2006 Col Solore at The Boerne Wine Company

It's a special night at our house so we are taking this special bottle to dinner tonight: 2002 Celler Joan Simó Priorat Les Eres Vinyes Velles (Spain, Catalunya, Priorat).

45% Grenache
30% Cariñena
25% Cabernet Sauvignon

Was it great?

Cecil , how was the Col Solare? I have never had one.

Had a date at 13° Celsius tonight and couldn't resist getting a $18 Coravin'd half glass of Château de Beaucastel CDP. I don't know if 26 is too young to have a bucket list but if I had one this would be a check on it!

Very nice. Not spectacular, but well worth the price...

quote:

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Was it great?

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It was good, but fell apart a bit at the end. I think it was at the end of its life. Luckily I was done drinking at that point. But it was nice to spend a night out with my wife, reflect back on our time in Spain and the days we spent in Priorat, and indulge in a glass...ok two glasses.

Right after we left dinner, I found out a buddy was on the patio just outside the dining room doing a 13 bottle blind tasting of Chardonnay. Was bummed that I missed him but we laughed about it.

I was at 13 celcius last night, briefly

Had a 2007 Sanguis The Oracle of Delphi, a 2008 Clio, and Biale Royal Punisher & Basic Black. None of those wines sucked.

HTown, those all look very interesting. Any idea where they may be available? Saw some online, but didn't know if any of them are distributed.

thx

Sanguis is mailing list only. Biale is distributed in Texas by Glazers. Don't know about Clio.

Clio is available at the Blanco Rd/1604 Gabriel Superstore. It's currently being distributed by Republic.

[This message has been edited by AlexSAWineguy (edited 5/2/2014 8:08a).]

Went to Trader Joe's for the first time in forever yesterday and realized I had forgotten about all their good, cheap everyday wines. Got the three of these for less than $20 total and drank two last night with dinner at my folks'.



Gruner Veltliner was about $5-6, fresh acidity and was good cooking wine. By which I mean good wine for standing around cooking. The Chianti Classico Riserva was $10 and with 100% sangiovese and 18mos in oak was an absolute steal. A lot more depth than your average everyday Chianti. Can't wait to drink the $4 Tempranillo which used to be my go-to a couple years ago in Sacramento. We'll see if I've gotten to be too much of a snob for it tonight.

Anyone else find any good hidden gems at TJ's before? Or is that just for lolpoors like me?

[This message has been edited by Inspector Spacetime (edited 4/11/2014 3:33p).]

[This message has been edited by Inspector Spacetime (edited 4/11/2014 3:33p).]

Not sure if trolling, but...

Considering I used to be a restaurant wine buyer and currently sell wine for a living, I'll go on calling myself a wine drinker. You can keep your $0.02

I've never even tried two-buck Chuck, but it has its purpose for a lot of people who don't have the ability to yet appreciate wine but who still want some to drink for a low price. Everyone has to start somewhere. Asshat.

NO ONE should start with two buck chuck if they have ANY desire to drink good wine. For $5 more you can get a reasonable bottle that might taste like the varietal that it says on the label. Two buck chuck isn't remotely varietally correct.

I'm not a professional wine buyer but I've got 750 bottles in my cellar. That's my disclaimer.

Oops. Almost forgot. Asshat.

[This message has been edited by d78230 (edited 4/11/2014 8:34p).]

Coming on three years and 47 pages of posts, I guess this sort of exchange was inevitable.

Now stop it.

Had a 2009 Flora Springs Trilogy and a 2009 Titus Cab Franc last night. Both quite tasty!

Any Houston folks have extra styrofoam shippers? I specifically need a few 6 bottle shippers and one 12 bottle box for some orders going out.

Our monthly wine tasting group met today. Theme was Greek red wine. I really enjoyed wines with Xinomavro grapes. The best was an alpha from the hedgehog vineyard. It is with seeking out.

Sorry to be a downer but I lost a wine drinking buddy to cancer last night. He was way too young to go but even at the end, his great sense of humor was still there. He told his wife, "oh, by the way, there's more wine being delivered next week. Just make "bsd" sell it." I laughed when she told me that, as he had just bought some of mine last summer when I found out about my own health issues. We was a good man with a good heart so next week when I have nice glass of cab, I'll be toasting to my dear friend in Heaven and I'll celebrate the good life he lived during his short time on earth.

P.S. Peace and love to all of you asshats.

BSD- first, I'm sorry about your friend. Second- I think I've got a 12 bottle box/foam. Will check tonight- where in the Tine are you?

Ron, thanks. True to form from my buddy that just passed: there will be no memorial, only a party with all of his wine that you can drink. Of course I'll have a glass that day as well. He loved older Barolo so I'm guessing that is what I will pour myself.

And thanks for the offer on the box but I just walked to my shipping room at work and Friday was a big wine delivery here at the office so I'm grabbing some boxes off these guys here. I do appreciate it, though!

We should all go with such grace and class.

Sorry for your loss...

Cecil

Drinking a 2011 Catena Vista Flores Malbec with a gigantic t-bone. Unless you can find this at a store with a btg license, it's going to be tough to find because it is restaurant only. If you tasted this blind against a Bramare ($40) you'd probably guess wrong.

BSD, my condolences.

[This message has been edited by HTownAg98 (edited 4/14/2014 8:03p).]

Wine people:

Would you consider this a good price and/or investment?

"Liquor store near my home" was extremely lucky to receive a case each of the 2011 Screaming Eagle and 2010 Second Flight. For the 3-pack of Screaming Eagle, we will consider all inquiries but give precedence to the customer who will purchase the case intact.

2011 Screaming Eagle 3-pack $4,799.97 (One 3-pack available)

2010 Second Flight 750ml $699.99 (6 bottles available) "

[This message has been edited by 62strat (edited 4/15/2014 9:12p).]

If you are buying Screagle from anyone other than the winery itself, chances are you are buying at the top of the market and any investment value is limited. I saw a three pack trade at $3800 back in February and thought that was a fair secondary price. Buying at that level should be for consumption, not flipping.

Fwiw, I passed on a bottle at $750 because there is better juice (for me) out there at a lower price. That said, there is no way I would buy their second growth at near that price of $699.

Someday I may buy a bottle of Screagle just for ****s and grins. I'll have to get some Harlan, too.

I like great wine, but if I ever pay that much, I'll save my pee and drink that, too!



[This message has been edited by cecil77 (edited 4/15/2014 9:43p).]

I'm just curious if the price has steadily gone up for older vintages. I don't know much about the winery other than its rarity and high price tag. The same email also explained how I guess the original owner sold to new owners.. would a newer vintage under this new owner affect the pricing going forward you think?

The vintages sometimes increase in price as they age but you can never be certain of that. It all depends on the vintage and critics scores and from what I remember, the 2011 wasn't that great. I just looked it up and the 2011 Screagle score was 91-94 from Robert Parker...that ain't looking good for a $1500+ wine. Like I said, you are buying at the top of the market so any potential growth is limited. As far as new owners, that was years ago so that really isn't a selling point.

[This message has been edited by BSD (edited 4/16/2014 8:14a).]

I'll chime in - no, that is not a good investment. The first clue should be that a wine store has that case, which means they likely got it from a distributor who could not sell it at those prices (maybe not, but still possible).

wine, in general, is not a very good investment.


but hey, if you've got the dough, but it and drink it in a few years and tell us how it is!

lets change gears and talk about something serious rather than the brilliantly successful group-think and associated brainwashing results of the cult wine maker marketing teams.

Rioja.

with my newly renewed appreciation for Miguel Angel Jimineth, and my inability to dabble in the Ferraris, I need to get into this stuff. if this is what the "real life most interesting man in the world" is drinking, I need to get more familiar with it. you know, to improve on my mysteriousness.

In my opinion, Spain is light years ahead of France when it comes to producing clean, high quality wines. It is rare that I come across a Spanish wine that is corked or funky. The cheaper stuff is approachable and delicious when young, and the more expensive juice tends to age well for a couple of years. These cheaper wines aren't overly complex, but there aren't any flaws in them, which makes them pleasant to consume.There are some wines in the under $10 range that would fool people into thinking it was a $30 bottle of wine. They've also been spared the terrible weather the rest of Europe has had the last couple of years, so there's a lot of good value wine available. Probably 2/3 of my weekday wine is Spanish right now.

Rioja may be the best known area in Spain, but there's many others. I generally like tempranillo, but sometimes it can taste of rotting hay to me. Marques de Caseras Gran Reserva is usually pretty good for the price, but sometimes it just doesn't taste good to me.

I've tried a bottle from Bierzo made from the Mencia grape and it was pretty tasty, particularly for the $20-ish price. And of course Priorat is a go to area. I'll defer to BSD for that. Have also tried a Tempranillo from the Toro region (they call the grape "Tinto de Toro" ) and it was a good value as well.