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Kevin Porter

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    Elevation Burger

    in Pennsylvania: Dining

    Posted

    I checked Google maps, and it appears they are in the Wynnewood Shopping Center, home of Old Navy, and many eateries, including Sam's, Santa Fe Burrito, Poppi's, and Delancy Street Bagel.. can anyone confirm??

    Confirmed! Looking forward to more comments, though Mummer's review was hardly encouraging.

    Wine & Spirits Bargains at the PLCB (Part 3)

    in Pennsylvania: Cooking & Baking

    Posted

    Ch. Haut-Beyzac Grand Vin '03, Haut Medoc, is available in spots. Parker likes it, and it's easy to see why: thick, jammy fruit, incredible extraction, high alcohol. Firm tannins give it good structure, in spite of the vintages frequent overripeness problems. If you like this style of wine, this one is a good one, and at $24.99 I couldn't find a better price on Wine Searcher - lower prices that might pop up in your search are all for the Chateau's two other offerings, not the Grand Vin.

    Having said that, not my kind of Bordeaux: no delineation, the great big rush of fruit is entirely monolithic, no layers, little charm to lighten up all that power. Extremely long finish, but hey: I can get that from a spoonful of berry preserves. To be fair, it isn't quite a dead ringer for Califonia Cabs in a similar style: it does not have that raisiny, cooked taste that can be the distinctive marker of so many of those.

    Anyway, strokes and folks. I'm pretty sure that if you like this style of winemaking this one will please you.

    Also your Master, Satan.

    Great TN! Don't tell me that we're going to have a 'terroirist vs pointilist' debate here. :raz:

    A few interesting finds at Ardmore State store yesterday -

    CA Pinot - They have Rochioli Estate and ROAR in the temp-controlled room. I'm surprised that ROAR is distributing through the PLCB, and I was surprised to see the Rochioli on the shelves (as was one of the clerks).

    2005 Bourgogne, imported by.....PLCB!! I thought that the three tier system prohibits the importer ftom consumer sales??!!

    Wine & Spirits Bargains at the PLCB (Part 2)

    in Pennsylvania: Cooking & Baking

    Posted

    Quick rant - I've been watching the 2002 Ravenswood Monte Rosso zin on the Upcoming Chairman's Selection list.  It's suddenly gone, but not on the in-stores CS list.  A Product search shows about 1,000 bottles in PLCB stores...with none in Phila, Delaware or Montgomery counties....sigh.  I hope that this is a timing issue and that they will soon be in the south-eastern part of the Commonwealth.  I wish I could find rhyme or reason in the inventory mgmt.

    Sometimes CS wines are distributed to stores in western PA a week or two before they're released in the SE part of the state. So, unless it was already in the local stores and sold out, be patient.

    Not surprisingly, the sought after wines sell out quickly here, while they sit on the shelves out west.

    Thanks - that's my hope as there does seem to be a lot of it out there.

    Still don't know why it went from the Up-coming CS list to being in the stores but not on the In-store CS list - not a big deal, but indicative of the inventory issues.

    Guess we'll never see the state-wide virtual store with all temp-controlled storage :angry:

    Speaking of distribution patterns, I watched a couple of great (relative) deals - 2003 Pegau Da Capo and 2002 Shafer Hillside Select @ over $100 cheaper than elsewhere in the country (not that I could afford them anyway) - Somehow, the 5 or 6 bottles in the State all ended up in Harrisburg-area stores. Must be some real oenophiles there...

    Wine & Spirits Bargains at the PLCB (Part 2)

    in Pennsylvania: Cooking & Baking

    Posted

    Quick rant - I've been watching the 2002 Ravenswood Monte Rosso zin on the Upcoming Chairman's Selection list. It's suddenly gone, but not on the in-stores CS list. A Product search shows about 1,000 bottles in PLCB stores...with none in Phila, Delaware or Montgomery counties....sigh. I hope that this is a timing issue and that they will soon be in the south-eastern part of the Commonwealth. I wish I could find rhyme or reason in the inventory mgmt.

    Wine & Spirits Bargains at the PLCB (Part 2)

    in Pennsylvania: Cooking & Baking

    Posted

    The 2003 Hanna cab is now available on the website.

    A couple of comments on the PA system, for what they're worth. Of course, I'm agin' the PLCB in general. W/r/t the CS program - I've found some good bargains, but find most offerings to be off-vintage and not worth the (albeit reduced) price.

    There is, however, a weird little sweet-spot that occurs when the critics love a wine that PA has. Others raise their prices, making PA a good buy...relatively. A current example is '04 Pegau Reservee' CNDP @ $55. Not cheap, but best in the country as far as I can tell, and that includes Premier Cru, which will buy on grey market and deliver in 2008. 02 Shafer HHS cab was in the system @ $199 when it was selling for $300 elsewhere. '03 Pegau Reservee and Da Capo and 02 Quilceda Creek Cab were other examples.

    These 'deals' require some research, and often the few bottles are concentrated in Pittsburgh or Harrisburg (fancy that). I also have concerns about provenance, but they're mitigated by the liberal return policy.

    This is not intended to be a defense of an archaic and corrupt system. In fact, I'm not sure that it's anything more than a Friday AM brain-dump :wacko: ...

    I guess I'm just sharing another way to work with the system, as Katie did.

    Happy hunting

    Wine & Spirits Bargains at the PLCB (Part 2)

    in Pennsylvania: Cooking & Baking

    Posted

    Yup - the Oreno is also no longer on the PLCB Product Search page at the Chairman's Selection price (there is some @ $80).

    I'm probably late on this as I haven't been shopping much, but it seems that the shipping problems are resolved. I just nipped (as it were) over to Bryn Mawr and they had cases all over the place. Lots of cases of Abadia Retuerta and Michele Chiarlo, amongst others.

    I went for Kalin Cellars Chard and Semillon - not Chairman's Selections, not inexpensive, and worst of all, not red!! :cool: ...but wines to search out and try nonetheless. If for no other reason, when else will you get to try a recently- released 1994 Chard and 1996 Semillon? An unusual winery, to say the least, and one that I highly recommend.

    Wine & Spirits Bargains at the PLCB (Part 2)

    in Pennsylvania: Cooking & Baking

    Posted

    Back on (semi) topic :wink:

    I too am thrilled with what Mr. Newman has done. The Chairman's Selections have provided some tremendous values, and the changes to the stores have been great. Critically acclaimed wines are sometimes available at pre-hype prices, if I act fast and beat the people scarfing them up to re-sell on WC.

    I also have concerns (beyond the obvious - why is the Commonwealth in the business?), to wit:

    > I've seen no discussion of process changes. Are the positive changes resulting from Mr Newman's charismatic leadership being 'operationalized' so that they will survive his inevitable departure?

    > Despite the buying power and the great strides, we still do not have access to many of the wines that consumers elsewhere in the country do (and I'm not talking about the direct mailing issue): (1) The 2003 Lascombes was a great buy, but I've been told that we're getting very little other 2003 bordeaux; (2) The futures market for 2005 bdx is heating up, but we won't have an opportunity to purchase until they hit the stores in 2008 (?), albeit at close to premier tranche pricing but also presumably in very limited quantity; (3) QPR - I would love to have access to whites from the Loire; quality beaujolais (not an oxymoron); village bourgougne; etc. Despite convenient access to the Ardmore and Bryn Mawr stores, I need to break the law and cross the border for these wines.

    > Stores such as the revamped Flourtown Premium Collection store have small temperature-controlled rooms, but also have mid-priced wines displayed in direct sunlight (this may have been rectified since I was last in that store).

    Bottom line is we've come a long way, but we have oh so far to go!

    Forgive the rant :blush:- I guess I just get a little touchy about the effusive praise for 'the Chairman'

    Time to go drink a glass of Kaiken Malbec (praise the Chairman and this community for that one!).

    Wine & Spirits Bargains at the PLCB (Part 2)

    in Pennsylvania: Cooking & Baking

    Posted

    phungi - are you familiar with the PLCB product search page and the Special Liquor Order (SLO) process? The Silverado Sangio is available by SLO, and the Zin maybe in stores (can't tell vintage from the search page).

    Here's the Search page link - http://www.lcb.state.pa.us/webapp/Product_...plcbNav=|32369| - or google "plcb product search".

    Once on the page, search for 'silverado' and '7 deadly'. SLO is also explained on the page.

    I would guess that you could also find regional retailers with this juice by using wineaccess.com or winesearcher.com...but i'm not advocating circumventing the legal market!

    Wine & Spirits Bargains at the PLCB (Part 2)

    in Pennsylvania: Cooking & Baking

    Posted

    2003 Pegau CNDP is in the PA system at $55, which is lowest in the country thanks to glowing reviews. Right now, there are a handful, all in the Pittsburgh and Harrisburg areas. I got some delivered from PGH to my local store by calling the store that had them. I had to pay shipping, but the transaction was very prompt.

    Interesting that when I've tried to initiate that kind of transaction from the receiving store they've always given me a hard time and I've only been partially successful. I've waited weeks, and sometimes not gotten the wine.

    Also interesting (to me :wink: ) that this wine was on the Product page weeks before it hit any stores. The Mags of the same wine are still on the page and not in any stores. And finally (phew), the Da Capo (which is too rich for me but was priced $100 under anywhere else in the US) was on the site for one day - 3 bottles in a H-burg, gone in a day.

    Wine & Spirits Bargains at the PLCB (Part 2)

    in Pennsylvania: Cooking & Baking

    Posted

    Catching up here after business travel and general crazieness....

    Thanks to Katie and mrbigjas for the warm welcome. I look forward to joining the community and will post notes.

    Segue to dissenting note on Lineage Cab - I really appreciated the heads-up and ran out to grab a few, hoping to taste then buy more. Unfortunately, I was underwhelmed. The initial taste is quite good, in a classic cab way - nice black fruit and some cocoa - but then the wine completely disappears. I now understand what experienced tasters refer to as 'a hole in the mid-palate'. The wine returns for a short, somewhat clipped, finish. I don't find this a flawed wine, and would definitely consider it if I needed an inexpensive cab to serve to a group of non-winos; on the other hand, not a further purchase for me right now (as I don't have that need :cool: .

    OTOH, had a 2003 Ch Segries Lirac last night that was singing. No detailed note, as it was a gift from a friend and is not a PLCB wine, but a great $12.00 bottle.

    Thanks to Carrington for the reference point on the Abadia Retuerta.

    Kevin

    Wine & Spirits Bargains at the PLCB (Part 2)

    in Pennsylvania: Cooking & Baking

    Posted

    Has anyone tried the 2000 Abadia Retuerta? I picked up a couple in Ardmore yesterday. Thought that I was buying a promising week-day drinker until I logged them in Cellar Tracker. The community opinion there is that this is a fine bargain @ $20+ (and only $13 now in PA), but will require several years in the cellar.

    I know - at $13 I should pop one and post notes, but I'm hoping to ride someone else's coat tails...

    ps - love this thread!

    Kevin

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