I Just Bought a... (Wine, Spirit, or Beer)

Just brought back a bottle of delicious Henri Bardouin pastis from Provence

I just got my Larkmead allocation last night. Two Solari reserve cabs 2005 and four 2006 estate bottled cabs. The Solari is a bit pricey ($75) but when you consider they have been scoring in the mid to upper 90s, probably worth it.

Edit: Does anyone have a Harlan allocation? I got another 3 or 6 pack allocation for The Maiden. $150 a bottle for their second string cab (which granted, is a 95+ wine). I think I'm passing.

Made some buys. Each bottle shown, except the tequila, I bought at least two of.









This is very select cask bottling of Milagro. It won top honors recently at an international spirits contest. If you cannot see the bottle itself, there is an agave plant fashioned from the glass of the bottle. It is very striking and I think I might make a few gifts of this.



Last night's desert, was homemade bread pudding, including the bread. My wife made a butter/bourbon sauce for it, and I mixed us up peach vodka martinis.



Not a purchase, per se, but the picture was so tasty looking.

Did a little shopping today and picked up some 2004 Cali Cabs. This was an incredible vintage, hard to go wrong with any major, and most minor, makers.

I guess we've been down this path before...buy the 2004 beringer knights valley alluvium for about $13, taste blind against the BV and two other cabs, report back.

Originally Posted by vinouspleasure

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I guess we've been down this path before...buy the 2004 beringer knights valley alluvium for about $13, taste blind against the BV and two other cabs, report back.
Good thing you'll not be invited over, so you'll not have to drink my swill

I'm reminded of a dinner where the host served nothing but parker 100 point wines. As I'm in the business, he singled me out afterwards to ask what I though of the wine. My thought was that if, like my host, you have $100 million or so in the bank, you may as well spend the money. For me (and most of the rest of the population), the game is to find high QPR wine. That doesn't mean cheap wine, it means at every price level, finding the best QPR.

I am asserting that you have chosen high quality wine that has a low QPR. If your net worth is such that you don't care about QPR, good on you. If you;re interested and get to NYC, bring your wine, I'll bring mine, we'll get a couple of other people involved, and we'll put it to the test.

Originally Posted by vinouspleasure

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I'm reminded of a dinner where the host served nothing but parker 100 point wines. As I'm in the business, he singled me out afterwards to ask what I though of the wine. My thought was that if, like my host, you have $100 million or so in the bank, you may as well spend the money. For me (and most of the rest of the population), the game is to find high QPR wine. That doesn't mean cheap wine, it means at every price level, finding the best QPR. I am asserting that you have chosen high quality wine that has a low QPR. If your net worth is such that you don't care about QPR, good on you. If you;re interested and get to NYC, bring your wine, I'll bring mine, we'll get a couple of other people involved, and we'll put it to the test.
You obviously are being quite selective in the many, many wines I have posted here. Some are very modest in price and considered to be high QPR. I have posted modestly priced zins, grenache, and pinots, as well as the occasional cab in the sub $20 price range. Now, you tell me you are in the business. I do not remember seeing a single picture of a purchase from you. I do remember you ******** on my parade more than once however. Frankly, I do not post my pictures here to be spoken to in this fashion. I did not know the aim of this thread was to be spoken to in a pedantic manner nor to have a mere slice of my posted purchases/pictures act as the sole measure of what I buy. I will refrain from posting any of my purchases here from here on in. I am out of this thread.

Yup, I was selectively pointing out the wine that had a low qpr in the hopes of saving you, and others that might follow your lead, some money. I think you are seriously over-reacting...I was dispassionaltely discussing the relative merit of a wine and you shifted to a personal attack.

Be hard on the problem, easy on the person.

I use wine, spirits, etc for some personal fulfillment, a little hedonism and pleasure to scare away the demons of the everyday. Drink what you like, taste, explore, try things, but in the end, drink what makes you happy. All the rest of the sophistry is crap -- even, dare I say it, the sainted QPR. That choice piece of alphabet soup doesn't account for the reality that a d'Yquem has non-intrincsic value to me that say, Doisy-Vedrines does not.

Joy in our lives is measured by more than money.

~ Huntsman Ps -- nice Guiraud, Piobaire.

I'm not sure what you mean by the non-intrinsic value of d'Yquem. Certainly for all luxury goods, QPR is not a linear function but an asymptotic curve and in my book d'Yquem is a good QPR.

Originally Posted by vinouspleasure

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I'm not sure what you mean by the non-intrinsic value of d'Yquem. Certainly for all luxury goods, QPR is not a linear function but an asymptotic curve and in my book d'Yquem is a good QPR.
I wouldn't argue that the QPR for luxury goods is a different function than inferior goods, but rather that 'luxury goods' are those normal goods located on the interval where the slope is shallow, following which diminishing returns occurs as the function approaches infinity. Regardless, what I mean about non-intrinsic value is that it means a lot to me that I possess a bottle of d'Yquem, independent of how it tastes. Because people say it's the best Sauternes and I collect the stuff? Perhaps. Because of the history of the Chateau? Perhaps. Because I find the label aesthetically pleasing? Perhaps. They all may add to the value of the bottle to me. This, like anything else when taken to an extreme, can get pretty ridiculous pretty fast -- I won't buy a wine merely for non-intrinsic (I admit it was a poor choice of words) value, or even if it's value is predominately of that type. I'm merely saying it can add value to a purchase. The worst thing about wine is the creeping snarkiness that allows purchasers anywhere along the spectrum the opportunity for snobbery. ~ Huntsman

From my experience, those that criticize when no criticism was requested are often very self-conscious. Piobaire is a friendly contributor to what we celebrate in this thread - enjoying wine, spirits and beer. What we have categorically not enjoyed in this thread are snarky comments regarding one's preferences. You may claim that your comments were not antagonistic toward Pio, but let me assure you, they were viewed by myself as out of place and unwanted.

Originally Posted by Huntsman

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The worst thing about wine is the creeping snarkiness that allows purchasers anywhere along the spectrum the opportunity for snobbery.
~ Huntsman

I agree with your thoughts about non-intrinsic value and I sure do understand the impulse to collect...just look at my shoe collection.

As you can imagine, exposure to snobbery is an occupational hazard in the wine business and I'm not just talking about customers. I ignore most of it but do occasionally need to take a deep breadth.

I would say the worst thing about wine is the global loss of individualism to please one critic's palate. I'm an advocate of buying wine that reflects its orgin and is not over manipulated.

Originally Posted by IUtoSLU

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From my experience, those that criticize when no criticism was requested are often very self-conscious. Piobaire is a friendly contributor to what we celebrate in this thread - enjoying wine, spirits and beer. What we have categorically not enjoyed in this thread are snarky comments regarding one's preferences. You may claim that your comments were not antagonistic toward Pio, but let me assure you, they were viewed by myself as out of place and unwanted.

I wasn't stating my preferences, I was making the suggestion that piobare was overpaying for the quality of the wine and could do better elsewhere. I believe most people in the wine industry would agree with my assessment.

I appreciate you feel my comments were antagonistic towards piobare but I'm having a hard time understanding it. It would be great if you could take a sentence or a set of sentences from my post and explain what you found as out of place and unwanted. This will help me moderate my responses in the future.

thanks,
vp