From Opus One splits to Insignia magnums

The 2012 Myriad Dr Crane Reserve just got a 99 point review from Parker. Mike also made a 100 point Carter can but I'm not sure which one it is yet. Congrats to a great winemaker and even better man!

!!!! I think I have one of those coming. Wish I'd ordered more....

I picked up two after barrel tasting it last October. And since I don't drink much, it's rare for me to buy more than one bottle of any one wine...so you know it was THAT good! Here is some of the other reviews on his juice.

2012 Carter Cellars 'G. T. O.' - 100
2012 Myriad Beckstoffer Dr Crane Reserve "Elysian" - 99
2012 Myriad Beckstoffer GIII - 97
2012 Myriad Beckstoffer Dr Crane - 96+
2012 Myriad Three Twins - 95
2012 Quivet Las Piedras - 95
2013 Myriad Dr Crane and Dr Crane Elysian both (97-100 pts) barrel samples

I can't find my order, but I also have at least one of the Three Twins coming...

gonna be lots of big initial scores on the '12's, I bet, especially from Parker who likes the more ripe/immediately approachable style.

I picked up 6 of the three twins. If it's anything like the previous Napa Bottling, it'll be a qpr winner. I've had the '10 Napa and it was killer for the money. I passed on the big names this go around. Prices are getting up there.

Opened a 2006 Altamura CS tonight for the wife on her birthday. I have been storing his one for 3+ years and it has aged well. Great wine.

I also received my Orin Swift Equinox shipment. The wife was happier than I was.

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I picked up 6 of the three twins. If it's anything like the previous Napa Bottling, it'll be a qpr winner. I've had the '10 Napa and it was killer for the money. I passed on the big names this go around. Prices are getting up there.

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Myriad Napa is one of the best qpr's out there. I still buy those for my wife. That and Rivers Marie Napa. And speaking of buying wine for my wife, I got her some '04 Realm cabs today: Farella, To Kalon, and Phoenix (the wine they made after the fire consumed their warehouse when they first started).

I also received my Schraders today. Those will be cellared for a while but it'll be hard holding back.

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Opened a 2006 Altamura CS tonight for the wife on her birthday. I have been storing his one for 3+ years and it has aged well. Great wine.

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The '06 wines have aged well. I really like that vintage.

BSD. I am still waiting for my three twins to come in for Myriad. This is my first vintage buying from Mike. We had a nice 30 minute conversation via telephone and I was extremely close to buying a 3L Dr. Crane that he offered during our call.

I am also waiting on my Rivers Marie cabs from this most recent offering as I believe they ship this month.

Unfortunately I do not have any awards from Schrader and I will not hold my breathe. I am very close to just getting some Carter To Kalon on their current pre-release.

Myriad should be here tomorrow. I'm excited to get them but they'll just rest for 7-10 years so I guess I shouldn't get too excited. I don't think rivers Marie will come until next month though. Will said he ships it himself (saves money) and the warehouse space to get it all boxes up is full until the first week in December. It'll be worth the wait though. Those two wineries are great from the standpoint of wines, price, and service. Mike actually helped me out quite a bit when I had to quit drinking. Same with Will at RM. Both are outstanding people. That's why I will continue to buy their wine and discontinue purchases from some other higher end brands. They also have good taste in beer as well. I keep telling them we need to start a brewery in Yountville so I can have an excuse to move there (but then they remind me I can't drink so back to earth I fall...)

Is Carter out yet? I bought some Granddaddy To Kalon few months ago that arrived last week. I dot recall seeing another offering.

As far as that 3L, you should have jumped on it. I almost did it on the Crane Reserve but I just can't drink that much and don't think our regular dinner guests would appreciate it that much to drop the coin on that bottle. The old wine drinking me would have done it in a heart beat. I may do a magnum or two next year.

When did you get your email from Myriad? I got the October one saying shipping would begin Nov 5, but haven't gotten a tracking number...

The email came on Tuesday at about 9:25am. If yours hasnt shipped, they may be staggering the release based on orders numbers (maybe, that is just a wild guess)

Guess I just didn't get the email, because the wine was just delivered.

My wine budget has shrunk, so it was "just" 3 ea 2012 Napa cab 1 each 2012 Georges III cab and 1 ea Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Elysian

Of course if I'd known Parker was gonna award 99 points I'd have maxed out the allocation just for investment...

trust me...Napa wines are never a good investment idea!!!! BTW, anyone want a Scarecrow???

as far as buying more Crane Reserve, just wait a year. Parker gave the '13 a 97-100 score range on his barrel tasting. (I got a one month subscription to his site recently...the first time in years). I may swing by the winery in a few weeks to taste it myself.

"The 100% 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Elysian Reserve has a saturated opaque purple color. This has a surreal level of concentration: blueberry, raspberry, blackcurrant and a hint of
minerality and floral notes. Sumptuous on the palate built like a skyscraper but not heavy, this is a magnificent tour de force in Cabernet winemaking. It should drink well for at least two decades, but
it's going to be hard to resist this one early on."

Investment in happiness and contentment, then?

Ha! Sounds good to me. I'm invested enough to keep me happy for a loooooooooong time!

Hobel just arrived. I forgot I had ordered that.

2005 Darioush Shiraz w/ Papa Murphy's Pizza.

Pretty good Friday night...

Cecil: that's funny. That was our last stop with Bruce, the Wine Country Safari guy. What winery in Fredericksburg most closely resembles the Darioush tasting room?





That's a joke.

Have you seen Pride Mountain's reserve tasting room?

Howdy guys! Just got a shipment in from Bacigalupi Vineyards (used to be John Tyler) in Healdsburg. Having the 2012 Pinot Noir tonight and it's a nice little Pinot. Really light in color, but no lack of flavor. It's got a slight fruit forward taste, well rounded and nice feel to it, and oh so easy to enjoy.

For what it's worth - love the family that makes the wine as well as their product.

good pinot should be light in color, I think. light in color but complex in flavor.

that is a good vineyard, I buy a chard made from there by Kesner.

Drove up to Pontotoc, Texas to check out the (almost open) Dotson Cervantes Winery. The winemaker Alphonse Dotson was there and we had a great time talking to him and Don Pullum, who is the winemaker for the other two wineries that will taste from there Pontotoc Vineyards and Don's Akashi winery.

Alphonse has had a 30 acre vineyard in Voca, Texas for 17 years. Apparently his grapes are very good as they've been used in Fall Creek's Meritus, which IMO is one of the better Texas Bordeaux blends, which they only make in select years.

Alphonse's 2008 Something Red was very surprising especially after hearing it's checkered path from grape to bottle. However, it's really very good. It's hot at 15.5% alcohol, but a good decant cools it down some. Very tannic, pretty good fruit and lots of structure.

We had a great afternoon visiting with Alphonse and Don. Alphonse is a past President of the Texas Wine and Grape Growers Association and is a Commissioner on the Texas Commission for the Arts. However he's as humble and unassuming (just not impressed with himself at all) as can be - a refreshing change from many of the Texas wine makers we've chatted with. And at a trim 6'5" ish and 71 years old, I do believe he could easily kick the arse of all of us!

Speaking of Chardonnays.... Just cracked open a 2013 Medlock Ames Chardonnay. Mistakenly thought I had a couple of them, but nope, this is an only child.

And dang it, it's a good one. And it goes wonderfully with this lemon chicken soup I make. Anyway, it's, in my opinion, a fun Chardonnay (and i really don't like buttery / heavy Chardonnays - but this one kinda tastes like a Sauvignon Blanc. Crisp and clean).

Just saw 3 bottles of 2011 Au Sommet at my local HEB. $220 before discounts. It's an Atlas Peak wine from Heidi Barrett and was curious if anyone else's HEB has any other rare mail order wines.

My question is how does HEB acquire these type wines? I've been on the mailing list and can't get them but HEB can source them through their distributors?

HEB has recently had several of her wines. I've seen the Pirate Treasure, Moscato Azul and maybe one other. I think I've posted here that the Mirror Wine rep scoffed when I told him I could buy his wine at my grocery store. He called the next day and apologized, saying when it was on sale I could get it cheaper than he could.

Other than HEB buys a whole lot of wine, I've no clue how they do it.

It's because if you buy certain wines in certain quantities, you get opportunities for other special stuff. For example, the lady that owns the store I used to moonlight at would buy certain wines just to get an allocation of DRC. Those bottles never hit the shelf.

I want some DRC someday. I just don't know which bottle to buy yet.

Htown is right. your small wine shops will get shut out because the big boys like HEB will buy cases of garbage to get their hands on a few good wines.

what's worse is many of the producers of those wines don't intend for them to end up on grocery shelves selling for 15% off, either, but that is what happens when you turn your product over to big producers.


my gut would say if a winery has "mailing list" wines showing up at HEB, they may be hurting for cash. or the distributor was hurting for cash maybe.

There are also some wineries that are mailing list only, and if you see their wine on a list or in a store, you're supposed to buy the bottle and let them know. It happens sometimes mainly because a restaurant or wholesaler will buy someone's cellar, and they forget about these bottles that aren't supposed to be resold.

Whatever. It's all good for the discerning HEB shopper!

Some wineries that you may think are mailing list only hold back a few cases for distribution. This can sometimes occur because the distributors were needed early on in the business to stay afloat and the winery still rewards them with an allocation or because of personal friendships. Not all, but some...

(edit...but those go to restaurants and some boutique shops. not HEB type stores)

Just returned from Texas and you all are correct. HEB has a nice selection for a grocery store. I picked up a couple of bottles of K Syrahs and threw them in my luggage. I couldn't find a good liquor store ore wine shop with a specialty collection. I was in SA, so DFW or Houston might be a better place to look. I was not impressed with twin liquor, but that could have been the store I visited.