Dennis

In case anyone missed it, there was an interesting article by Michael Klein this week about Newman and his new wine venture. Here's the link. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/...ak_for_LCB.html

If you can still find it...try the Hogue 2003 Reserve Cab. It's got an excellent nose and great taste and the $14.99 price tag makes it a good bargain. I checked it out on line and it lists for $30 everywhere but here and it has Gold Medal from the Nortwest wine competition.

I'm sorry to hear that Mandoline's is closing. In fact, as soon as I heard I started calling to see if I could get 1 last meal there...but unfortunately I must have found out too late since no one is answering the phone. Good luck Todd. Hope your time at Deuce is short & sweet and that your next Grand Opening will once again be in Philly! Slainte!

I understand that this is a closeout, but there is no mention of it at the store. It looks as if this is a regular item that normally sells for $34.99. Is there any reason to believe that it won't still be available at this price for awhile?

After reading the last 2 posts I decided to go out and find one for myself, and as luck would have it, I found one at the Jenkintown store. But I didn't get off cheap. They had a lot of new selections so I picked up several low cost wines to try, including; Blockheadia Ringnosia & Cycles Gladiator. I have to admit it, I was tempted by the labels for these 2 buys...has anyone tried either one?

Thanks for the tip. I'll have to see if I can find one out here in the burbs. I had been drinking the Buffalo Trace for the last couple of years and tried the Eagle Rare when it was on sale this past winter and liked it just as much. And if I remeber right, there was an artcile by Craig LaBan on bourbons awhile back and I believe he said that Eagle Rare was produced by Buffalo Trace or they're both produced by the same distiller.... Either way, they're both very good.

I picked up 3 the other night and had one with dinner and found it to be very food friendly. Great price and a great taste. I also picked up several bottles of the Armadale Vodka from Scotland. It's a premium hand crafted vodka made from barley & wheat and for what it's worth it's the vodka of choice for Jay-Z and the hip hop people from Roc-A-Fella records. But best of all it's very smooth and the 1 litre bottle is $15.99 instead of the normal $36.99 price...save $20. It's advertised like a chairman select but I don't recall seeing it on the website.

Yeah it was. I picked up a 2001 cab from Napa not Alexander Valley. These are going for around $100 per bottle. ← I paid $60 for the Alexander Valley and the NAPA was selling for $100 at the tasting room in Sonoma.

You're too late...we drank our one & only bottle w/them last night.

My vacation to San Francisco & Sonoma was fantastic. It's a hard to say but I think I liked it better than Napa. In fact the one day I went to Napa to visit Provenance for a tasting, I couldn't wait to get back to Sonoma...the traffic was incredible for a weekday. Come to think of it, that's one of the things I liked best about Sonoma. You had to drive off of the main drag to get to a lot of the vineyards, so there never seemed to be any traffic to contend with. I couldn't believe how many of the tastings were free (always a good thing) as compared to Napa. At most of the vineyards, the hosts were always shocked when I told how much we pay for Chairman Selects and in particular when it was one of their wines. Hanna seemed to be the most surprised. In fact, I kind of got the impression that they felt like they were taken advantage of? We ate at the "Girl & the Fig" as recommended by one of you and it was as good as you suggested. However, the highlight of the trip was not the wine but a happenstance visit to "Goat Rock State Park". We decided to follow the Russian River thru some redwoods and before we knew it, we were at the Pacific Ocean. So we followed the road and it took us down to the park and it was a short walk to the spot where the river meets the Ocean. At this point the river was very narrow and the opposite bank was filled with seals. Evidently, they mate there every year be tween May & July. I can't recommend it enough whether you go to Napa or Sonoma...you've got to see it. I brought back a few bottles that can't be had here, one was from Ledson & the other from ThumbPrint...and they were both Syrahs. I also bought a bottle of Silver Oak (Alexander Valley) for friends of ours who always have it on their anniversary. Well, time for some wine & cheese....

Don't know why they would want to unload it...it received a 90 - 95 in one of the reviews that I read.

I don't know much about rye whiskey but i do know that i appreciate the 5 bottles of wild turkey that i got for $15.99/btl! Next time I'm in delaware, i'll have to check out some of the other ones that were mentioned awhile back.

I tried the Fume Blanc from Bernard Griffin last weekend and loved it...especially at $7.99/btl. It sold out at the Flourtown store where I bought it but I was able to order a 1/2 case from another store. My wife & I are leaving for our SF/SONOMA trip next week to celebrate our 33rd anniversary. 2 nights in SF, 2 in Sonoma, & 3 in Santa Rosa. So far we plan to eat at Gary Danko's, L'Osteria del Forno (my favorite from 3 years ago), and The Girl & The Fig. I checked out the wine menu for Gary Danko's and did not recognize many of the CA wines that they had listed. They have a $35/btl corkage fee, which is high, but I think I'll bring my own. If anybody out there can see a good buy on their wine menu...please let me know. Cheers!

Since no one seems to have much to talk about lately....Here's a link to a conversation between Craig LaBan & David Moore; http://www.philly.com/inquirer/food/Restau...raig_LaBan.html

Thanks for the "Heads-up". I never had it before, but I picked up a bottle at the Jenkintown store yesterday and had some on the rocks last night while I watched the final episode of 24. I also happen to have a bottle of the regular 101 Wild Turkey that's on sale this month and the difference in flavor is HUGE. I'm going to pick up a few more this week. Apparently it should be hitting the shelves at a lot stores by this weekend.

That's probably why I got the great deal on the Laguiole cork screws at the Doylestown store. I'll look for some of the Reidel stemware to go along with the cork screws. Put them together with a bottle of wine and you've got a great gift for any occasion.

Research Report...my most recent Reds were OPR (Old Patch Red) $10.49, Oberon Merlot $10.99, & The Wathcher $9.99. I thought all we're Excellent, espceially when you consider the price, but In paerticular, I really enjoyed the Oberon the most. I've probably had it at least 4 times in the last month with all different types of food and it's just plain goood! I wish I could describe the wines better than the way I do (OK, Good, great, or excellent) but I can't seem to find all of the those subtle flavors and aromas that are apparenetly there. For some reason, peppery & earthy are about the only 2 flavors that I can usually nail down w/o hesitation. But, I'll keep trying...

Here's a link to an intersting artcile from Craig LeBan regarding "The Best Gin". It was conducted by some Drexel professors awhile back. http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment...OF_SCIENCE.html

There's another gin from Tanquery called Rangpur which I picked up in Delaware...it's loaded with botanicals. I've never seen it in PA, so if youwant to try it, you'll have to out out of state.

I picked up 5 of the Laguiole Faux Wood Corkscrews at the Doylestown W&S store today. They were on clearance for $19.99. I checked the price online and WE had them listed for $49.95...so I think it's a good deal, and they'll make great gifts. It comes in a beechwood box with a leather case that has the "BEE" branded on the front. I also picked up some more of the Kim Crawford Reisling that's on sale for $9.99. I don't know much about Reisling's but I do no know that I liked this one since it was dry and not at all sweet like some of the others that I've tried.

I have tried the Markham Zin and the Blackstone Cab and think both are excellent values ($10.99 & $9.99). In fact, the Blackstone was already sold out at the Jenkintown store when I went back to pick up some more last weekend.

Is it the Ultra or the regular? I think the regular sells here for about $8/bottle as well.

Evidently there are a lot ( I was told 10) of new CS selections in the stores but they're keeping them in the back until 3/25. They're part of an Easter/Passover promotion. I was able to get a bottle of the Montes Alpha Syrah because the stores were told to sell these wines if someone asked for them specifically...but they can't put them on the floor until the 25th.

I noticed something else strange...last month they listed Montes Alpha Cabernet & Syrah, Omaka Springs SB, and Raymond Reserve Cab as wines to be released in March. Now, they have disappeared from the Radar...they're not in the stores, on the Up Coming or In the Store web pages. They seem to have vanished. Any thoughts as to what may have happened? The Hanna is in the stores but it's also missing from new CS wines in the stores.

Speaking of "Big" in your face wines...I opened a bottle of the new 2003 Hanna Cab this weekend and that's exactly what I thought. I've been waiting for this one and was anxious to try it so I opened it awhile before dinner and had it with some bread & Prima Donna Gouda (my favorite Gouda). After about 1 hour, it seemed to change (open up?) and the tannins seem to mellow out. I believe it's 14.8% which is probably the strongest Cab I've ever had...so I'm going to venture a guess that this is one wine that I can safely cellar for awhile?