jddoyle

Thanks for the replys guys! Some great suggestions. The book I have is Karen MacNeil's The Wine Bible which I thought was really good though I haven't made it the whole way through. I have also visited Napa for my honeymoon and lucked into some great tours at Silverado (where we had a personal tour covering everything involved from grapes to barrels to bottle and a wonderful tasting), Robert Sinskey and a fabulously informal tasting at Viader. We did stop by Stag's Leap (not the Petite Syrah one) but that was very "tourist-ey". I live in St. Louis, MO and have been to some tastings, I guess that I need to go to some from a different retailer as I have found that the ones I went to were purely to sell stock on hand and seemed skewed to the expensive wines; the cheaper whites were warmer than the expensive whites, the expensive reds were crisp cool while the lesser reds were flabby warm. Thanks again for the ideas guys, I try to drink as much as I can. I love Burgundy, but can't really afford much and am now looking harder at Spain. Anyway... Thanks again. Jay Doyle

After mostly lurking here for a couple of months and seeing the disparaging remarks made about Wine Spectator and Parker, I was wondering what you guys would suggest to people who want to get into wine but don't know where to start? Sure there are problems with each. But books are out of date almost immediately when they come out in terms of vintages and their related reviews. Ignoring scores and going it alone by buying random bottles and seeing if you like them can get extremely expensive as well as disappointing as you grab probably as many, if not more, bad bottles as you do good without any direction. As for other options, finding a good retailer with a good staff, using a sommelier, etc., are also wrought with problems; how is taking the suggestion of one of those different from taking a suggestion from Parker or any of the WS staff? What if you can't afford to always eat out at a resturant that has a sommelier, forget the markup in bottle price and extra tip? I understand the mistakes that are made at both publications, and having a "Top 100" of anything is sort of ridiculous, forget the actual list, but is there a way for a beginner to learn about current wines, and the areas that produce them, that is better than WS and RP? Jay Doyle

That is a great wine, if it is anything like the Baron de la Charriere '99, which is made by Girardin under the Baron name for Eric Solomon cellars. It is a big burgundy, though at the moment the acidity is out front but subsided after breathing for about 20 minutes. In fact this is the bottle that got me into wine a couple of years ago. I plan on picking some of that up from Premier Cru along with some of the 2002 futures as well, can't beat the price. Thanks for the tip. Jay

This is a great article by Clive Coates (whose palate seems to correspond to my own) that goes through the lesser known villages and the better producers within those villages: http://www.thewinenews.com/aprmay02/cover.html We had a 2000 Girardin Maranges 1er Cru "Clos des Loyeres" at a resturant (Cafe 315 I think was the name) in Sante Fe last weekend that was $38 off the wine list and was fantastic, gobs of fruit, smooth tannins with rasberry, vanilla and game. Highly recommended. Hope this helps, Jay Doyle

My wife and I spent a few days there a year ago for our honeymoon. I would also limit the number of tastings to three, they do start to catch up with you. We stumbled upon a great tour at Silverado, lots of information and the tour guide was extremely helpful and the tasting is extensive and done well with options to taste the limited edition wines (we were given those for free). Sinskey is right up the road from there and is another excellent site. The other one that we were able to get into that was excellent was Viader, highly informal, you sit around Ms. Viader's desk, the tour was short but the view is incredible and the wine is amazing, we were able to taste the 1999 Cab. Franc by itself which wasn't released, though she didn't have much to sell. It was free though. But I would call now to try to set that one up, they are quite limited. Another good resturant is Mustards, I believe it is on the main strip. A hike or bike ride off of the main highway with a stop for bread and cheese or sandwiches at the Oakville Deli is fun as well. We too had 9:30 reservations at the FL, and we did not leave until 1:30 AM. It was a stunning night. When you are there, tell the sommelier that you are neophytes he will help you out considerably, we had friends do the same thing and they sampled numerous wines which were matched around the meal. ENJOY! Jay Doyle

Thanks Mark. I thought that was the case. I need to reserve some. Thanks.

Did you guys get a chance to sample any of his reds? Or have they not been released yet? The wine that got me excited about wine in the first place was a 1999 Baron de la Charriere Maranges 1er Cru "Clos Des Loyeres". Girardin does the Baron label for Eric Solomon. (imagine not knowing anything about wine, finding the one that turns you on and having it be a Burgundy, which is obscure and complicated enough, but beyond that a Maranges! Talk about an education!) I plan on getting some of the 2002 but was wondering how the reds were faring? I know that Maranges isn't a very higly thought of area, but to me it has a distinct and unique terrior that I like. Anyway, any info you have I would appreciate (or any comments about Maranges). Jay Doyle

But I do know of your attitude, I read it here. Unless of course you don't mean what you say, which would make your attitude even more sinister than your post. Jovial you may be, but your turning this post personal and mean is far from jovial. I never pointed you out or mentioned anything that should have provoked that insult. I did not mean anything in my remark as an attack, on you or otherwise, and maybe because I have less than "an ounce of brains" I am misinterpreting your comments as an attack on me, in which case forgive me, I am stupid as you obviously know. I was just pointing out that one of the reasons that a lot of people are put off by wine is the attitude that accompanies it, and quite frankly you are exhibiting it right now. You say it is plonk, then by God it's plonk because you say so. That is a great way to attract new wine drinkers; "unless you like what I like, you are an idiot." By having a TV show about wine, it allows people to learn about it without having to endure a class with those who DO know a lot and feeling like a dolt, which no one likes to do. What better way to attract more people to wine than to associate wines, that while they may not be great, aren't Franzia either, with foods that they don't have to spend a fortune on or leave their kitchen for? What is the point of suggesting a small production wine to a person who doesn't know much, and therefore hasn't developed the ability to discern the minute differences that make great wines great? Seeing as I'm not in the business, I must be wrong somewhere in my logic, so I bow to your knowledge. Tell me what to buy, tell me what to eat because apparently I am too stupid to know what I like and I need to be told. She is trying to make wine fun and more power to her for that. Wine should be fun. If it wasn't fun to begin with, I doubt anyone would have started drinking it in the first place.

Maybe it will get more people drinking wine. Maybe trying a popcorn and chard combo will get them to try pairing wines with their dinners when they go out to eat, and when they cook at home, instead of a gin and tonic. Most people don't know much about wine and, with all due respect, when they meet people who do, like those on this board, they are overwhelmed by the amount of information and put off by the attitude that normally accompanies knowing that information. Personally, I am glad that there is a show that will introduce more people to wine, maybe that will elevate the level of wine appreciation in the country and force companies to put more effort into producing better wines as more people will know that wine in a box is crap and will be able to better discern the differences between wines without spending a fortune or endless hours reading.

Here are two further websites to help on the Burgundy quest: http://www.burgundy-report.com/ http://www.bivb.com/uk/index-uk.html Thanks for the above link! Great info there. Jay Doyle

Katie, That was my point, though being male I felt I couldn't deliver it with the "directness" that you did.

Who are these people? The link is more sex!