Any Orin Swift drinkers here? Wondering what Mercury Head is like.

Big fan... I'm just here to read

I mentioned this podcast/blog WAY back when on this thread,...

Sat on a Google Hangout with a small group of folks who are readers/listeners of Wine for Normal People. Woman/Certified Somm who runs the thing, Elizabeth Schneider, has finished writing her book, has an agent and is in talks with publishers but wanted some "normal people" feedback.

Definitely shooting for the kind of folks on this thread (maybe not BSD, HTown or Cecil, TexAgs resident wine experts) in sort of a "your second wine book" kinda thing. It's pretty fascinating to see the sausage being made. Will also be interesting to see what eventually becomes of it.

I'll look forward to that. I've rarely read anything about wine that I didn't learn something from. It's a HUGE wine world out there and getting bigger!

solid

Stagecoach - Please teach us more about this particular climate control - a goal of this remodel?

So many different Pinots on the R-M release next week. Which to choose...?

Thriller said:

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So many different Pinots on the R-M release next week. Which to choose...?

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Summa and Summa Old Vines to start. Sonoma Coast for less expensive nights.

Just want to chime in that I've had two wine club deliveries in the last two days. It's like Christmas every time these things come in.

tgivaughn said:

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Stagecoach - Please teach us more about this particular climate control - a goal of this remodel?

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Yes it was. I bought the cooling unit before I realized what I was getting myself into. Seems like I paid about $1800 for this unit but it was hard to find a dealer who would sell it to me as a non-contractor. I forget who I ultimately used in Houston but could look it up if someone wants the info.

Exterior view



Mounted about 10" from ceiling, cellar is 10' tall. Edit for scale, that's a Jeroboam in the box above the cooler, and directly underneath on the iron rack are magnums.



I installed an outlet high up for the power cord which runs out of the picture slightly to the right and above the LED casing, which nicely illuminates the wall behind the bottles in the iron racks. Also, the temperature sensor runs off the right side near the blue indicator light. I concealed it by running the cord up and over the unit and down the side wall to the very upper right bottle in the mahogany rack. If you look very closely you'll see a sensor wire running into a black bottle stopper. It is a recycled wine bottle that is about 3/4 full of mineral water and there is a sensor wand insid that measures the internal bottle temperature. I keep mine set at 58 because that seems to be where it runs the least to maintain a fairly constant temperature. When it goes up to 59 (as shown in the picture) it kicks back on as it was when I snuck in to snap the photo tonight. It is much quieter than the ice machine which also is in the butler pantry on the other side of the wall. Again 10' ceiling and so no one so far has even recognized it after hosting multiple groups over the holidays.

Finally out of the front, left bottom of the unit (not visible) there is a clear condensation relief tube. I zip tied it down the back of the rack to a lower level bottle that I inserted neck first in the rack to accept the tube out of sight. In the event that condensation is produced, it will drain into the bottle. Our home averages 53% humidity and we run the interior house temp at 75 day, 68 night. So far, not a drop of condensation. This also has created an excellent result with the single pane, tempered glass that I used On the doors. I decided on 1/4" for the glass application to keep the weight down, and bonded it to the stainless steel tube frame of the iron scroll doors with a special glue that is activated by ultraviolet light. The doors were easily the greatest challenge of the entire project. After some trial and error experimentation with various rubber and vinyl sealing applications I have it damn near air tight, and no condensation on the warm side of the glass. This is a big deal in that redoing the doors completely would have added another $4-5k to the project cost.

Once again, the finished product



Very pleased with outcome thus far.

so nice. I can't wait to design mine. as for now, just a storage locker...

I ordered Rivers Marie yesterday. Talk about a cut in allocations. Wow. Only 3 Sonoma Coast pinots. Those are what I pour for guests when I don't want to open more expensive bottles but still want them to drink good wine. Hopefully 2016 was a more plentiful crop.

I've been learning more about French and Spanish wine as of late.

Any budget value recs of good importers to look for, etc.? I want to start nailing down some differences between the regions.

This offering may be a bit lower brow than some on this board but I'll share regardless:

Joined the 90+ Cellar club a while back. Saturday, had what me and guests thought was an outstanding red blend + a very reasonable price:

Monster Red Blend

nice. Less expensive wines on this thread are always welcomed.

I forgot to mention that I opened a bottle of 2010 Quivet Spring Mountain at dinner in Minneapolis (Alma Restaurant...great spot!) the other night. It was outstanding and in a perfect place. We gave the waiter a sip and he immediately signed up on the list. I also had double black truffles on my ravioli. It was a good night.

Chipotlemonger said:

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I've been learning more about French and Spanish wine as of late.

Any budget value recs of good importers to look for, etc.? I want to start nailing down some differences between the regions.

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Have you tried the burgundies?

Burgundy is not where I would begin looking for value.

Is it burgundy or Bordeaux that needs more cellar time generally, I can't remember?

Bordeaux offers some 2 year aged bottles ready to drink or age a few years right?

Never had burgundy.

Both can withstand time in the cellar. In fact, for aging bottles, I buy Bdx and Burgs. I drink Cali wines relatively young.

Things are changing. All Bordeaux wines above about $80 are micro oxygenated now. They're great at six years and over the hill at 12.

BSD said:

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I ordered Rivers Marie yesterday. Talk about a cut in allocations. Wow. Only 3 Sonoma Coast pinots. Those are what I pour for guests when I don't want to open more expensive bottles but still want them to drink good wine. Hopefully 2016 was a more plentiful crop.

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I bought a few. Didn't even get fulfilled on one of the pinots where I tried to buy my full allocation. Of course I waited 2 hours after the release. Silly me for be in a meeting!

HTownAg98 said:

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Burgundy is not where I would begin looking for value.

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Burgundy has the best French reds in my opinion. Bordeaux's are highly overrated and overpriced.

I passed on the RM offer. Evidently, new floors are more important. Who knew?

WhoDatAg said:

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HTownAg98 said:

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Burgundy is not where I would begin looking for value.

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Burgundy has the best French reds in my opinion. Bordeaux's are highly overrated and overpriced.

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not really the same thing, though. different varietals.

I don't really drink either, except for some Chablis

Most of the French wines I drink are Rhone, usually So. Rhone (GSM) Aging potential varies wildly, but you can definitely get some cool wines for minimal $$.

cecil77 said:

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Things are changing. All Bordeaux wines above about $80 are micro oxygenated now. They're great at six years and over the hill at 12.

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"All"? all appelations? First and Second growths?

From what I understand, yes. All that historically would need aging. Including 1st growths.

Ok guys, I'm an idiot. Did I order extra Pott for anyone on here? I can't find the relevant emails and ended up with 3 bottles that I didn't account for.

Me!

Seriously? I'm going crazy trying to find the discussion.

htxag09 said:

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Of course you do. K, I'll do those two and the Actaeon.

Thanks!

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Ah. It was on here, not email. Ok, I am somewhat sane. On that note, your Actaeon, Majesty Secret Service, and Kaliholmanok are here!

Awesome! I'll text you about picking them up this weekend.

Anyone tried Hestan Cabernet Sauvignon Stephanie?

Drinking an '08 now that was a gift from my aunt and uncle. They buy a couple cases every year. A little fruit forward but overall a really good wine, IMO. May be a new favorite of the wife's.

Jrweinberger with some great advice. I would add that The northern Rhone is a place to dabble in if you love wines with character. There a truly delicious Syrahs that are reasonable from Saint Joseph. An upcoming region called Bre'ze'me is worth keeping an eye on.