about CA wine. But first a personal note, I am now an official wine
whore. I got a part time job sampling wines for Southern Wine and
Spirits ( so also into the liquor monoply chain as well!). My wife
thought it would be a great way to get me out of the house and away from
the computer! I thought uggh dump truck red and firehydrant white, but
this week I have poured

Perrier Jouet Gran Brut and Fleur de Champagne 98
(of which one bottle was corked c'est dommage indeed! I poured two
samples frm the second bottle and instantly recognized the problem from
the looks on the faces of the two ladies, this wasn't just a litle
corked, this was text book anyone could see corked)
Mumm Cordon Rouge and Mumm's Napa Brut Prestige (the Napa was quite good
and at arong $16 a clear QPR sparkler.)

Last night I got to taste Chalone 2005 Pinot and Chardonnay. The
Chardonnay was heavenly, but the plastic cups just didn't give it any
justice. In them the wine was much like a Pouilly Fuisse, later in a
proper glass Grand Cru Chablis or good Montrachet with well intergrated
subtle warm oak tones, no toast just elegance in a glass.

The Pinot sampled in plastic better, one could catch the fruit and
silkiness. More of its complexity was evident and it was indeed a
pleasure. We were pouring Acacia beside the Chalone and it was
interesting to see how those who liked the Acacia Carneros Chard seemed
unimpressed by the Chalone. But those who liked the Chalone loved it and
found it to be, as it was for me, a worthwhie experience for a rainy
Thursday night.

Ahh well tonight I slum a bit . . . haven't had to get on my knees yet
though ;-)

--
Joseph Coulter
cruises and vacations
www.josephcoulter.com
877 832 2021
904 631 8863 cell

In the words of Darth Vader -- "come to the dark side, Luke" !!

Who knows, maybe you can get a liquor chain to throw out the vin
blecch and instead begin to promote vin extraordinaire!
Good luck - sounds like a fun gig

--
I'm trying a new usenet client for Mac, Nemo OS X.
You can download it at http://www.malcom-mac.com/nemo

AxisOfBeagles > wrote in news:nemoFri062207085748
@news.sf.sbcglobal.net:

> In the words of Darth Vader -- "come to the dark side, Luke" !!
>
> Who knows, maybe you can get a liquor chain to throw out the vin
> blecch and instead begin to promote vin extraordinaire!
> Good luck - sounds like a fun gig
>
>


Actually has been, tonight I actually get to say to strangers "How would
you like a little Menage a Trois tonight?"

--
Joseph Coulter
cruises and vacations
www.josephcoulter.com
877 832 2021
904 631 8863 cell

Joseph Coulter wrote:

> Mumm Cordon Rouge and Mumm's Napa Brut Prestige (the Napa was quite good
> and at arong $16 a clear QPR sparkler.)

Wait until you pour Roederer Estate non-vintage Brut. Hands-down
the best value in CA sparkling wine, and very consistently so.
My local Costco typically sells it for $16 and it's an *outstanding*
QPR sparkler.

Dana

On Jul 16, 2:40?am, Dana Myers > wrote:
> Joseph Coulter wrote:
> > Mumm Cordon Rouge and Mumm's Napa Brut Prestige (the Napa was quite good
> > and at arong $16 a clear QPR sparkler.)
>
> Wait until you pour Roederer Estate non-vintage Brut. Hands-down
> the best value in CA sparkling wine, and very consistently so.
> My local Costco typically sells it for $16 and it's an *outstanding*
> QPR sparkler.
>
> Dana

I enjoy the Roederer but if I'm going for total QPR I reach for the
Gruet every time. It sells for about $10.00 and is quite always a
crowd pleaser. It's also cool to watch peoples faces when you tell
them it's from New Mexico!

Bi!! wrote:

> I enjoy the Roederer but if I'm going for total QPR I reach for the
> Gruet every time. It sells for about $10.00 and is quite always a
> crowd pleaser. It's also cool to watch peoples faces when you tell
> them it's from New Mexico!
>

I find myself in agreement with you both. Dana, if I could get the
Roederer for your price, I'd snap it up. It's a mighty classy bit of
bubbles. Since I can't, I also go for the Gruet when I want a good QPR
sparkler. FWIW, I think that François Pinon's NV Sparkling Vouvray is
one of the few European sparkling wines that can compete for QPR.

Mark Lipton
--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

Mark Lipton wrote:
> Bi!! wrote:
>
>> I enjoy the Roederer but if I'm going for total QPR I reach for the
>> Gruet every time. It sells for about $10.00 and is quite always a
>> crowd pleaser. It's also cool to watch peoples faces when you tell
>> them it's from New Mexico!
>>
>
> I find myself in agreement with you both. Dana, if I could get the
> Roederer for your price, I'd snap it up. It's a mighty classy bit of
> bubbles. Since I can't, I also go for the Gruet when I want a good QPR
> sparkler. FWIW, I think that François Pinon's NV Sparkling Vouvray is
> one of the few European sparkling wines that can compete for QPR.

I'll have to seek out Gruet and Francois Pinon and give
them a try. I'm always happy to have more options for
good QPR :-)

Dana

Dana Myers wrote:

> I'll have to seek out Gruet and Francois Pinon and give
> them a try. I'm always happy to have more options for
> good QPR :-)

Because Pinon's sparkler is NV, it depends a lot on which years go into
the current release. I haven't had the most recent. The last release
was made of mostly (exclusively?) the '02, which was spectacular. I
understand that this year's is still good, but not quite in the same
league as the previous edition. Still, for $11-12 how picky can you
get? ;-)

Mark Lipton
--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com