rheatoomuch wrote:Are these ready to drink right away? What's the aging window, I'm not normally a white wine drinker but in for one based on the reviews.

Sounds like it's freshly bottled, so it probably wouldn't hurt to wait a month or more before opening, but then it sounds fine. Most whites are made to drink within two years, IIRC.

Some notes on White Wine Aging

more tips


Edit: Me!! (Inside WW joke)

MarkDaSpark wrote:Sounds like it's freshly bottled, so it probably wouldn't hurt to wait a month or more before opening, but then it sounds fine. Most whites are made to drink within two years, IIRC.

Some notes on White Wine Aging

more tips


Edit: Me!! (Inside WW joke)

Bottle shock's typically from one to five weeks after bottling - by which I mean it is often first noticeable seven to nine days after bottling, at its 'worst' two weeks after bottling, and ends four or five weeks after bottling.
Of course, if it's a Pinot Noir it can last until the wine falls apart twelve years later.

stillmanbrown wrote:Bottle shock's typically from one to five weeks after bottling - by which I mean it is often first noticeable seven to nine days after bottling, at its 'worst' two weeks after bottling, and ends four or five weeks after bottling.
Of course, if it's a Pinot Noir it can last until the wine falls apart twelve years later.

Thats interesting, what causes the shock? Can you tell I'm a novice? :-) I'm excited about drinking something so recently bottled, never done that before!

stillmanbrown wrote:Another maxim and detail: don't refrigerate whites. I didn't cold stabilize this wine, it will throw potassium bitartrate if kept in the '30's - if someone in your household insists on overchilled whites, give them box wine. Or put the wine in the freezer for 20-40 minutes depending on original temperature.

Thanks for this little note.
My wife always chills her whites down into refridg. temp and this would have been a bummer.

I can save my money for something else.......like diapers

rheatoomuch wrote:Thats interesting, what causes the shock? Can you tell I'm a novice? :-) I'm excited about drinking something so recently bottled, never done that before!

While S (molecular) + O2 = SO2 in the bottle, slowly, (.5-2 ppm) it seems to inhibit both aroma and flavor somewhat. I was a Poli Sci major, perhaps there's a lurking enologist here who can more fully contradict me.

cortot20 wrote:Thanks for this little note.
My wife always chills her whites down into refridg. temp and this would have been a bummer.

I can save my money for something else.......like diapers

I'm always in favor of chilling full diapers, especially if they can't be removed from range immediately! Thankfully my days of doing that are long past . . . they can even smell like bad PN.
The precipitation of K tartrate doesn't happen quickly, not even in a day. A week or two is more likely. Never happens in the 20-40 mins it takes to chill in freezer (40-80 mins in fridge)

If I wasn't being clear enough - store all wines at consistent cellar temp, and chill whites to your desired serving temperature in the hour or day beforehand; then you needn't be concerned about cold stabilization.

stillmanbrown wrote:If I wasn't being clear enough - store all wines at consistent cellar temp, and chill whites to your desired serving temperature in the hour or day beforehand; then you needn't be concerned about cold stabilization.

Thanks for the clarification

VolRat Report Part 2

This hasn't sold out yet? Get your lives together people. Buy this wine!

As promised, here's my more formal report:

PnP: very pretty nose. I get a little bit of lychee, tropical fruits, the nose is sweet but not like sugar, maybe a hint of lime. The palate is very full, the acid is stronger than I remember, really refreshing. Weird tasting note alert: I get a Sweet Tart candy thing on the palate. Lemon/lime. Lingering finish. Like 30+ seconds long. No alcohol whatsoever (low alc. # from the specs page). The sweetness I remember isn't there (although it might return as the wine warms). I half-retract my previous Chenin Blanc comparison at this point. It has the same mouthfeel but no sweetness. Man, this is better than I remember. Tasting in a moment is difficult because you don't have much time, you've tasted other wines, Stillman is making jokes and talking about punk music, etc.

I'll be haunting the forum, as I always do, if you have any specific questions.

Seriously, BUY. QPR off the charts? No. Low production, boutique (or tasting-room-in-the-back-of-an-antiques-shop-with-a-dancing-cage) wine that is well-worth the buy-in? Unquestionably.

stillmanbrown wrote:If I wasn't being clear enough - store all wines at consistent cellar temp, and chill whites to your desired serving temperature in the hour or day beforehand; then you needn't be concerned about cold stabilization.

This is what I do.
And I am very much looking forward to this. The last abalone was my favorite white of the year.
In case anyone's wonderin', Rasmussen's Esoterica was my second.

Any Stillman is an autobuy. I wanted to also say that Stillman gets away with some crazy stuff and makes it totally work.

The Colossus Syrah was awesome and I was scared due to the 16.5% alcohol and young age but instead it was incredible. I bought two and they're both gone. I only went in for one on this offer but I'm seriously reconsidering.

Get in on any Stillman wine if you're on the fence.

kylemittskus wrote:VolRat Report Part 2

This hasn't sold out yet? Get your lives together people. Buy this wine!

As promised, here's my more formal report:

PnP: very pretty nose. I get a little bit of lychee, tropical fruits, the nose is sweet but not like sugar, maybe a hint of lime. The palate is very full, the acid is stronger than I remember, really refreshing. Weird tasting note alert: I get a Sweet Tart candy thing on the palate. Lemon/lime. Lingering finish. Like 30+ seconds long. No alcohol whatsoever (low alc. # from the specs page). The sweetness I remember isn't there (although it might return as the wine warms). I half-retract my previous Chenin Blanc comparison at this point. It has the same mouthfeel but no sweetness. Man, this is better than I remember. Tasting in a moment is difficult because you don't have much time, you've tasted other wines, Stillman is making jokes and talking about punk music, etc.

I'll be haunting the forum, as I always do, if you have any specific questions.

Seriously, BUY. QPR off the charts? No. Low production, boutique (or tasting-room-in-the-back-of-an-antiques-shop-with-a-dancing-cage) wine that is well-worth the buy-in? Unquestionably.

What does the finish taste like, does it evolve as it sits in your mouth? Does it evolve as the wine has more air/warms up?

MarkDaSpark wrote:Sounds like it's freshly bottled, so it probably wouldn't hurt to wait a month or more before opening, but then it sounds fine. Most whites are made to drink within two years, IIRC.

Some notes on White Wine Aging

more tips


Edit: Me!! (Inside WW joke)

Thanks MarkDaSpark! :-)

kylemittskus wrote:VolRat Report Part 2

This hasn't sold out yet? Get your lives together people. Buy this wine!

As promised, here's my more formal report:

PnP: very pretty nose. I get a little bit of lychee, tropical fruits, the nose is sweet but not like sugar, maybe a hint of lime. The palate is very full, the acid is stronger than I remember, really refreshing. Weird tasting note alert: I get a Sweet Tart candy thing on the palate. Lemon/lime. Lingering finish. Like 30+ seconds long. No alcohol whatsoever (low alc. # from the specs page). The sweetness I remember isn't there (although it might return as the wine warms). I half-retract my previous Chenin Blanc comparison at this point. It has the same mouthfeel but no sweetness. Man, this is better than I remember. Tasting in a moment is difficult because you don't have much time, you've tasted other wines, Stillman is making jokes and talking about punk music, etc.

I'll be haunting the forum, as I always do, if you have any specific questions.

Seriously, BUY. QPR off the charts? No. Low production, boutique (or tasting-room-in-the-back-of-an-antiques-shop-with-a-dancing-cage) wine that is well-worth the buy-in? Unquestionably.

Better notes than I write, frankly.

Did I distract you much? Would you like to invest in my record company?

michaelvella wrote:This is what I do.
And I am very much looking forward to this. The last abalone was my favorite white of the year.
In case anyone's wonderin', Rasmussen's Esoterica was my second.

Wow, thanks!
Sorry I missed the Esoterica, I'm sure I would have liked it better.

cmaldoon wrote:What does the finish taste like, does it evolve as it sits in your mouth? Does it evolve as the wine has more air/warms up?

The wine changes from start to finish, yes. And it does change as it warms. I far prefer this at about 45 degrees to room temp, but I drink all of my whites at that temp. I'm not a fan of warm whites, bubbles, or rose. The finish lingers with an acidic, lime-y finish. There's some kind of "sweetness" that hits around the mid-palate. It's nothing like sugar sweet, though. Sweet is probably a poor word. But there's a break in the acid that's pleasant, and then the acid comes and cleans your palate. Refreshing. We drank the bottle with carne asada street tacos and I think it went quite well.