Don Giovanni

Pinault woes may force Château Latour sell-off Click On Me

From a small business standpoint, Wegmans is a capitalized, dominating player in the market. The addition of in store wine would not stop at the lower and mid-level market. The prefer the upper middle demographic and would, err rather will push any competition out. I don't think it's any secret that this has long been their desire and with the recent purchase of the area's largest wine/spirits store, this is what they're anticipating. ← Hey Gordo, This is why I have made our tasting-room the primary source for my wines...lost on a shelf is no good for anyone...if they do let the hounds out Wegmans will kill all the markets...except farm wineries like mine who specialize in micro lots of quality... Cheers !!!

Yes , as do all bubbles...but if you own a great cellar you best have the wine for drinking...what I am thinking is as the great wines come to market at reduced prices ...this may be the last time we will ever see the price this low...in 2009 ...this will be the year people will say I should of...

Wine Fund Redemptions will hit the fine wine market in 2009 hard !!! As an investor in one thing or another in my lifetime I have an unemotional feeling that great wines will come to auction forced one way or another...2009 will be a very great buyers investor wine market...now if a new fund came to market with 50 mill and a detailed strategy that could be a long term play... This is the straw that broke wines back...this is the bubble at it's best...funds buying wine...and then look and read the link ...see the video...see the top a captured wine bubble broadcast... Listen to the knock in the beginning of the clip, a low shot toward Mr Parker... Click On Me 05' changed the wine world due to the outside competing for wine ...2008 was the year that broke 05' legacy... as a contrarian that was the top for me and to see the wine prices go down... for Gary this should be humbling ...

www . Wine 101.TV Show # 79 What To Cleanse Your Palate With...??? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wW2WHQZ8FGk

No so bad for the consumer , but we need NYS wines in the stores too...

Wine bottles going down the tube? Click On Me Not in my lifetime...no way !!!!!

Grocery stores selling wine could change wine sales forever in NYS Click On Me

Good question...I found out today that a winery in CA is useng 2 of them in the production room...and they are happy...small world...

NASA technology found to remove cork taint Click On Me

Black radish extract may replace sulphur dioxide for wine: study Click On Me this last part is where the problem is ...taste...bottom line... also when SO 2 was used alone you got more anthocyanin...this seem like it's great at first glance , but take a good look and you smell @rap...

Icewine harvest begins in Niagara Quote: Canada's icewine harvest began on 7 December in Niagara, as temperatures dipped below -8C (17.6F) and grapes froze on the vine. Quote: There is slow decline in the number of days that fall below -8C (17.6F), the necessary temperature for picking icewine grapes,' said Dr. Tony Shaw of Brock University in St Catharines, who studies climate trends in Ontario's wine regions. Click On Me

Do you find salt in a wine pleasing or a flaw ? Salts in wine...disclosure I have interest in North Fork Long Island Vineyards and sometimes the salt I get from my fruit is very enjoyable...It is this salt that comes from the sea and is very natural...if someone was to taste some salt would you call it a flaw...then if you knew it came from a maritime influence would you change your opinion and call it a part of terroir as it should be...now the other salts that you can taste can come from wines treated with calcium sulfate...these wines are plastered...why because the are from must treatments...last if a wine is over treated with sodium-ion-exchangers they will taste of salt...source page 77...Wines: Their Sensory Evaluation...Amerine and Roessler out of print UCD...1975... So for me the bit of the sea salt reminds me of that sense of place...this I find when supple creates a great distinct wine...if not from the sea then to me it's a flaw...

Shssssh! Don't tell anyone. The prices will go up! ← I think they offer one of the best QPR wines in the world...

FINGER LAKES RIESLINGS got a big boost this week: 10 rated over 90 points I guess I made my point at the Riesling Shoot-Out 2008 Nov ...it feels good to be scored without biased... Quote: Originally Posted by Jim Trezise UNCORKNY FINGER LAKES RIESLINGS got a big boost this week, with 10 receiving scores of 90 or above from Wine & Spirits magazine, the only major consumer wine magazine where the 90-point “glass ceiling” has truly been broken, and in this case shattered, for Finger Lakes Rieslings. The 90 or above scores went to Hermann J. Wiemer (Dry, Dry HJW Vineyard, and Dry Magdalena Vineyard), Dr. Konstantin Frank (Dry, and Semi-Dry), Sheldrake Point (Dry, and Riesling), Hosmer (Dry, and Riesling), and Rooster Hill. In the past, there have been a few sporadic 90 or better ratings for these wines in other publications, but generally 89 has been tops. For example, the December 15 Wine Spectator rates many of the same wines, with noticeably lower scores, like an 88 (the top score) for the Dr. Frank Dry Riesling that got 93 in Wine & Spirits, and an 87 for the Sheldrake Point Dry Riesling which received a 91. Why the difference? Some people say it’s all about money—if you advertise you get better ratings—while others vehemently deny any commercial connection. In any case, we don’t advertise in any of the publications, so it’s a moot point here. So is it the standards of the magazines, the palates of the tasters, some internal policy or quota system for 90 or above? Who knows? But there is a clear and longstanding pattern. In any case, Finger Lakes Rieslings are getting on the world’s wine map.

WinePod Online School of Winemaking http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Imag...ab46a&Track=202 So how many are going to rush into this fine easy wine production.... Click On Me

TN: STERLING VINTNER's COLLECTION SHIRAZ 2006 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TN: STERLING VINTNER's COLLECTION SHIRAZ 2006 Central Coast... Color is brilliant violet red edges are pale red...well the color was the best part of this wine... Nose dark black fruits , blackberry, dark plum, pepper black with candy licorice anise oil backing it up... Mouth-feel is supple light , balanced yet way to soft for me...supple hint of oak...must of been old oak...very old...easy drinking some acid attack on the finish 13.5 Alc By Vol drink-cook NOW $12.99 84 points...

Wine competitions in California show shift away from zins Click On Me So I have to ask this question...?... maybe Syrahs and petite sirahs are taking on Zin characteristics...due to style...or maybe Zin is getting too bold and fat and the judges are confused...surely something is going on...???>..

Adam and Roger Dial Leave Appellation America I saw this coming a long time ago...too much complication with too little money...= your out of there... Click On Me

TN: The Lost Nobel Grape Carmenère SANTA EMA 2004 Chile The color is a wonderful deep ruby red with a violet glow...the edges are ruby red this is a dark ink wine... The Nose is all about chili pepper with a cashmere cherry chocolate the pepper is not green, it's great...tobacco fresh and pleasant... The mouthfeel is round , slippery, mellow, chili pepper with a cashmere dancing on the palate, carob, dark chocolate, dipped in cherry pie, soft supple, long hang time...so much from a forgotten grape...a Nobel great grape lost from Bordeaux Eight months in oak...just right for this lost Nobel grape...Carmenère... Alc by vol 13.8% 88 points I found it astonishing that this grape could be mistaken for both merlot and cabernet frank... after tasting this wine grape more cab frank ish than merlot...really the mouthfeel is slippery like a cab frank and a cab sauv. blend... funny it ripens after cab sauv. this alone would make it site and AVA specific...one US producer is a BB Member Mary Baker at Dover Canyon Winery in Paso Robles web site Click On Me Quote:

Demystifying Wine Expertise in Expert and Novice Wine Judges Demystifying Wine Expertise: Olfactory Threshold, Perceptual Skill and Semantic Memory in Expert and Novice Wine Judges I found this study fascinating ...read it and then read it again...it's very thought provoking...how we communicate is key toward getting to the real olfactory facts...experts don't have to think about how to communicate, thus they are more accurate...my conclusion is when you write tasting notes and judge wine just write what you think at the time...don't worry about the verbiage or you will lose the note... Click On Me Details of odorants employed as materials... Click On Me

Finger Lake USA Award Winning Wineries Put To The Test and Failed Jancis resent trip to our region was staged and very misleading…first I am very outspoken about the value of ‘award winning wineries’ …with over many thousands of competitions in the world each year ….anyone can win a metal or an award if you enter enough of them…so I never enter any because it’s a business…they are in it to make money and also have fun then maybe they get it somewhat right on scoring a wine and someone wins…I salute the winemaker or wineries that never enter a contest…in our region the humble make the best wines…far greater and complex than the metal seekers…we put our money in our wine not big buildings that people comment the best thing about XYZ winery was the view, after tasting your wines…we have producers, winemakers that used to work for the big wineries who opened up and are making very good wines…their voice is muted by Trade Associations that charge $10,000 per year to join them…also by the inept Uncork New York head that never grew a grape or made a wine in his life… I have on many occasions told them the truth about a few articles they wrote about and knew nothing as to the science of making wine…it’s nice to know political people to get the job that someone more qualified should be doing…I can think of many who would be doing a much better job…retired winery owners…winemakers...etc…not some marketing person with no history of viticulture…other then by walking through one… So what’s my point …well Jancis wasted her time…not her fault…because she did not taste the wine from the best producers…the small handcrafted winemakers who used to make wine for the big wineries and are being ignored because they are like me not playing a fixed game…the scores Jancis gave out were also a bit off…way too high for one producer who is the joke of the region amongst customers…day in and out…real big building very nice view…retched wine… What did I learn …well that the public is being overloaded with ‘award winning wines’…this is what they are after… someone to show them the way…unfortunately it’s the wrong way…the right way is a cliché …find the small producers the cult wineries, as they make the best wines …at least in our region… I can think of as many as 30 wineries whose wines would have showed nicer than the ‘Award Winning Wineries’…more confident than I ever have been on how I am building my business…word of mouth and it’s what’s in the bottle that counts not how big or pretty the view is…so we renegade winemakers are in the background ROFLOAF when we see the dog and ugly pony show that Jancis and many other critics are subjected to…next time you are in the Region give me a ring I will secure quality wines…rather than manipulated ‘Award Winning Wineries’ and do a quality wine tasting…back to harvest…best and better than 95, 01, 05, now 07’ three vintages in a decade and I live to work them…I feel truly blessed… As for the tricksters and hucksters I will leave what they do best…run the spin machine make noise about a region and then fall on their face at presentation time…inept, ignorant, and egotistical sheep…going for the gold…somewhere even if a dog a cat a pig and a goat were the judges…it all about the gold…not the wine…what a shame…someday someone will present our region right…if I have years that someone will be me…good day...cheers...!!!

Daniel, I don't like to fight...not to worry... when you are a producer you develop a real taste for wines that are AVA specific...you learn them by smell alone...I once had to identify 3 of my Merlot's with out tasting them or looking at them only smelling them...now that's blind, or the customer told me they would not buy 2 cases of wine that they were going to...at first I thought it was a joke...well it was a real test...my wife making sure they played fair had me walk away with eyes shut I swirled and nailed each one without a taste...if I had to do this with wines I did not make I would be in Mr. Broadbent's camp...we are all human, the very power of suggestion is mind blowing...we like to play tricks on each other, you know winemakers...I took a bottle of cab franc to someone and labeled it cab sauv...well it was the best cab sauv. he ever had...he got me back almost with one of his wines...so yes people do mistake wines for others...how about the wine snob that I poured for that told me the cab franc was wonderful, I had to diplomatically tell him I must of miss spoke because you were drinking the Bold Merlot...ok a 7% CF blend in it...maybe that's what he picked up on...it's all fun at the end of the day...life is good...cheers....

Daniel, The point is that some people can't tell the difference...they did not know why...now they do... never had that problem...the true test would you be able to do it blind...another point is many people don't know that out of upwards of 10,000 wine grapes...we snuggle to very few, yet many are related...so if you like XYZ it may just happen that they are related...

Ever wonder why Syrah and Pinot some times taste the same ? Because they are related !!! Genealogy of wine grape cultivars: 'Pinot' is related to 'Syrah' Click On Me Enjoy...next time you do a blind taste and get the two mixed up you will know why...