Tasi 2009 California Merlot Case
$89.99 (Normally $216.00) 58% off List Price
2009 Tasi California Merlot
CT link above

We tried their Chardonnay at the tasting during the RPM tour and qualified it to be a good sangria wine. At $8/ bottle shipped this is likely that at least.

The Chardonnay had very noticeable residual sugar. Could the winery tell us if this has any? There are detailed specs but that is missing.

Today's Photo is looking a little grim, I still think I know the answer to this one though.

Col. Mustard, In the Library, with the Candlestick.

How long does it usually take for wine orders to arrive on average?

CowboyDann wrote:Today's Photo is looking a little grim, I still think I know the answer to this one though.

Col. Mustard, In the Library, with the Candlestick.

Close...right guy, right room...with the corkscrew...

kodaks wrote:How long does it usually take for wine orders to arrive on average?

2-4 weeks, depending on the weather, how far you are from Sonoma, and what methods WD decides to use for this shipment (i.e. if it goes in refrigerated truck most of the way). In SoCal I've been getting things about the second or third Wednesday after ordering. They leave the warehouse Mondays.

zoeldar wrote:Close...right guy, right room...with the corkscrew...

D'oh, it was so obvious! I don't remember that weapon in my version of clue

I remember the Tasi Chardonnay at WineDavid's rat tasting.

Of the four chards we tasted that night, for me, it was the best one (the pouch one was horrible with some weird chemical taste).

That's not to say it was an awesome Chardonnay, but of those tasted that night, it was decent, albeit slightly on the sweeter side (in a non-offensive way IIRC).

If the Tasi Merlot is equal to their Chardonnay, then this is a good buy IMHO.

Courtesy of CJ (well, her car anyway!) -- No real changes from last week:

CpprCr8 wrote:List of previous WW gatherings by area. Great reading and great examples of how to set up a Get-Together Thread.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Upcoming Woot Wine Gatherings…All The News for the week of July 29th.

August
8/18: CyberPub Cellars at the Awards Dinner!
8/25: Buffalo/WNY #9: Sushi & Wootlegging
TBD: SoCal #21: RPM-style "Serious WIne Tasting"
TBD: NorCal #13: Wheelbarrow o' Wine

Pending
TBD: NorCal #12: Volcanic Terroir and/or Eastern European Finds
TBD: Arizona Verde Valley Winery Weekend
TBD: Dallas #11

Looking for some helping hands:

• South Florida Interest Thread
  
• NorthEast Florida Interest Thread
  
• Missouri Interest Thread
  
• Central NC Interest Thread
  
• Albuquerque Interest Thread
  
• Lake County/Chicago Interest Thread

No events in your area??? Start one! Create an interest thread in the World of Wine Woot Community Tab!

So join or create a WW Gathering!


Edit: Oops, Austin now has a Gathering thread. Mea Culpa!!

Found a review: http://womclub.com/newsletters/201204/files/assets/basic-html/page5.html

95 points from the wine of the Month Club. Not too shabby.

entraine wrote:Found a review: http://womclub.com/newsletters/201204/files/assets/basic-html/page5.html

95 points from the wine of the Month Club. Not too shabby.

Don't you have to kind of question the objectivity when the rater is the organization selling you the wine?

MarkDaSpark wrote:


Courtesy of CJ (well, her car anyway!) -- No real changes from last week:

Maaaaaaark, We miss you!





So join or create a WW Gathering!

CowboyDann wrote:Today's Photo is looking a little grim, I still think I know the answer to this one though.

Col. Mustard, In the Library, with the Candlestick.

That's funny!

Drew brought this over for me to try and I did the lab work on it as well for the specs. I liked the wine as a clean well made varietal merlot. I like wines with lower pH's that talk to you. This wine is made in more of the old world style and is a good food wine.

ScottHarveyWines wrote:Drew brought this over for me to try and I did the lab work on it as well for the specs. I liked the wine as a clean well made varietal merlot. I like wines with lower pH's that talk to you. This wine is made in more of the old world style and is a good food wine.

I was really on the fence with this one, but the budget would love a decent everyday wine- I trust you-in!!!

ScottHarveyWines wrote:Drew brought this over for me to try and I did the lab work on it as well for the specs. I liked the wine as a clean well made varietal merlot. I like wines with lower pH's that talk to you. This wine is made in more of the old world style and is a good food wine.

Thanks for the comments Scott. Like the poster before me I was sitting on the fence, but now I need to make the purchase. Unlike many people, I enjoy Merlots a lot and it seems like they have some of the best QPRs of all the red varieties.

ScottHarveyWines wrote:Drew brought this over for me to try and I did the lab work on it as well for the specs. I liked the wine as a clean well made varietal merlot. I like wines with lower pH's that talk to you. This wine is made in more of the old world style and is a good food wine.

Any RS?

North316 wrote:Any RS?

No, I didn't pick any up on the palate. I did not run the RS, though. The color and taste show that there was no Mega Red used in the production of this wine.

ScottHarveyWines wrote:Drew brought this over for me to try and I did the lab work on it as well for the specs. I liked the wine as a clean well made varietal merlot. I like wines with lower pH's that talk to you. This wine is made in more of the old world style and is a good food wine.

convinced me.

Last Wooter to Woot:fredrinaldi

ScottHarveyWines wrote:No, I didn't pick any up on the palate. I did not run the RS, though. The color and taste show that there was no Mega Red used in the production of this wine.

Scott,

Great to see you on the posts again! Please explain what Mega Red is.
Thanks!

emccarl wrote:Scott,

Great to see you on the posts again! Please explain what Mega Red is.
Thanks!

I'm guessing Scott meant Mega Purple. It's grape concentrate that is added to wines to give color/flavor.

kylemittskus wrote:I'm guessing Scott meant Mega Purple. It's grape concentrate that is added to wines to give color/flavor.

I googled it earlier because I had no idea what it was, but there are actually three different ones: Mega "Cherry Shade" Grape Juice Concentrate, Mega Purple Grape Juice Concentrate, Mega Red Grape Juice Concentrate

emccarl wrote:Scott,

Great to see you on the posts again! Please explain what Mega Red is.
Thanks!

Here's a great article on Mega purple and ultra red in which Scott is quoted and does a tasting for the writer and an industry group.

http://www.winesandvines.com/template.cfm?section=features&content=51033

After reading this, I am thinking that this is where I get a negative character in many cheap wines that I term as "commercial wine flavor". It's a feel and a nose and a palate thing that is very unappealing and cheap in my mind. Many cheap reds have it. I'm glad to hear that this Tasi doesn't taste like it.

I am in Bloomington/Normal, IL anyone want to share a case?

North316 wrote:I googled it earlier because I had no idea what it was, but there are actually three different ones: Mega "Cherry Shade" Grape Juice Concentrate, Mega Purple Grape Juice Concentrate, Mega Red Grape Juice Concentrate

Fruit puree is added to many drinks to (1) add flavor/color and (2) state that its naturally flavored on the label. I am guessing that a concentrate is similar to fruit puree in concept, though not in viscosity, and manufacturers add concentrate to their raw stock to produce the desired end product. Nothing wrong in the practice, but shouldn’t the label state the fact? I did not expect wine makers to follow this practice. I guess wine makers are businessmen and do what businessmen do – make a buck. Feeling underwhelmed about this.

I read the article posted by cmaldoon above, and note that additives are here to stay.

hiten900 wrote:Fruit puree is added to many drinks to (1) add flavor/color and (2) state that its naturally flavored on the label. I am guessing that a concentrate is similar to fruit puree in concept, though not in viscosity, and manufacturers add concentrate to their raw stock to produce the desired end product. Nothing wrong in the practice, but shouldn’t the label state the fact? I did not expect wine makers to follow this practice. I guess wine makers are businessmen and do what businessmen do – make a buck. Feeling underwhelmed about this.

I read the article posted by cmaldoon above, and note that additives are here to stay.

Fortunately or Unfortunately depending on your angle, food labeling is governed at the federal level by the FDA while wine labeling is governed by the ATF which tends to play by very different rules. There isn't nearly as much of a push for more thorough labeling in alcohol as there is in food because the consumers are required to be adults. It's not something that everyone has to consume by nature.

Mega Red, huh? Who would have known! I learn something new on here all the time! Is this addition why some wines literally remind me of Welch's juice, feel syrupy, etc.? I wonder if Scott regrets his posting since it has openned (it seems) a "small" can of worms?

Anyone know who the wineamker is? The product page indicates s/he has worked for Stags Leap, etc...curious. Also, I can see why this label has been discontinued...it is ugly! Reminds me of a wine that can be picked up at a local Big Lots! However, according to SH this is nice Merlot and I tend to trust the guy.

I almost always have my wine woot packages held at my local fedex store. I currently have one shipment that fedex will not transfer from the distribution center to my local store because of "a hold the shipper put on it." Has this ever happened to anyone? I contacted woot customer service, but all the representative did was reply saying they put no hold on it. Then she pasted a link to fedex tracking showing it was being held at the distribution center (not the great customer service that people usually mention). Any help or ideas on how to fix this since woot customer service will not help?

I love reading these threads bc I learn something new all the time.

Anyone on NYC want to split? I'd like to have a few bottles, but 12 may be too many.

Send a PM if interested, I live in Hell's Kitchen...

losthighwayz wrote:Mega Red, huh? Who would have known! I learn something new on here all the time! Is this addition why some wines literally remind me of Welch's juice, feel syrupy, etc.? I wonder if Scott regrets his posting since it has openned (it seems) a "small" can of worms?

I hope he doesn't. His was a great comment in that it indicated that this is less likely to taste purely commercial than others in this price range might.

Also, the links that it has brought up indicate that he is open as having tried Mega Purple, and why from that trial he doesn't like using it. I think it's great.

Thanks Scott!

cmaldoon wrote:I hope he doesn't. His was a great comment in that it indicated that this is less likely to taste purely commercial than others in this price range might.

Also, the links that it has brought up indicate that he is open as having tried Mega Purple, and why from that trial he doesn't like using it. I think it's great.

Thanks Scott!

QFT.

I'm thinking "Add Mega Purple or Mega Red?" is going to be added to our list of common questions. Acid? pH? RS? Mega?

[quote postid="5113432" user="cmaldoon"]Here's a great article on Mega purple and ultra red in which Scott is quoted and does a tasting for the writer and an industry group.

http://www.winesandvines.com/template.cfm?section=features&content=51033

This article does a wonderful job explaining it. You shold look up Dan Berger's news letter "Vintage Experiences". I think it to be the best one out there.

losthighwayz wrote:Mega Red, huh? Who would have known! I learn something new on here all the time! Is this addition why some wines literally remind me of Welch's juice, feel syrupy, etc.? I wonder if Scott regrets his posting since it has openned (it seems) a "small" can of worms?

It is a can of worms I want the consumer to be able to look for and understand, because it tends to produce wines that no longer have the ability to talk to you. I want people to look for wines that do talk to you like this Tasi Merlot does.

ScottHarveyWines wrote:It is a can of worms I want the consumer to be able to look for and understand, because it tends to produce wines that no longer have the ability to talk to you. I want people to look for wines that do talk to you like this Tasi Merlot does.

You are the man.

ScottHarveyWines wrote:It is a can of worms I want the consumer to be able to look for and understand, because it tends to produce wines that no longer have the ability to talk to you. I want people to look for wines that do talk to you like this Tasi Merlot does.

Thanks for getting back and i appreciate your honesty. Would you say the merlot in this offer expresses the terroir and has nuances that make the wine somewhat interesting? I see the alcohol percentage is low so no heat? I know u stated earlier is goes with wine but whatvabout as a sipper? Thanks again!

losthighwayz wrote:Thanks for getting back and i appreciate your honesty. Would you say the merlot in this offer expresses the terroir and has nuances that make the wine somewhat interesting? I see the alcohol percentage is low so no heat? I know u stated earlier is goes with wine but whatvabout as a sipper? Thanks again!

It is light enough to drink a little chilled on a warm afternoon.

Anyone know who the winemaker is?

Wow! Waxing nostalgic. It's like the Wine.Woot! from a bygone era when we could discuss and learn about wine and get feedback on the current offering from people who actually tasted it. Now it's mostly just buy, buy, buy.