This one hurts: one of my favorite winemakers is in town and just invited me to his buddy's office to taste on Sunday...and I'll be out of town. Ugh. This is likely to be an impressive tasting of not only his wine, but whatever else is in the cellar at the office (I've been there a few times before, it is very, very nice).

Thanks!

HTown - enjoyed your posts on the previous page. Learned a lot. Mind making a few quick recommendations for balanced cabs that you described when answering Cecil (non Parker-esque) that I could pick up at a Specs or similar store? Interested to see if I can actually pick up the balanced nature you described versus the fruit forward wines I'm familiar with. $20-50 range and then maybe $50-100 range? I have tried a few wines Cecil and BSD recommended. This thread and its posters have really delivered. Appreciate the advice.

Anything out of Wasington state is going to be more balanced. Tamarack cellars, Two Mountain, and even the Ch. Ste. Michelle H3 wines are more in that style. Sonoma county and Anderson valley cabs are going to be that way as well, as long as they don't try to cover up a defect with more oak.

I wish I could help you out more, but I don't get to try a lot of Washington stuff.

[This message has been edited by HTownAg98 (edited 6/22/2014 7:59a).]

Thanks Htown!

meant to post this last week, but was traveling so didnt get around to it. the kroger in galveston had 2010 paraduxx Z blend for $31. keep an eye out if youre a kroger shopper...

some Wash wineries to look for include Gramercy Cellars, Leonetti, L'ecole 41, Delille, Figgins, Abeja, K Vinters, Spring Valley, Pepper Bridge.

All those are big enough and have been around long enough they pup up in the Houston market. You may need to ask for them at Spec's or maybe give Houston Wine Merchant a call. I know 13 Celsius has carried a few of those at times, too, for anyone that frequents that establishment.

The Charles smith 2012 cab is at specs. I have not had that one, but it is a good for WA . Specs also have the Cab from nelms road which is the 2nd wine of Woodward Canyon. They along with leonetti showed WA could produce high quality wine.

Most of the Charles Smith wines are pretty massive wines.

Htown agreed, but the 11 cab was good for its price point. K vintner is his as well. If you like resiling his Kung fu girl is well done. I have been collecting NW wines since their french counter parts have gone beyond my pain point and I have not been disappointed . You are spot on about Spanish wines being a huge bargain . What is your opinion on Portuguese wines? I love them as well. You can drink some damn good wine for $25 to $15 from Portugal .

Yeah, Charles Smith wines are pretty big, complex reds. Which I think we want our Bordeaux blends to be, in general.

What they aren't is over-extracted, and over oaked tannic bombs.

Wash fruit is generally ripe, the weather there is more consistent (speaking of Walla Walla, Red Mountain, etc) than Cali. and growing conditions are good.

reload can probably speak to it more than I, but the stars of Washington wine are the high quality Syrah's. Wines that require lots of aging but have great complexity. Unfortunately, hard to find the top producers down here in Texas.

I tend to think of Washington as Old World style (lower alcohol, more complexity and balance) with New a World technology (basically meaning they clean the cellar and make clean wines without flaws).

Anyone had WineSmith wines out of Sonoma? i bought 3 bottles of 2011 (I think) Cab Franc on woot.com a few weeks back and liked it. ~$20 compared to $40 regularly.

I've also been very impressed with the guy's communication since the purchase as he and I have exchanged a few emails. I know an email doesn't make a bottle taste better but it's nice to actually speak with someone who has something to do with what you're buying/drinking.

Syrahs,cab,Merlots and Bordeaux blend from WA state are all collaring candidates . The Syrahs hit the sweet spot between year 6 to 8.
Would anyone be up for a virtual tasting of widely available wines? The 12 chateau smith cab that I mentioned would be a fun one to try. One of HTownAg rosés would be more weather appropriate .

We tried that before, and it worked for about two weeks.

Oh well, I guess all bad ideas aren't original.

Here is a nice overview of WA Sryahs.
http://www.mercurynews.com/eat-drink-play/ci_25770695/wine-washingtons-syrahs

reload, great find on the article. wish I could afford to buy Cayuse.


while it mentions Syrah falling out of favor in Cali, there are still some great Syrah's from the cooler areas like Sonoma Coast and Mendocino County that I have really enjoyed, so not all is lost for us Cali lovers.

I had a new wine experience today.

I'd been noticing an odd odor in my office today. Not all that bad, just couldn't pinpoint it. Then I found a wine cork, still in it's capsule across my office and lying on some books. Sure enough a bottle of wine a good ten feet away had no cork and a little bit spilled in the floor beneath it. I can't imagine a cork being blown that far. It was a cheap Rose from Hilmy (a pity purchase) that was in a rack on the shelf, as I don't put that kind of wine in a chiller.

When I dumped the wine it was as fizzy as a Sprite, and I don't think it was when I tasted it at the winery. So, was it incomplete fermentation and somehow fermentation commenced in the bottle? What?

In short, yes. It can happen, though it's pretty rare because most wines are completely fermented out, so there's no sugar left to provide energy for the bacteria. I have seen it happen on more than one occasion.

I thought about going to the winery with an eye patch on and a laywer's card - just to jack with them....

quote:

---

I had a new wine experience today.

I'd been noticing an odd odor in my office today. Not all that bad, just couldn't pinpoint it. Then I found a wine cork, still in it's capsule across my office and lying on some books. Sure enough a bottle of wine a good ten feet away had no cork and a little bit spilled in the floor beneath it. I can't imagine a cork being blown that far. It was a cheap Rose from Hilmy (a pity purchase) that was in a rack on the shelf, as I don't put that kind of wine in a chiller.

When I dumped the wine it was as fizzy as a Sprite, and I don't think it was when I tasted it at the winery. So, was it incomplete fermentation and somehow fermentation commenced in the bottle? What?

---

Many wines, particularly white wines, have residual sugar left over from fermentation. Fermentation can be intentionally stopped by the winemaker to produce off-dry or medium dry wines as well as dessert and fortified wines. It also naturally stops when the alcohol level reaches about 14% regardless of any left over (residual) sugar. Once fermentation is complete, the sulfur level of the wine is checked and additional sulfur may be added. This is important for a number of reasons (also prevents browning and spoilage), but in this case, sulfur prevents unwanted fermentation in the bottle. So it sounds like the combination of residual sugar (expected for a rose) and an insufficient level of sulfur may have caused additional fermentation in your bottle.

SIAP... has anyone used the Vivino app on their smartphone?

Also, Has Union Hill Cab 2010 been discussed before?

Yeah, I use it some. Problem for me is that in HEB at least I don't have sufficient cell coverage or Wifi for it to work, and when I'm at Boerne Wine Company I've been drinking and don't have my reading glasses with me!

It works well, one thing to watch is that it comes up with close, but not exact some times. Different vintage or even different label from the same winery.

cecil, thanks... and you really need to try the Union Hill cab

I haven't found much use for the Vivino app. I thought it would give me more professional ratings and tasting notes, but alas, no.

a baylol Baptist ain't supposed to drink anyway!!!

well, I do my part to make up for the teetotaler population of BU grads.

I use the cellartracker app, and it works quite well.

I like Vivino, if only to keep track of the stuff I've bought and reminding me what I thought of it. There is a way also to change both the wine and the vintage if it doesn't match the pic you take.

Not the "be all, end all" but for what I paid for it,...

I use it as well. Nothing's perfect, but it is a good way for me to keep track of my small collection ,and to keep disciplined tasting notes. The users notes are helpful only if they are well written.


4.5 stars and "yum" is useless to me.

What red varietal works best with BBQ?

Depends on the rub and/or sauce. Simple s&p with no sauce, go with Spanish reds or French Rhone wines. Spicy rubs with sweeter sauce, go with Zinfandel or Syrah.

Just opened a Cap Rock cab 2005. Good stuff. Forgot I had it.