What's in your glass tonight?

[ibglowin]

Friends and family over for dinner. Grilled Tri Tip and Rib Eyes. Pulled a 2007 Col Solare, a 2008 Saviah Reserve Cab, and a 2008 Mark Ryan Long Haul from the cellar. All from WA State. All decanted for 90 minutes. All amazing!

 

[Elmer]

Cracked a bottle of my 2013 chianti (with a touch of cranberry juice) .
It was a most Mondale 10L kit.
It was watery , but by the time I drank the entire bottle none of that mattered


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[Boatboy24]

is about all I can say.

 

[sour_grapes]

is about all I can say.

This quote may help you:

For sleep, riches, and health to be truly enjoyed, they must be interrupted. -Jean Paul Richter, writer (1763-1825)

Likely this is true for good wine, too!

 

[sour_grapes]

Well, the wine is not so good, but tonight's wine is still sorta special. I assign a "start drinking date" for each batch of wine I make, based on a guesstimated initial aging period. I am using 1.5 years for most of my grape-pack kits, 1 year for a CC Sterling, and 6 mos. for a low-end kit with no grape pack. Yesterday, I opened my first-ever kit wine aged to the initial age. That is, my Mezza Luna Red finally hit 6 mos., so it was time to try it.

Sadly, that was the good news. The bad news is that this wine is pretty green still. Heavy KT, not that pleasant upon opening. It has softened somewhat today, after being "decanted" overnight.

I sure hope you guys and gals are right and the majority of my wines will come around eventually!

 

[TomK-B]

Paul, I made an RJS EP New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc back in the winter of 2012. I bulk aged it for six months and then bottled. Tasted it about a month after bottling and was SOOO disappointed. So, I waited another four months and opened another bottle . . . no better. About six months ago I tried another bottle and had the same disappointing experience. I have been just sick over it. Finally, this last weekend I determined to pour it all out and re-use the bottles. I lined them all up on the kitchen counter and decided to open a bottle and have one last sip before pouring them all down the drain. Boy, am I glad I took that sip. Wow! I was shocked. It was just transformed! I took the bottles back to the "wine cellar" (i.e. coolest closet in the house) and laid them back down.

I've heard of many folks on this forum having exactly the same experience. Guess that's why they say the most important lesson in winemaking is the "three P's" . . . patience, patience, patience.

 

[cmason1957]

Two springs ago our wine club obtained something like 250 buckets of Chilean Juice. The whites turned out very good, the reds have not been very impressive, I don't think anyone added grapes to any of the reds. Tonight my wife and I are having a Pinot Noir from that, they seem to be starting to come around a bit. I don't think they will ever be great, but certainly very drinkable.

It is going well with the Sams pizza we are having.

 

[jojabri]

Did a Craigslist pickup and the fellow and I traded. We swapped my Quadberry DB for his 2012 Cab Franc (from his first batch). Its awfully good! I'm usually not one for a dry red, so I'm kinda shocked. The hubby added a bit of sugar because it was too dry for him.

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[sour_grapes]

With the Orange Roughy Meunière I made tonight, we needed a crisp white. I opted for a Chateau Ste. Michelle Chardonnay. It was fine, but I was a bit disappointed, to be honest.

Drowning my postprandial sorrows with a Louis Martini Cabernet Sauvignon. Life is really rough!

 

[sour_grapes]

I opened a 2005 Gallo of Sonoma Cab Sauv. Another of my early experiments on aging cheap wine ($10 in 2006). It was a solid offering. Very refined, leather, dried fruits... I liked it a lot.

I decided to save some for the morrow and so gave it a spritz of k-meta from my sanitizing sprayer. (I have previously noted that my aged wines oxidize too fast.) I wanted a touch more wine this evening, however, so opened a $5 bottle of Chilean Carmenere (Frontera by Concho y Toro). A bit astringent, but loaded with earthy goodness! Very pleasant quaff.

 

[Elmer]

popped a bottle of my skeeter pee last night.
I dont know what it is about that stuff, but super cold and it is soooo drinkable!

Drank the entire bottle while watching NCAA.
I am a little groggy this am!

 

[DirtyDawg10]

2011 Rutherford Ranch Cab Sauv...pretty good!

 

[Elmer]

Popped a bottle of my 2013 cab franc , made from a 10l Mosti Mondale kit.
Wasn't bad. Have to say it is better than the chianti I made from the same type of kit at the same time.

Super dry & a bit of plum!

A decent drink!


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[vernsgal]

CC Pinot Noir. Bottled Aug.2013

 

[roger80465]

Opened a bottle of WE SI Spanish Tempranillo, bottled 10/13. Had this with a grilled leg of lamb, baked potato and broccoli. Great combination.

 

[ibglowin]

Popped a cork on the latest Charles & Charles Post 35 (2012)

This wine scored a 90pt (Wine Spectator) just recently so I was very happy when I found it available locally at Costco for a mere $8.99 a bottle. Heavy bottle which will be great for recycling in the future. No expense spared on the cork. 1.75" solid 100% cork. Amazing cork for a wine at this price point!

Ran it through my Vinator and gave it a good swirl. Boquet is very nice. Lots of dark fruit on the nose. Oak is there but not in your face. This wine is 60% Cab Sauv and 40% Syrah. ABV is only 13.6 % which is low for a WA state wine especially with the textbook perfect 2012 vintage. On the pallet the dark fruits are noticeable but not in your face. Oak is perceivable but again not in your face. Finish is short but focused and tight. This is a great week day wine but not an OMG bang for the buck wine where you want to go buy a case (at least for me). I don't think it is as good as the Columbia Crest H3 wines but then again it is $2 a bottle cheaper. Better than anything sub $10 at Trader Joe's these days. The tannins are pretty smooth so it won't cut through a big steak but it will actually be just fine with a pizza or other italian fare. QPR 4 out of 5.

 

[sour_grapes]

Yalumba Shiraz-Viognier (at a restaurant). It was quite tasty!

 

[Hokapsig]

Enjoying a bottle of Wylie Winery Concord-Cherry. Very nice with a great mouthfeel, just the right acid and a nice finishing flavor. The only drawback is that it went down WAY too fast.....

 

[pjd]

Black Label "extra Old" Jamaican Rum, 15 Year old, I wish I had bought a few more of these when we visited there in March!

 

[soccer0ww]

some draft beer from Stone brewery. Limited releases, darn tasty! Can't live on wine alone. Well maybe.