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Yesterday, I picked up a bottle of Chapoutier Chateauneuf du Pape "Barbe Rac" 1999. I have not tried this yet but a quick Web search seems to indicate that, at $29.99, this is an incredible bargain. Does anyone have any experience with this wine? It will probably get opened this week or weekend but I would be interested in what I should expect.

LP Steamers was recommended to us by the concierge of the Hyatt Inner Harbor and, since we were looking specifically for crabs, he did not steer us wrong. They have any kind of crab that you want as long as it's steamed, bay-spiced crabs served in a pile on a table covered in brown paper ... perfect as far as I am concerned. Great to go with companions who like to take their time, savor the crabs and beer, converse a bit, eat crabs, drink some beer, ... you get the idea. In my opinion, the mediums are probably the best value.

Last evening I stopped in at the Swedesford Road (Gateway Center) PLCB store amidst windswept rain and parking lot floods. There were six (counted 'em) well-dressed folks there serving the ubiquitous Duboeuf. There was a nice spread of snacky food and real glass stemware rather than the usual bathroom plastic cups. The place wasn't exactly bustling but the traffic was at least steady, the tasting pour generous and everyone was friendly. Oh yeah! The wine! Strawberry bubblegum and fruit with a somewhat tannic surprise at the end. No finish. In my opinion, not a bargain at $11.99 a pop.

A teaching opporunity ... Would you mind expanding on the above quote with respect to sherries? Why would PX sherry not benefit from bottle aging where vintage and similar port, also a fortified wine, certainly does? I have some notions but would rather hear from a more experienced source, which I certainly am not, first.

Not a PLCB bargain, per se, but I brought home a bottle of Gazela Vinho Verde NV. I wish that I had done this at the start of Summer rather that at the downslope to Winter. What a refreshing drink! Perfectly clear with a (very) light green tinge, citrus fruity and lightly floral with an unexpected touch of cleansing effervesence. No complexity but it would accompany raw or lightly seasoned shellfish as well as other light fare wonderfully. A bonus: At 9% alcohol, we can drink more of it! The bargain part: $5.99 on sale from $7.99 at the PLCB stores. I quick Web search shows it at $4.99 elsewhere.

If I'm not mistaken, beer "distributors" can only sell full-cases while bars and certain other package goods, etc. stores can only sell two six-packs or less. I don't think that there is any way in Pennsylvania to purchase three six-packs in one, fell swoop! I have never researched the logic.

The Ludwig's Corner shop carries some of the Chairman's Selections, albeit, not too many. An alternative is to shop online and have your selections shipped to your closest store. There are some shipping charges but they generally are not excessive (occasionally free). I have shipped to the Suburbia Shopping Center store several times and have been happy with the service. I never use the Pottstown store since parking is such a mess. Now that I think of it, the new Limerick store usually has a pretty good stock of C.S. wines. [Edited for fat fingers and grammar. Added the Limerick reference.]

I haven't tried the Whitehall Lane C.S. Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 yet but I find the pricing interesting. This is a wine that was made specifically for the PLCB and is not available anywhere else. It's not even available directly from the winery where the latest cab. sauv. release is 2003. My question: How can the PLCB state a savings of $30 from a $45 suggested retail price when the wine is not for sale anywhere else at any price (I contacted the winery directly and received a reply from the sales manager)? This seems disingenuous at best and, unless there is something that I'm missing, somewhat dishonest. We have a bottle at home and may get to it this weekend. The winery stated that the grapes are from various unspecified Napa sources, that the wine was aged in a mix of new French and American oak and was just recently bottled. I notice that there are other wines in the Chairman's Selection list with the "C.S." designation so I assume that the same question applies to those, as well. Again, I'm not questioning the value; just the stated "savings".

There are two vintages of the Kaiken Malbec Ultra in PLCB stores: 2003 and 2004. We tried some of the 2004 this past weekend with stuffed peppers in a tomato gravy. This wine is MUCH "bigger" than last year's "lesser" Kaiken Malbec offering (opened one of those last night w/pot roast ... only four left out of the original two cases). The Ultra 2004 is dense with a very rich mouthfeel and a strong tannic grip even after vigorous decanting. I don't have enough experience to say what difference some years in the cellar will bring but maybe the tannins will loosen up a bit. Even then, for me it's more of a sip-in-front-of-the-fire-on-a-cold-evening wine rather than a dinner accompanyment unless dinner is roasted or grilled beef. I am interested in other's opinions since I am always trying to learn.

From the Mikasa web site: "The OPEN UP collection comes in six styles, all featuring this distinctive shape. Made of KWARX, our exclusive, patented new material, each glass is break resistant [my emphasis], as clear as crystal, lead-free, and stands up to 2,000 dishwasher cycles." [Edited to add Mikasa Web site reference.]

While we're in Spain ... I have been looking for a suitable replacement for the Campillo Rioja Reserva 1996 that was around last year. Last night, I picked up a bottle of Montecillo Rioja Gran Riserva 1998 ($18.99) to have with some pork ribs on a beautiful evening for porch dining. In the glass, it's a nice dark red going toward brick at the edges. Aromas of dark berry (mostly blackberry) with leather notes in the background. Still tannic upon first opening, the tannins smoothed out in short order with blackberry and black current fruit coming forward. Not a long finish, but enough to make sipping pleasurable enough to continue after dinner. And back to the US ... We will be trying the R Mondavi Cabernet Sauv. 1996 over the weekend. I have high hopes for that one!

Not being all that familiar with rieslings, why do you consider this one too young to fully assess? What would you consider to be an appropriate age for a re-taste? The 2004 vintage of this wine is available in Pennsylvania at about $18. Do you know if Leitz is reasonably consistent from year to year? I am familiar with various Trimbach spätlese reislings. From your description, it appears that the Leitz is drier with more mineral because I feel that the Trimbachs are quite fruit-forward with any mineral aroma and taste way in the back. Of course, I am quite a novice here!

To be fair with this wine, there has only been the one bad bottle in the case so far. We have gone through nine or ten bottles and encountered just the one stinker. The rest have been fine: Nothing outstanding; just light and fruity as expected.

We had a bottle of the Cabreo Il Borgo 2000 (70% sangiovese, 30% cabernet sauv.) over the weekend. This is a very rich blend with lots of black fruit and a nice, long finish. The cabernet sauv. really shows through in the fruit but does not overpower. Pronounced tannins that soften with time in the glass. To me, this is a keeper. A quick web search shows it selling for $40+ at multiple outlets. At $20 in PA, it seems like a good deal.

On a trip to San Diego, my wife and I ate at Flemings (they of 100 wines by the glass) steakhouse for the first time. The food was standard high-end steakhouse fare and the wine list was nice and a pretty good value as well. I was surprised, however, that their stemware was uniform regardless of wine variety (I didn't ask about sparkling): A rather large-volume, large bowl glass that appeared suitable, although pretentious, for most reds but I felt almost silly sipping a Sauv. Blanc from it. Is this one-size-fits-all glass seen elsewhere in high-end, wine-forward restaurants? I haven't but I certainly have not made a study of it. It seemed unusual enough so that I noticed. [Edited to get the city right]

We opened another bottle of the L'Aire du Rossignol today. Awful! Not corked, I think, but maybe cooked. Almost no nose at all, no fruit and a very bitter finish that stays with you. We've had three bottles that were very good but this last one was bad news. All bottles were from the same case so cooked seems unlikely but I can't really say just what's wrong. It was just bad.

I, too, am happy to see the thin pancakes! Those used to be the rule but so many places today serve the fat, doughy version. In my mind, all that bulk detracts from the blend of flavors that makes the dish. Since our old favorite, Joe's Duck House, is long gone, it looks like it's time to try Sang Kee. Great pictures!

We had a bottle of this over the weekend with some Bahamian steamed fish. As advertised, it was light with enough acid to balance the pronounced fruit. It had a floral, strawberry aroma. Nothing exceptional or complex, it went very well with the fish which was a spicy preparation. I certainly didn't find anything about it that I would classify as bad. In fact, at $12.99, I will probably buy more. For what it's worth, I think that it may have had a plastic "cork" but my mind is muddled on that matter. That may have been a different wine.

I must report here that I agree with you 100% on this one Mike. While I didn't find it at all sour, I do agree completely on it being thin. I also don't get all the raves from Laban recently on this wine. I bought 2 bottles and have earmarked the 2nd as a gift for someone. Oh well, they can't all be great. ... ← Boy, and I liked our second bottle better than the first! Maybe my taste buds are just goofy ... or my palate uneducated (which it most definitely is). We'll just have to wait a bit and break out a third bottle for another try.

There is a fine B&B near the Warhol museum ... The Inn on the Mexican War Streets. It's across the street from a park and aviary with the Warhol within walking distance. They have a Web Page and a quick Google search will turn up lots of references. I would recommend the Carnegie museum near Carnegie-Mellon/University of Pittsburgh ... the art collection is fabulous and there are quite a few restaurants of the bohemian stripe around there. There are quite a number of good restaurants either near The Strip District or around the Incline (Majorca (sp?)... a Spanish place is good). There was a great BYO in Shadyside that we went to several times while my son was at Pitt. Haven't been there in a couple of years but if you want the name I could probably find it. Unless you're very hungry, split the sandwich at Primanti Bros and save room for dinner!

We picked up a bottle of the San Telmo Malbec 2004 for comparison with the Kaiken 2003 but have not had a chance to try it yet. Maybe over the weekend. We did try the Vionta Albarino that's on the Chairman's Selection list. This is the first albarino that we have had and, I must say, that we liked it. We had it by itself and with a simple shrimp dish. Not being familiar with albarino, I can't say how true to type it is but it seemed about halfway between a sauv. blanc and vigonier. Fruity but with enough acidity to hold up well to the food.

My wife and I tried a bottle of the Torres Black Label on Friday evening with dinner and enjoyed it. In fact, we've since picked up a case. I'm weak on the tasting note thing but here goes ... Color: Translucent garnet turning to brick at the edges when tilting the glass. Nose: I got a light honey/leather combination with fading dark fruits. (Maybe that honey was really vanilla from the oak?) It had an "aged" characteristic that I don't know how to describe but that I have noticed (and liked) in other older reds. Taste: Light (maybe thin!) for a cab but perhaps that's winemaker/regional style rather than a fault. I don't know enough about Spanish cabs to know any better. The fruit was still there up front with more acid showing as it went down. In our mind, this worked well with food. Still had noticeable tannins. Finish: Not too much here that stood on its own but with food it worked. Lingering berry flavors with some acid persisting. Overall: It worked for us. My wife remarked that it made her want to have a nice stew! [Edited for phrasing]

The Oreno seems to have disappeared from the list of Upcoming Chairman's Selections. I guess I should have made the trek to Newtown!

I'll second the value of the Kaiken Malbec! After trying a test bottle a few weeks ago, we picked up 2 cases and have already gone through six bottles or so. I don't know the usual price outside of PA but at $7.89, it's a tremendous bargain here. As you say, it has become our "house" red.

Some of these are already in stores. In fact, I picked up some of the Taylor VP a couple of weeks ago to savor in my declining years. On another subject, the Omaka Springs Sauv. Blanc is abundant but nowhere in stores near me (Phila. area). It's available for purchase on the Web site but I have never tasted it. Is there anyone who may have an opinion before I stock up on SB for the summer?