Robert Nesta Marley

isn't there an existing vong thread out there? i seemed to have run across it early 2002.....

they're probably only smelling it because they don't want to be perceived as "stealing" wine from a guest, as vilmor explicated. it's too bad that some people perceive it his way, especially after someone has assisted you in choosing your wine. i would hope that enough guests invite them to a glass at FL so that it isn't an issue that they don't actually taste wine they're serving. while TCA is generally apparent on the nose, some of the other potential flaws aren't. so i do think it's important to taste a wine before you serve the $300 bottle to someone who probably isn't used to IDing flaws. a great many people (who order expensive wine, even) can't ID TCA, even. so it's a sommelier's responsibility, as far as i am concerned, to do it for them. it's our job. so charge us for the 2 oz, will you? or spare me that resentment.

sparkling shiraz is always in order. for about an hour. after that, i usually need to move on to something else. but from what i understand it's poured for "occasions" in australia, after which they move straight to rye. .........okay, i've never been, but seems logical, no? what could you drink after fox creek's vixen? oh, but if i had some of that 1903 madeira in town. that might work for me on v-day. good call on the fortifieds. by the way, happy holiday marty...... drink well!

ctgm, the v-day menus in nyc can be just as outrageous, and probably more than outrageous in some cases. but everything is here. i mean, you can't even buy roses right now, of course. hallmark cards are probably sold out as well. in terms of calon vs. st. amour, well.....you're probably right in most cases. and st. amour isn't one of my top 5 crus. but i'd go with moulin-a-vent or morgon with vegetarian curry over a young st estephe if those were the only 2 choices i had. p.s. i had to restrain myself from making the st. amour joke to begin with. but i'm glad someone made it.

i don't know why, but i feel like hearing about what people here plan on drinking this valentine's day. . do you feel like it's a special ocasion & spend extra money on wine, etc. ? anyone doing the cheesiest thing & drinking their calon-segur ? i'm trying to find some egly-ouriet rose (to drink at midnight after work, in celebration of the end of the holiday. either that or some old "black wine" (cahors) . bah humbug.

a. kurosawa's dreams with white bordeaux. or absinthe.

then don't compare them. they're more than just "pinot", more than just two kinds of expressions of the same varietal. california syrah has so little in common with the northern rhone (thank goodness). so what good does it do you to compare the two? other than just support your determination to not like california pinot? i don't think of pinot when i think of the jensen vineyard fruit. i'm going to get a good thrashing for this, but calera pinot can be transcendant. get one and taste it.

i know i am so so so late, but as i explained to jordyn tonight, my modem has been dysfunctioning. can i please come? i understand if it is too late, but if someone could please call me (nina, i think you've got my number) if it is possible, i won't eat too much bread....... and i will bring cheese......

thanks for your post on an older CA pinot. josh jensen's pinots are outstanding new world wines, in my opinion. it takes a few years, though, to realize it, from my experience; quite a bit of caramel, overshadowing the fruit in their youth. tried the jensen vineyard?

probably could have used an ice bath.

jaybee, was your bottling a VDQS, then? also, did you get it at chambers st.? steve, i do think SF joe has talked about its ability to age quite gracefully. perhaps it might be interesting to find some older bottles. but yes, i do favor savigny (and i'd be interested in finding some vin jaune), although it doesn't seem like the two have much in common save for their offbeat ways. too bad about the leroy.

could you talk about the romarantin, steve? or someone else? and how was the '69 leroy? singing or not?

ah, ali's! i was with you in spirit! i haven't been around to read much, but i hope stellabella's having a marvelous time . . .

"SF joe", what's up with your name, by the way -- do you permanently reside in san francisco? are you just haunting us here in new york? good luck on finding millbrook meat retail. but did you know millbrook winery is owned by the williams-selyem people..... a colleague poured us off this W-S marsanne blend tonight, and it set off a bunch of trivia. but you probably aren't concerned with much new world trivia.......

that is way funny, FG. thanks.

oops. charles beat me to the correction, i see now.

no, not an after-dinner wine. amarone is vinified dry. it's got dried raisin, perhaps prune notes that parallel those in some porto. excellent with a cheese course . . . i'd add bussola to the list of recommended producers. they're very sweet people.

one could also conclude that once people know about wine, they generally *will* drink better, and although the price of a bottle may be somewhat relative to the paycheck they get every week, the percentage of that check that is spent on wine will increase the more frequently someone tastes great wine. otherwise, a wine lover knows when it's time to drink beer. fine wine is consumed by people who appreciate it. we just find a way to drink it. it may not be as often as others, but an educated palate is an educated palate and that's it.

yeah, lighten up. you're overreacting. can't you all play nice? you guys need a vacation!

one year when i was in college i ground up ad(z)uki beans, coarsely, and bottled them in miscellaneous decorative glass jars. the paste makes an outstanding body/face scrub. to be honest, though, i really can't tell you if anyone in my family actually used them....i think they were scared . another year i compiled dry ingredients for different recipes & gave them to people with the recipe. it was pretty thoughtful, if i may say so myself. but, alas, i too am in need for ideas. . . .very, very time-efficient ones.

kermit lynch bought the winery along with the guy from vieu-telegraph just before the '98 harvest, and from what i understand the wine has only gotten better. it's on restaurant saul's list (on brooklyn's smith street row).

steve, i don't know if you have strong opinions about kermit lynch, but have you ever had "his" wine from gigondas, domaine les paillieres? i don't know about retail availability, but if it's out there it should be about $30. it's excellent.

suprised, i think most of us are not here. but being put on the spot, i say why should we have such low expectations? especially since WS is most people's introduction into buying wine. it's scary.