They offer it twice a day I believe so just remember to make a reservation. Our guy was Kike and he was a young guy, knowledgeable, really cool, might be worth requesting him. The older lady seemed a little bitchy so I’m really glad we got him. He gave big pours and started opening up old bottles that were all $200+
2015 Clos du Val cab last night with a pan seared NY strip. Fan-fucking-tastic. Looking forward to trying the wine tonight on night 2.
Oh and if you’re staying close to Spring Mountain and want to do another high-quality tasting, do Pride. Supposedly some of the best wines in the valley, wish we had done them
Pride is a great tasting experience. If you can get in, also go to Boich Family Cellars. They have Beckstoffer sourced Cabs.
Great wine. I really need to learn more about other regions of Italy because a bottle of that I had in March and a Teroldego are both in my top 5/10 wines this year. I haven't had much outside of the basics.
Same boat here. So many great producers but it’s pretty intimidating trying to get started! Sicily has my heart right now. Also been jamming on some Valtellina nebbiolos.
That reminds me, I had this at a restaurant last week. It was delicious. Cesanese is apparently a grape grown in the Lazio region near Rome.
I remember in my young age of going to Italy for a trip and having nothing but house wine's and them being better than most I could have here in the states. Then through the past few years narrowed it down to that most of the house wines I had where Chianti's and went with any food.
I'm getting my first allocation of Saxum tomorrow. I'm not sure how long I've been on the waitlist but the oldest email I could find is from 2014 thanking me for my continued wait.
Cross-posted with food thread. I’ve been craving a Chappellet Cab Franc (2014) ever since my tasting in late July. My weekends have been busy so we got a great Tuesday meal. Coffee rubbed steak, summer squash with basil and caprese salad.
Bigger. Much bigger. Honestly, it is more like a Napa Cabernet Sauvignon than Chinon. It strikes me as being more red fruited than Chappellet's cabs and I've been kind of in the mood for that which I think is a summer preference for me.
How much do you pay for this bottle? Don’t answer if it makes you uncomfortable I am just trying to compare prices. It’s 73 $ up here
Drinking a 2013 DDO Laurene much too early. I should have known the French would have known how to deal with a wet harvest. Oh well, I'm down to 5 remaining Oregon 2013s. This weekend we drank through Sancerre and a syrah from the Columbia River Gorge. I remember the Syrah being better in person than it was now. I'm not sure if it part of being on vacation or if it was just in a dumb phase (2014 vintage).
I’m down to about 12 bottles of 13, sorry that one went early. I finally found one that had some life left, although Pinot doesn’t get appreciable better after about 7/8 years imo. Finally got out to wine country with kid #3 and the recommendation from my producers was drink 15 before 14 since it’s not going to get a ton better due to it being a really hot year. 19 is going to be a stellar year I think, mild summer allowing for great grapes and a more delicate wine that I love.
Which producers re: 14 and 15 if you don't mind me asking? I have read some differing thoughts on those vintages so just curious. Generally, I havent hesitated much to drink higher abv or lower-end offerings from either vintage, but still have enough of both to lay down, particularly 2014.
Bergstrom and Penner Ash where the two I visited. With a recent third kid, 6 weeks ago, I decided to pair down wine clubs since I just dont have the time to visit as much. I have a great wine guy who gets me what I want for 10% above cost so being a wine club member at most places in Oregon doesn’t make sense.
Opened a 2014 Beaurx Freres Pinot last night and it was amazing. It was #3 wine on WS top 100 in 2016. Had plenty of life left but it was our anniversary and it looked tasty.
I got two bottles of 2013 Cab Sav from Heitz Cellar from a client yesterday. I do not know anything about wine but I do know this is substantially nicer than what I normally drink. Should I drink it now or wait?
Which one? They do several different Cabs. If you got the Martha's Vineyard, sit on it for a while (like 10 years) and write a really nice thank you note.
Still a nice bottle. It wouldn't be a tragedy to drink it now or anything, and it would taste good, but it could probably use a few more years.
Anyone done Napa/Sonoma in November? Looking at possibly heading to San Francisco the first part of Thanksgiving week and know it can generally be a little cooler but we'd like to do a couple nights up there if possible
Yes. We’ve done thanksgiving twice and it was awesome. Most recently, we stayed in pre-fire Santa Rosa and I remember it being cooler, but we saw sun and enjoyed it just as much as other times of year. Not as busy, so that adds to the enjoyment.
Speaking of Heitz.... https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/05/dining/drinks/wine-heitz-cellar-cabernet-sauvignon.html I have a bottle of the 2014 Napa Valley Cab that I'm saving for a special occasion. Love these wines
Opened this tonight for the Wazzu game. I bought a case when the GOAT wine store in Birmingham went out of business and sold everything at a huge discount. It’s been a go-to cab for me for years. I’ve probably had 15 bottles of it. This one had a completely unique level of earthiness to it I’ve never tasted before. It wasn’t corked or otherwise flawed, it just tasted distinctly dirtier than usual.
L’Ecole is one of the 5 best wineries in WA imo. Their wines are always at a great price point. I always stop there when in walla walla for work as they have a great selection and always rotating bottles. 14 had some extreme heat and very cold nights in the columbia valley section where I think they source their grapes. That might explain some of the earthiness. I’ve noticed that in a couple of my 14 bottles as well from that part of the AVA