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What Are You Drinking Right Now?


deangold

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Thanks to some customers....

Fanti 97 Brunello- not a personal favorite style but starting to show the youthful side of maturity. Nose is starting to develop and the substantial tannins are not in the way of the earthy, spicy fruit.

Ciacci Piccolomini d'Aragona Brunello 1990- superb if still a little young. The nose was pretty subdued but opened up with a good swirling. The flavors were loaded with spice, funk, tar, earth along with the fruit that is so prominenet in Ciacci when young. This is a wine just beginning to show its stuff with years and years in front of it. One of the great old Brunello experiences I have had.

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This weekend at dinner:

Denis Mortet "En Champs", Gevrey Chambertin, 2001: Really great wine, and a truly tragic situation. Mr. Mortet will be missed. The wine was consumed during a really nice dinner at Vidalia.

Littorai "Cerise Vineyard", 2002: a good Anderson Valley pinot noir, although it did remind me a bit of Beaux freres for some reason-I don't know why. This wine would be a good example of an Anderson Valley pinot. Had it at Sonoma, on 50% off wine night - a really nice promotion!

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Coca-cola from a fountain. Don't believe those schiesters who claim Coke tastes as good from the gun or bottle than it does from a fountain - they are SO wrong!

Anyone seen Passover Coke in the stores this year? I need to start stocking up!!!

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Quintarelli 93 Valpolicella (maybe a year too late but still wonderful)

Le Salette 99 Amarone- what started out pretty rough a year ago is now almost silky smooth, or as silky as an Amarone can be.

Ridge Montebello 95 with winemaker Eric Bragher from Ridge. I love DC during barrel tasting week!!!

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Only a year ago '97 Quintarelli was Euro 35 just outside of Soave in a restaurant. A remarkable price. I had it with a pizza and remember thinking that life was good. I bought a half dozen bottles of it in Soave for about Euro 25. The 2000 Dal Forno Valpolicella is the best I have ever had. I know that you visit him. Have you tasted his 2002 amarone or his 2002 Valpolicella?

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Only a year ago '97 Quintarelli was Euro 35 just outside of Soave in a restaurant.  A remarkable price.  I had it with a pizza and remember thinking that life was good.  I bought a half dozen bottles of it in Soave for about Euro 25.  The 2000 Dal Forno Valpolicella is the best I have ever had.  I know that you visit him.  Have you tasted his 2002 amarone or his 2002 Valpolicella?

I had the 2000 and 2001 Amarone out of barrel and they are two of the greatest wines I have ever had. The 2000 Valpoliella is pretty farking amazing as well. The 99's, while ultimately not as good are rounding into some pretty amazing drinking right now.

I bought the 95 Quintarelli in Bardolino for €28 and paid €35 for it at the Enotecca dell'Arena in Verona. We paid €65 for the 96 Dal Forno at Winkler just by his winery.

Given the variability in 2002, I don't kow what he is making. He was talking about no 2002 Amarone but that may have changed. We should be gitting his 01 Valpolicella and 2000 Amarone any day now.

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I had the 2000 and 2001 Amarone out of barrel and they are two of the greatest wines I have ever had.  The 2000 Valpoliella is pretty farking amazing as well.  The 99's, while ultimately not as good are rounding into some pretty amazing drinking right now. 

I bought the 95 Quintarelli in Bardolino for €28 and paid €35 for it at the Enotecca dell'Arena in Verona.  We paid €65 for the 96 Dal Forno at Winkler just by his winery. 

Given the variability in 2002, I don't kow what he is making.  He was talking about no 2002 Amarone but that may have changed.  We should be gitting his 01 Valpolicella and 2000 Amarone any day now.

he 2002 Amarone, from the barrel, has the potential to be the best Amarone he has ever made in my opinion. I did not taste the '96 or '97 from the barrel but I have tasted the '98 through '03. The 2002 Valpolicella is also outrageously delicious. His 2003 Recioto may be his best yet while the 2003 Amarone is actually a bit sweet. I am guessing that the '02 Amarone and the '03 Recioto are his best efforts for 100 points from Parker. The 2000 Amarone is a fantastic, special wine.
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Clos Martinet, a grenache from Clarendon Hills (amazing!), Le Salette "La Marega" 2000 Amarone, a dry muscat from Basilicata.  TJ, James Kim and the gang were in last night and very little permanent damage was done...

It may not be permanent, but my head was not happy this morning. The Clos Martinet was great and I think I'll be very happy with the trade we made. Do you think there is any problem if I don't open if for a year or so? By the time we got to the Clarendon Hills Old Vines I was well lubricated but it is great (when this wine was put on the table I think that several of folks said that they had been thinking of bringing some and decided not to. I'm glad Alex did bring it.)

Thanks for a great evening, the food was great. I certainly hope the staff that was still around when we left had a good time with the wine that was left.

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It may not be permanent, but my head was not happy this morning.  The Clos Martinet was great and I think I'll be very happy with the trade we made.  Do you think there is any problem if I don't open if for a year or so?  By the time we got to the Clarendon Hills Old Vines I was well lubricated but it is great (when this wine was put on the table I think that several of folks said that they had been thinking of bringing some and decided not to.  I'm glad Alex did bring it.)

Thanks for a great evening, the food was great.  I certainly hope the staff that was still around when we left had a good time with the wine that was left.

I have no idea how Lagrein ages, but certainly a year or two shouldnt be to risky. Its a faily big with but acid drivena dn not tannic. I am going to stash a couple of bottles to see for myself.

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Whosoever can open this stuck bottle of amaretto shall be king.

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Soak a dish towel in steaming hot water. Wrap it around the neck of the bottle for 20 minutes. The hot water should help to dislodge enough of the goop to open the cap.

Failing that, immobilize bottle using bench clamp on work bench. Get the biggest plumber's wrench that you have and cinch it onto cap, preferably one of the firefighters 2 foot long ones that they use on fire hydrants to maximize leverage.

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Lagrein, when made by one of the top producers (Gries, Hofstatter, Terlan, etc) can age for MANY years given its acidity. Have had a few in the 80s from good vintages and they hold up very well, softer tanins, along with more pronounced minerality. This is one of Italy's least know gems in the North.

It may not be permanent, but my head was not happy this morning.  The Clos Martinet was great and I think I'll be very happy with the trade we made.  Do you think there is any problem if I don't open if for a year or so?  By the time we got to the Clarendon Hills Old Vines I was well lubricated but it is great (when this wine was put on the table I think that several of folks said that they had been thinking of bringing some and decided not to.  I'm glad Alex did bring it.)

Thanks for a great evening, the food was great.  I certainly hope the staff that was still around when we left had a good time with the wine that was left.

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Joe Dressner is now bringing in a stunning, verry traditional style Lagrein (and Blaterle) from Mayr-Nusser in the Nusserhof, just south of the Austrian border. Serious (and seriously yummy) stuff for under twenty bucks. Only available in New York, I think.

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A surprisingly vibrant 1969 Jaboulet Cote Rotie. The bottle was a gift from a friend who just bought a cellar and had no hopes for the bottle (he gave it to me simply because it was my birth year). The wine was still filled with fruit and a nice hint of smoke, and a very long finish. I filtered the first two thirds of the wine through cheese cloth, and after we finished this, I put the other third through a coffee filter. The resulting flavor of the filtered wine showed no sign of being muted, and was free of any clouding. This was quite a treat.

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An on-the-fly vatting of equal parts Bulleit Bourbon (the highest-rye mashbill of the mainstream brands) and Weller Special Reserve (one of the classic wheaters). Yummy, honeyed, floral, with some white fruit.

There's a guy on one of the bourbon boards who's famous for this (we call it Gillmanizing) over there. Here's a brief discussion.

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I apologize for what seems like persistence or an interest in this Spanish winery but.....I've now had four different neighbors over and we've opened and drank the two bottles of Emilio Moro that I just took delivery of. This is a seriously good wine for the money. To put this in perspective: I think the Altos de Luzon 2003 @$12.99 ($13.99 from Paul's), Sierra Cantabria 2001 Cuvee Especial for $16.99 )Wine Library) and the Emilio Moro for $22.99 (Wine Library and only five cases left) are as good as one is going to find of ANY red wine in these price ranges. If anyone buys a bottle/case please post your thoughts on here. For me this is a very real discovery...and bargain.

If I owned a restaurant I would sell this for $60, a 200% markup and have one helluva lot of happy customers!

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I apologize for what seems like persistence or an interest in this Spanish winery but.....I've now had four different neighbors over and we've opened and drank the two bottles of Emilio Moro that I just took delivery of.  This is a seriously good wine for the money.  To put this in perspective:  I think the Altos de Luzon 2003 @$12.99 ($13.99 from Paul's), Sierra Cantabria 2001 Cuvee Especial for $16.99 )Wine Library) and the Emilio Moro for $22.99 (Wine Library and only five cases left) are as good as one is going to find of ANY red wine in these price ranges.  If anyone buys a bottle/case please post your thoughts on here.  For me this is a very real discovery...and bargain.

If I owned a restaurant I would sell this for $60, a 200% markup and have one helluva lot of happy customers!

I am not an expert of Spanish wines, but I recently had a bottle of Sierra Cantabria Rioja Crianza Tempranillo 2001 that was pretty tasty ($13). Glad that I have 5 more bottles in the cellar.

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Emilio Moro
Emilo Moro is made by two fabulous women named Victoria. They are going to be in town in May for a Spanish Barrel tasting (I will post more on that later). Besides making some amazing wines, they are quite charming, vivacious, and dazzling woman.
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Steve, I would really welcome being able to come to that. Please e-mail me if this is a possibility. Emilio Moro also makes some serious high end ($200+ per bottle) wines that may be extremely interesting.

mdt: The Crianza is a step below the 2001 Cuvee Especial. Several D. C. area stores have had competitive prices on the Crianza including Paul's, Schneider's

and, I believe, Calvert Woodley. I have NOT seen a competitive price on the Cuvee Especial. If you go onto Winezap there are several stores that have it around $16.97 or 16.99 including the Wine Library which I buy from an average of once a month and have a great deal of comfort with. Often their wine arrives the next day! http://www.winezap.com/Sierra-Cantabria-Bo...cial/2001/16548 I've also had good experience with Sparrow Wines from Weehawken. Zachy's lists the Cuvee Especial at $24.95; I've seen it in Reston for $27 and some change. Anyway, it IS a better wine than the Crianza with a bit more body to it. Alternatively, I would also ask Paul's if they will sell you a case matching the Wine Library's price. They may do it-they are very competitive. I bought four cases of Altos de Luzon 2003 from them for $13.99 which was actually the same price as the Wine Library when you factor in shipping (two dollars) and D. C. sales tax (NJ stores charge VA tax which is about one dollar).

Juan Gil 2003 is another really good Spanish wine for the price ($12.99-13.99 from several of the New Jersey stores) and in other posts I have RAVED about Cleo for $31.99 from New Jersey (about $45-49 locally). For whatever reason there seems to be awareness of some of the Spanish wines in New York and NJ than here. I don't know why but there are some really good wines out there right now at excellent price points.

Edited by Joe H
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Please post a note <_< .

Well, that's a bit like Joan Rivers to write a car review, but here goes nuthin'...

Caveat: I'm a lightweight, and find that I usually have to add a splash of water (Brita-filtered, from my home well) to delay the anaesthetic effects of whisky.

The Peat Monster is surprisingly light in color, sort of a brass or light honey. Big smoky nose that wafts out of the sifter on its own; each sip has what I would call a faint tangerine note, and very moderate iodine. With a splash of water, the weird thing is that the initial smoke clears quickly, making the long peaty finish a bit...thin? I dunno how to describe it. I love the Caol Ila from which this blend gets its smoke, but as a dedicated Lagavulin drinker I'm not sure I would call this one a "monster", at least not compared to an oily Islay.

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Do you know what the other components of the blend are?

I've read that it's predominantly Caol Ila and Ardmore. According to the nice folks at Astor, John Glaser rarely vats more than three malts together, and was attracting quite a crowd of other distillers at the most recent Whiskyfest NY.

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Rihaku Shuzo Nigori "Dreamy Clouds" Sake.

An unfiltered (Nigori) Junmai-Ginjo. Thank you, Whole Foods, Clarendon, Va, USA.

Most def wears well with a rainy day; it's like licking rainwater off of lilacs (it sounds more fun in bed, but it's good with jeans and the Internet)

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2002-release George T. Stagg from the good folks at Buffalo Trace.  142.7 proof!  That is, before I cut it.  Think of it as a value pack!

I believe that we are meant to drink alcohol in proportion to IQ. I think you have proven my theory right. I hardly* drink, and thoses people who drink wine coolers are dummies.

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Rihaku Shuzo Nigori "Dreamy Clouds" Sake.

An unfiltered (Nigori) Junmai-Ginjo. Thank you, Whole Foods, Clarendon, Va, USA.

Most def wears well with a rainy day; it's like licking rainwater off of lilacs (it sounds more fun in bed, but it's good  with jeans and the Internet)

Is this one of the sakes recently written up by Eric Felton in the WSJ?

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