Ok, I have been pretty much lurking here for a year or so. Maybe I have
posted 6 times. The afw community is the friendliest most civil newsgroup
I have ever consistently read. I have learned much and enjoyed
"listening" in on your conversations. Thank you all very much.

So I am going to post about wines my wife and I are drinking and see if the
messages enhance the discussions. First a little about me:

I live outside of Cleveland, Ohio, USA.

I have maybe 150 bottles in an unconditioned basement cellar. Most of the
wines are American, but not all. I do not have any old wines that Uncle
Henry left me that I would like to know how much they are worth and where I
might sell them.

I use Cellar!software to track my collection, but I know where every bottle
is. Yes, I sometimes stroke the bottles lovingly

I decant when it seems to make sense--old or young reds mainly.

I am a pure amateur and don't hold out any expertise or knowledge.

I am in favor of screw caps and stelvin.

I buy most of my wines based on recommendations from here, Wine Spectator
and Wine Enthusiast.

As a consumer, I think selelcting wines is really difficult. How does one
know whether the 01 Chateau Bop do bop from France for $29.99 is better
than the 99 Big State Red from California for $15.00 when the consumer has
never heard of either wine (fictional here) and doesn't have a clue about
the vintages or the differences between the wines? My answer is read the
reviews and buy on the recommendations. If I like something (say the
Loosen-Michelle Eroica) then I buy more.

So here is what we have drunk this week and my thoughts on them:

Wednesday (January 5) I came home and a case of wine was on the porch from
the online order I had placed. 6 bottles of 01 Simi Landslide and 6
bottles of 04 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc. My wife was starting parmesan
risotto and needed a cheap white so I chose a Estancia Pinot Grigio and
decided to drink a bottle of the Kim Crawford. Disappointing. It seemed
one dimensional--citrusy tart and nothing else. Screw top. I prefer the
03 Nobilo. I ended up making the risotto which was pretty darn good. 8-)

(Now the moment of truth. Do I give wines a rating like Dale or just use
words for my impressions?) Ok, the Kim Crawford is a B- and cost me $12.99
(all my currency will be USD).

Thursday--Dinner out to celebrate my wife's birthday and friends'
anniversary. We drank the 01 Floral Springs Napa Cabernet. Fruity, with
not much tannin. Enjoyed the wine, but not memorable. B and cost $48 at
the restaurant.

Friday--Lamb chops, roasted potatoes and asparagus. As we cooked, I opened
an Argenta Malbec that someone had brought to our Christmas party. I found
nothing to like about it. No fruit, dull taste and alcohol vapors. I gave
it to my wife, she said "yecch" so we ditched it. I am not sure I have
ever identitied a TCA contaminated bottle, and don't think this one was.
It was just mediocre wine. So, I give it a D. Wonder who foisted it off
on us?

After the disaster, I opened an 02 Terrazas de los Andes Malbec that Wine
Spectator had put in its top 100 wines of 2004. I had 4 bottles in the
cellar. Here was a chance to compare 2 Malbecs and see if it is the style
of the wine or the difference in the wineries. The Terrazas was night and
day different. It had a chewy taste with nice spices. For $13.95 this is
my favorite wine of the week--so far. B+ (still not very sure of how I am
going to grade).

So, this was long, and future posts--assuming for some reason I don't
unleash a flood of flames and go back to luking--will be shorter.

Bill Hogsett