wine importers you trust
 

like anyone, I'll frequently find myself in a shop browsing wines that I haven't had the benefit of tasting or even reading about previously. In these situations, it's obviously common to use shortcuts to figure out what you might like or dislike--varietal, producer, vintage, etc. One piece of information that I'm begining to use more often is the importer. In particular, two that I've cpmeto rely on really heavily are Kermit Lynch and Robert Kacher. I have never been steered wrong by either of them.

Curious whether the oot wine drinkers can recommend any other top notch importers out there...

Re: wine importers you trust
 

Leonardo Locasio is pretty solid for Italian wines.

Re: wine importers you trust
 

Terry Thiese

Re: wine importers you trust
 

Excellent but very small importer specializing in French wine- Wine Traditions.
Also very good small outfit- Jocelyn Cambier Imports.
Both are in the DC area, and are found in restaurants and wine specialists; Cambier is also in Whole Foods. Worth seeking out as they will rarely disappoint.

Re: wine importers you trust
 

I don't know much about wine, or which importers are best, but I can tell you the top 3 retailers for Robert Kacher in Washington, DC are:

PEARSONS LIQUORS, 2436 WISCONSIN AVE NW
CALVERT WOODLEY, 4339 CONNECTICUT AVE NW
WHOLE FOODS/FRESH FIELDS, 2323 WISCONSIN AVE NW

Re: wine importers you trust
 

I just always use Cellar Tracker on a wine that I'm not familiar with. Since I normally buy bordeaux, burgundy, and oregon pinot, I can be throwing darts at a board if it wasn't for CT.

as far as importers, I rarely follow who is the actual distributor and since I buy bordeaux and burgundy, most of the negociants that bring in those wines can be nameless unless you are a wine buyer for your store

Re: wine importers you trust
 

is there a wine thread out there with wine recommendations. I'm just starting to get into wine and don't want to get banned for starting a new thread about something that clearly should already be discussed in this forum. something like a "post your favorite wines" thread

Re: wine importers you trust
 

[ QUOTE ]
I just always use Cellar Tracker on a wine that I'm not familiar with. Since I normally buy bordeaux, burgundy, and oregon pinot, I can be throwing darts at a board if it wasn't for CT.

as far as importers, I rarely follow who is the actual distributor and since I buy bordeaux and burgundy, most of the negociants that bring in those wines can be nameless unless you are a wine buyer for your store

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Do you also like Amon Ra?

I just got 36 bottles of the 2006 (100 points). Satisfactory.

What kind of Burgs do you lean towards? I stock pilled a bunch of the 2002's which are just starting to open up. Had a great bottle of J.J. Confuron's Nuits St George Les Fleuriers the other day. Yum!

I LOVE BURGUNDY

Re: wine importers you trust
 

i think clark may have started a thread in here a while back, but many of those wines are hard to get.

Unfortunetly when these types of threads crop up, you will consistently see Kendall Jackson get rec'd or some other over oaked POS wine that happens to cost $12.

Really for recs, what you need to do is experiment within your price point as certain recs won't really work if you need to limit your budget to under 15.

For me, I have a hard time giving recs to people if they aren't willing to generally spend between 20-50 a bottle as I don't drink that much that is under 20 and my pallate is much more old world then many other peoples. This is something that people in general don't take into account.

now, with that said, if you give me your tastes, I can hopefully lead you in the right direction as long as you are willing to be open to a bunch of stuff and don't say, well, I will only drink reds, or I will only drink whites, etc.

For someone that is just getting into wine, I usually give new world recs as those are more accessible to the new wine drinker then a super tuscan, bordeaux, or burgundy. But, you just have to be willing to try a whole bunch of wine and be willing to drink some stinkers.

It took me about two years of drinking wine before I started taking down full on notes and scoring wines as you have to know what a top class wine tastes like and what a bunch of different regions have to offer and what your tastes are

Re: wine importers you trust
 

basically I just started drinking reds wines and like what I have had so far. I have been drinking napa valleys in the pinot noir and merlot category. to be honest, i've had blackstone and one other maker.

i'll probably just go and buy a lot of bottles in a huge variety and see what I like the most.

Re: wine importers you trust
 

[ QUOTE ]

Do you also like Amon Ra?

I just got 36 bottles of the 2006 (100 points). Satisfactory.

What kind of Burgs do you lean towards? I stock pilled a bunch of the 2002's which are just starting to open up. Had a great bottle of J.J. Confuron's Nuits St George Les Fleuriers the other day. Yum!

I LOVE BURGUNDY

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my avatar is the Amon-Ra label isn't it [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]. I'm working on a vertical of it right now. FWIW, that was jay miller who rated the 06 and he gave it 97-100 pt score, and from people that I know that I trust, they have told me that the 06 isn't as good as the 02 or the 05. Still, ben glaetzer is an amazing wine maker and I have no doubt that it's a 94+ wine, and of course I plan on buying it since I want a vertical of it


for burgs, I generally lean towards Vosne-Romanee and Gevrey-Chambertin for my main regions with nuits st george next. I love the 02s that I've had, but, man, many of the 03s that I've had are just sooo powerful and expressive. of course, I've had some real crap from 03, but the big ones from 03 have been better then some of the 02s that I've had.

I can't afford grand crus, but am generally able to buy premier crus and top village wines. So I stick to bouchard as they are an amazing negociant and have some great winemakers that bring in the grapes.

burgundy is easily the most hit and miss region in the world, but that's why I love it because they make some of the most expressive pinot in the world while making some serious crap. I really don't think that oregon or california can really ever compete with a top burg(this is just personal opinion, but, c'mon, if you had the money, what would you rather have, a DRC or a top Kosta Browne)

Re: wine importers you trust
 

what is your general price range? I work for one of the biggest wine and spirits stores in the chicagoland and midwest region(my store alone does $10-12m a year in business and the chain does in excess of $150m a year), so i've been able to recently have a bunch of stuff at the lower price points( I really do need to note though that I am awful when it comes to california as I don't drink all that much cali wine and generally prefer french and italian wines with australia and oregon being my next best areas, so when it comes to cali cabs, I generally favor the more backwards and long lived ones like monte bello, togni, and montelena estate)

Re: wine importers you trust
 

[ QUOTE ]
what is your general price range? I work for one of the biggest wine and spirits stores in the chicagoland and midwest region(my store alone does $10-12m a year in business and the chain does in excess of $150m a year), so i've been able to recently have a bunch of stuff at the lower price points( I really do need to note though that I am awful when it comes to california as I don't drink all that much cali wine and generally prefer french and italian wines with australia and oregon being my next best areas, so when it comes to cali cabs, I generally favor the more backwards and long lived ones like monte bello, togni, and montelena estate)

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price range is pretty open for me, If I find something I love I will generally spend whatever it takes. For the sake of giving you a clear answer i'll say in the under under $25 range. I'll have to try some french reds to see how I like those. I'll read your other posts ITT to see what you recommend for those.

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cool, something to work with, now are you willing to extend that range up to $35?, cause then we'd really have some room to work with.

well, my first and foremost rec would be, check out the 05 montes alpha syrah from chile. It's between 14-18 depending on your area, and it seriously rocks. Next I would move over to australia(since unfortunetly I don't know nearly enough about spain to give that many solid recs at this time) and have you check out the 05 John Duval Plexus.

I will say this right now, aviod mollydooker like the friggen plauge, it's just not all that good and the reviews are all over the place(personally I utterly hated the boxer while I know that Mike l loved it, he gave it a 90, I gave it a 78).

if you want to check out pinot noir, really check out the 06 westrey from oregon. My store sold out of it fast, but this is a insane QPR(quality price ratio) and IMO is grand theft larceny at around 22-26. it's from oregon and should be widely available.

as far as cabernets go, if you are willing to spend up to about 50, you can get some sick stuff. I'm a big fan of Don Melchor, and they make cabs that if they were produced in america would easily cost upwards of 100 a bottle. The thing is with the 04 edition, you need to decant the crap out of it. it's more backwards in style and isn't as fruit forward as the 03(which is fastly becoming a legend).

i'm gonna have a smoke and watch a wine blog, so keep the questions coming and hopefully I can help(I really do need to note though that my tastes may be different then yours, so your best bet is to build a rapport with your local wine store and talk to the main guys there, I'm always willing to help out via PM and hopefully I as learn your tastes I can help better recomend stuff)

Re: wine importers you trust
 

yeah, like I said price really isn't a problem for me (robusto). For the time being i'll check out the list you gave me, that will def put me through the weekend. You made some high quality posts for a lowlife like me who is just getting into wine, and I appreciate it. I'm excited to go check out some cabernets and stuff from regions besides northern cali.

Re: wine importers you trust
 

[ QUOTE ]
well, my first and foremost rec would be, check out the 05 montes alpha syrah from chile. It's between 14-18 depending on your area, and it seriously rocks.

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Great for the price. Have you tried their M?

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Next I would move over to australia(since unfortunetly I don't know nearly enough about spain to give that many solid recs at this time)

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IMO, Spain >>>>>>>> Australia. I really don't like Australia at all, and only have the Amon Ra that I mentioned earlier for monetary reasons. Spain, on the other hand, is outstanding and you don't feel like you just ate a jar of jam after enjoying a bottle.

For value reds, look at wines out of Monstant and Jumilla. If you find any '01 Riojas, buy them! Drinking beautifully right now. Great vintage!

White: I love Albarino out of Rias Baxias, such a great white and for the money, IMO, 10000x better than your average Chardonnay (especially if it's a Cali.. buttered toast anyone?). Also for whites: Viura varietal out of Rioja. Much like a cool climate sav blanc without the cat pee and bite. Very nice grape that, if people were willing to try something different, would be a huge success.

Other great value areas for reds: Languedoc (France), Rosso de Montalcino (Italy), Sicily (Italy).

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but this is a insane QPR(quality price ratio) and IMO is grand theft larceny at around 22-26.

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Not saying this isn't a great deal (I personally haven't tried it) but really stay away from stuff like QPR... it's such ridiculousness. It's retarded.

[ QUOTE ]
as far as cabernets go, if you are willing to spend up to about 50, you can get some sick stuff. I'm a big fan of Don Melchor , and they make cabs that if they were produced in america would easily cost upwards of 100 a bottle.

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I know that everybody has their tastes and opinions, but Chile to me is the worst major wine producing country in the world. They do offer great values, but the style of wine they produce: sweet/residual, super fruit forward... blah. I can never get into it, and if i'm spending over 20 bucks, not worth it IMO. I had a bottle of the Don Melchor in question a couple of weeks back. For 50 bucks and Cab, i'd def go in a different direction... but again, that's just me. I think you should buy a couple of recommendations from different wine producing countries that are cheap and do a tasting. See what styles you like. That's the great thing about wine: No matter what anybody says, how many points here or there, it's all about your palatte.

KDawg:

Vosnee-Romanee's are sick. I haven't really got into the '03's, but maybe I should be. I can probably find some great deals in there, as nobody is going after them because of the 2002's and 2005's... any recommendations? what area have you found the best?

I LOVE WINE

Brunellos anyone?

Re: wine importers you trust
 

[ QUOTE ]


Great for the price. Have you tried their M?

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I haven't had a chance, with so much bordeaux for me to drink, I keep going back to it

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IMO, Spain >>>>>>>> Australia. I really don't like Australia at all, and only have the Amon Ra that I mentioned earlier for monetary reasons. Spain, on the other hand, is outstanding and you don't feel like you just ate a jar of jam after enjoying a bottle.

For value reds, look at wines out of Monstant and Jumilla. If you find any '01 Riojas, buy them! Drinking beautifully right now. Great vintage!

White: I love Albarino out of Rias Baxias, such a great white and for the money, IMO, 10000x better than your average Chardonnay (especially if it's a Cali.. buttered toast anyone?). Also for whites: Viura varietal out of Rioja. Much like a cool climate sav blanc without the cat pee and bite. Very nice grape that, if people were willing to try something different, would be a huge success.

Other great value areas for reds: Languedoc (France), Rosso de Montalcino (Italy), Sicily (Italy).

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I don't neccessarily disagree, but, I just don't have enough experience with spain to really give out recs, so I will always let someone who has more experience give those out.

I do think though, for someone just getting into wine, australia is good because it's big and flashy, and the really good stuff has a lot of structure. If you like syrah and aren't that big of a fan of most aussies, you really should check out some of the higher end Clarendon Hills still. THey make it in more of a CDR style while still having some of the flash that aussie bombs are known for

[ QUOTE ]

Not saying this isn't a great deal (I personally haven't tried it) but really stay away from stuff like QPR... it's such ridiculousness. It's retarded.

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i'm not sure what you're saying here. QPRs are what make wines tons of fun, finding a really good wine for an affordable price.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
as far as cabernets go, if you are willing to spend up to about 50, you can get some sick stuff. I'm a big fan of Don Melchor , and they make cabs that if they were produced in america would easily cost upwards of 100 a bottle.

[/ QUOTE ]

I know that everybody has their tastes and opinions, but Chile to me is the worst major wine producing country in the world. They do offer great values, but the style of wine they produce: sweet/residual, super fruit forward... blah. I can never get into it, and if i'm spending over 20 bucks, not worth it IMO. I had a bottle of the Don Melchor in question a couple of weeks back. For 50 bucks and Cab, i'd def go in a different direction... but again, that's just me. I think you should buy a couple of recommendations from different wine producing countries that are cheap and do a tasting. See what styles you like. That's the great thing about wine: No matter what anybody says, how many points here or there, it's all about your palatte.

[/ QUOTE ]


well, the 04 don melchor is far from a pop n pour affair, it needs a good 3-4 1/2 hours of decanting. The 04 is a bit more astringent then the flashy 04, but the 04 has some serious life on it. It's personal taste though, as I find the Don Melchor's to be done in a more St Estephe and Pauillac style that I generally prefer(and what a shocker, concha y toro is a division of mouton rothschild)

[ QUOTE ]
KDawg:

Vosnee-Romanee's are sick. I haven't really got into the '03's, but maybe I should be. I can probably find some great deals in there, as nobody is going after them because of the 2002's and 2005's... any recommendations? what area have you found the best?

I LOVE WINE

Brunellos anyone?

[/ QUOTE ]


I have to get to class right now, and this answer is gonna be a long answer, so unfortunetly I won't be able to get into it just yet

as far as brunello, this world would be a happier place if more people drank quality brunello, that's just my opinion though [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: wine importers you trust
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]


Great for the price. Have you tried their M?

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I haven't had a chance, with so much bordeaux for me to drink, I keep going back to it

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Fair enough. I wouldn't touch it if I had a choice between it and some qulity Bordeauxs. I just had some at a tasting awhile back and was impressed (mostly because it's not typical Chile)

[ QUOTE ]
IMO, Spain >>>>>>>> Australia. I really don't like Australia at all, and only have the Amon Ra that I mentioned earlier for monetary reasons. Spain, on the other hand, is outstanding and you don't feel like you just ate a jar of jam after enjoying a bottle.

For value reds, look at wines out of Monstant and Jumilla. If you find any '01 Riojas, buy them! Drinking beautifully right now. Great vintage!

White: I love Albarino out of Rias Baxias, such a great white and for the money, IMO, 10000x better than your average Chardonnay (especially if it's a Cali.. buttered toast anyone?). Also for whites: Viura varietal out of Rioja. Much like a cool climate sav blanc without the cat pee and bite. Very nice grape that, if people were willing to try something different, would be a huge success.

Other great value areas for reds: Languedoc (France), Rosso de Montalcino (Italy), Sicily (Italy).

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't neccessarily disagree, but, I just don't have enough experience with spain to really give out recs, so I will always let someone who has more experience give those out.

I do think though, for someone just getting into wine, australia is good because it's big and flashy, and the really good stuff has a lot of structure. If you like syrah and aren't that big of a fan of most aussies, you really should check out some of the higher end Clarendon Hills still. THey make it in more of a CDR style while still having some of the flash that aussie bombs are known for

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree Australia is a good place to start. Super approachable.

[ QUOTE ]
Not saying this isn't a great deal (I personally haven't tried it) but really stay away from stuff like QPR... it's such ridiculousness. It's retarded.

[/ QUOTE ]

i'm not sure what you're saying here. QPRs are what make wines tons of fun, finding a really good wine for an affordable price.

[/ QUOTE ]

I personally think that things like QPR are ridiculous. Wine Dictator and Robert Parker have such a negative impact on the wine industry that anything that they say is taken for Gospel, and make those wine that they love such outrageous prices that they pretty much automatically increase in price no matter what. Also, how can the two largest wine critic mag's in the world have such a differnet range of opinion? For instance, one of the Phelps Backus vintages, I think the '04 but not sure off the top of my head, was rated a 96 by Parker... and a 85 by Dictator.. how is this possible that the two most recognized authorities on wine have such a different opinion on what a good wine is?

Read this to see the flaws of QPR: QPR is absurd

I guess I shouldn't be mad about this, as it's these publications that basically pay my bills. But still.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
as far as cabernets go, if you are willing to spend up to about 50, you can get some sick stuff. I'm a big fan of Don Melchor , and they make cabs that if they were produced in america would easily cost upwards of 100 a bottle.

[/ QUOTE ]

I know that everybody has their tastes and opinions, but Chile to me is the worst major wine producing country in the world. They do offer great values, but the style of wine they produce: sweet/residual, super fruit forward... blah. I can never get into it, and if i'm spending over 20 bucks, not worth it IMO. I had a bottle of the Don Melchor in question a couple of weeks back. For 50 bucks and Cab, i'd def go in a different direction... but again, that's just me. I think you should buy a couple of recommendations from different wine producing countries that are cheap and do a tasting. See what styles you like. That's the great thing about wine: No matter what anybody says, how many points here or there, it's all about your palatte.

[/ QUOTE ]


well, the 04 don melchor is far from a pop n pour affair, it needs a good 3-4 1/2 hours of decanting. The 04 is a bit more astringent then the flashy 04, but the 04 has some serious life on it. It's personal taste though, as I find the Don Melchor's to be done in a more St Estephe and Pauillac style that I generally prefer(and what a shocker, concha y toro is a division of mouton rothschild)

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It was at a trade tasting, and the people pouring it were the distributors so i'm guessing it was decanted for the proper amount of time. i just feel like when you get into serious wines, not wine's of value, that both Chile and Argentina just can't compare to other areas when you start spending more than 50 bucks a bottle. As E. Asimov of the NYT's said (paraphrase): The only two countries that I haven't found a wine that I have fallen in love with, are Chile and Argentina.

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KDawg:

Vosnee-Romanee's are sick. I haven't really got into the '03's, but maybe I should be. I can probably find some great deals in there, as nobody is going after them because of the 2002's and 2005's... any recommendations? what area have you found the best?

I LOVE WINE

Brunellos anyone?

[/ QUOTE ]


I have to get to class right now, and this answer is gonna be a long answer, so unfortunetly I won't be able to get into it just yet

as far as brunello, this world would be a happier place if more people drank quality brunello, that's just my opinion though [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

On the other hand, if everybody drank more quality Brunello, the world would also be a poorer place... look forward to some rec's on '03 Burgs.

Re: wine importers you trust
 

where do you normally shop at for your burgs, can you give me a link? I'd be more then glad to go through it and hopefully give you some recs. It's so hard to give out the name of a wine because of the low production of burgundy and it not all bottles can found at all places. I normally just rely on burghound for my burg recs as Meadows is easily the best burg critic going

Re: wine importers you trust
 

[ QUOTE ]
where do you normally shop at for your burgs, can you give me a link? I'd be more then glad to go through it and hopefully give you some recs. It's so hard to give out the name of a wine because of the low production of burgundy and it not all bottles can found at all places. I normally just rely on burghound for my burg recs as Meadows is easily the best burg critic going

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No, can't link you as there isn't one place specifically. I'm an importer with a strong Burg portfolio, but we haven't even brought in any of the '03's. We've brought in some '01, '02, '04 and coming, '05.

Re: wine importers you trust
 

[ QUOTE ]
what is your general price range? I work for one of the biggest wine and spirits stores in the chicagoland and midwest region(my store alone does $10-12m a year in business and the chain does in excess of $150m a year), so i've been able to recently have a bunch of stuff at the lower price points( I really do need to note though that I am awful when it comes to california as I don't drink all that much cali wine and generally prefer french and italian wines with australia and oregon being my next best areas, so when it comes to cali cabs, I generally favor the more backwards and long lived ones like monte bello, togni, and montelena estate)

[/ QUOTE ]

Is that Binny's? Thanks for a good thread for those of us getting into wine in Chicago; any tips on relatively good value places to try lots of wine are appreciated.

I myself am a fan of Burgundy and Pacific Northwest Pinot... and I recently had the pleasure of trying an '04 Vigne de L'Enfant Jesus from Bouchard Pere-et-Fils. On the fruity side, just amazingly delicious and smooth for about $55 if I recall correctly.

Re: wine importers you trust
 

yup, the binny's in Highland Park. If you ever want to come in while I'm working I will always be glad to help you out, and that goes for any chicagoland 2p2ers. Just plan ahead a little bit and shoot me a PM and I'll let you know when I'm working.

as far as values, there is actually a lot of really good chianti that is coming out right now. Tuscany recently had a sick run of three vintages(04,05, and 06 with 05 being the real stunner, so I can't wait til 2011 for the 05 brunellos to come out). A lot of chianti and Montalpulcinos from those vintages are out right now and are just great to drink. Easy affordable way to get into tuscan wine before jumping into the brunello waters if you haven't had much tuscan wine

Re: wine importers you trust
 

[ QUOTE ]
yup, the binny's in Highland Park. If you ever want to come in while I'm working I will always be glad to help you out, and that goes for any chicagoland 2p2ers. Just plan ahead a little bit and shoot me a PM and I'll let you know when I'm working.

as far as values, there is actually a lot of really good chianti that is coming out right now. Tuscany recently had a sick run of three vintages(04,05, and 06 with 05 being the real stunner, so I can't wait til 2011 for the 05 brunellos to come out). A lot of chianti and Montalpulcinos from those vintages are out right now and are just great to drink. Easy affordable way to get into tuscan wine before jumping into the brunello waters if you haven't had much tuscan wine

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The '05 Chianti's rock. I just had a tasting from the winemaker at Cecchi. Try their '05 Chianti. Such a great value (should be around 20 bucks). So smooth. Great value.