Red: a lot of excellent Burgundy (2006s and 2007s) has been dumped on the market lately at pretty good prices. And that'll probably be a little more impressive to someone who knows wine than just some interchangeable California thing. Ask someone at your local shop for help narrowing down the choices, that's what they're there for.

But if it were me, I'd get Champagne; a lot of great bottles are very widely available. Pol Roger '99 for example is pretty easy to find in the US at about $80 and really terrific. Or any 2002, which is the current vintage for a lot of houses and probably the best year since 1996.

A couple of fun ones last night: First, a great Pouilly-Fuisse I'd never heard of, Domaine Ferret's Les Menetieres Cuvee Hors Classe 2007. This is now owned by Louis Jadot, so not a surprise that it was at an extremely high level. Quality equivalent of a top Cote de Beaune 1er cru with a thick textural impression, but great acidity to avoid any feeling of weight.

I made sure to bring a backup to the Spring Mountain Cabernet '78, after 3 previous corked bottles from the same case. Sure enough, this was badly corked. I've had a higher rate of TCA with Spring Mountains from the 70s than for any other wine besides late 80s Ducru, so I suspect the winery either had a systemic problem or tried to save some money by buying inferior corks (many believe, for example, that corks from around the base of the trees are more prone to it, but they're cheaper). A shame as the wine is great when it's not tainted.

Fortunately I'd brought a bottle of Torres Black Label '77 if needed, and while it was probably better a few years ago, it was still vibrant and had a lot going on. At this point in its life though the most prominent flavor is the classic "dilly" American oak you also find in old Rioja as well as, of course, in the California cabernets of the era. The '82 of the same wine (and same cellar) a couple of weeks ago was much better although this was certainly enjoyable.

Taking the weekend off before a winemaker dinner with Gerovassiliou and a joint birthday party for me and a friend who's turning 40, which we're going fairly crazy for.

EDF Wine regs, please help:

I like wine, but I only really drink it to help split a bottle when out at a nice restaurant. I also know very little about it. Guests that I have over to my house (female guests between the ages of 21-27 are the ones I'm concerned with here), do like wine and often ask for wine as their first choice when offered a drink. I'd like to start stocking non-sparkling wines (I've got that front covered) in the bar I have at home. I have no idea where to start.

Would any of you guys be kind enough to offer suggestions on types, vineyards, and vintages of wine that could make up a tasteful 10 bottle collection with an eye towards appealing to the tastes of younger women. I'd probably want to spend around $300 on the first batch, so average bottle price of $30 or so, though I wouldn't mind spending $50 on one or $10 on another. Ideally, I'd like to have a little bit of everything. Any guidance is appreciated, but specific suggestions are great. Thanks in advance.

@ $30 a bottle, you've got plenty of room for variation, so I'd focus on some of the standards:

German Riesling: I wouldn't worry too terribly much about vineyards here, as the average mid-20's riesling drinker can't tell a Scharzhofberger from a hole in the ground. I would recommend grabbing a few bottles by Josef Leitz. He makes affordable rieslings across the board, usually at half your /btl price (I think his 'Dragonstone' is like $15, and his Spatlese is $18). Joh Jos Prum also has affordable (and easy to find) bottles. Key words to look for when reading german wine labels:

Kabinett, Spatlese, Auslese ... these are Ministry of Agriculture rankings for sweetness (in ascending order). If it doesn't have one of these, it's a QbA wine (lower quality) and I wouldn't bother with them, spend a bit omre, get something your guests will truly enjoy.

Pinot Grigio: Another must-have for female wine drinkers. Skip the Santa Margherita (it's rather dull, especially for the price) and go straight for the Tieffenbruner. Easy enough to find.

Chardonnay: There's really three kinds of Chardonnay:

California Malo/Oak
Cali/Aus Unoaked
White Burgundy

The third is hands down the best, however also the most unfamiliar to most American wine drinkers. Therefore I'd stick to the first. Essentially, look at your wine store at their Cali chards and look for the word 'Carneros'. Find one in your desired price range, purchase it. On the quality side, you can typically find some villages-level Chassagne-Montrachet or Puligny-Montrachet for right around $30 that is perfectly fine, though not as popular in the states.

Sauvignon blanc: Just for varieties sake, I'd grab some Marlborough. You can easily find the Kim Crawford current vintage for $12.99 or so. Easily recognizable name, decent QPR (Quality:Price Ratio).

That just about wraps up whites, those 4 and you're pretty well set for all possibilities. Let's get into reds:

Pinot Noir: This is a classic, known the world over (**** you Sideways). You've got really 3 to choose from:

California - you can find some decent enough pinots here fore med-$$. Block 906 is a good all around bottle. I would stick mostly to Russian River Valley/Santa Rita Hills/Santa Maria Valley. Sanford and Taz 'Fiddlestix Vineyard' are both in your mid-range if you can get a hold of them.

Oregon - Some of the highest quality stuff in North America. This would be one where I'd probably spend some of that $$ I saved on Rieslings and Sauv Blancs and buy something from 'Shea Vineyard'. A lot of people have bottllings, and they are consistent across the board. Stick to the Willamette Valley as that is what most people will know. Torii Mor from Dundee Hills is one that springs to mind as well.

Burgundy - To be honest, until you've got a wine-roll worth some experimenting, I'd pass on Burgundy. It's probably the most hit-or-miss region in the world. I will recommend some negociants with high quality if you feel like experimenting: Jean Grivot, Vincent Girardin, Hudelot, Robert Drouhin, Drouhin-Laroze, Boisset. While the price is more appealing, I will advise that Louis Jadot is American owned, and generally lower quality acorss all given price poiints. Also, avoid Beaujolais. It's technically 'Burgundy' but eff that.

The Cote Chalonnaise in the south makes some fine villages bottlings from places such as Mercurey and Rully.

Rhone: If you can get ahold of J.L. Chave's 'Mon Couer' Cotes-Du-Rhone, I would do it. Should run about $28 ish IIRC, and worth every penny. I would look in particular right now for 07 bottlings from (regions) Vacqueyras, Lirac, and Cotes Du Rhone. Outstanding year in the southern rhone. Those three tend to deliver near Chateauneuf Du Pape quality without the price tag.

Chainti/Similar: Something like the Frescobaldi C. Classico would be fine. Something to note is that for the price, you can usually acruire a 'Vino Nobile Di Montepulciano' of higher quality until about the $30-40 range. I'd look at this route. Most producers are Nobile are pretty solid. If you can get it, La Bracessca is now an Antinori property and quite nice.


I'm headed off to work right now, went a bit longer than i thought. Will likely add some more later (Cabs/Merlots/Shiraz, etc). Hope that helps as a starter.

Wow. Thank you so much.

Lot of good info here but a couple of things: first, I assume you mean Joseph Drouhin, right? I agree that they're a top-flight house; Robert Drouhin is the now-retired former head of the family domaine, which is now run by his daughter Veronique. However, the wines have always been bottled under the "Maison Joseph Drouhin" name, unlike some domaines that adopt the given name of the current generation of winemaker/owner. They ARE great, I agree--I have literally hundreds of notes, from the 40s through 2008 samples, and the quality is incredibly high at all levels.

I'd strongly disagree with your statement that Jadot has lower quality than the other houses on your list. I taste a lot of Burgundy professionally and in my experience Jadot is very close to Drouhin in quality as the top two among the largest houses, and quite a few bottlings (especially Bonnes Mares, Musigny, the range of Beaune 1er crus, and of course Chevalier-Demoiselles) in most vintages are among the best of their appellations at relatively reasonable prices.

It is true that the owners of Kobrand (the American importer) own Jadot, but it's run by the team that was in charge prior to that acquisition in 1985, Pierre-Henri Gagey and Jacques Lardiere.

Total brainfart on the Drouhin, good call.

When speaking of Jadot's quality, I was not referring to premier/gran cru bottlings, but more of the village stuff (which is where the OP would be looking to spend. The stuff you can find for the price of a Jadot Gevrey-Chambertin is startling. I'm not saying it's low quality by any means, only that there's better for the buck at the price points we're talking here.

Well, you did write "lower quality acorss all given price poiints."

I would say that as far as "better for the buck" that's an issue for almost every producer; when you see everyone's Gevrey or Chambolle Villages for the same price as, say, Simon Bize or Camus-Bruchon Savigny 1er crus, it's hard to justify ever buying the former.

I would say that the large houses I've been most frequently disappointed by--not universally, but more often than the houses I recommend--include Champy, Laboure-Roi, Faiveley post-2006 and Louis Latour.

Another widely available group that I think is making great white wine today (very few notes on reds, but I suspect good things are going on there too) is Bouchard/Fevre, both owned by Henriot. Since at least 2000 for Bouchard and 2004 for Fevre they've made fantastic whites at all levels.

Bizarrely, I had a wine dinner last night and someone I hadn't met brought up the subject of relative quality of large Burgundy houses. Another member of my tasting group who was there said that he thought Jadot usually slightly outperformed Drouhin, so after some discussion we decided that we're going to try to put together a blind tasting of a bunch of crus where they overlap (fortunately, our group includes a senior Kobrand exec who cellars a lot of Jadot, and several of us buy a lot of Drouhin wines). Expecting to focus on 1999s and 1996s but hopefully we'll be able to throw in some 85s and maybe even 78s if we can find them. Results to follow!

If anyone's wondering, they overlap in:

Batard-Montrachet

Beaune-Greves Rouge

Bonnes-Mares

Chablis

Chambertin, Clos de Beze

Chambolle-Musigny

Chambolle-Musigny, Les Amoureuses

Chambolle-Musigny, Les Baudes

Charmes-Chambertin

Chassagne-Montrachet

Chassagne-Montrachet,Morgeot Blanc, Clos de la Chapelle

Clos de la Roche

Clos Vougeot

Clos-St. Denis

Corton

Corton-Charlemagne

Echezeaux

Gevrey-Chambertin

Grands-Echezeaux

Griotte-Chambertin

Le Chambertin

Le Montrachet

Meursault

Meursault, Les Perrieres

Meursault-Charmes

Musigny

Nuits-St. Georges

Pernand-Vergelesses

Pernand-Vergelesses Blanc

Pommard

Puligny-Montrachet

Puligny-Montrachet, Clos de la Garenne

Puligny-Montrachet, Les Folatieres

Puligny-Montrachet, Les Pucelles

Savigny-Les-Beaune

Volnay

Vosne-Romanee

Vosne-Romanee, Les Petits Monts

about a month late on these notes, but I finally got them up. This was from a friend's B-Day dinner and he wanted a Barolo/Barbaresco theme:

SOME NEBBIOLO FOR LEATHERPALATE'S B-DAY - Terragusto, Chicago IL (6/17/2010)

About seven of us gather with Leatherpalate and Mrs. Leatherpalate to celebrate his birthday. Since both him and I had some Giacosa, it ended up turning into a giacosa heavy tasting with some other barolos to round things out

• 1993 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Villero di Castiglione Falletto - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
  nose: a bit coy and shy, this took a bit to open up and reveal pretty tones of berries, red fruits, tar, bits of soy, some floral tones as well as balsamic notes as well. With some air the balsamic tones blow off and the berries show a bit more
  
  taste: lovely medium feel that has a light touch as well as medium+ acidity and silky tones of red cherries, soy, a good bit of dried floral tones, tar, and a touch of berries. Comes off as mature on the palate with nice depth
  
  overall: this could've used a bit of air before drinking, but it was a real nice barolo. Had some good elegance to it with mature tones on both the nose and palate that were enticing and demure (90 pts.)
  
• 1993 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Falletto di Serralunga d'Alba - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
  nose: deeper and more masculine nose then the villero with pungent tones of asian and indian spices, red currants, red florals, red cherries and a touch of tar. Very well balanced with good layering as well
  
  taste: great medium feel with medium/high acidity and silky tones of berries, asian spices, red florals, tar, and tones of red cherries. Well polished with a stylish sense to it while having some power as well
  
  overall: While this seems at its maturity, it can last a good while as well. The tones are still fresh and vibrant with great balance. There is a really good and understated power behind the wine right now (92 pts.)
  
• 1996 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Riserva Asili - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
  nose: intensely deep and layered nose that just melds together with beautiful tones of red cherries, all sorts of roses, red florals, spice tones and all sorts of perfume tones right now. An utterly intoxicating nose that takes a bit to get going, but when it does its impressive
  
  taste: beautiful medium feel with big tannins and high acidity with rich and deep tones of red cherries, roses, red florals, tar, and all sorts of perfumes and incense. While it shows its youth, the class and polish is there
  
  overall: Still needs a good bit of time, but this is a special wine. The nose took a bit to get going and the palate is still rough, but it shows off its pedigree and class (96 pts.)
  
• 1996 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Falletto di Serralunga d'Alba - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
  nose: bold and perfumed nose loaded with asian spices, red cherries, berries, bits of tar and all sorts of floral tones. Great depth and showing all sorts of layering right now as well
  
  taste: chewy tannins and medium/high acidity show off the youth of the wine along with fresh and balanced tones of asian spices, red cherries, roasted herbs, tar, and a good bit of fresh picked berries
  
  overall: A very young wine, but showing off great structure and all sorts of perfume to it. Needs time, but there is a great wine to be had from this with great depth on both the nose and palate (94 pts.)
  
• 1998 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Le Rocche del Falletto di Serralunga d'Alba - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
  nose: beautifully perfumed nose with great depth and tones of incense, red fruits, cherries, red berries, roasted herbs and a lot of rose petals. Beautiful and well layered on the nose though it is showing fairly primary right now
  
  taste: lovely and balanced medium feel with medium/high acidity and chewy tannins with layered and pretty tones of incense, red fruits, cherries, red berries, all sorts of rose petals, and roasted herbs
  
  overall: still quite young, but not inaccessible if decanted for a while. There is a beautiful and fresh style to the wine right now that is also well layered on both the nose and palate. Could still use more time to fully show itself as it's still fairly primary (93 pts.)
  
• 1998 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Cascina Francia - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
  nose: lovely and pretty nose of fresh picked berries, strawberries, herbs, bits of tar, red cherries and some rose petal tones. Excellent depth on the nose with good layering as well with a tart streak to the tones
  
  taste: great medium body with medium/high acidity and chewy tannins with pretty and elegant tones of fresh picked berries, roasted herbs, bits of juniper spices, tar, red cherries and bits of rose petals. Well balanced and showing off the youth of the wine as the acidity and tannins are still a bit much
  
  overall: young, but certainly a lovely barolo. In need of time to let some more of the nuances come to the forefront. A very pretty wine right now though with classic aromatics and great tones on the palate showing off the vintage and the class that this wine possesses (93 pts.)
  
• 1997 Gromis (Gaja) Barolo Conteisa Cerequio - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
  nose: extremely different from the traditional barolos that had been on display before hand with rich tones of dark red cherries, dark berries, spice tones, bits of mint, and a touch of roses as well. The oak influences show off, but they aren't heavy handed
  
  taste: a bit fuller bodied and concentrated tones of dark red cherries, spices, mints, roses, herbs, and a touch of oak strikes up on the back end. Good and silky tannins with medium+ acidity showing itself off
  
  overall: While distinctly modern, its an extremely good barolo. A bit of culture shock after the conterno and giacosas, but after that initial shock and transition, it was much easier to get into. Balanced with more concentrated tones on both the nose and palate (92 pts.)
  
• 2000 Luciano Sandrone Barolo Le Vigne - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
  nose: rich with a good dose of oak right off the bat and tones of red cherries, mint, red currants, and bits of berries. Balanced and much more on the modern side then the previous wines. Good depth as well with concentrated tones
  
  taste: smooth and polished medium/full feel with rich and concentrated tones of red cherries, mint, red currants and a good bit of oak as well. While concentrated and on the oakier side, there is good balance along with medium+ acidity
  
  overall: This showed as the most modern wine in the tasting, but that could also be helped by the vintage as well. There is a richness and concentrated nature to the tones on both the nose and palate that are also very open knit right now. Could possibly use a bit of time to see if the oak integrates, but if one isn't that oak adverse, then it seems more then ready to go right now (91 pts.)
  
• 2004 Gaja Langhe Alteni di Brassica - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC
  nose: rather smokey at first with tones of grapefruits, gooseberries, various citrus tones and bits of vanilla creams. Good depth with a touch of class to it as well
  
  taste: well balanced medium feel with bits of smokey tones, grapefruits, vanilla creams and a touch of gooseberries. Excellent medium acidity rounds this out and while its noticeable, its not too much either
  
  overall: a nice and evolved sauvignon blanc. Has a good class to it with a great feel and excellent aromatics. Everything is well balanced with the class that one would expect from a gaja wine (91 pts.)
  

A great evening with a good amount of great wine. Terragusto did a great job with us and let us go at our own pace. Lots of great conversation and fun with a great crowd. Needless to say, onto next year for another b-day celebration
Posted from CellarTracker



there is a 71 TBA riesling in there that I need to do some checking on and will add that note when I get the chance

I opened this up with the excuse of opening up a french wine for bastille day. This is a lower level producer with grand cru holdings and I was able to get this at a real bargain price.

What should be noted is that this white burg wasn't suffering from any premox, and this bottle has been a bit reduced the past two good bottles, so if anything it'd need a decant. I don't have much experience with the higher end white burg grand crus, but its wines like this is why I love white burgs so much, you just can't get them from anywhere else:

• 2001 Rapet Père et Fils Corton-Charlemagne - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru (7/14/2010)
  nose: excellent and balanced nose of white fruits, buttered bread, honeysuckle, warm oils, cream tones, and some bits of apples and citrus'. Good depth and very aromatic once it opens up
  
  taste: medium/full bodied with really good balance and medium+ acidity along with tones of white fruits, bits of creamed pears, apples, citrus tones, honeysuckle, some buttered bread and a bit of oily tones as well
  
  overall: There was a bit of grey/blue tinge to the cork. Has a nice lighter golden color and comes off as in a perfect place right now. This isn't a long term Corton Charlemagne, but does feel like it has a bit to go (91 pts.)
  

Posted from CellarTracker

Interesting--the blue-tinged corks have been cited as one possible premox culprit, as the blue is from a peroxide wash used to sterilize the corks as a precaution against TCA.

that's exactly why I noted it, but the wine definietly wasn't premox'd and if anything it was a little reduced on opening. This may be a case of the 00s and 01s being given some higher SO2 doses because the fruit wasn't as pure as it was in 99 or 96. I know that there have been some problems with 02 because of them not being given as much of a SO2 blast before bottling

Some interesting thoughts on the topic of "best grower/negociant" (not started by me--seems to be a popular topic these days!):

http://www.wineberserkers.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=26704

One of my regular drinking companions turns 40 this week, and my birthday was on Friday, so we held a joint celebration Friday night. Pretty good overall although a couple of big recent dinners have me convinced that everything shows a couple of points in the kind of heat we've been having.

Started out with Salon 1997, a wine I've had 3 times in the last month or so. I like rather than love Salon, and while I don't think this is one for the long haul, it's a great wine for drinking now, classic citrus and toasty flavors, with some of the classic Salon oxidative notes coming in. Followed that up with a nice bottle of La Grande Dame 1990, another very good but not great Champagne that I think is pretty unlikely to improve.

Our first flight, and only white flight of the evening, was a pairing of Huet Le Haut Lieu Moelleux 1947 and Dr Thanish Bernkaster Doktor Auslese 1971. The latter, from one of my favorite vintages from any region anywhere, was excellent and absolutely classic Mosel riesling.

I was not hopeful about the '47 prior to opening it. It had a plastic capsule, over a metal capsule, over a second metal capsule, and when I finally had all of those off, there was a big puddle of wine exposed. After cleaning that up, fortunately, the cork came out in one piece and the wine itself was totally sound. Opinions were split about this, with some people quite turned off by the finish; I've seen old chenin notes refer to "wet wool" often, and while that's not exactly right, when I commented that it's a fairly standard note, people understood the idea. I hadn't retasted the wine since about 2001 but think it's in very gentle decline, although it's hard to be sure since I'm convinced that the 2001 bottle was reconditioned somewhat agressively prior to its late release. This bottle had an older style of Huet label, but the strange triple capsule did suggest a somewhat late release.

Next up was an oddball pairing, a magnum of Chambertin 1985 from Camus, a usually poor producer, paired with a bottle of Fleurie 1969 (not sure who the producer was); one of the people there turned 40 last year and at the time I didn't own any '69s, so when this popped up at Crush via an old Scandanavian cellar I couldn't resist.

A taster I trust had posted a glowing note on the Camus and, in fact, at the dinner it was served blind one taster thought it was '85 Rousseau Clos de Beze, so when I had the chance to buy it for $250, I jumped. I wouldn't quite go that far, but I was still very happy with the wine; it had a Rousseau-quality nose, and I think blind a good taster would pick it out as a Gevrey grand cru and probably even peg the vineyard (grilled meat and dark cherry predominated), but the palate was a little simple and the finish clipped. After about half an hour it filled out a bit and it became a really excellent wine all around. The Beaujolais was the preference of the non-collectors at the table; it was also showing very well, could certainly have been mistaken for a Burgundy, but unsurprisingly fell apart pretty quickly.

Our first Bordeaux was a bottle of Leoville-Poyferre 1961 with a mid-shoulder fill. I'd popped the cork about 3 hours before service, but apart from a thimbleful to make sure it wasn't corked or DOA, I'd left it untouched. Obviously with that fill I was worried about it being oxidized, but after my experience last year with a bottle of Ducru 1961 that the cork fell into (5 hours later, it was mistaken for a 1982), I've basically treated all 1961s as indestructible and in need of some time after opening. I felt pretty good about that when it went from showing hints of oxidation on opening to turning into an absolutely classic, dense but complex 1961. I'm too young to have tasted '45s at a similar age, and in any case only have a couple of notes on that vintage, but I find it hard to believe that there was a better vintage in the 20th century than '61. Remarkable wine.

We had made sure to have a few '70s for birthyear reasons, but sadly, the first one out, my last bottle of Calon Segur, was corked. A shame as other bottles from the case were close to first-growth quality. The Torres Gran Coronas 1970 was good but a little simple, with the dilly American oak a bit intrusive. Finally, another guest had brought a gift of a bottle of Palmer 1970, a wine I've had the good fortune to try half a dozen times or so. This bottle, with the Mahler-Besse neck tag and a very high fill, was great, still cruising along at age 40 and while it's probably at peak, I don't think it's going into decline any time soon. Concentrated but not overpowering, there was something about the flavors that reminded me of a great older vintage of Latour.

That was followed by a bottle of La Mission Haut Brion 1989, at age 21 still needing time, but it is showing Graves tobacco and minerality and impeccable balance and structure.

The last reds of the evening were two classic Rioja 1964s, Marquis de Riscal and CVNE Imperial. I love old CVNE and this bottle did not disappoint; both, in fact, showed at a pretty high level with citrus, smoke, cherry and tobacco flavors. The Imperial was a little more concentrated, but both were great.

We wrapped things up with a bottle of Taylor 1970 that had been decanted at about 11am, then rebottled about 6 to reclaim the decanter. This is one of my favorite ports, and while it's not quite ready yet, it's finally getting close. Cherry and strawberry predominated, without any medicinal flavors.

At that point we were too tapped out to get into the Madeira (unlabeled, but I think 19th century Sercial), which is probably just as well. Fun night though and hopefully one that took the edge off turning 40!

Going to Oregon in a couple of weeks. Two 1/2 days in wine country (staying in McMinnville).

Any specific winery recommendations, or anything for that matter.

check out cameron, brick house, westrey, le cadeau, belle pente and if possible Eyrie. Some quality producers and a nice range in styles with a more classic OR bent. Just double check to see where the wineries are. I'm not sure how those ones are bunched tbh

Interesting thread for this site! I've been working in a fine wine merchant this summer and have been exposed to some cracking wine.
If people are looking to buy '09 Bordeaux EP for value I'd go with Cantemerle, Lagrange etc. For current drinking wines in Bordeaux I'm hard stretched to find better value for money than '05 Hauts de Smith(decant it)...
Other great wines I've tasted in the past few weeks inc. '03 Leoville Barton and Leoville Poyferre. Classic bordeaux.
From NZ I just tasted some '07 Craggy Range wines. The Le Sol is very tasty.
Very interested in the progression of this thread...

Can anyone recommend a wine dealer in Maine or one that delivers to Maine? I'm European but often spend my summer vacation in Maine and thought there might be a problem with ordering/sending wine across state lines in the US...

it's been a bit since I posted some notes, so here are a variety of wines that I had over last weekend:

A WEEKEND IN THE UPPER PENINSULA - Ben and Laura's, Kingsford MI (8/6/2010-8/7/2010)

With the summer being beautiful this time of the year in the upper peninsula of michigan, I took the trip up to pay ben and laura a visit. This also came after a hectic two weeks at work and gave me a chance to unwind as well as watch the Anderson Silva v Chael Sonnen match
The first night

• N.V. H. Billiot Fils Champagne Brut Réserve - France, Champagne, Ambonnay, Champagne (8/6/2010)
  nose: lovely and deep tones of apples, baked bread, all sorts of minerals, citrus tones and a good amount of fresh sliced pears. Very classy and extremely pungent as the tones fill up the glass right away
  
  taste: beautifully balanced with round and smooth tones of warm dough, baking spices, apples, minerals and a lot of pears. Great depth with medium+ acidity that is more refreshing then it is in the way
  
  overall: This had a 10/07 disgorgement on it. This is showing the benefit of that bit of aging as the tones have a real elegance and class to them. The wine has great depth on both the nose and palate that was very attractive as well (93 pts.)
  
• 2000 Mario Marengo Barolo Brunate - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo (8/6/2010)
  nose: there is a quiet intensity to the tones on the nose that shows off a bit of the vintage along with tones of dark red cherries, roasted herbs, spices, violets, red fruits and some bits of perfumes. Excellent depth and has a pumped up sense to it
  
  taste: nice round and warm tones of dark red cherries, roasted herbs, red fruits, dark red berries, spice tones and bits of violets. Lovely medium feel with medium+ acidity and good tannins as well. Very well balanced and somewhat refined as well on the palate, but showing off some of the warmth of the vintage
  
  overall: this received a 2 hour or so decant and opened up very nicely with more air and drinking. It definitely had the hallmark of a warmer vintage and comes off as starting to nicely come into its own. It could use a bit more time to round out a bit more on the nose as the tones seem a slight bit chunky and a bit too much intensity and warmth right now (91 pts.)
  
• 1999 Broman Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, California, Napa Valley (8/6/2010)
  nose: beautiful and lush nose of dark red cherries, cassis, sour cranberries, spices tones and some herbal undertones. There is a real freshness and purity to the tones that is very attractive and elegant
  
  taste: great medium/full feel with plush tannins and tones of dark red cherries, sour cranberries, cassis, a touch of oak, spices and herbal tones. The tannins are supporting but noticeable with real good depth and class
  
  overall: This was a beautiful cab. It got about a 45 minute to 1 hour decant and had a real nice lushness to it. There was also a herbal quality to the tones on both the nose and palate with great depth as well. The wine is drinking great right now and has the legs on it to go a good ways as well (93 pts.)
  

The second night

• 2006 Philippe Faury St. Joseph Vieilles Vignes - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, St. Joseph (8/7/2010)
  nose: classic nose filled with tones of smoke, black olives, charcoal, black cherries and a bit of black fruits and pepper. Very well balanced and showing a real good robust style to it as well
  
  taste: full bodied with medium acidity along with good tannins and meaty tones of smoke, black olives, charcoal, and a good helping of black cherries and a nice bit of pepper on the back end. The tannins are more supporting and aren't too overbearing
  
  overall: another great showing for this wine. This was got about an hour decant, but was showing off pretty well right off the bat. This just screamed northern rhone and shows off everything you'd want from a northern rhone at a great price (91 pts.)
  
• 2000 Domaine Michel Gros Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Aux Brulees - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru (8/7/2010)
  nose: lovely and elegant nose of hi-toned red fruits, red florals, bits of spices, berries, and raspberry tones. Nice depth and much more of a feminine styled vosne with a nice perfumed quality to it as well
  
  taste: demure and pretty with elegant tones of red fruits, spices, red florals, fresh picked berries, and slight hints of earth tones. Good medium acidity backs this up but is more supporting right now
  
  overall: This is drinking beautifully right now. We had this with some grilled salmon and it went perfectly. Lighter on its feet but not without style and class that is very pretty right now (91 pts.)
  
• 2004 D.R. Stephens Cabernet Sauvignon Moose Valley Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley (8/7/2010)
  nose: rich and bold nose with good depth and brawny tones of black currants, anise, sweet oak tones, dark red cherries, dark red fruits and a good bit of berry tones. Well balanced and powerful, it still seems a bit rough around the edges on the nose right now
  
  taste: full bodied and rich with bigger tones of black currants, anise, sweet oak, dark red cherries, and cranberries with some bits of fruit compote tones as well. The oak shows a bit more on the palate and the tannins aren't too overbearing either
  
  overall: This feels like it needs a few more years to really get itself going. There is really good depth on both the nose and palate, but is holding back a bit right now. It also possesses good richness as well and some bigger fruit that holds itself well (92 pts.)
  

A great weekend that will have to be done again in the future. The time went by too fast as well as lots of wine being drunk, can't be beat
Posted from CellarTracker

bumparoo. Here are some riesling notes from a tasting I was at last month and took my sweet time putting them in. The basic theme was having riesling with a bit of age on them. initially it was supposed to be 10 years, but it would've taken me selling off almost all of my older rieslings for people to pull it off, so I made it 01:

SOME AGED RIESLINGS TO BEAT THE HEAT - Tac-Quick, Chicago IL (7/22/2010)

It was brutally hot outside and several of us gathered to have some slightly older rieslings. As always a thai place is the perfect foil for rieslings and we gathered at Tac-Quick to sample mostly off of their "secret" menu

• 2001 Kerpen Graacher Domprobst Riesling Auslese * - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
  Nose: great depth on the nose with a nice tartness as well with balanced tones of green apples, honeysuckle, white fruits, pears and a good bit of minerals underneath
  
  taste: attractive and fattish medium/full feel with elegant tones of white peaches, green apples, honeysuckle, white fruits and some white floral tones as well. Excellent medium+ acidity and there doesn't seem to be the sweetness of a young auslese
  
  overall: This still feels a bit young as there is a bit of rough edges with the weight on the palate. Excellent acidity and great tones on both the nose and palate, but there isn't the sweetness that one would expect from an auslese which is also very interesting (92 pts.)
  
• 2001 Weingut Max Ferd. Richter Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
  nose: well balanced and tart nose of white fruits, mineral tones, smokey tones, bits of petrol as well as tones of green apples and pears. Good depth and very smokey at first, but with some air it pulls back
  
  taste: excellent depth with a fat medium feel with medium acidity and tones of petrol, white fruits, minerals, green apples and a touch of pears. Well balanced and without the smokey tones that were dominating the nose a bit
  
  overall: Took a little bit to unwind, but turned into a real nice riesling. Well balanced, this was better on the palate then the nose. There was a lighter gold color to it and though it is ready to drink, a bit more time wouldn't hurt (91 pts.)
  
• 1999 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
  nose: a big dose of petrol strikes first that takes a slight bit to blow off and lead into lovely tones of white peaches, apples, pears, white florals, mineral tones and bits of wet rocks. Excellent depth and very elegant once the petrol blows off
  
  taste: polished and smooth medium feel with medium+ acidity with mineral laced tones of white peaches, pears, green and red apples, peach blossoms, and a touch of wet rocks. Very well balanced on the palate with a feel that comes with a bit of maturity
  
  overall: this is in an extremely good place right now but can go for a good amount of time. The nose was reduced a bit with the petrol being a bit much at first, in hindsight it could've used a short decant, but once it blew off it was just slightly there (92 pts.)
  
• 1995 Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Herrenweg de Turckheim - France, Alsace, Turckheim, Alsace AOC
  nose: excellent and polished nose of honey, white fruits, lemon drops, tart citrus tones, minerals and bits of white peaches. Well balanced and has good layering on it that comes with a bit of age
  
  taste: fuller bodied with balanced and layered tones of honey, white fruits, white peaches, and bits of lemon drops. Very good medium acidity shows itself, but is more complimentary at this point
  
  overall: A real classy and mature ZH. Real good weight on the palate and shows off a real elegant maturity to the wine (91 pts.)
  
• 2000 Franz Hirtzberger Riesling Smaragd Hochrain - Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau
  nose: very aromatic with tart tones of nectarines, tangerines, a good bit of peaches, green apples and mineral tones underneath. Good depth and showing off its maturity too with some good layering as well
  
  taste: real sexy medium body and noticeable medium+ acidity along with tones of spices, nectarines, pears, tangerines, and bits of green apples. Very good depth with a real roundness to the tones
  
  overall: Lovely and mature with great balance on both the nose and palate. Has a real sexiness to it that is very attractive and with great depth on both the nose and palate (92 pts.)
  
• 1993 Zilliken (Forstmeister Geltz) Saarburger Rausch Riesling Spätlese #7 - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
  nose: fresh and lively nose of green apples, pears, petrol, white florals, sweet citrus tones, as well as bits of mangoes and papayas. Excellent depth and the tropical fruits emerge a bit with a bit of air
  
  taste: very mineral driven with a fat medium/full feel and medium/high acidity showing off the youth of the wine. Well balanced with refined tones of minerals, white florals, green apples, pears, and petrol with a touch of tropical citrus tones
  
  overall: This had an Ap# 7-94 and still seemed extremely fresh and very young. Well balanced and though it is drinking right now, this certainly comes off as a marathon runner and could probably even use another 4-5 years (93 pts.)
• 2000 Prager Riesling Smaragd Dürnsteiner Hollerin - Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau
  nose: real nice and mineral laced nose with tones of wet rocks, limes, citrus tones, red apples, and bits of white florals and white fruits. Nice class and balance to the wine with very good depth as well
  
  taste: Extremely well balanced medium feel with high acidity showing itself and still showing that this is a young riesling with tones of minerals, wet rocks, limes, apples and bits of white fruits
  
  overall: This may even need a couple more years to fully show itself. The nose is beautiful and so well balanced but the palate is showing itself to be a bit too young. A decant probably would benefit this as this comes off as a wine that is built for the long haul (92 pts.)
  

While it was hot both outside and in the restaurant, the conversation and the wines were both great. The food was a knockout as well and I really look forward to coming back here in the future
Posted from CellarTracker

Anyone have good recommendations for wineries in the Seattle area? I visited Woodinville a few months ago, and wouldn't be opposed to checking it out again, but if possible I'd like to visit a different area or two this time.

The other day, I pulled the trigger on some wine to cellar. I'm tired of drinking wines too young, and want to start doing things more properly. My wine fridge now has a case of 2007 Dominus Estate waiting patiently for the year 2020 or so.

Anyone interested in a bottle of the 2007 Harlan "the maiden"? Can only buy 3 or 6 from the mailing list and only want 2.

Hi, my frist post in EDF . I've really emjoiyd this thread. I'm from Italy and i run a restaurant. for job and pleasure i'm a big wine passionate. I admit i have a very bad knowledge of french or cali ( or worldwide ) wines, but i'm a very good (hope so) conaisseur of italian wines and producers.
I didn't had time to go through the entire thread, but i can say couple of things i just noticed: 1996 barolo, barbaresco and mostly tuscany wines, was a terrific year; most producers threw away the production or downgrade it to basis wines. so i really doubt we have some great wines for that vintage.
Second thing, i've seen someone mentioned the RED pinot meunier by Domanie chandon. I had it at the estate , in 2007, and while i was really skeptical aboout a red with that grape, it was a wonderful tasting experience(at least for that price).
In the end i wan't to close my first post with a very underrated but i think wonderful producer from tuscany: Tenuta di Capezzana, from the Prato zone; i suggest two cru, from 2001 vintage, the "Villa di Capezzana" whic is a Carmignano ( Sangiovese grape), and the Supertuscan "Ghiaie della Furba" , whic is a merlot, cab.sauv and syrah blend . Those two wines have one of the higher q/p ratio in Italy imo ...
Enjoy

I'm not a buyer, but I'm curious what the release price is. $175 or so?