Personally, I would cut the castle because it’s more about a random castle than the wine but I’m cunty about wine.
We are same. Two of the females going with are having wet dreams about the IG potential of that place, but I'm going to try and sway them instead to Nickel and Nickel
I did a Far Niente (sister winery of Nickel & Nickel) retrospective tasting about 5 years ago and I was impressed. From a wine perspective, I definitely side with you.
So I bought a case of wine on our tour over Memorial Day and decided to have our tour company handle the shipping home. Basically they package it and everything and there's a big shipping store up there that will send it UPS. The wine has been at the store for a week and the store told them that they won't ship ground because of the weather being so warm. I could either pay an extra $40 for overnight shipping or I could sign a waiver saying I won't be mad if they go ahead and ship it ground service if anything happens to the wine. My question is, how hot is too hot for a normal shipment? It'd probably take 3 days to get here from Portland I'd guess
I have been getting the NPR wine collection box for the past few months to build up our reserve and its pretty awesome. I think we have about 40 bottles stocked up now. I dont know a ton about wines but I'm trying to learn more since we live in the Willamette Valley and there are a bunch of great wineries here.
I know you’re trying to do 5 in a day, and I’ve already mentioned it multiple times in this thread, but the best winery experience I’ve ever had was Cade, and nothing else was even really close. But it’s off the beaten path and might not be possible with what you’re trying to do.
Anyone had the Austin Hope 2015 cab? It’s like 39 bucks and absolutely phenomenal for the price point
I would pay the money for overnight. I don’t ship if it is going to be above 70. You’re probably safe up to 80 but trucks can get hot with the sun beating down so I don’t risk it. The problem with heat damage is the bottles show no visible signs of damage and you don’t know until you taste it.
Me too but to each their own. I liked it back in the 07-09 vintages when I started buying good wine but it feels like they’re going for a bigger style now that isn’t my preference.
I went ahead and did go with the overnight option. That's good info for what temps you'll send in, it's definitely way warmer than that here so I'm glad I went with overnight
Most wineries don’t ship ground in the summer or dead of winter. To MN at least we have a shipping window from March to mid-May or late Sept to early Dec. I have 1 (Chappellet) club that ships in temp controlled vehicles so they do it year round.
Next ski season, go to the top of the hill, cover yourself in wet PNW concrete, and start rolling downhill because you just entered the slippery slope. It’s fun as hell, I owe Oregon my most expensive and passionate hobby.
Next time just pour a small amount in the decanter, recork the bottle and shake the heck out of it before pouring the rest into he decanter. Same as aerating then decanting.
Google tells me double decanting is decanting and then pouring the wine back into the original clean bottle.....never heard of that before.
I have seen that only on a short tv series about people that were taking the Master Sommelier exam. Can't remember exactly what they said about it but I think it's mostly a presentation issue for really nice bottles where the people want to see the wine poured directly from it yet the wine needs to be decanted. Among all the impressive things an MS knows about wine, pouring from a decanter back into the tiny opening of the bottle was way up there
I personally enjoyed Caymus but it was ~ 2011 when I went there. As I recall it was small, intimate and a couple of old golden retrievers were lounging outside. Maybe it was just a late stop and I was already lit.
I was referring to the wine rather than the winery (I've driven past but never stopped). You probably would have been drinking the 2008 or 09 vintage if you were there in 2011 so that is in line with what I liked anyway.
Sorry I clearly misunderstood the context of the discussion. As I recall 2009 was an exceptional year for Cabernet and Caymus was among many wineries that truly delivered that year.
I've decanted wine and poured it back in to the bottle to bring it to a restaurant that allowed corkage for a $15 fee. To pour it back in you just use a funnel. The much harder part in that is getting the cork back in to the bottle so you can take it to the restaurant. Lifehack: when the cork is pulled, put it in the freezer. That keeps the cork tight so you can push it back in and get it flush.
This just blew my mind. I just opened a 2014 King Estate Pinot for tonight and I'm going to do that with the cork right now and test that out
Wife made homemade fresh pasta with veal lamb and pork. We are drinking it with a 2006 Radici Tanrasi DOCG red from Italy. Hints of star anise, licorice and plums. Everything is rich and bold as hell.
How many tastings do you guys recommend per day while in Napa? Also, any must visit wineries in the Oakville area sans Opus One?
Yeah right now have 2 per day booked. All of them are typically 10am then 3pm so maybe sneak one in the middle depending how we feel.
That timing sounds about right but on the slower side. You could easily fit one in the middle and figure out lunch, depending on your group 2 hours is about the max needed at each place
Just found out my wife is pregnant so since she is out of the wine game we are going to buy a nice bottle for every month she's pregnant and then start drinking them after the kiddo is born. Headed to wine shop tonight, kind of excited
Download one of the Winery Tastings Apps. It might cost like 5 dollars. The app has a lot of by one get one free tastings. I used it for Black Stallion and Peju, which run for about 40-50 a tasting I want to say