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California has slowly started pricing itself out of the market. It’s ridiculous what most charge for decent juice on release.

 

I prefer most of my wine with some age. I go to the secondary market for these bottles since I just started collecting the past few years.

 

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  • if i do not get an explanation as to how b_p and milkman each drink over $100,000 of wine every weekend before this site ultimately shuts down, i am going to be severely pissed off.

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53 minutes ago, milkman said:

California has slowly started pricing itself out of the market. It’s ridiculous what most charge for decent juice on release.

 

I prefer most of my wine with some age. I go to the secondary market for these bottles since I just started collecting the past few years.

 

Agree on wine with age (and with the  crazy prices on new releases).  Problem is it is difficult to buy wine with age in Texas.  I buy library wines when wineries hav ethen available.  Winebid is great, but no shipping to Texas.

35 minutes ago, AustinMT said:

Agree on wine with age (and with the  crazy prices on new releases).  Problem is it is difficult to buy wine with age in Texas.  I buy library wines when wineries hav ethen available.  Winebid is great, but no shipping to Texas.

Grailey's in Dallas is a great place to purchase wine with age. Provenance of the wines has always been perfect in my dealings with them over the years. 

Not Napa, but Ridge Estate Cabernet is usually excellent for about $50. As is Mount Eden Vineyards' Domaine Eden Cab for about $40.

3 hours ago, Errestaurants said:

Grailey's in Dallas is a great place to purchase wine with age. Provenance of the wines has always been perfect in my dealings with them over the years. 

Look into La Cave Wine Warehouse for some aged French wine 

3 minutes ago, Teebox said:

Look into La Cave Wine Warehouse for some aged French wine 

yep.  I use to buy wine from him of maybe their daughter 10 years ago. old school. neat place. 

Grailey's in Dallas is a great place to purchase wine with age. Provenance of the wines has always been perfect in my dealings with them over the years. 


Grailey’s is a great place. Also check out Roots and Water Wine Room.

I agree about buying wine with age.  It's a strategy son of my friends and I are adopting.  I'm 57 so if I want to drink it old I need to start buying it old.  That said, if I'm not around for some wines I'm happy to leave them to my kids to enjoy on special occassions and toast to me.

Tonight we had a Brunello.  I have seven bottles left of this.  It was very good and it will be interesting to open a bottle every 3 years or so and see how it progresses.

imgur

 

Then we had a David Fulton Petit Syrah.  It's just so easy to drink.

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Look into La Cave Wine Warehouse for some aged French wine 

That’s where I store mine.

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I’ve been trying to acquire this for about 4 years and finally got it. It was the initial vintage of promontory, but was never released publicly. I have begged, pleaded and offered to buy some from the winery for years. I finally had an opportunity to acquire this one. It was important because 08 is my son’s birth year and I now have a bottle of every vintage for the collection I will turn over to him in about 20 years. This is probably the crown jewel since it’s an inaugural bottle.


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Had these gems this evening. St. Innocent is in a sweet spot!

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On 12/13/2018 at 8:56 AM, pepper brooks said:

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I’ve been trying to acquire this for about 4 years and finally got it. It was the initial vintage of promontory, but was never released publicly. I have begged, pleaded and offered to buy some from the winery for years. I finally had an opportunity to acquire this one. It was important because 08 is my son’s birth year and I now have a bottle of every vintage for the collection I will turn over to him in about 20 years. This is probably the crown jewel since it’s an inaugural bottle.


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Most impressive. Daughter born the same year. While not as impressive, I bought a jeraboam of Silver Oak Napa and had it inscribed for her 21st birthday. Figured I could get her hooked on my expensive habit and ruin her. 

I have two bottles of 06 Brunello and two bottles of 09 Bordeaux laid down for the kids 21st birthday.

Most impressive. Daughter born the same year. While not as impressive, I bought a jeraboam of Silver Oak Napa and had it inscribed for her 21st birthday. Figured I could get her hooked on my expensive habit and ruin her. 

Better drink that pickle juice soon.

 

Silver Oak Napa does not age very well. The Sonoma (Alexander Valley) is more age worthy IMO. However I’m not a fan of heavy toasted American Oak in my cabs.

35 minutes ago, DDD Dad said:

Better drink that pickle juice soon.

 

Silver Oak Napa does not age very well. The Sonoma (Alexander Valley) is more age worthy IMO. However I’m not a fan of heavy toasted American Oak in my cabs.

It doesn't taste that great young, either

47 minutes ago, DDD Dad said:

Better drink that pickle juice soon.

 

Silver Oak Napa does not age very well. The Sonoma (Alexander Valley) is more age worthy IMO. However I’m not a fan of heavy toasted American Oak in my cabs.

I had a 1990 Silver Oak Napa Cab about 4 years ago that was absolutely spectacular.  Of course that was time when Napa made very different cabernet.  I think it was about 13% alcohol.  Maybe 13.5.  It had that signature prune like pallet, but very silky balanced and smooth.  It had aged remarkably well for a Napa Cab, and from a fairly unheralded vintage.  

I’m actually hoping for pickle juice so she stops drinking the day she turns 21

2 minutes ago, pepper brooks said:

I had a 1990 Silver Oak Napa Cab about 4 years ago that was absolutely spectacular.  Of course that was time when Napa made very different cabernet.  I think it was about 13% alcohol.  Maybe 13.5.  It had that signature prune like pallet, but very silky balanced and smooth.  It had aged remarkably well for a Napa Cab, and from a fairly unheralded vintage.  

Silver Oak Napa was never a wine intended to be built for aging.  I recall visiting the winery back in the late 90's and going through a tour where it was explained that they aged the wines in house both an extra year in barrels and then in bottles before release with the idea being that it would be at peak on or shortly after release.

Anyway, in Jeroboam form it will probably be fine for a long time so long as it is stored properly.  But if you're really wanting something nice for your kid's 21st birthday I'd suggest looking at Bordeaux, Burgundy, or the northern Rhone. 

3 minutes ago, Bert Orange said:

Also I checked. It’s actually the Sonoma. Not the Napa. My mistake. 

I think the Alexander is a better all around wine, and it's generally lower priced, which is a nice bonus.

So the facts are out there, the 2006 is a Jereboam and have 2 Magnums of the 2008.  All of them are Alexander Valley. According to wine tracker, both vintages are peaking right now. So I’m troubled as to what to do. I could a) source some Bordeaux’s on secondary market and b) open all of them with Coravin and keep seals in tact for empty celebration and drink instead the Bordeaux with them at 21st birthdays

 

damnit. 

21 minutes ago, Bert Orange said:

So the facts are out there, the 2006 is a Jereboam and have 2 Magnums of the 2008.  All of them are Alexander Valley. According to wine tracker, both vintages are peaking right now. So I’m troubled as to what to do. I could a) source some Bordeaux’s on secondary market and b) open all of them with Coravin and keep seals in tact for empty celebration and drink instead the Bordeaux with them at 21st birthdays

 

damnit. 

I wouldn't kick myself too hard if I were you.  Even if the wine is peaking now in those formats they'll still be really nice for a long time after.  If they fall apart, it won't be the end of the world.  By way of example, last night I opened a bottle of 99 Flor de Pingus that I had stored away and forgotten, to celebrate my youngest returning from Austin for Christmas break.  According to Parker it was way past its prime, but it was spectacular.

Do a little research on the vintages and see if you can find something good from a region that has a better/longer aging curve, but keep in mind the different styles of wine will result in a very different tasting experience.

FWIW I still have a bunch of Napa cabs going back into the 90's and have only found a few to have totally fallen apart by the time I got to them.  I still have a double magnum of Robert Foley Claret from 2005 that I can't seem to pick the right occasion to open, and I have bottles of Montelena Estate and Philip Togni going back to the mid-90's.  Those two are examples of wines that hold up for 20+ years.   Another good one from Napa that does much better with age is Dunn Howell Mountain. 

Edited by DDD Dad

47 minutes ago, DDD Dad said:

Silver Oak Napa was never a wine intended to be built for aging.  I recall visiting the winery back in the late 90's and going through a tour where it was explained that they aged the wines in house both an extra year in barrels and then in bottles before release with the idea being that it would be at peak on or shortly after release.

Anyway, in Jeroboam form it will probably be fine for a long time so long as it is stored properly.  But if you're really wanting something nice for your kid's 21st birthday I'd suggest looking at Bordeaux, Burgundy, or the northern Rhone. 

fair enough.  I wasn't attempting to make the claim that their wine would necessarily age, and was worth being a "library wine", just offering one counterpoint that perhaps one could be aged if need be as I had a real world example of one that was aged with positive results.  I frankly, don't know that much about SO other than it generally is pretty tasty young.  

4 minutes ago, pepper brooks said:

fair enough.  I wasn't attempting to make the claim that their wine would necessarily age, and was worth being a "library wine", just offering one counterpoint that perhaps one could be aged if need be as I had a real world example of one that was aged with positive results.  I frankly, don't know that much about SO other than it generally is pretty tasty young.  

I don't think I took it that way, either.  Just offering data points for folks.  SO (particularly the Napa) is a controversial wine among oenophiles; it tends to be very popular and well liked among general population but scorned by many wine snobs (hence my pickle juice joke).

Bert, the pickle juice comment is one that goes back many years among many on some of the wine boards to describe the Napa Silver Oak.  Many find it has a kind of pickle juice flavor profile that I think may be based on the fact that the wine is aged in American rather than French Oak barrels.  Some find that flavor very off putting.  I'm not a big fan of Silver Oak anymore but I did like it a lot when I first started getting into wine about 20-25 years ago.  My tastes changed as I got more into it (for example I bought a shit ton of Australian stuff early on based on print reviews and ended up selling off most of it just a few years later when I realized I really didn't like the style).

Edited by DDD Dad

What's the general thought on Argentinian wines?  We're heading to Argentina in March and will be spending 4-5 days in Uco Valley.  Any must visit vineyards?  With the strength of the dollar I plan to ship several cases back if what I find pleases my palate.

Had a good night Saturday and invited friends over to delve into my depleting cellar that I can’t really afford to keep stocked anymore. I did a sous vide strip loin roast at 133 for about 3 hours and then seared on cast iron and used a map gas torch.

 

The 85 barbaresco single vineyard and the ‘90 Barton were willed to me when a wine hoarding friend of mine past with about 50 cases and all his friends divvied them up. For a 30 year old wine, the barbaresco was in good shape. No tannins and the fruit was fading but it had a great nose. The Leo. Barton was incredible. Cigar box cedar, violets and red fruit. Still had some power.

 

The Amon-Ra 2002 McClaren Vale Shiraz was still a brute. Huge fruit, lots of toast and roasted qualities coming through. I’m kinda over the over-extracted qualities of Oz Shiraz but this was great for a change of pace.

 

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3 hours ago, DDD Dad said:

Better drink that pickle juice soon.

 

Silver Oak Napa does not age very well. The Sonoma (Alexander Valley) is more age worthy IMO. However I’m not a fan of heavy toasted American Oak in my cabs.

Yep.  Silver Oak was probably my favorite tour that we did (due in large part to our awesome tour guide) but their wines just don't do it for me.  Waaaaay too oakey.

14 minutes ago, Austinvines said:

Had a good night Saturday and invited friends over to delve into my depleting cellar that I can’t really afford to keep stocked anymore. I did a sous vide strip loin roast at 133 for about 3 hours and then seared on cast iron and used a map gas torch.

 

The 85 barbaresco single vineyard and the ‘90 Barton were willed to me when a wine hoarding friend of mine past with about 50 cases and all his friends divvied them up. For a 30 year old wine, the barbaresco was in good shape. No tannins and the fruit was fading but it had a great nose. The Leo. Barton was incredible. Cigar box cedar, violets and red fruit. Still had some power.

 

The Amon-Ra 2002 McClaren Vale Shiraz was still a brute. Huge fruit, lots of toast and roasted qualities coming through. I’m kinda over the over-extracted qualities of Oz Shiraz but this was great for a change of pace.

 

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I love Leoville Barton.  It can be a beast though, so 1990 is probably about the right vintage to start drinking now.  I bought a case each of 2000-02 and haven't even thought about touching them yet.  Surprised the Barbaresco was still holding up well at 30.  The steak looks fantastic BTW.

17 hours ago, VABuckeye said:

What's the general thought on Argentinian wines?  We're heading to Argentina in March and will be spending 4-5 days in Uco Valley.  Any must visit vineyards?  With the strength of the dollar I plan to ship several cases back if what I find pleases my palate.

people tell me all the time they find great Argentinian at really inexpensive prices.  I have yet to find one that I thought was "really good", but it may simply be a matter of style.  I am pretty conclusively a California "big cab" guy so im probably considered a "new money" wine pallet.  I am fine with that.  based on that I cannot say I have found an Argentinian wine yet that I would drink or buy again.  That said, I haven't spent much time nor effort trying to find ones that might fit my profile.   I just go with what I have always found most pleasing at this point.  

17 hours ago, Austinvines said:

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i really love that amon ra. 

34 minutes ago, pepper brooks said:

people tell me all the time they find great Argentinian at really inexpensive prices.  I have yet to find one that I thought was "really good", but it may simply be a matter of style.  I am pretty conclusively a California "big cab" guy so im probably considered a "new money" wine pallet.  I am fine with that.  based on that I cannot say I have found an Argentinian wine yet that I would drink or buy again.  That said, I haven't spent much time nor effort trying to find ones that might fit my profile.   I just go with what I have always found most pleasing at this point.  

it is a fairly rare occasion that i agree with pepper on virtually anything from cars to wine to politics to just a general worldview.  however, on this, i am in complete agreement with him.  i have yet to have an argentine wine that i found to be above average.  most of them are just pretty much average.  and sorry, i have no travel guidance on vineyards down there.  i am sure napolean and a few other of the argentinophiles (i just made that word up) would have some input if you post it into the argentina thread.

Thanks guys.  Damn, I forgot that I started that thread about Argentina.  Bows head in shame. 

Trader Joe's 2015 Lot #63 Meritage

$13

I depleted the McKinney store last night

May the Force be with you

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Just opened this.

Am afraid it might be over the hill. First pour had great nose but was a bit hot and the finish was very short.
Mooing to give it some air and see if it improves.

Good week of wine thus far. Teeter-Totter and Mercury Head cabs being the most expensive. The J Lohr Hilltop Cab was a standout over Heitz and Silver Oak in a blind tasting.

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We blind taste tested sipping tequilas tonight.  Now we’re all fucked up. 

Here was our Christmas day/night. Not shown is an NV Bollinger. Anomaly was a 2011 and needed a day to decant.

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On 12/9/2018 at 9:44 PM, DDD Dad said:


That’s where I store mine.

Every do any of the tastings with Rhonda or Curt?  Love that place since I found it about 4 months ago. 

No but I knew the original owner and his wife pretty well.

Jericho Canyon, Goose & Gander and Diamond Creek...

Today was a good day.

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9 hours ago, Party_Taco said:

Jericho Canyon, Goose & Gander and Diamond Creek...

Today was a good day.

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Ahh — duck fat fries at Goose & Gander

Last night we blew threw almost too many bottles to remember them all. A few standouts were

2014 kistler chard

2015 edge hill baciaglupi chard

2010 carte blanc

2012 Phelps backus

2008 checkerboard

2008 st emellion (can’t recall which producer but it was damn good)

2005 Rudd was totally corked and totally ruined. very disappointing.  An inordinate number of their wines I have aged have all been dog shit.  I only have two left, and am just going to drink them asap.  I have zero expectation they’re going to drink well   

 

Also of note in a bad way last night was a 2014 Blankiet PRince of Hearts.  We went to that as bottle 12 or something when quality no longer mattered so much, and it was total dog shit too.  It wasn't corked or anything, it was simply freaking terrible.  

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