot, been a while since I had a Barbera.

Cmaldoon and I tried to share the 1995 Foppiano Petite Sirah that we got on the RPM tour for $15. The cork was flooded halfway up; we can't tell whether it ever vented. Though the wine wasn't necessarily off, it was a bit too...interesting...for our tastes. The palate, to approximate the flavors, tasted like a poor second cousin to Old Spice deodorant.

While waiting a few hours to see whether some air helps the PS, we're now opening a 2007 Donati Family Vineyards Cab Franc. It's always been a beautiful QPR buy, and is the last bottle of the case C got in November.

Wellington 2007 Cab Franc. Last time I had this was late in the evening at my going away shindig. I get to appreciate this bottle much more. And it's tasty with plenty of years ahead. It's a shame, though, that CA Cab Franc doesn't have the bell pepper flavours I used to love back in Niagara.

As today is my 63rd, sampling some budget ports, blue cheese and a baguette, I'll wait till the weekend for the serious stuff.

Lang Aprés
N.V. Graham Porto Six Grapes Reserve
2005 Quinta do Noval Porto single vineyard Late Bottled Vintage Unfiltered

Comments on the Lang thread

cortot20 wrote:07' Wellington England crest syrah.
IMHO his best varietal.

Notes
8/13/2012: Color is dark purple with light around the edges, nice legs as well.
Nose is mostly a blueberry compote, with some earthy notes in the background.
Palate has a slight alcohol burn up front but fades as the fruit and earthy notes come forward.
It really coats the mouth like a nice full bodied wine should.
The finish is medium in length but feels slightly thin, earthiness is much more present in the finish.

Great bottle.

2nd 1/2 of this.

• 2007 Ken Wright Pinot Noir Meredith Mitchell - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley (8/15/2012)
  I'll echo some of the previous notes on this one. It is on the thin side, and there is a bit of barnyard funkiness to it that doesn't appeal to me. Light strawberry, slightly tart cherry profile. Definitely lacking on the finish, but it is still drinkable. I'm curious to try a better vintage of this one to compare. (84 pts.)
  

rjquillin wrote:That was one where I ordered 4 bottles, but the server tripled it and I got, and was charged for a case. Tried one and ended up keeping the entire case, even though they offered to pick up return shipping.

I'm finishing the bottle from last night, this is one of the best "bargain" wines I've ever picked up (and still drinking great on night two). 5 bottles to go, but I agree with RWF, probably best to drink them over the summer....although I'm tempted to cellar one last bottle for next summer as a test Afterall they are 60% cab and 30% grenache.

rjquillin wrote:As today is my 63rd, sampling some budget ports, blue cheese and a baguette, I'll wait till the weekend for the serious stuff.

Lang Aprés
N.V. Graham Porto Six Grapes Reserve
2005 Quinta do Noval Porto single vineyard Late Bottled Vintage Unfiltered

Comments on the Lang thread

Dang, 63rd!?!?

Happy Birthday!!!!!

Enjoy the "serious" stuff!!!

redwinefan wrote:

• 2007 Ken Wright Pinot Noir Meredith Mitchell - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley (8/15/2012)
  I'll echo some of the previous notes on this one. It is on the thin side, and there is a bit of barnyard funkiness to it that doesn't appeal to me. Light strawberry, slightly tart cherry profile. Definitely lacking on the finish, but it is still drinkable. I'm curious to try a better vintage of this one to compare. (84 pts.)
  

Posted from CellarTracker

Sweet label though, eh?

That is a cool label, reminds me Alphonse Mucha's Slav epic paintings he did so well.

brightgreen wrote:Cmaldoon and I tried to share the 1995 Foppiano Petite Sirah that we got on the RPM tour for $15. The cork was flooded halfway up; we can't tell whether it ever vented. Though the wine wasn't necessarily off, it was a bit too...interesting...for our tastes. The palate, to approximate the flavors, tasted like a poor second cousin to Old Spice deodorant.

While waiting a few hours to see whether some air helps the PS, we're now opening a 2007 Donati Family Vineyards Cab Franc. It's always been a beautiful QPR buy, and is the last bottle of the case C got in November.

Apparently we spoke too soon. Here a few hours later the wine has resolved into something pleasant.

The nose has notes of tar and anise over dusty shoe leather. Interesting but a hair shy of perfectly pleasant.

The palate has resolved into plum with a significant amount of sweet licorice. So much licorice to almost lend a floral note. There are a bit of round to drying tannins and a vanilla finish.

I'm actually quite happy with the wine at this stage.

Also a note about the donati- still quite tasty but it is falling off and will soon loose it's tannins which provided a fair amount of its intrigue before. I recommend drinking up.

brightgreen wrote:Cmaldoon and I tried to share the 1995 Foppiano Petite Sirah that we got on the RPM tour for $15. The cork was flooded halfway up; we can't tell whether it ever vented. Though the wine wasn't necessarily off, it was a bit too...interesting...for our tastes. The palate, to approximate the flavors, tasted like a poor second cousin to Old Spice deodorant.

Do you think this is just a bottle variation issue or will be a similar problem for all the 1995s? I'll report back on mine once they arrive.

redwinefan wrote:Do you think this is just a bottle variation issue or will be a similar problem for all the 1995s? I'll report back on mine once they arrive.

Read my report from later...... TASTY!

I highly recommend decanting for a couple hours so it can come into balance and blow off its less glorious bottle notes.

2007 Ortman Family Vineyards Cuvée Eddy

From my Cellartracker entry: 'Rated 88 points: Ruby color. Nose of cherries, blackberries, toasted oak and a little bit of violet poking through. It has a soft attack with sour cherry and cranberry sauce (not the canned stuff) on the palate. Tannins are well integrated and very soft. More cherries and vanilla on the finish, very enjoyable wine! This has at least a few more years left in it.'

I'm super bummed this winery closed shop last year; they made great wines! I still have one Cuvée Eddy left and a few other that I am looking forward to enjoying.

Zeppelin Winery Chateau d' Abalone

Great daily drinker on a hot day!

tytiger58 wrote:Zeppelin Winery Chateau d' Abalone

Great daily drinker on a hot day!

Love that wine. I hope it pops back up, since I'd like to grab some more.