agxo3 Posted February 26, 2007 Share Posted February 26, 2007 Hi! I'm new in MTC and this is my first post. I live in Northern CA, very close to the heart of America wine country. Am not much of a wine expert but I would like to it. Good luck to you! Hi VG! There's a long-lost wino out in Vallejo as well - Eagleyes. He's been off the group for quite a while now! But welcome! I'm in the Bay Area as well, further down in Fremont. You're lucky that you're so much closer to Napa and Sonoma than I am. Makes for a good way to get to know wines in general. Go tasting! Join a wine club or two just so you get exposed to some of the mid- to high-level wines that CA has to offer. A few of my faves in the Napa Valley - Neibaum-Coppola (now called Rubicon Estates) - great cabs!, Peju Province - good to very good cabs and a nice slightly fizzy rose for summer, Praeger Port Works, Heitz, Chimney Rock. Lots of others - you just have to go out and find your own set of faves - and it is likely to be a completely different list from mine. That's what makes wine so much fun! Faves in the Sonoma area - J (in Windsor) - great bubblies and pinot noirs, Davis Bynum - great pinot, Armida - cabs and zins, Sausal - zins from 100-year old vines. In Livermore - Retzlaff - cabs and zins, Fenestra - what a variety!, Wood Family - syrahs that sing. So - go tasting and share your findings with us! Quote Link to comment
agxo3 Posted February 26, 2007 Share Posted February 26, 2007 Hi Vallejo Guy! You live in a very enviable location just like our buddy, Agxo. I just got back from a quick sojourn to Northern Ca, where I had a chance to visit a few wineries in the Napa/Sonoma area. It was a surreal experience seeing all the wineries which I merely see in labels, and touch the grapevines which we lush about in this thread. Enjoy your wines, take part in this thread and stay healthy! Hey - what's this???? You were here and didn't bother to let me know? What did I piss you off or something??? Too bad! I would have loved to take to my faves - and I was out that way just last weekend! If nothing else a visit to Rubicon Estates as my guest (you get special privileges when you're a wine club member like I am! Free tastings and acces to the room where the library wines are served.) and to J in Windsor where they serve great wine and food pairings (again, free if you're a member's guest). Or to Retzlaff to see where my favorite cabs come from. Next time, let me know!!! Quote Link to comment
floppydrive Posted February 26, 2007 Share Posted February 26, 2007 Hey - what's this???? You were here and didn't bother to let me know? What did I piss you off or something??? Too bad! I would have loved to take to my faves - and I was out that way just last weekend! If nothing else a visit to Rubicon Estates as my guest (you get special privileges when you're a wine club member like I am! Free tastings and acces to the room where the library wines are served.) and to J in Windsor where they serve great wine and food pairings (again, free if you're a member's guest). Or to Retzlaff to see where my favorite cabs come from. Next time, let me know!!!Agxo, Is the Krug Winery still open? This is where I got to start liking wines. Quote Link to comment
masi Posted February 26, 2007 Share Posted February 26, 2007 good for you, pare!more details, please, and did you bring any booty home? Just had a day visit to the Coppola and Sterling wineries, pare. It was too overwhelming. O EB na tayo!!! Hey - what's this???? You were here and didn't bother to let me know? What did I piss you off or something??? Too bad! I would have loved to take to my faves - and I was out that way just last weekend! If nothing else a visit to Rubicon Estates as my guest (you get special privileges when you're a wine club member like I am! Free tastings and acces to the room where the library wines are served.) and to J in Windsor where they serve great wine and food pairings (again, free if you're a member's guest). Or to Retzlaff to see where my favorite cabs come from. Next time, let me know!!! My sincere apologies for not letting you know. It was really a very short trip (for some family issues/and a just enough to see a few childhood friends who already had a schedule cut out for me for the weekend. I had to fly back to Manila immediately since I am in the thick of the office construction fit out and a relocation. I plan to go back again, hopefully with the wife to try the bed and breakfast in Napa/Calistoga area. I will surely get in touch with you on my next visit. Quote Link to comment
clubber_lang Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 Pinot rules! Quote Link to comment
agxo3 Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 (edited) Agxo, Is the Krug Winery still open? This is where I got to start liking wines. Yup, Krug's still going strong, and still owned by Peter Mondavi, brother of the much more famous Robert Mondavi. I think the family feud's finally been patched up - sorta. Great cabs from Krug, better (I think) than from Robert Mondavi, at least the Napa Valley cabs. Opus One, of course, is a different beast altogether! Edited February 27, 2007 by agxo3 Quote Link to comment
agxo3 Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 Just had a day visit to the Coppola and Sterling wineries, pare. It was too overwhelming. My sincere apologies for not letting you know. It was really a very short trip (for some family issues/and a just enough to see a few childhood friends who already had a schedule cut out for me for the weekend. I had to fly back to Manila immediately since I am in the thick of the office construction fit out and a relocation. I plan to go back again, hopefully with the wife to try the bed and breakfast in Napa/Calistoga area. I will surely get in touch with you on my next visit. OK, I guess I'll forgiv you this time. But don't let it happen again, y'hear? So you went to Coppola? The Rutherford one, now called Rubicon Estates? Or did you go to the one in Sonoma - the "as yet unnamed" FFC winery? That used to be Chateau Souverain. You can still find the last of the Souverain wines at Costco and some other retailers, but at some point that label's going to go away. If you were up that way, then you were really close to places like Sausal, J, Jordan, Silver Oak, Armida, Davis Bynum, Seghesio....... Sterling's charging a lot now, I hear, including for that ride on the tram up to the peak. Never did like Sterling - to me they were a lot like Concannon. Big name, but not (to my taste, anyway) good wines. I go visit Concannon every 5 years, just to remind myself why I don't like their wines. Very wierd that they're next door neighbors to one of my faves, which is Retzlaff! Sterling is real close to some good wineries, too! Krug's nearby, as is Folie a Deux, and they're both good producers. the winemaker really does hav ea LOT to do with the wines! You came a few weeks too early! This coming weekend is the russian River Valley's annual Barrel Tasting Weekend. It's expanded now to include Alexander Valley and Dry Creek. $10 gets you a glass and entry to participating wineries to taste from the barrels, no just in the tasting room. Most of the wineries also have entertainment and food, all part of the event at no additional cost. I plan to go. My wife will be with me and will be my designated driver, so I can just go to town and taste everything in sight! Hey VG! You should go to this event as well. It's a great way to get to know the area, the wineries and the wines. Russian River Valley is know for great pinots. Alexander Valley for cabs and zins. Dry Creek for cabs. Also some very, very good restaurants in the area. I plan to have dinner at one of them after the wine tasting, but not sure yet which one. Quote Link to comment
floppydrive Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 (edited) Yup, Krug's still going strong, and still owned by Peter Mondavi, brother of the much more famous Robert Mondavi. I think the family feud's finally been patched up - sorta. Great cabs from Krug, better (I think) than from Robert Mondavi, at least the Napa Valley cabs. Opus One, of course, is a different beast altogether!Maybe it's more of a marketing issue - Robert might be better than Peter in this aspect. Just look at Rossi - it even comes in a jug - with a screw on cap! But it's available around the world. Haven't heard of Krug outside of California. The only other time I saw one was in Top Gun (the movie). Tom Cruise was at the girl's place and they were drinking a Krug chardonnay. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there another Krug winery that makes great champaign (or sparkling wine if it's not in France)? Edited February 27, 2007 by floppydrive Quote Link to comment
bods1000 Posted February 28, 2007 Author Share Posted February 28, 2007 Sterling's charging a lot now, I hear, including for that ride on the tram up to the peak. Never did like Sterling - to me they were a lot like Concannon. Big name, but not (to my taste, anyway) good wines. I go visit Concannon every 5 years, just to remind myself why I don't like their wines. Very wierd that they're next door neighbors to one of my faves, which is Retzlaff! Sterling is real close to some good wineries, too! Krug's nearby, as is Folie a Deux, and they're both good producers. the winemaker really does hav ea LOT to do with the wines! now there goes that terroir theory same location, same soil, same climate, but very different quality wines!more power to the winemakers! Quote Link to comment
male_spud Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 i've been drinking wine for a couple of years now (mostley chilean merlots and Napa valley cabernets) and would like to really get into the intricacies of wine tasting... any recommended reading material to give me a start? thanks! Quote Link to comment
agxo3 Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 Maybe it's more of a marketing issue - Robert might be better than Peter in this aspect. Just look at Rossi - it even comes in a jug - with a screw on cap! But it's available around the world. Haven't heard of Krug outside of California. The only other time I saw one was in Top Gun (the movie). Tom Cruise was at the girl's place and they were drinking a Krug chardonnay. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there another Krug winery that makes great champaign (or sparkling wine if it's not in France)? Definitely marketing making the difference here. From what I seem to recall, that was one of the reasons for the split - Robert wanted to grow the business and Peter wanted to be the "true winemaker". There's a Krug in Reims, France - and it does champagne. www.krug.com Reims is one the cities know =n for its champagne producers. The other is Epernay, at the other end of the champagne region. Moet & Chandon and Perrier-Jouet are among the top Epernay producers. Krug is one of Reims' best known houses. Quote Link to comment
agxo3 Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 now there goes that terroir theory same location, same soil, same climate, but very different quality wines!more power to the winemakers! I think terroir does make a difference, but so does the winemaker. Noah's Livermore cabs (under the REtzlaff label) are markedky different from his Los Chamizol (Sonoma County) cabs under the Noah label. The Livermore cabs are riper and rounder, the Los Chamizon cabs are more refined and austere. Both good but in very different ways. But I do think the winemaker has more influence than the terroir, at least in California. Quote Link to comment
bods1000 Posted March 1, 2007 Author Share Posted March 1, 2007 I think terroir does make a difference, but so does the winemaker. Noah's Livermore cabs (under the REtzlaff label) are markedky different from his Los Chamizol (Sonoma County) cabs under the Noah label. The Livermore cabs are riper and rounder, the Los Chamizon cabs are more refined and austere. Both good but in very different ways. But I do think the winemaker has more influence than the terroir, at least in California. A great winemaker can coax out a great wine from a less-than-ideal terroir, that's for sure...Been drinking a lot of Stonehavens recently. Just rediscovered this Aussie wine. Both their shiraz and shiraz-cab are great value for the money. Nothing complicated, very fruit-driven. I'd say a steal for about P350.Been turned off by Angove's Butterfly Ridge. They now come in screw caps Quote Link to comment
floppydrive Posted March 1, 2007 Share Posted March 1, 2007 A great winemaker can coax out a great wine from a less-than-ideal terroir, that's for sure...Been drinking a lot of Stonehavens recently. Just rediscovered this Aussie wine. Both their shiraz and shiraz-cab are great value for the money. Nothing complicated, very fruit-driven. I'd say a steal for about P350.Been turned off by Angove's Butterfly Ridge. They now come in screw caps Hehehe, screw caps! Reminds me of a muppets movie - Kermit & Miss Piggy go to a restaurant and Kermit orders wine. The waiter opens it and asks "Would you like to sniff the cap?" Any comments on wineries that come out with semi-sweet wines? I think Angoves has a semi-sweet red, and it also has a screw cap. So does Novelino. Quote Link to comment
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