Dennis

I got to the table late but was still able to pick up a pack of the Whitehall Lane Cabs and a Montes Alpha "Folly" Syrah. It was free shipping on all orders regardless of price. I was at Total Wine & Liquor on Tuesday and was not that impressed with the prices. I noticed that many of our sale prices are compatible with theirs. I saw the Wild Turkey Rye there for $25.00 which we had here on clearnace for $14.99 and that made me feel pretty good about the 2 cases that I bought. I aslo picked up another case of the Renzo Masi Reserva at the Flourtown store which still had about 10 cases left. I had a bottle with dinner on Thursday and it's very good.

My favorite (used to be low cost) Chinati hit the stores last week and is flying out the doors. That would be the Renzo Masi Riserva that we only get once a year. It's the 2005 vintage. Price is up from 9.99 to $11.99 this year. I bought a case but haven't had time to try it yet. As soon as I do I'll let you know what I think.

Well, I've tried several of the new selections and they've all been very good. Especially the Green Point Shiraz and the un-oaked Chardonay, Clos Lachance Glittering Throated Emerald. I picked up 2 Sicilian wines to try and the Pascual Toso Cabernet Sauvignon from Argentina. http://www.stylegourmet.com/wine/tas00036.htm Has anyone else had anything especially good recently?

Has anyone tried the new Ultra yet? The regular was very good when it was round a year or 2 ago. I opened up a 10 year old Bruneelo last night and had it with a steak from the grill. I't's one of those wines that I was keeping for a special occasion. However, I'm glad I had it last night since the wine was about 1/4" from the top of the cork. Not sure if it would have spoiled in a few months or not. But just the same, I'm glad that I didn't wait any longer. The wine was excellent and the color was not nearly as brown as some of the NAPA wines that I've had that weren't as old as this one. Still had some nice tannins and a great nose. I have 2 more 99's left that I think I'll also enjoy this summer....unless someone thinks they'll be even better if I let them go longer that 10 years. On another note, the Flourtown store was loaded with a lot of new wines to try so I picked up several, in particular the Green Point Shiraz for $10 could be a great buy if it's as good as they say.

Speaking about the Chairman, The impostor who currently reigns at our PLCB has no connection with us at all. Here's an excerpt from this mornings paper regarding the newly proposed wine kiosk; "Liquor Control Board chairman Patrick J. "P.J." Stapleton III said the kiosks were about modernizing and giving customers what they wanted: one-stop shopping for food and wine. Who does he think he's kidding? If he cared, he'd let the super markets sell it like the majority of states already do. Here's a link to the entire article about buying wine from "Big Brother", it's pretty scarry stuff.... http://www.philly.com/inquirer/front_page/...LCB-style_.html

Here's an email from Newmans website regarding a tatsing and some information in case you want to subscribe. Jonathan Newman will be appearing in person at Kreston Wine & Spirits in Wilmington, De. this Saturday from noon to 2 p.m. Jonathan will pour some of our wines and will be happy to talk about anything wine-related (or anything Phillies-related). You will also be able to buy our wines at outstanding prices. Admission is free. For more information, please call Kreston Wine & Spirits at (302) 652-3792. Kreston Wine & Spirits 904 Concord Avenue Wilmington, Delaware 19802 Phone: 302-652-3792 Our retail network has expanded a great deal since our last email. To find the store most convenient to you, and to see a list of our current wine selections, please visit newmanwineandspirits.com/winelist.html Sarah Fritsche Director of Customer Relations Newman Wine and Spirits 415-558-1623 office sfritsche@newmanwineandspirits.com www.newmanwineandspirits.com

You're absolutely right. When I heard him describing the ReNoto from Sicily for $10/btl, I knew I would be hunting it down ASAP. Looks like Tri-State Liquors is probably the closest one to me that carries his wines.

If you like Garnacha, I have really enjoyed the 2005 Bodegas y Viñedos del Jalón Catalunya Las Pizarras(secret code 26175 - $19.99). And, I'm anxiously awaiting it's big brother the Altos Las Pizarras which as February is now gone, hopefully will be arriving soon. ← Good recommendation, I had it with a steak the other night. Great color, nice nose, and excellent flavors.

I had a pleasant surprise Thursday morning when I heard Jonathan Newman on the Michael Smerconish talk show discussing his recent lawsuit and some new wines that he's brought into his newtwork. Evidently he's somewhat of a regular on the program, probably more so when he was with the LCB.There's a link to his recommendations on Michael's website. Here's the link. http://www.mastalk.com/mastalk/wine.jspx If you go directly to www.MAStalk.com, just click on the wine glass on his desk to get to Newman's page. One last thing, callers were voicing their anger over the current state of affairs and once again stating that it was time to go out of state in order to get a good deal on wine.

I had a bottle of the 2005 Milton Park Shiraz the other night for dinner with a London Broil and I have to say it was one of the best new wines that I've had recently. I wasn't exactly sure where I bought it so I checked the LCB site and found out that it was an SLO selection for $12.99 (min. of 6). That's when I realized that I must have picked it up in Delaware. I checked Total Wine and it sells there for $9.00 a bottle. I love Cabs and this came very close to some of my favorites. It's "Case Worthy" and I'll be back to Total wine or Joe Canals to get some....probably Joe's since I saw a price of $6.99 on the internet. Here's a little blurb on the wine. http://vinvenio.blogspot.com/2007/04/2005-...ark-shiraz.html Also, I agree with the general assesment of the current "LCB Regime", they are once again forcing me back across state lines in search of good wine at fair prices.

Joe Canal's has some pretty good deals going on until the end of May. http://www.joecanals.com/onsale.html#onsale

Has anyone been impressed with the "April Event" of the new selections? The way it was built up, while clearing out the old stock, it gave me the impression that we were in for something on a Grand scale. I have to say that I'm less than impressed with 1st 3 selections that I tried, which were the Truchard Syrah and the 2 Santa Ana Reserves. Although the Truchard was good, I preferred the Montes Alpha Syrah in both taste & price ($17.99 vs $12.99). Maybe it's me, but I swear the deals that the "Real Chairman" were making were on a much Grander Scale than the current buyers.

Current Chairman Selects has gone wild again and is listing just about every selection they had over the past year. I think they need some new people to handle their website. Not only is it frustrating to see something listed that you can't get, but you have to sort thru a zillion wines and guess at which ones might actually be available.

Hope I like Garnacha, I picked up a bottle tonight. Is it anything like a Cabernet or Merlot? I plan on having it with a steak. Let me if I should pair it with something else instead.

I'm running low on reds, does anyone have a strong recommendation on any of the recent Chairman Selects?

Overall, I've been treated very well since the Chairman implemented his changes. The stores that I feel have treated me best are Maple Glenn, Jenkintown, Flourtown, & Gulf Mills. However, with that being said, the last time I was at the Jenkintown store, I sensed a lot of unrest with the employee's. They were ripping apart the LCB as if no one else was in the store. They felt as if they were being treated unfairly. They mentioned that they could easily be transferred to other stores that could create a hardship due to long travel distance or new hours that had to be worked in order to keep their jobs, and that their choice was "take it or leave it". This wasn't just one employee, it was several of them.

Did anybody else notice that the current CS site is listing wines that haven't been available in over a year and at best there might be one bottle in some remote corner of the state? At first I couldn't believe it when I saw the Hannah & Hogue Reserve back on the list, then I did the check & was very disppointed...made no sense to list something that is basically gone.... Does anyone want to venture a guess as to why they did this? Personnaly, I think it's a bad idea, especially since the local store will probably not want to go the trouble to have an single orphanned bottle shipped in.

nah it's a regular store thing, not anything special. i feel like i should clarify one thing: this isn't a small producer or a special LCB deal or anything. it's just a bourbon that i've found i like more than most others. ← I picked up a bottle of the Bulleit bourbon last night in Jenkintown. Smooooth as silk! Tried some "neat" and then over ice. I defintely will be drinking it neat. I'm still going to do a blind taste test with some friends this winter and will either pick up or have them bring some other bourbons to try. I have 3 on hand and would like to taste about 6. But first, I need to determine how to judge them. Any suggestions?

Don't know which Rye whiskey you were looking for, but the Wild Turkey is still plentiful. You can check for it thru this link http://www.lcb.state.pa.us/webApp/Product_...PRICE&filterBy=

There's usually a lull after the Holidays. I wouldn't panic just yet. ← Bummer...there's only 2 in my price range...

Despite the funny sounding name, I too had a bottle with a steak a few weeks ago and liked it enough to pick up 3 more bottles last week. But my favorites for the last half of 2007 were the Hogue Reserve Cab & Merlot, followed by the Geyser Peak Merlot (Alexander Vally). All were excellent but the Hogue sold out too quick for me to get more than a case of each. I found 6 more of the Geyser Peaks 2 weeks ago when I went to Bryn Mawr to see "There will be Blood". I have to say whenever I search online for wines that run out where I live, that seems be up there with the Ardmore store in availability. They must get the Lions share of everything in our area. I even found one of the little Glenfiddich samplers with the 12, 15, & 18 year old single malts which ran out in my area before the end of November. On another note, I have had the Bulleit Rye whiskey yet. Is it in the Select stores? So far, I've only checked the regular state store in Glenside, so hopefully I can get it at one of the specialty stores.

Not even 24 hours since my post and I'm going to have to "drink" my words.... After my last post, I decided to revisit the Eagle Rare and I have to admit that it's every bit as good as the Wild Turkey but different. So, I've decided that I need to do a side by side comparison soon and see just what my tastebuds can discern between the two.

I opened up my HUGE bottle of the 10 year old at Xmas and thought it was very nice. I'd like to compare directly to the Buffalo Trace sometime since they're made by the same distiller. However, the deal that I really liked was the Wild Turkey Rye. I bought 6 bottles the 1st time it was out and just picked up aother 6 last week. I've given away a few as gifts but the bulk is for me. I guess I've aquired a taste for Rye Whiskey. Now all I have to do is sample some of the competition so I can get a better idea of whats out there. Although, I think it will be hard to beat the $15.99 price tag for the Wild Turkey.

How long did you have it? Did you buy it and open it right away, or hold it for awhile? Where and how was it stored? Sounds like it was exposed to some extreme temperature changes. Even on a good day, that wine shouldn't be BROWN. And 2001 isn't old enough to be getting that lovely brick color from aging yet. Methinks you got a funky bottle. ← I bought it last week at the Flourtown shop and stored in my wine rack at home (which is cold). It didn't taste or smell funky...just lifeless.

After reading the recommendation in the Wine Scholl News Letter regrading the Rizzi 2001 Riserva Barbaresco, I decided to give it a try. I was very disappointed. The wine is already turning brown and just didn't seem to have anything good (tannis, nose, or taste) going for it. The cork looked fine so I don't think the wine was bad. Maybe I was expecting too much and I'll admit I am not familair with this particular grape/wine. However, I do regulary enjoy Chiantis & Valpollicellas which this wine was nothing like. I'm glad I only paid the $18 price instead of the suggested $65 price. Please let me know if any of you shared a similar experience or if it's just my lack of knowledge regarding this varietal. BTW, I'm still drinking some excellent Chianti's from the 2001 vintage.