quote:

---

Howdy! Longtime lurker to the thread, first time to post. I currently have two wine club memberships to vineyards we visited in Napa last year and I'm thinking about dropping one and adding another. What are some good mid-priced clubs that we should look into? The one we want to replace ships 4 times a year and averages about $180 per shipment.

TIA!

---

this is such a hard question to answer because it is such a personal matter of tastes and experiences. I've never been a fan of wine clubs. In my heyday, I was a member of three: Alpha Omega, Lancaster, and Keating. I like the people at those places, the hospitality, and most importantly, the wines. Outside of those, I never looked at wine clubs and always bought off mailing lists.

Of course, you could always go back to Napa and taste around (a lot) and find a new one...that's what I would do

So been a while since I talked in here about my trip but we leave tomorrow for Napa. Have 7 people going and for 5 it is the second trip so we were trying to avoid revisiting places. Tastings set up are:

Del Dotto (we are a drunk group so this works lol)
Caymus
Alpha Omega
Castello di Amorosa
Jordan
Shramsberg

Restaurants set up:
Ad Hoc
Farmstead
French Laundry
Costeaux French Bakery
Bottega

Will probably hit a couple of more places along the way. Leave tomorrow morning at 9 AM from Dallas and Leave Napa on Sunday.

Wow, nice.

I hope you aren't going to French Laundry after Del Dotto!

looks like a great trip.

I liked Costeaux when I was there, but funny seeing that place on a list with French Laundry and Ad Hoc, because it is just a little sandwich shop, basically. If you are going from Napa over to Healdsburg for a meal on your budget, you can eat a lot better IMO.

quote:

---

looks like a great trip.

I liked Costeaux when I was there, but funny seeing that place on a list with French Laundry and Ad Hoc, because it is just a little sandwich shop, basically. If you are going from Napa over to Healdsburg for a meal on your budget, you can eat a lot better IMO.

---

It's in there for a quick lunch between tastings.

quote:

---

I hope you aren't going to French Laundry after Del Dotto!

---

No sir, ad hoc is dinner that night about 4 hours after Del dotto

good, but still, you'll need a nap...or another bar.

What temps do y'all have your wine coolers set at? We have a dual zone but have a lot more reds than whites. I'm thinking I'll keep the whites and the Reds we are trying to age in one zone and all other reds in the other.....

I keep mine set at 50, but my thermometer in the fridge says 55, so I leave it at 50. If you don't have a refrigerator thermometer, you should get one.

my cellaring temp is 55 for all wines.

I like 55 for my Reds and 45 for the whites, but that is because that is where the wife likes the temp for her whites for drinking. 2 zone.

Honestly you may want to sub out Castello de Amaroso for something else... Just one guy's opinion...

Make that two guys' opinions.

Third.

Ok will look into that, that was booked by my wife.

What are the reasons for X-Ing that one so I can let her know why we are swapping it.

What vineyard would you guys suggest?

If you were planning on being at he castle or Schramsberg area then I'd suggest something on Spring Mountain like Fantesca

It's the Six Flags of wineries. Only without the wine.

Sherwin Family on Spring Mountain. You can thank me later.

I think V Sattui owns it. Enough said. Anything in Spring Mountain would be better. As mentioned, Fantesca is nice. As is 7&8. I'd call Behrens and Hitchcock and see if they can fit you in.

What day are you at French Laundry?

We arrived today and visited Schweiger up on Spring Mountain. Intimate feel with some great wines that are a tad lighter and not fruit bombs. I bet you could fit in a tasting if you called them. Sherwin is fantastic also per Cecil.

We tasted at Realm second today and holy cow, the wines were off the charts. We met with Juan and tasted 3
'13's (Farella, ToKalon, and Absurd) and an '08 Falstaff. The ToKalon and Absurd were simply amazing, some of the top wines I've ever tasted. We even had a great grower champagne to start that was awesome.

BSD, I hope you have as good or better lineup as we did for your tasting, you will be impressed.

Also, it seems like half of Texags wine group is out here this week.

Wow! I will be more that ecstatic if they open up absurd! Nice work on that tasting! We are tasting at the caves so I hope there's a bottle there. It's on Saturday so I doubt Juan shows up. Did you see my email about Myriad on Friday?

BSD, I did and will see ya'll then.

RIP Alan Rickman.

Even though historically inaccurate, "Bottle Shock" remains one of my favorite movies.

My wife and I watched Bottleshock for the first time a few weeks back. We were both interested in the story, but thought it was a pretty poor film. Rickman was the highlight though.

quote:

---

quote:

---

looks like a great trip.

I liked Costeaux when I was there, but funny seeing that place on a list with French Laundry and Ad Hoc, because it is just a little sandwich shop, basically. If you are going from Napa over to Healdsburg for a meal on your budget, you can eat a lot better IMO.

---

It's in there for a quick lunch between tastings.

---

cool. if you are in dry creek, the dry goods store is f'n awesome, too, although it can be crowded.

I cellar at 60, just because it is easier to maintain in Texas heat. why so low as 50? that seems lower than anything I've ever read although I'm sure it is fine for the wines.

Wow, shows how tastes very. I like it as a fun and entertaining movie about my favorite subject. "Sideways" is better, but not as light-heartedly enjoyable for me.

quote:

---

I cellar at 60, just because it is easier to maintain in Texas heat. why so low as 50? that seems lower than anything I've ever read although I'm sure it is fine for the wines.

---

Because while the thermostat says it's 50, the thermometer says 55.

I try for 55 and humidity around 60%. With my cheap chillers humidity is the challenge. I've found that grouting sponges (cheap and dense) in a appropriately sized tray of water works well. Amazon has cheap and small humidity/temperature gauges (maybe 1.5 inches by 1 inch) that I put in each one.

Thanks to Cecil's recommendation, I enjoyed a few chapters of this on the plane today.

Thanks for the advice. I guess I'm just looking for something to introduce me to good wines in the 30-40 range that I might not otherwise find or select. It's kinda nice just having a few bottles shipped to you every few months and not having to think about it too much. I'm probably better off just going to a Specs or somewhere and picking someone's brain. I'm not a huge connesiur but like exploring new types and regions

quote:

---

Thanks for the advice. I guess I'm just looking for something to introduce me to good wines in the 30-40 range that I might not otherwise find or select. It's kinda nice just having a few bottles shipped to you every few months and not having to think about it too much. I'm probably better off just going to a Specs or somewhere and picking someone's brain. I'm not a huge connesiur but like exploring new types and regions

---

great idea, but go to houston wine merchant. they are expensive, but they are also great at showing you some good wines. you can tell them what you like or what you want to try and your price point and they will find you a couple of things to try. yes, their prices are high, but after you learn a bit you can go shopping with confidence at a place like spec's. I, personally, wouldn't trust most of the spec's guys recommendations.

For $40 and assuming you like Pinot Noir, I'd look at Arista or Davis Family.