What's in your glass tonight?
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That was my "top up" wine for my Eclipse Sonoma Dry Creek Chardonnay. Seemed to blend right in. 
They also sell a 1.5L of that at Costco for like $10.99!
PhilDarby
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A sweet sherry, port type wine I`ve aged in a vintage Spanish sherry barrel, I got from ebay several months ago, ive traced its ancestry to the three salmons inn, roserstone, gwent wales, uk 1978 from its previous owner, it came with no tap or stand, which ive added in oak, although I have my doubts the barrel is oak, due to its colour and grain etc.
When I received it I blended a sherry/port type wine fortified with napoleon brandy and 2 bottles of nice cream qc and house of Windsor, to make 2 1/2 gallons, then back sweetened (to an sg of 1.024) the original wine was a bit acidic, but there is no trace of excess acid, in fact its now very mellow, with caramel being the predominant flavour, its also very very nice, so my original tasting session ended up with several more, just for good measure ;-)
When I received it I blended a sherry/port type wine fortified with napoleon brandy and 2 bottles of nice cream qc and house of Windsor, to make 2 1/2 gallons, then back sweetened (to an sg of 1.024) the original wine was a bit acidic, but there is no trace of excess acid, in fact its now very mellow, with caramel being the predominant flavour, its also very very nice, so my original tasting session ended up with several more, just for good measure ;-)
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PhilDarby
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A sweet sherry, port type wine I`ve aged in a vintage Spanish sherry barrel, I got from ebay several months ago, ive traced its ancestry to the three salmons inn, roserstone, gwent wales, uk 1978 from its previous owner, it came with no tap or stand, which ive added in oak, although I have my doubts the barrel is oak, due to its colour and grain etc.
When I received it I blended a sherry/port type wine fortified with napoleon brandy and 2 bottles of nice cream qc and house of Windsor, to make 2 1/2 gallons, then back sweetened (to an sg of 1.024) the original wine was a bit acidic, but there is no trace of excess acid, in fact its now very mellow, with caramel being the predominant flavour, its also very very nice, so my original tasting session ended up with several more, just for good measure ;-)
The mouldy looking stuff around the tap im guessing is flor from seepage, if you ask me the barrel looks very art deco kind of age ? any feedback welcome on that one
When I received it I blended a sherry/port type wine fortified with napoleon brandy and 2 bottles of nice cream qc and house of Windsor, to make 2 1/2 gallons, then back sweetened (to an sg of 1.024) the original wine was a bit acidic, but there is no trace of excess acid, in fact its now very mellow, with caramel being the predominant flavour, its also very very nice, so my original tasting session ended up with several more, just for good measure ;-)
The mouldy looking stuff around the tap im guessing is flor from seepage, if you ask me the barrel looks very art deco kind of age ? any feedback welcome on that one
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Boatboy24
No longer a newbie, but still clueless.
As of this afternoon, we have a ratified contract on the house. I'm celebrating with a huge Porterhouse and a Cellar Craft Showcase Yakima Valley Syrah. Lent, schment!!! 
Congrats Jim!
Yay, Jim! That is great!
A somewhat funny one is in my glass tonight. I am drinking a cheapo bottle of Zin from 2003! To be exact, I am sipping on a "fine" 2003 Woodbridge Fishnet Creek Old Vine Zinfandel, Lodi, CA, Select Vineyard Series by Robert Mondavi. But there is a small backstory...
Back about 10 years ago, I had just gotten smart enough to start buying wine by the case. I did not set out to store these bottles for any length of time -- I am talking about plonk, for the most part. I just started buying by the case to get a small discount and to always have some wine in. I only did this with wines I "knew" to be acceptable.
Then, one time I took a flyer and bought a case of the above-named plonk without having tried one first. It was really terrible. In a word, it was harsh. I could barely drink it.
Sooo, a plan was hatched. I decided to lay it down for storage for a while, in hopes it would mellow out. In fact, my brain thought, I should do this with a number of cases. So I built a small wine closet in my basement, large enough for 8 or 10 cases. (Picture below.) I told friends I was explicitly seeking to turn $9 bottles of wine into $10 bottles of wine through aging! The above-named quaff was my first deposit in the closet.
As time went on, I populated and depopulated this closet with various low-end wines, up to maybe $15. I developed a cellar strategy and an Excel sheet that told me when to drink one of the bottles from each batch, so that I would use them up before their "sell-by date." However, for sentimental reasons, I never drank the last bottle of the "wine that started it all," the above-mentioned Fish Net Creek Zin.
Tonight, I decided that last bottle is only going to continue getting worse, so I pulled the cork, errrr, welll, I pulled the Nomacork on it and tasted. It is not bad, actually. It is way past its prime, but I am getting some interesting flavors (along with the oxidized notes). I have tropical fruit coming out of this -- guava, papaya, honeysuckle, a bit of bubble gum. As it breathed a bit, these faded a little and some of the plumminess is coming back to the fore. It is still not good, mind you, but it is interesting. Come to think of it -- it is a lot better than it was 10 years ago when I laid it down, so I guess the experiment was a success!
Back about 10 years ago, I had just gotten smart enough to start buying wine by the case. I did not set out to store these bottles for any length of time -- I am talking about plonk, for the most part. I just started buying by the case to get a small discount and to always have some wine in. I only did this with wines I "knew" to be acceptable.
Then, one time I took a flyer and bought a case of the above-named plonk without having tried one first. It was really terrible. In a word, it was harsh. I could barely drink it.
Sooo, a plan was hatched. I decided to lay it down for storage for a while, in hopes it would mellow out. In fact, my brain thought, I should do this with a number of cases. So I built a small wine closet in my basement, large enough for 8 or 10 cases. (Picture below.) I told friends I was explicitly seeking to turn $9 bottles of wine into $10 bottles of wine through aging!
The above-named quaff was my first deposit in the closet.As time went on, I populated and depopulated this closet with various low-end wines, up to maybe $15. I developed a cellar strategy and an Excel sheet that told me when to drink one of the bottles from each batch, so that I would use them up before their "sell-by date." However, for sentimental reasons, I never drank the last bottle of the "wine that started it all," the above-mentioned Fish Net Creek Zin.
Tonight, I decided that last bottle is only going to continue getting worse, so I pulled the cork, errrr, welll, I pulled the Nomacork on it and tasted. It is not bad, actually. It is way past its prime, but I am getting some interesting flavors (along with the oxidized notes). I have tropical fruit coming out of this -- guava, papaya, honeysuckle, a bit of bubble gum. As it breathed a bit, these faded a little and some of the plumminess is coming back to the fore. It is still not good, mind you, but it is interesting. Come to think of it -- it is a lot better than it was 10 years ago when I laid it down, so I guess the experiment was a success!
Boatboy24
No longer a newbie, but still clueless.
How about a test sample of vintage 2013 Norton that was bottled in 2014?
It's still not what I believe it is going to be. Have patience, Jim (boatboy24)! It's getting there!
The 2011 from Horton is still sitting in my wine fridge.
Boatboy24
No longer a newbie, but still clueless.
2010 Donnachiara Aglianico
jswordy
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The 2011 from Horton is still sitting in my wine fridge.
They are as different as day and night.
Boatboy24
No longer a newbie, but still clueless.
Basking in the great Gewürztraminer that @geek sent me a while back. I'm going to vacu-vin it shortly to try again tomorrow after a little more air. Then moving onto a 2012 La Crema Pinot Noir with dinner.
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