So what's in da boxes?

 

Just a drop before bed.

 

Pretty disappointing. Basically a tasteless mess. Oh well, f**k it, it's open now. Cheers!

 

There's a LOT of wines that fit that description most years. A large percentage of the wine drinking public has no clue and will happily take a suggestion from a liquor store clerk - and employees nearly always push the best deal for the retailer. Besides, over 90% of wines are not made for aging and should be consumed within 3 or 4 years of purchase at the latest.

That must be a REALLY bad brand because many mid level and even some low level makers ended up with very good to excellent products from the near textbook growing season in 2012. Complaints abound over the 2011 season since fog ruined practically the entire west coast unless you were at 1500+ feet, but you had to make an effort to screw up 2012. I put my money where my mouth is and went deep on '12 with around 6 cases of Cabs from various regions (mostly Napa and Sonoma). Comparatively, there is not even one case of Cabs from 2008 - 2011 (just the exceptional bottles like 2011 Lokoya Mt. Veeder, 2011 Outpost True Vineyard, and 2010 Congruence Coombsville Reserve) in the cellar. 1995 to 2003 is drinking near perfect currently with the exception of 2001 Arrowood Reserve which needs more time. By the time we've gone through that period, '04 to '07 will be in their prime window.... and hopefully the aforementioned '01 Arrowood too. After that, I expect some of the 2012 and most of the 2008 - 2011 to be ready, followed by the slower aging 2012's.

And that's just Cabs. Let's not get started on Burgundy, Rielsing, and Vouvray.

Cellar management fellas. It's all about cellar management. Helps to have a few good friends in the business to assist with planning too.

 

This was an impulse buy, I usually have decent luck with Chilean cabs. Read some reviews after the fact and they are actually decent; almost like I'm drinking a different wine. I will start to explore the California brands.

 

No worries - sometimes that leads to great discoveries. Gotta tune your spider sense better though.

PM if you have some choices you'd like to chat about.

 

Sounds good. You PM'd some good suggestions a while back; definitely going to start exploring them.

 

I'll let you know the results of our "2012 Cab-Off" dinner. We're putting 5 bottles of $50-ish West Coast Cabs head to head in a blind taste test. Our field:

Chappellet Signature
Mark Ryan Dead Horse Red Mountain
Ridge Estate
Hidden Ridge 55% Slope
Hill Family Estate Napa

All of them sell for between $46 - $54, and all are highly rated by critics and members of the group. It'll be interesting to see how they rank. Anywhere from 8 to 16 people usually come, and 11 is average.

 

Just stumbled on this thread, so I'll play a bit of catch up.

My Father and I share the same birthday, 30yrs apart. We enjoyed this one from my birth year together last month.

 

This morning (as most mornings) was this. Nyarusiza Rawanda Single Origin from Intelligentsia.

 

Nice mountain fruit in Dunn. Drank it all the way back to 1997 myself. Not a fan of the latest vintages since IMO some other Howell Mtn wineries are doing a better job, but pre-2005 stuff is anywhere from good to very good. That bottle must have been well resolved. Was there a lot of sediment?

 

No, not much sediment at all, it was extremely smooth and balanced - so much more refined than anything I've ever had, difficult to describe really. It was enjoyed at Bouchon Bistro in Yountville, which made for a great night.

The night before we had an '85 Silver Oak Cab from Alexander Valley which was unfortunately past its peak and a bit flat, but still fun to drink. My Dad picked them up 15 or 20+ years ago unbeknownst to me.

 

Sadly, any Silver Oak before 2001 has probably seen better days. I remember being disappointed in a few bottles from the 90's in the last couple of years.

 

[emoji106]

 

Burp!



Tom

 

Any Everton FC fan out there? I am definitely not one but the beer on your shirt is good

 

Brauhaus, Hell's during a quick stop in Veduz, Litchtenstein

 

Last 2 nights have been Remy Martin XO...

 

What else for an "Old Timer" that was owned a couple of "Joints" for a couple of decades

 

So a couple of weeks ago a mate of mine lost a pair of Oakley sunglasses whilst on holiday. As I have more pairs of Oakleys than I can shake a stick at, I offered to sell him a pair of "Ducati Fives Squared" (as I knew he was into motorbikes). Now I hate taking money off him so I offered to swap them for a bottle of Lagavulin 16yr old. A fair swap methinks. However he decides I'm being too generous and purchases a bottle of the below instead. I've been on-call ever since I received it, so tonight is the first time I've had the chance to sample it. I think I got the better end of the deal! (Pictured with my current fave daily beater)