Bione wrote:Really? You're going to sign that one from the language police and you can't even use the correct instance of "your/you're"?

F'ing embarrassing. Was still working on my coffee this morning. Anyway, the problem has been corrected. Carry on.

-The (slightly humbled) language police

canonizer wrote:That's actually pretty interesting. You've been up around 16% in years past, no?

Hi canonizer, actually we've produced very few wines at the 16% level. We've certainly had a few over 15%. The 2010 POIZIN was 14.8%. This is winemaker Brandon's third vintage at Armida and with brother Bruce, we're all working hard to balance alcohol with all the wine's attributes. As a result the alcohol level in most of Brandon's wines are significantly lower than those of our previous winemaker.

SteveCousins wrote:Hi canonizer, actually we've produced very few wines at the 16% level. We've certainly had a few over 15%. The 2010 POIZIN was 14.8%. This is winemaker Brandon's third vintage at Armida and with brother Bruce, we're all working hard to balance alcohol with all the wine's attributes. As a result the alcohol level in most of Brandon's wines are significantly lower than those of our previous winemaker.

The "high" alcohol conversation always makes my head spin. (not the alcohol the conversation ) I've relished many wines with relatively high alcohol; big wines with tons of fruit, racy acidity, tannic and sweet oak - perfectly balanced. Obviously many wines with elevated alcohol are not balanced and subsequently, taste "hot," and often flabby with muted fruit. Yet for many of us, alcohol in wine enhances weight and the ripeness of the fruit - the sensation of sweetness can be persuasive if not powerful, and is enjoyed but a significant percentage of the wine drinking population.

"Plus, the first 140 of you will get a corkscrew-shaped surprise!"

How do we know if we will get one?

andrewtl wrote:"Plus, the first 140 of you will get a corkscrew-shaped surprise!"

How do we know if we will get one?

It will be in the package.

SteveCousins wrote:The "high" alcohol conversation always makes my head spin. (not the alcohol the conversation ) I've relished many wines with relatively high alcohol; big wines with tons of fruit, racy acidity, tannic and sweet oak - perfectly balanced. Obviously many wines with elevated alcohol are not balanced and subsequently, taste "hot," and often flabby with muted fruit. Yet for many of us, alcohol in wine enhances weight and the ripeness of the fruit - the sensation of sweetness can be persuasive if not powerful, and is enjoyed by a significant percentage of the wine drinking population.

When Brandon can get off the crush pad for a few minutes today I'm sure he'd love to throw in on this topic!

SteveCousins wrote:The "high" alcohol conversation always makes my head spin. (not the alcohol the conversation ) I've relished many wines with relatively high alcohol; big wines with tons of fruit, racy acidity, tannic and sweet oak - perfectly balanced. Obviously many wines with elevated alcohol are not balanced and subsequently, taste "hot," and often flabby with muted fruit. Yet for many of us, alcohol in wine enhances weight and the ripeness of the fruit - the sensation of sweetness can be persuasive if not powerful, and is enjoyed but a significant percentage of the wine drinking population.

A good example of this was the La Famiglia Snows Lake Vineyard Barbera, that clocked in a 15% I could not detect any heat in that wine and it was delicious!

You guys still making that wine??

wine woot prices use to be reasonable. im no longer a buyer these days because i can get blended wines at my local liquor store for cheaper. heads up guys. ur losing ur customers.

kylemittskus wrote:It will be in the package.

zing!

tomaas wrote:wine woot prices use to be reasonable. im no longer a buyer these days because i can get blended wines at my local liquor store for cheaper. heads up guys. ur losing ur customers.

What do you mean by "blended wines"? The prices at woot haven't changed much, if at all.

tytiger58 wrote:A good example of this was the La Famiglia Snows Lake Vineyard Barbera, that clocked in a 15% I could not detect any heat in that wine and it was delicious!

You guys still making that wine??

Hey tytiger, couldn't agree with you more! Unfortunately for us Snows Lake Vineyard was sold to the Gallo Wine Company. The vineyard also grew some epic Cab and it seems the Gallos wanted it and needed it. We're currently checking out other sources for Barbera but there is not a lot of it around and we're very picky.

SteveCousins wrote:Hey Klezman, you might like to know that this year's offering of the 2011 is "only" 14.4% alcohol. We're working hard to manage alcohols downward when we can, while still dealing with fully mature fruit. Last year was a nice steady, cool growing season so the fruit matured without super high sugars. So far, this year is much the same. BTW, pretty tough to make a Dry Creek Zin under 14%!

Interesting! I'm not on the side of a hard limit at 14% being "high" alcohol, but 14.4% for a Dry Creek Zin is certainly not in the stratosphere. So what this means is that I'd be happy to take one bottle of somebody's hands and give it another go.

SteveCousins wrote:Hi threemoons, Steve from Armida here and we appreciate your comments. We're really excited about the 2011 vintage because it's one of the best POIZINs we've made. Those of you familiar with this wine will note that this vintage is all Dry Creek as opposed to Sonoma appellation. There were a couple of very short vintages and we couldn't muster enough Dry Creek fruit for our single vineyard Zins and for the Poizin. However, effective with the 2011 we've sourced a couple of new Dry Creek vineyards and now have plenty of primo Dry Creek fruit for POIZIN from here on in!

Woo hoo! Sorry for the late reply (was on the go all day after I got my order in). I DO hope that I get a Mystery Corkscrew Bonus Item Goodie in my order.

FWIW, MOM also made her first wine.woot purchase today for this, on my recommendation. Go MomMoons!

SteveCousins wrote:Hey tytiger, couldn't agree with you more! Unfortunately for us Snows Lake Vineyard was sold to the Gallo Wine Company. The vineyard also grew some epic Cab and it seems the Gallos wanted it and needed it. We're currently checking out other sources for Barbera but there is not a lot of it around and we're very picky.

Damn huge, swill making a-holes!!!!

In for one! I do love my Poizin!! Just finished my last bottle from last year.. Prob. won't get the corkscrew... but I am hoping...

kylemittskus wrote:Damn huge, swill making a-holes!!!!

hahaha

Was thinking of getting two of these - one for my sister's halloweenparty, but I just opened a bottle of the 2009 that I got last year and I don't care for it.

If it was a better value I could probably swing it for the Halloween party, but I'm afraid it's just not my cup of tea. I like a really big, chewy zin & this one doesn't do it for me.

SteveCousins wrote:The "high" alcohol conversation always makes my head spin. (not the alcohol the conversation ) I've relished many wines with relatively high alcohol; big wines with tons of fruit, racy acidity, tannic and sweet oak - perfectly balanced. Obviously many wines with elevated alcohol are not balanced and subsequently, taste "hot," and often flabby with muted fruit. Yet for many of us, alcohol in wine enhances weight and the ripeness of the fruit - the sensation of sweetness can be persuasive if not powerful, and is enjoyed but a significant percentage of the wine drinking population.

I have only had a few, maybe a handful, of >15% bottles that I loved. Generally, at that level, I find the alcohol overwhelms the wine's other qualities. I just don't see the not-fully-dry-but-high-alc wines as a desirable future for the industry, a pervasive trend especially in CA.

Cost Plus World Market has Poizin on sale for members (free membership)

$14.39/bottle if you buy 4 or more. Over $10 cheaper than this deal.

Vintage unknown however.

Link to Flyer.

Yipee!!! Just got my Poixin/ Armida Corkscrew via USPS.

kylemittskus wrote:It will be in the package.

Would've been my guess, but nope. Corkscrew arrived in a separate padded envelope yesterday. So yeah, one of the first 140. And the nice two stage design that I like the best. So it will be used.