Italics is owned by Ken Martin from McAllen!

Italics Winegrowers

cecil77 said:

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Italics is owned by Ken Martin from McAllen!

Italics Winegrowers

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Yes - finally some Texas owners. My last few trips have been.

- Italics (Texas owners)
- DR Stephens
- Altamura (outstanding)
- Redmon
- Gamble
- Davis Estates (former IT guy like me - good tour)
- Vine Hill Ranch
- Chappellet
- Nine Suns (would not recommend)
- Signorello
- Odette
- Ovid Wines
- Continuum
- Constant Diamond

All pretty good with ranges from $50 - $350.

cecil77 said:

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Italics is owned by Ken Martin from McAllen!

Italics Winegrowers

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The grandson Taylor pretty much runs the place. He's an Ag.

Austintm said:

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Not a fan of the places you list, Oh I Like That, but part o this is trying different places and having a basis for comparison.

In the $30-100 price range, try Krupp Brothers (smaller production than those you list. Great wines, and they have red and white in the price range suggested, but also go higher). Chappellet is another good option.

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This is the problem...if you google all the places I listed they pretty much all have 4-5 stars, and with almost all 400+ wineries getting great reviews like that, it's hard to know what really is good and where to start.

Of course I just started really getting interested in wine so I guess I just have to start somewhere and take recommendations.

dp

For a novice, I'd recommend Sonoma over Napa. I feel like we drink a lot of wine, relatively speaking, and after a full day of tasting cabs and chardonnays they tend to run together. I feel like there is enough quality and variety in Sonoma to keep it interesting. I also think that it is easier for someone who isn't accustomed to drinking a lot of wine to pick up the nuances in a lighter wine like Pinot Noir, and I prefer Pinot from RRV or Sonoma Coast AVA over Pinot from Napa.

I broke down and got 3 bottles of the '16 William and Mary Cab. I've seen too many people saying it is somewhere between great and perfect.

I prefer Sonoma over Napa.

Let us know how it is. I passed on them, too many expensive cabs that are homogeneous. I want something to stand out or be rare/unique for $100+.

An example is Macdonald, they were released today, I like their story and rarity/uniqueness so I buy them. William and Mary could be as good, I just haven't tried it or visited Will to try it. Too many wines and not enough time.

So this happened tonight (2006 & 2007 tasting)

Does that mean I didn't get Macdonald....damn. Thought for sure I would since we visited Alex this year.

Next week is for new buyers. This week is for previous buyers. They didn't make anymore wine, 345 cases, this release (2015) versus last (2014) and I can't see too many people dropping off. They are gracious hosts as you have stated however they might just not have any wine to sell to new buyers. Price was same as last year which is a breath of fresh air for Napa.

BSD, we need details, notes, and such. The wife and I enjoyed a 375 of Krug tonight which was awesome as always but a Salon tasting is in a whole another league.

aggiejumper said:

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Next week is for new buyers. This week is for previous buyers. They didn't make anymore wine, 345 cases, this release (2015) versus last (2014) and I can't see too many people dropping off. They are gracious hosts as you have stated however they might just not have any wine to sell to new buyers. Price was same as last year which is a breath of fresh air for Napa.

BSD, we need details, notes, and such. The wife and I enjoyed a 375 of Krug tonight which was awesome as always but a Salon tasting is in a whole another league.

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On other forums, folks are throwing around favorable comparisons between W&M and MacDonald in response to all the woeful "I guess I will never get an allocation from MacDonald" posts. I assume I won't be getting an allocation next week, so I went ahead and allocated myself a few bottles of W&M instead!

Since we're taking this thread in different directions, what allocation/waiting lists are people on? Also, any wines people would recommend getting on the ground floor of while you can?

I'm currently waiting on Scarecrow, SQN, and MacDonald. I have managed to get allocations from Saxum. I'm also a member of Alpha Omega, Dakota Shy, Anomaly, and Italics. Dakota Shy is an up-and-comer that I'm impressed with. Year in, year out, Alpha Omega is also hard to beat. Consistently very good wines, IMO.

So where's a good place in Austin to try some good wine that's not expensive, enjoy some live music, etc.? We're in town for a wedding and need someplace to go Friday night.

And maybe some wineries to see on Saturday afternoon.

JCA1 said:

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Since we're taking this thread in different directions, what allocation/waiting lists are people on? Also, any wines people would recommend getting on the ground floor of while you can?

I'm currently waiting on Scarecrow, SQN, and MacDonald. I have managed to get allocations from Saxum. I'm also a member of Alpha Omega, Dakota Shy, Anomaly, and Italics. Dakota Shy is an up-and-comer that I'm impressed with. Year in, year out, Alpha Omega is also hard to beat. Consistently very good wines, IMO.

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This year I bought from Myriad, Realm, Pott, and W&M. I have allocations from Outpost, Component, and Mirror, but have not bought from them, so I suspect those will fall by the wayside soon. I'm on the wait list (for years now) for Macdonald and Scarecrow. Not holding my breath that I will get an offer from either of them any time soon.

Some are allocated, some just orders:

Myriad
Chateau Boswell
Realm
Spottswoode
Larkmead
Carter
Roy Piper
David Arthur
Clos Pegase
Schramsburg

But I buy way more Bordeaux than Napa, mostly from Total Wine. Tour St Christophe (St Emilion) actually has a wine club that I'll get a case from in December.

JCA1 said:

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I'm currently waiting on...SQN.

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Ha. Aren't we all??? I've been on that list since 2010, give or take a year since it's been so long that I can't remember the exact date. Even my company's email server kicked it out of my wine folder since it's so old.

Scarecrow shouldn't be too long of a wait. If you really want some, I offer some of my allocation here every year. MacDonald may be a while. I'll see them in November and will ask how the line is looking now. The thing about MacDonald is that only an increase in bottle production will open the list up more, as their current grape contracts expire and the can keep more for themselves. That's because no one is dropping off a $165/btl in the heart of To Kalon list! It's gone up from 90 cases in 2010 to 345 cases for this '15 vintage.

Also, Alpha Omega was one of the very few "wine clubs" that I belonged to where I trusted them enough to send me whatever they were making. They do a good job there. Lancaster and Keating were the others (good wines at reasonable prices)

Alpha Omega
Turley
Realm
Outpost
Maybach
Pott
Schrader

I love the Turley shipments.

I would think most of us on this board are on similar lists. Here are some off the top of my head. I buy and drink champagne 4:1 to still wines and nearly all my red wine comes from mailing lists. I want to get into Bordeaux and burgundies some day but haven't invested the time to learn, I'll let cecil77 figure it out and let us all know.

Myriad
Scarecrow/M. Etain
Realm
Carter
Piper (I stopped buying this year as all in per bottle was $200, maybe next year I'll be back in)
Ultramarine
Macdonald
Bevan (only for their whites)
Outpost
Liquid Farm (amazing whites)
Pott
Christopher Tynan
Mirror (not sure if they allocate or if I'm just on a list)
Turley (cheap and big wine that none wine guests love, I like some of the bottlings)
Carlisle
Maybach
Rivers Marie
Stony Hill
Under The Wire

Former lists I have stopped buying from or just never bought from when I received an allocation:
Outpost
Schramsberg
Dunn
Hall
Horsepower
Quivet
Schrader

Still on the list for:
SQN (5 years, probably won't buy if/when the invite comes)
Screaming Eagle (5 years, no idea if I'll buy if an invite arrives)

Anybody had M. Etain from Scarecrow? Got my postcard that it's being released on Oct. 4. I had a 2-pack in my shopping cart last year and stared at it for about 10 minutes before cancelling. I had just bought a bunch of other wine and couldn't justify it.

JCA1 said:

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Anybody had M. Etain from Scarecrow? Got my postcard that it's being released on Oct. 4. I had a 2-pack in my shopping cart last year and stared at it for about 10 minutes before cancelling. I had just bought a bunch of other wine and couldn't justify it.

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Good at $100, but I'm not as enamored at $200.

It's really good but for $215/bottle shipped, there is a lot of quality competition. I'll probably pass on them this year. I'd rather have a Carter ToKalon or Realm SV wines for that price point.

aggiejumper said:

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I would think most of us on this board are on similar lists. Here are some off the top of my head. I buy and drink champagne 4:1 to still wines and nearly all my red wine comes from mailing lists. I want to get into Bordeaux and burgundies some day but haven't invested the time to learn, I'll let cecil77 figure it out and let us all know.

Myriad
Scarecrow/M. Etain
Realm
Carter
Piper (I stopped buying this year as all in per bottle was $200, maybe next year I'll be back in)
Ultramarine
Macdonald
Bevan (only for their whites)
Outpost
Liquid Farm (amazing whites)
Pott
Christopher Tynan
Mirror (not sure if they allocate or if I'm just on a list)
Turley (cheap and big wine that none wine guests love, I like some of the bottlings)
Carlisle
Maybach
Rivers Marie
Stony Hill
Under The Wire

Former lists I have stopped buying from or just never bought from when I received an allocation:
Outpost
Schramsberg
Dunn
Hall
Horsepower
Quivet
Schrader

Still on the list for:
SQN (5 years, probably won't buy if/when the invite comes)
Screaming Eagle (5 years, no idea if I'll buy if an invite arrives)

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Can you give some recs for sparkling? I have the reds pretty much covered up here but my wife and I love good sparkling as well and I feel I am stuck in a rut.

BSD said:

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JCA1 said:

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I'm currently waiting on...SQN.

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Ha. Aren't we all??? I've been on that list since 2010, give or take a year since it's been so long that I can't remember the exact date. Even my company's email server kicked it out of my wine folder since it's so old.

Scarecrow shouldn't be too long of a wait. If you really want some, I offer some of my allocation here every year. MacDonald may be a while. I'll see them in November and will ask how the line is looking now. The thing about MacDonald is that only an increase in bottle production will open the list up more, as their current grape contracts expire and the can keep more for themselves. That's because no one is dropping off a $165/btl heat of To Kalon list! It's gone up from 90 cases in 2010 to 345 cases for this '15 vintage.

Also, Alpha Omega was one of the very few "wine clubs" that I belonged to where I trusted them enough to send me whatever they were making. They do a good job there. Lancaster and Keating were the others (good wines at reasonable prices)

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This is completely random but will pass it along here since you referenced getting a To Kalon for $165. I was lucky enough to eat at French Laundry last month. We let the somm pair wines for us. With one course we were given a rose called Pop. 300. According to the somm, there are a couple vines of pinot noir buried somewhere in the To Kalon vineyard and this rose is made from those grapes. Small production, but looks to retail for around $30/bottle. I found it very interesting. Definitely not as dry as a typical rose with even a little oak. But, just so you know, there's a To Kalon out there for $30! Thought this was crazy.

Interesting. I wonder if someone planted test vines there years ago and they just never pulled them. I also wonder where in To Kalon they are located.

As far as what I'm buying these days:

Other than a few one off champs/bdx/burg/sauternes, here are the following people I buy from:

MacDonald
Maybach
Myriad
Piper
Pott
Realm
Ridge
Rivers Marie (mostly Pinots for the wife)
Scarecrow
Thomas pinots out of OR
William & Mary

Waiting on Screaming Eagle (since 2007...actually 1999/2000 by the snail mail was never received so to the back of the line I went in 2007), SQN (which I probably won't buy, and Ultramarine which I just signed up for.

This list is way down since I got sick and gave up casual drinking. Now it's a glass a month...maybe two glasses if it's good (Salon last night...more on that later).

BSD said:

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Interesting. I wonder if someone planted test vines there years ago and they just never pulled them. I also wonder where in To Kalon they are located.

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With a little internet snooping, I found this. Says there's a block of pinot running through the middle of To Kalon.

https://winecountryconnection.net/shop/misc-whites/2017-pop-300-oakville-rose/

Lots of great wine you guys are getting this is a great forum to get ideas and trade suggestions

My fall shipments love them all for different reasons:

Seven Stones
Immortal (used to be Hidden Ridge, now owned by the Tusk guys. This is their first vintage)
Memento Mori
Vinyardist
Piper
Pott
Arkenstone
Brand
Benediction
Shibumi Knoll
Peter Michael
Harlan Mascot
M.Etain

Also have some great stuff coming from Krupp Brothers,Norte Vin, Kelly Fleming, and Young Inglewood. Also a really great place called Wicker. Loom them up only make a Cab (Howell mountain) and a Chardonnay (Carneros). Current release cab is 2008 (yes, 2008).

Still on the list for Macdonald, dammit...

MooreTrucker said:

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So where's a good place in Austin to try some good wine that's not expensive, enjoy some live music, etc.? We're in town for a wedding and need someplace to go Friday night.

And maybe some wineries to see on Saturday afternoon.

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Try House Wine (Lamar/Barton Springs), of The Grove on West 6th

I'm not a big Texas wine fine. That said, if you can get into William Chris (make a reservation) try that. Then go to Hye Meadow WInery, very close by and a fun place. They both are among the wineries that have realized certain varietals do well in the Texas terroir, and other do not.

Thanks everyone for the feedback (although I'm now torn on whether to pull the trigger on M. Etain). I'm still somewhat a novice in all of this. Seems like only a couple of years ago when I thought $50/bottle was crazy. As Ron Burgundy famously said, "boy, that escalated quickly. I mean, that really got out of hand!"

Welcome to the club of escalating expenses. M.Etain was my first mailing list kinda expensive wine I bought when I stared this hobby. Buy it, you won't regret it and if the wine isn't to your liking at least you get a neat wooded box with a tin man in metal on the cover.

JCA1 said:

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Thanks everyone for the feedback (although I'm now torn on whether to pull the trigger on M. Etain). I'm still somewhat a novice in all of this. Seems like only a couple of years ago when I thought $50/bottle was crazy. As Ron Burgundy famously said, "boy, that escalated quickly. I mean, that really got out of hand!"

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I'll pile on. There are some perfectly fine wines at $50. Also, check on places like Vivino where you get some pretty good deals; you have to check and see if you are really getting a deal, but sometimes you do.

On M. Etain: what I've found over the past few years is that there really is a difference between a $50 wine and a $200 wine (other than the price difference). The difference between $150 and $200 is less discernible.

Try the M. Etain. Be sure to decant it for at least an hour if you are going to try it now. Then cellar the other bottle.

Those that are on the waiting list for Sine Qua Non should take a look at Sanguis. And those that are on the waiting list for Saxum should look into Linne Calodo. These two would be considered the 1A of their counterparts. And both lists are currently open.

Some other Paso Robles stuff that should be considered include Jacob Toft, Turtle Rock, and Paix Sur Terre. Very small producers that are making some amazing wines, and they may not be able to keep up with demand.

To add some levity to the discussion, I nearly killed this bottle by myself tonight.

(It was even cheaper than that because I bought 5 other good and cheap bottles.)

A straight forward Tempranillo that shows that even cheaper Tempranillo can hold up to some age, as long as it's made right. I need to go get more of this.

I don't know how you get on the Sine Qua Non waiting list. I can't seem to find a website or a link to provide your information to join. Is it done through conventional mailare they not accepting new members?? Thanks in advance.