Tonight's birthday wine is Chateau Marzy 2017 Pomerol with a little Wagyu ribeye, baked potato, broccoli, and the most delicious salad.

The wine is delicious and balanced. Really good finish.

Definitely a little leathery, tabacco-y, Smokey type of flavors going on. I dig it.

mek94 said:

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Another Italics offering on Last Bottle today. "Deliberate" Coombsville cab for $49.

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Thanks for the heads up, I ended up grabbing some of these as well. I've got a little Italics collection going now. I've really enjoyed the two I tried. I'm planning to lay down the rest for a bit.

I typically drink most Napa cabs in years 4-8, and I feel like years 5-6 are my sweet spot. I suspect my aging curve is slightly accelerated since I have a passive cellar that stays between 67-72 year round. I see that as a feature rather than a bug, because I get to drink my wine sooner.

Most Napa cabs are fine as soon as you get back from the store. Modern wine making techniques (including BDX) have compressed the aging period. (and likely shortened the drinking life of the wine, we'll see...) Even many really expensive Napa cabs are generally in their drinking window at four years. It is fun to retain some for later, but if I want to drink it, I'm drinking it.

And that temperature won't accelerate any aging that does occur by any noticeable amount, I don't think.

cecil77 said:

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And that temperature won't accelerate any aging that does occur by any noticeable amount, I don't think.

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I'm sure you're right, but I like to tell myself that so I don't feel like I am committing infanticide when i open a 2-3 year old bottle.

BigAg95 said:

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cecil77 said:

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And that temperature won't accelerate any aging that does occur by any noticeable amount, I don't think.

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I'm sure you're right, but I like to tell myself that so I don't feel like I am committing infanticide when i open a 2-3 year old bottle.

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For some we are, but honestly for the vast majority of Napa production, even some very expensive ones, we're really not.

Drink 'em when you want to.

Scarecrow's library offering since there was no 2020 vintage.

Nope.

BSD said:

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Scarecrow's library offering since there was no 2020 vintage.

Nope.

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Yep, I'm out for that one.

Just got a different allocation email today that was also doing library. They didn't include pricing so I'll have to make sure it's not LOL like this

BSD said:

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Scarecrow's library offering since there was no 2020 vintage.

Nope.

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This has to be their jumping the shark moment right? I assume they don't have a ton of quantity available to sell so they're trying to price to maximize revenue, but that just screams F you to their loyal customer base.

We had a 2012 Lopez de Heredia Vina Cubillo tonight. That one is tough to beat for $20.

FTAco07 said:

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BSD said:

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Scarecrow's library offering since there was no 2020 vintage.

Nope.

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This has to be their jumping the shark moment right? I assume they don't have a ton of quantity available to sell so they're trying to price to maximize revenue, but that just screams F you to their loyal customer base.

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I haven't seen the 2007 or mags lately but that 2012 pricing is in line with retailers. But still…nope!

FTAco07 said:

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BSD said:

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Scarecrow's library offering since there was no 2020 vintage.

Nope.

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This has to be their jumping the shark moment right? I assume they don't have a ton of quantity available to sell so they're trying to price to maximize revenue, but that just screams F you to their loyal customer base.

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Yeah. Extending an opportunity to your loyal buyers to purchase library wines at-checks notes-slightly more than they go for on the secondary market probably isn't going to win over many fans (a quick Google says the '07 can be had for $1200).

FTAco07 said:

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BSD said:

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Scarecrow's library offering since there was no 2020 vintage.

Nope.

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This has to be their jumping the shark moment right? I assume they don't have a ton of quantity available to sell so they're trying to price to maximize revenue, but that just screams F you to their loyal customer base.

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IT isn't an F you to loyal customers, it is hyping the value of wines owned by their loyal customers. I think this is done to help loyal customers.

bularry said:

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FTAco07 said:

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BSD said:

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Scarecrow's library offering since there was no 2020 vintage.

Nope.

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This has to be their jumping the shark moment right? I assume they don't have a ton of quantity available to sell so they're trying to price to maximize revenue, but that just screams F you to their loyal customer base.

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IT isn't an F you to loyal customers, it is hyping the value of wines owned by their loyal customers. I think this is done to help loyal customers.

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The markup is less than the ~50% upcharge Realm is offering for their library releases today.

BigAg95 said:

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bularry said:

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FTAco07 said:

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BSD said:

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Scarecrow's library offering since there was no 2020 vintage.

Nope.

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This has to be their jumping the shark moment right? I assume they don't have a ton of quantity available to sell so they're trying to price to maximize revenue, but that just screams F you to their loyal customer base.

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IT isn't an F you to loyal customers, it is hyping the value of wines owned by their loyal customers. I think this is done to help loyal customers.

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The markup is less than the ~50% upcharge Realm is offering for their library releases today.

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Yeah, library releases from the winery usually have a big markup.

That said, I have stumbled across some amazing library sales in the past. Unfortunately those were just lucky timing.

BigAg95 said:

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The markup is less than the ~50% upcharge Realm is offering for their library releases today.

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I didn't buy any library wines from Realm today. Only current releases. I still have a bunch of their library wines in storage. No way I'm paying a premium for that.

Me neither. Had a 14 Bard a few weeks ago and it was in a great place.

This doesn't apply to the Scarecrows of the world but I've always gotten a chuckle out of wineries that couldn't move the wine on release that then wait a few years, call it a library release, and tack on a 20% price hike.

Vegas?

Yep. Going to have Bouchon twice. And Lotus twice.

cecil77 said:

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New world Old world for my wife's BD last night.

Same vintage, similar blend, similar price.

Way different wine.

Our group much preferred the Cos, three of us emptied it. Realm about a fourth of the bottle consumed.

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Did a raccoon attack that bottle?

Rack too small.

Only Cannonau !!!

Healthiest wine in the World

Double to triple the amounts of antioxidants as other wines

Any Central CA Coast recommendations? I work at Vandenberg SFB and have been to several already but would love more ideas! I can easily travel to Paso Robles down to Ventura, and into the Santa Ynez valley.

Austin Hope, Daou

There are a lot more. And, frankly there are a lot of great Pinot producers north of there too - Lucia, Talbott, Ambullneo, Pelerin, Roar, Pisoni, etc

For Paso, I like Halter Ranch and Tablas Creek. Austin Hope is also a cool spot, but I'm not a fan of their style of wine. They take over extracted cab to another level IMO.

jh0400 said:

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For Paso, I like Halter Ranch and Tablas Creek. Austin Hope is also a cool spot, but I'm not a fan of their style of wine. They take over extracted cab to another level IMO.

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Haltere Ranch is opening on 290 near Fredericksburg next year.

jh0400 said:

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For Paso, I like Halter Ranch and Tablas Creek. Austin Hope is also a cool spot, but I'm not a fan of their style of wine. They take over extracted cab to another level IMO.

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Agreed on Tablas. Can't speak to Halter. Also agreed on Austin Hope..they release their cabs way early, and the only way they can that is by producing them in a plonky way.

Chipotlemonger said:

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jh0400 said:

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For Paso, I like Halter Ranch and Tablas Creek. Austin Hope is also a cool spot, but I'm not a fan of their style of wine. They take over extracted cab to another level IMO.

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Agreed on Tablas. Can't speak to Halter. Also agreed on Austin Hope..they release their cabs way early, and the only way they can that is by producing them in a plonky way.

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Austin Hope tastes like they've added sugar to me.

The 2020 has 9 g/L of residual sugar. On the higher than average side for a red wine. But not the highest out there (Meiomi Pinot Noir is a terrible offender here, with 28 g/L!!)

https://www.lcbo.com/en/austin-hope-cabernet-sauvignon-2019-578005

[url] https://www.lcbo.com/en/meiomi-pinot-noir-130138[/url]

That being said, drink what you like.

I imagine the austin hope is done with a fair amount of later harvest Zinfandel or the like which likely gives it the extracted boost.