No, just a coincidence...

Last bottle has a 2014 Chteau Doisy-Vdrines Sauternes for $25. 2014 is our wedding year so will probably pick up several, probably a case. Have about 2 cases of chateau d'yquem half bottles and half a case of these already.

Opened the last bottle I brought back from my first trip to Italy tonight.

ETA: this one is drinking really well. I decanted for a couple of hours, and the tannins are there but soft with good acid to balance.

A new one for us…

Nice. I've been on the mailing list for years now but have never pulled the trigger on anything. How was it?

We enjoyed it. It's not a huge, in your face cab…lots of red fruit and fine tannins which was a nice change of pace. Reminded me of a Realm Farella, but a tad more elegant. I had read that these needs years in the cellar but I had an extra so we decided to sacrifice it with a 10 hour decant. At the price point, I think it's a buy. They release the 2023 this week. I thought I was done buying for the year but forgot about these and may get one of each to stash away.

Just got back from a five-day trip to Texas Wine Country. We visited 12 wineries:

• Vinovium
• Farmhouse Vineyards
• Charleston Taylor
• William Chris
• Portree Cellars
• Siboney Cellars
• Signor Vineyards
• Untamed Wine Estates
• Invention Vineyards
• August Vin
• Duchman Family Winery
• Driftwood Estate WInery

Charleston Taylor, Portree, Invention, Duchman and Driftwood were new to us. The others we'd been to before.

A lot of these wineries seem indistinguishable from each other, especially when you visit as many as we did. But Siboney and Portree stood out, in large part because both owners spent a lot of time with us, talking us through their wines, sharing stories and giving us extra tastes of wines they thought we would like.

Invention is a Heath Family Winery, so we got the infamous non-member treatment. It's almost like they hate that you're there. The visit was saved by one of their hosts, who stepped in during our tasting to share an extra splash and provide some levity.

Signor and Augusta Vin are just beautiful properties and it's easy to like them even though I don't think their wines stand out.

Untamed is beautiful, too, but their wines -- while very good -- are almost exclusively made from California/South Africa grapes so while they do great work, it's not really a Texas winery.

William Chris is just steady. It had been a few years since we were there, and our tasting experience was almost exactly the same as before. Very knowledgeable host.

One thing I noticed is that all these Texas wineries win a lot of rodeo wine competitions. LOL.

One of the highlights of our trip was lunch at Vaudeville in Fredericksburg. Cool place with great vibes, and an extensive wine list. Definitely recommend.

Keith Haring + Italy + 2017 vintage + $20 at Costco.

What's not to like

Vaudeville brunch is excellent!

It still amazes me that the Heath brands treat people so poorly. It really doesn't make any sense that they try to shame people into joining their club. We were big fans of Grape Creek and their Pizzaria until they made it members only and started treating anyone else like second class citizens.

Theres an interview from maybe a year or two ago with the owner and it really is enlightening. He basically says that he doesn't care about the wine or have any passion for it, he just cares about making money and the #1 way to do that is to get more club members.

SupermachJM said:

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Vaudeville brunch is excellent!

It still amazes me that the Heath brands treat people so poorly. It really doesn't make any sense that they try to shame people into joining their club. We were big fans of Grape Creek and their Pizzaria until they made it members only and started treating anyone else like second class citizens.

Theres an interview from maybe a year or two ago with the owner and it really is enlightening. He basically says that he doesn't care about the wine or have any passion for it, he just cares about making money and the #1 way to do that is to get more club members.

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Yeah, we had a bad experience at Grape Creek a few years back and I swore I would never visit another one of their wineries. But we had some time after Augusta Vin and Invention was right there so we gave it a shot.

It wasn't a terrible experience, but it certainly wasn't memorable.

It's unfortunate, Kuhlmann used to be pretty good but once they got bought out we could see the writing on the wall too.
Good thing there's so many other good options! Last time we got down to the hill country Cecil took really good care of us at Inwood. They have excellent wine even if it is on the pricier side. It's some of the best in Texas and really stands out!

So within the last few months, I noticed I was getting bad allergy reactions after drinking red wine. I thought it was temporary but after having three separate tests run, it turns out I've developed an allergy to a specific protein found in red wine. Long story short, I have to sell off the vast majority of my 170 bottle collection. Does anyone know how I'd go about this?

Sorry to hear this. Nothing you can take to offset the allergic reaction?


Where are you located?

WestUAg said:

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Sorry to hear this. Nothing you can take to offset the allergic reaction?


Where are you located?

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Unfortunately, there isn't. I am located in College Station.

Here is a good place to start.

Do you have collector wine or everyday drinkers?

I have bought a few cellars over the years and have a good group of collectors that I know buy them as well. If you send me a list I can at least tell you if the group is interested. .

AggieDad24 said:

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So within the last few months, I noticed I was getting bad allergy reactions after drinking red wine. I thought it was temporary but after having three separate tests run, it turns out I've developed an allergy to a specific protein found in red wine. Long story short, I have to sell off the vast majority of my 170 bottle collection. Does anyone know how I'd go about this?

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Couldn't notice "vast majority" as in, "I can't drink wine anymore so I'm only going to drink a little."

Two points.....

1.) The market is not great right now.
2.) I agree with starting here and seeing what you can get fair value for/interest in. You could also consider donating some to local charities to put in auctions/raffles and at get the tax write off.

To the extent you have Burgundy, Brunello, or older Riojas to get rid of, I'm an interested buyer.

I have a Macdonald (2019 or 2016 I cant recall) and 2013 Scarecrow that I have been considering selling but not sure. What would that fetch. Bought them here.

Yes exactly

Mostly Bordeaux and Napa

It's mostly Bordeaux, some Tuscan and some Napa. All were originally anywhere from $50-$200 a bottle. I don't have any whales so to speak. Primarily 2018 through 2020 with a few outliers on either side. All have been stored in large Wine refrigeration units.

Yes, although honestly this is not a place where you will likely be able to show much of a profit over what you paid for them.