Anyone done a Willamette Valley vineyard tour from Portland? A lot of the companies seem to do private ones that are several hundred. It's just my gf and I. Would like to keep it around $100/200 each.
One of the two busiest wine weekends of the year in the valley so prices are jacked up. Best bet might be renting a car and a modicum of moderation. It's about a 50 minute drive in light traffic out to wine country so leave early.
I assume that's what he meant. I booked with Backroads Wine Tours. We narrowed it down to them and one other company and went with them because it's a little cheaper and sounded about the same. The other company was more expensive because it was guaranteed to be a private tour for just us whereas with this one there's a chance we'll get paired with another couple
My mistake, I combined the two posts. I've rented out a bus before for 4 hours for about $350 total for 10 people. Should be able to find a service for two for less than that, let me see if any of my wineries out here have recommendations.
I drank this last night. It was on my list of wines to try before I die. I'm quite glad I did because it was delicious.
There are certain bars/restaurants that you know are marking up their prices like crazy, but I just wish they did it with a wine list that I didn't recognize the names. I'm not going to spend $19 for a glass of Erath that I just paid $16 for a whole bottle the other night at a grocery store http://chicago.eater.com/2016/5/4/11591270/hyatt-centric-rooftop-chicago-loop-aire#6462553
Paying ridiculous markups on wine is one of my biggest pet peeves. I've found some places in Portland with a 30%-40% markup which feels reasonable, but the 200%+ markups are just terrible. When I see those I bring my own and pay corkage.
1. meiomi at sam's for 15.98? uh sign me up for 5 please 2. napa in september for house swim 3. this weather is glorious and i fully expect this is what napa feels like (low 70s/40s, sunny, dry-ish)
One of my favorite restaurants in Minneapolis charges the same dollar markup on each bottle of wine they sell. They do it from distributor cost so I don't know the exact mark-up but it ends up being in the $15-20 range over retail. Otherwise they charge a $15 corkage (which they frequently wave if you buy a glass off sparkling off the menu to begin the meal or if you're a semi-regular and they recognize you). It seems very fair and between that and being very good, they've made me a regular customer. I chuckled recently when a new place opened up in town charging $60 for Ladera Sauvignon Blanc when I can get the Ladera Cabernet Sauvignon at this other restaurant for $50.
So it's happening tomorrow. 6 Montrachet 6 Corton 6 Echezeaux 6 Grands Echezeaux 6 Richebourg 6 Romanée Saint-Vivant 6 La Tâche 6 Romanée-Conti All 2012. Haven't tasted the Montrachet or the Romanée-Conti yet in 2012, so looking forward to it. Hopefully we get no corked bottles.
Whats the best bet for a BYOB restaurant with a tasting menu? My wife is going to want Sauv Blanc on the white side and I want to bring a red as well but should be somewhat versatile. I think we pick 5 of the below for the table. Shaved Vegetables & Pumpernickel heirloom carrots, beets, anchovy, walnuts, parmesan Blistered Ramps green pumpkin seed romesco, almonds, shaved mushroom Salt Beef & Oyster house brined brisket, poached oyster, mustard vinaigrette, white kimchi Octopus ginger, scallion, fermented soy bean, roasted grapes, chickpeas Tempura Cauliflower bulgur wheat, beets, spiced peanut, orange-soy marmalade Chickpea Pierogi smoked chickpeas, apple, zurek, celery leaf, radish bonito * * * Lake Superior Whitefish asparagus, meyer lemon aioli, new potatoes, clams Dayboat Scallop & Wild Gulf Shrimp ramp & green garlic pistou, orzo, honshimeji mushroom, fava Jackfruit Carnitas Three Sisters stone ground grits, smoked tomato, escabeche Rohan Duck wild & aborio rice, green garlic, cippolini onions, snow peas
On second thought after looking at the menu and considering it is going to be a 1000 degrees I may just stick with white or rose.
I think that depends on what you end up getting. Pinot noir is a classic pairing for duck. If you go for the carnitas, I might suggest a rose.
The answer is of course Pinot Noir Rose sources from Oregon. Might I recommend Colleen Clemens or Penner ash if you can find it. Elk Cove rose isn't a bad substitute.
Pinot is very high on the list of food friendly/versatile wines. That is usually my choice for a multi-course menu.
Uncle had me over for dinner...he opened a bottle of wine from his cellar. I just looked it up online, and it was a $1400 bottle of wine. Anyone heard of it? I am thinking about getting him something nice but don't want want to break the bank. Something around $100-150. Anything cool I could do with that?
Pichon Lalande. It is a Bordeaux 2nd growth. If he has had it for a while, he probably paid much less. The average cost from owners on CellarTracker is $433.50 which is still a princely sum but maybe HJ worthy instead of BJ. You can get the current vintage in the $100-150 range (although 1982 is a much better vintage). Personally, if I had $100-150 to spend on a gift for somebody, I would start looking at Burgundy (mostly because I really like Burgundy). You should be able to get a good Premier Cru level wine. What you can find is going to depend on your market so I would just go in to a high quality wine shop and tell them what you're looking for and let them guide you.
Thanks appreciate it. I asked him when he bought the wine and he didn't even know, fwiw--I've seen him walk into a shop and buy 20+ bottles before. He's got a real nice collection.
Brought this home from our trip to Portland. This was the last vineyard we went to and really enjoyed it, wish we would've got more of this rose because it's perfect on a 95 degree day like we have right now
If any of you are in Seattle, Portland, Austin or Boise and come across Proletariat Wines, let me know your thoughts. Premium quality draft wines only. I am their distributor here in Texas. If you live in Austin check out Second Bar, Porter Alehouse, Whip In, Drafting Room on Rainey or the soon to open Boiler Nine for our wines. We are in about 30 different restaurants in Austin, but that list seems to fit this board the best.
We are Rotie Cellars club members. I'm a big fan of Sean Boyd. I already liked the wines and then we met him at a tasting he did in Minneapolis and I ended up hanging out with him half the night. Good dude. I haven't had the Proletariat wines but I'm sure they are good for the price. There is great shit coming out of Walla Walla.
Sean is my man. All of our wines are Sean and of same quality as most of his Rotie stuff. Drinking Little G this evening that was sent down with my last shipment of kegs.
In a dark, 55 degree cellar because this is TMB and we all have cellars. Before that I had a wine fridge that kept the best wines at that temp and I kept the rest in boxes in my basement so they stayed relatively cool (sub 70 degrees). If you don't have a basement, the next best spot is probably tucked away in a closet.
In the wine club box it comes in stacked in guest room closet. Stays cool and dark in there. Not ideal but best I can do. My buddy in Florida rents a locker for 25/month for his nice wines.
There are a couple stores here that rent cellar space. The one charges $2 per case per month ($2 per bottle annually) but it is word of mouth to discover it. The other rents lockers like the one you mentioned.
Fwiw-Quality seems to vary greatly by brand. I recommend Avanti based on having no problems with my old unit. I bought off Craigslist for a 2 year old unit that was like 40% of original list.
Have owned two Koolatrons... Despite the funny name they have been great... Only reason I've owned two is because I needed a bigger one
Still haven't decided. I don't really want to order off amazon because returning something that size would be a huge pain, and I haven't found anything in stores that fits what I'm looking for.
I think I got mine from Costco.com with the same thought process, and if I remember right at the time shipping was free. Just another thought if you're looking at going the big company route.
From what I've heard, Costco is a great route to do it. On a wine forum I read from time-to-time people have had Costco replace the unit 5-10 years after they purchased. Costco in general is great with returns and wine refrigerators have a poor reputation for longevity.
The return policy history with Coscto was definitely another big reason to do it. Like I said I was hesitant to just go with what seemed like a generic brand, but short of being able to build a cellar in my house I've been quite happy with the purchase.