2+2 wine dinner we had awhile ago, i want to do another one

[OrigamiSensei]

KDawg, that's a nice collection you have. As a side note I may have done some of the punchdowns on your AP Vin Clos Pepe and the Loring Brousseau.

[Rick Nebiolo]

[ QUOTE ]
the boxed wine did horribly rick everyone hated it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed, I rated it worst too. But a few things entered into the equation. It was the Black Box Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon and there were other type reds in the mix which tended to rate better. Prior to the party it was also stored in my hot apartment while I was back East and served at way too high a temp. That was the party were a $100 a bottle of something or another also rated real low (and you mentioned the storage/decanting as possibly being responsible).


[ QUOTE ]
the two buck chuck shiraz did very well.

[/ QUOTE ]
So would the Chardonnay (and perhaps the Black Box equivalent).


[ QUOTE ]
We will be having an all under $10 party some time at my house later this year or next. i have some $1 bottles im saving just for you.

[/ QUOTE ]
I can go $3 deep on wine. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Anyway, my suggestions for a fair evaluation:

- stick to one type of red, one type of white.

- decant the reds equally and serve at correct temperture (we need to find a couple more decanters; maybe my ex still has the old wedding present we thought was some sort of hard to clean flower vase).

- cover bottles and number as before

~ Rick

PS Will the wife go for a whiskey tasting party? I'm more of a believer in middle to high end whiskey.

[KDawg]

[ QUOTE ]
KDawg, that's a nice collection you have. As a side note I may have done some of the punchdowns on your AP Vin Clos Pepe and the Loring Brousseau.

[/ QUOTE ]


thanks, I'm very proud of my collection as I've only really started to get into wine in the past two years. All of the multiple bottles are my aging bottles, and the single ones are in the to drink category. Right now I'm hoping to finally save up some cash to make some more long term additions to my collection as I'm eyeing some 03 Pichon-lalande, 03&04 Lascombes, 04 and 00 Pontet Canet, 02 Robert Young Scion, 04 Almaviva, and hopefully get my hands on some more 04 Numanthia and the 05 Numanthia before it sells out. Granted, I'm not going to get all of the ones I want, but am hoping that by the end of the year I will be able to have pulled off enough FPPs to get myself a nice Visa Gift Card via the conceriege service

I'm really looking forward to teh AP Vin CP as I'm a big fan of AP Vin to begin with, and I don't think I've had a bad wine that has used Clos Pepe's grapes. I'll now even look forward even more to drinking that knowing that you may have been involved in the making of it.

Lately I've been setting my drinking up to have a theme for x amount of weeks as I mainly leave my wine drinking to the weekends. I've set up my pinots to coincide with me heading to the chicago Pinot Days.

[KDawg]

[ QUOTE ]


That being said it would not be wise to completely dismiss inexpensive labels. I adore Muscadet from the Loire, often found for $7-12, Chateau St. Michelle made a Riesling in 2004 for $4.99 that was very tasty and drinkable, there are Cote du Rhones for under $12, Costco has had some Baumard Savennieres for under $15, Buller Rare Muscat for $10-15 in the half bottle, the list goes on.

[/ QUOTE ]

you can get a ton of great viognier in the under 20 category too. Viognier has fast turned into my favorite white varietal as it consitently performs and provides a ton of depth in a white when you usually have to buy a top rhone or burg white to get the quality that you find in a bunch of new world viogniers


[ QUOTE ]
Nonetheless I personally find the wine performance sweet spot for me is in the $25-$75 per bottle range. That's where I can most often find world class performance without having to pay world class prices.

[/ QUOTE ]

cue me drooling over two hands and their wines 45-60 range. I agree wholeheartedly here. You can find a ton of great stuff in this price range if you just know what areas you're looking at. It's hard to find spectacular bordeaux or burgundy in that range, and even the truly spectacular brunellos, but pretty much everywhere else in the world you can get world class wine in that price range

[OrigamiSensei]

As I write this I'm sipping on a 2000 Merry Edwards Windsor Gardens Pinot. Yum.

I'm somewhat tied in with the Central Coast Pinot producer community. Brian Loring of Loring Wine Company is a friend and each of the last few years I've helped out for a weekend at harvest and crush time. During the '03-'05 vintages Andrew Vingiello of APVin was making wine under Brian's tutelage at the LWC facility so everybody there works collectively on whoever's wine happens to need something done. For the '06 vintage Andrew set up his own facility in South San Francisco because he lives in SF. He's a talented young winemaker and a good guy and I wish him well.

You're right about Clos Pepe fruit - Steve Pepe and Wes Hagen are singlemindedly devoted to quality. Check out their Clos Pepe Estate Chards for $30/bottle off the mailing list if you haven't already. The Sta. Rita Hills are producing some great Pinot - but in my mind Chardonnay may actually be the best thing going in that appellation.

You noted your appreciation of Viognier. I must confess, there are two grapes in this world I simply don't "get": Merlot and Viognier. I know, call me Miles from Sideways since I'm obsessed with Pinot and I don't drink any bleeping Merlot (unless it's something like '86 L'Arrosée, then it's "yes, please"). Anyway, Viognier always strikes me as having a promising nose and then really letting me down on the palate. I have had some of the finest examples going like Guigal Condrieu La Doriane, Scholium Project, Pride and the like. They are undoubtedly very well-made wines that I simply am unable to appreciate. But hey, if we all liked exactly the same things then we'd all be fighting over the same wines and they'd be even more ridiculously expensive than they are now.

[KDawg]

sounds like I need to get on Clos Pepe's mailer [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

it's funny that you also bring up merlot, I've actually been getting into it lately. Well, more st. estephe and pomerol merlots along with some super tuscan ones. I haven't had that much US merlot at all, so I can't base much on it.

Like you said though, this is the beauty of wine where we all have our own tastes and pallates as one person's favorite wine may not be the next person's. As we can see, I'm a big fan of Amon-Ra, but I know that not everyone is into it. I find the discussions that can come from these types of tastes to be more interesting when there is a major rave about one. I love seeing the mollydooker debates and am looking forward to trying several of the 06s that I have to fully see what the deal is. It's what I love about wine [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[John Cole]

Mike,

you wouldn't believe how much I know about this event. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[mike l.]

so let's have another one. in vegas. november? december? who's in?

[z28dreams]

I just posted this thread in OOT... maybe you guys can give me some ideas for wines to do during a test. (origami already has)

The Franzia Challenge:
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showfl...e=0&fpart=3

[J.A.Sucker]

[ QUOTE ]
Mike,

you wouldn't believe how much I know about this event. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

And some of us don't want to know.

Ever. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]