The Official Wine Thread

[audiophilia]

Inexpensive, good value Pinot tonight. Fresh and balanced with a little sophistication. A good choice under wife imposed austerity measures. Had with sushi grade rare Ahi Tuna with wasabi mayonnaise. A lovely meal.

 

[kwilkinson]

Tonight I went back to The Wine Shop and bought that bottle of 04 Shafer Relentless. It was basically* free. Only $76 after tax, which from what I've heard is a pretty good price. Anyway, the shop keeper was excited for me. He said he had seen me eyeing that bottle all day on Monday and was happy I got to buy it.

*by basically, I mean that I worked so much overtime over Valentine's Day weekend that I was able to buy this bottle of wine without affecting my monthly budget WHATSOEVER

 

[audiophilia]

^^^

Nice wine. Enjoy.

 

[kwilkinson]

Thanks!

 

[Piobaire]

No pics from last night, too lazy when I got home from a long week.

Sipped some http://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=729675 For $15, a pretty intense SB. Nose was apple, pears, and cat piss. On the palate, pears, apples, and a nice crisp minerality. Nice sipping my Mrs. Piob made dinner. I got to mostly watch, but helped prep some things.

The entree was two, beautiful and thick pork chops. Seasoned and browned, removed from pan. Two cups chopped onions sweated and lightly browned. Chops back on top, some of my homemade pork stock from a couple weeks ago, cover and into oven for 30 mins. Baked off Brussels sprouts to go with.

Wine: http://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=444186

Typical Cali pinot nose, nice flavour but tart cherry finish. I'm still moving away from Siduri style, but they make a solid Pinot and who can fail with grapes from Garys'?

Cross posting.

Tomorrow night: braised oxtails.

 

[Mark from Plano]

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

Tonight I went back to The Wine Shop and bought that bottle of 04 Shafer Relentless. It was basically* free. Only $76 after tax, which from what I've heard is a pretty good price. Anyway, the shop keeper was excited for me. He said he had seen me eyeing that bottle all day on Monday and was happy I got to buy it.

*by basically, I mean that I worked so much overtime over Valentine's Day weekend that I was able to buy this bottle of wine without affecting my monthly budget WHATSOEVER

Kyle,

This is great, and a great price. I have three bottles of the 2005 that I have about $87.43 each in (bought off allocation from the winery). What are your plans for this bottle? Going to hold it for a few years? If you're going to pop it anytime soon, let me know and I'll pop one of my 2005's and we'll share notes.

 

[Manton]

Some great stuff at Blue Hill last night, including a '98 Brunello.

 

[gomestar]

please. Carry on....

 

[Piobaire]

It's unusually cool here today, with an equally unusual steady drizzle. Wisely, I have a stack of dry firewood and a nice fire going. We're sipping this right now:

Ran our errands today in the rain, but it was worth it, as I landed these:

Duck confit time, very soon

Gonna need a recipe Kyle.

 

[kwilkinson]

Originally Posted by Mark from Plano

Kyle,

This is great, and a great price. I have three bottles of the 2005 that I have about $87.43 each in (bought off allocation from the winery). What are your plans for this bottle? Going to hold it for a few years? If you're going to pop it anytime soon, let me know and I'll pop one of my 2005's and we'll share notes.
Thanks Mark.

I'll probably try to hold onto it til 2012 or so. Maybe longer if I somehow develop willpower in the next two years. If, God Forbid, we're both still putzing around on this site in two years, maybe we can compare notes.

Originally Posted by Piobaire

Duck confit time, very soon

Gonna need a recipe Kyle.
Anytime, player.

 

[Manton]

I reiterate that the Stonestreet Red Point Vineyard 2005 Chardonnay is an amazing wine. Teeny tiny production so probably very hard to find. I bought all they had at the place where I found it. Had the second bottle tonight. Deep honey/lemon/amber color, huge nose, everything a Chard should have on the palate. Tastes like a 15 y/o Burg Grand Cru.

 

[kwilkinson]

Already have a tasting there scheduled for my day off, playaaa. Aren't you jealous that all these places are literally within 10 minutes of me?

 

[Manton]

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

Aren't you jealous that all these places are literally within 10 minutes of me?

Yes.

 

[kwilkinson]

Originally Posted by Manton

Yes.

It is great, in many ways. I get to know tiny minute differences between growing areas literally just a few hundred yards apart, I'm starting to be able to tell you where in Sonoma County a Pinot was grown based almost entirely on the nose, and things like that. It's easy to get a more intimate knowledge of specific wineries and to meet the winemakers themselves when you go visit. Not to mention prices are often pretty low, or at least lower than in other parts of the country.
On the other hand, if I want to have a "survey" kind of course in wine that isn't grown in Sonoma, I'm kind of screwed. I can't drive to Zachy's and do a mega tasting and learn all about all kinds of wines. And I pay a premium on any wine not grown in CA b/c no shopkeeper wants to piss off the local winemakers by selling French or Italian wine.

 

[Manton]

Well, beyond all the wine BS, I am sick of New York and the East and I want to go home.

But I do like being near the FCI.