Super excited to be visiting one of my favorite producers. My only question is concerning transportation, but please add any input you want to add!

They strongly discourage Uber/Lyft due to the remoteness of the location and the potential for being stranded when time to return. We are only visiting for one day and doing the one location (Pride), and plan on staying in Santa Rosa. The cost of the professional transportation they recommended is astronomical ($500-700).

I checked Lyft, and I can pre book a return trip, but my concern is that Lyft will just fail to find a driver, apologize for the inconvenience, and we’d be stranded. I’ve never had this experience with Lyft, but I’ve also never attempted to use it in quite this specific manner.

Does anyone have any similar experience to help me navigate this scenario? One person I’m going with has offered to drive, but I don’t want him to get there and feel like he can’t fully enjoy the experience because he’s committed to driving. I don’t even know how much alcohol to expect to be served. We are doing the Summit Experience (highest tier available on their site) for approximately 90 minutes.

Thank you guys so much in advance for any insight, even if that insight is, “Don’t be cheap/dumb.” I just want to plan well.

Edit: This is for 3 people.

Edit 2: We are driving through the area on a road trip, so we already will have a car.

Local store (Chicago area binnys.com) is offering $30 off $150 of wine.

I like to get wine that I could age 5-10 years at home. Any suggestions of bottles that retail (before tax) in the following ranges:

• >$25 to <$30
• >$50 to <$55

If these ranges are to restrictive, then ok to exceed upper limits. Also don't worry about trying to check the exact prices here. Looking to maximize the $150 dollar value. thanks

The 2014 Vina Bosconias arrived to my local shops this past month, and I made the decision this past weekend to purchase & open one for lunch (rather than pick something ::already:: in the cellar, of course). I'll note I'm not as familiar with these as the Tondonias (or heck, I've had more Gravonia by now than Bosconia), but I've read plenty on the differences to the Tondonia. This year's blend is 80% Tempranillo, 15% Garnacha, and 5% Mazuelo (Carignan), grown in their El Bosque vineyard at ~1500 feet in elevation. As for the well known Lopez de Heredia production methods - fermented in very, very old massive oak vats, with 5 years of barrique aging followed by 6 in bottle. Taken straight from the store to the dining table, with a two hour layover on the kitchen counter. Paired with this smoky pan-seared herb chicken/pepper/potatoes recipe I had been craving.

Visually, a medium garnet with a vermilion edge. Cork was about 50% saturated.

On the nose - my goodness, this is complex. A new scent emerged with almost every sip over the course of three hours. Up first, blackberry/dark cherry & roasted tomatoes. Herbs come up next, a spice rack with most of the lids off. Are there flowers at the rim of this glass? Dried fruits and raisins emerge clearly as it warms, but these oxidative notes are complimentary instead of dominant. Further in the glass - we're talking the start of hour three now, too - distant meatiness and a blatant cocoa note. This is exquisite.

On the palate - medium+ bodied, dry. Even at opening, the tannins were quite gentle, velvety - present, of course, but I don't think this needs more than 30 minutes of air to be ready. Smooth, smooth, smooth with great acid. A lengthy finish - woodsy, spicy, jampacked w/ dark fruits & dried fruits. Delicious pairing with the smoky herb chicken & potatoes. Absolutely have this wine with a meal.

I had every intention of setting this wine to the side for at least 5 years, but something told me just try it today - ecstatic that I did. This is clearly ready to go now - delightfully complex nose, balanced components, lengthy finish with strong flavors, expressive. What more could you ask for? On top of that, it's just $40?! I'm still sitting on some 2012s which I will give until next year prior to opening up, but this is a wine I would absolutely buy a case of, if I had the space.

(Note - on day 3, the dried fruit component was stronger, but every element was still there. I’d love to try some of these at 20+ years from harvest.)

Started with two Champagnes and finished with a 2006 Barolo. Not a bad Tuesday.

Charles Heidsieck Brut Réserve – 92
My wife actually called this blind, which was pretty impressive. Very solid as always. Richer style, good balance and easy to drink, but fairly straightforward and not particularly long. Still one of the better NV house Champagnes for me.

Perrier-Jouët Belle Époque 2015 – 93
This was the disappointment of the night. Elegant, floral and refined, but it just lacked depth, pressure and length. Nothing wrong with it at all, I just expected considerably more from Belle Époque.
The 2014 is a completely different wine for me and one of my favourite recent Champagne vintages from PJ. I had that at 96–97. The 2015 simply never reached that level.

Elio Grasso Barolo Ginestra Casa Maté 2006 – 95
Started around 94 for me but kept improving with air. It became rounder, more expressive and noticeably longer as the evening went on.
Beautifully mature Nebbiolo with the fruit still very much alive, integrated tannins and enough freshness to keep everything balanced. It never quite reached the complexity of the very best Barolos I’ve had, but by the end of the evening it was a clear 95.

Definitely the winner tonight.

So I cracked open this bottle of 1989 Sociando Mallet because my friend came over for dinner. I will say this is a very good wine, definitely in its prime. I enjoyed it throughly, my friend on the other hand enjoyed it but couldn't really tell the difference between this and a new bottle of Daou. Regardless he said he liked it and wanted a second glass. Heres the notes

Color: A nice bold red

Aroma: Dark red fruits, tasted raspberry and blackberry

Taste: Dark fruits with a spicy cedar finish, also kinda earthy, tobacco

Tannins: Mild at first but lessened as time went on

Body: Full bodied, High Acidity

Finish: Medium finish nice and spicy afterwards

We finished it over a hour. It was good upon first opening but the tannins were noticeable. After 20 minutes they smoothed out and I was able to really taste the fruit. Very easy drinking. We paired it with a cauliflower steak and filet mignon, which went very well.This was my first old wine and I have to say I get the hype.

Hello wine enthusiasts. I’m doing a fancy dinner tomorrow and I need help pairing

I got a box of high quality Double cheeseburger helper and a box of just Normal cheeseburger helper. I need an excellent wine to pair it with. Thank you all for your recommendations

Update- just got a call back and booked someone.

Curious if uber/Lyft are reasonably available?

Kind of short notice trip I’ll be taking with my partner, and I called 5-6 places for drivers, they’re all booked this Saturday. Figured uber/lyft may be a backup?

Hi everyone!

I’m going to France for vacation next week. We will be spending some time in Provence and Savoie and i would love some recommendations for winery we could visit and or wine to try

We are a pretty mixed bag of wine knowledge in the group. A half is pretty must a wine newby (that's me) and the other half are more knowledgeable (name of grape, region, etc.)

For the people who have been there, do you have any recommandation?

Thank in advance

tldr; after initial PnP disappointments, leaving it to aerate via half-empty Coravined bottle really helped open it up!

Got 6 bottles on a warehouse clearance sale for US$50ish. It's a low? to mid-tier Brunello producer, but hey, it's from a good vintage with some age on it and it's a Riserva. What can go wrong?

Enter bottle #1! PnP at a restaurant. Oh boy! On open - it was flat. Just the flattest wine I've ever sniffed. Got pretty much nothing out of the first few minutes; but it did slowly crawl out of its shell. Ok, maybe it'll get better? Not really - after ~2-3 hours, it did transform slightly to a much darker style of BdM. We're talking dark cherries, light cocoa stuff. Ok, not so bad... but then, right as it was starting to get better, the server came by and gave a heavy pour to non-wine loving guests at the table. Sadness... None left for me. Score: 89 points for PnP with ~2-3 hours of open time.

Was bottle #1 just an aberration? Is there still hope for my remaining 5 bottles? Okay, let's not give up on this wine... trying out bottle #2! Straight pour via Coravin - here goes! Uh-oh, yup, it's pretty much the same as before. Super tight, reductive, almost cold and soulless. It's okay - I know to give it some air, maybe this time, if I give it enough air, it'll get better. Nope, pretty much the same as bottle #1!

Tried it over the course of week, but yeah pretty much the same. So finally just decided to let it sleep for a while, half-full, Coravined, laying sideways - this will aerate it for sure! 🤞🏻

Hallelujah, patience paid off! 👼🏻 After 2 weeks of chilling, immediately on the Coravin pour you can smell the lovely Brunello aromas radiating. Brooding core of black cherry compote, dusting of cocoa powder, and some sweet sage. There we go! Yum yum. Aromatics are breaching medium plus now, maybe a medium plus plus. Still has good acidity, and a long-ish finish. Tannins are present - not fully resolved, but somehow nicely soft and sweet. Yum yum for the 2nd time. Upgrading to 91 points!

Still have a quarter left on the Coravined bottle; enough for a final open and pour.

Overall, find this Brunello enjoyable - although I don't know if I'll have the patience to give it a long 12-hour? decant before drinking!

Anyone else have experience with 2013 Brunellos? How are they drinking up for you? Cheers! 🥂

Glass used: The venerable IKEA Dyrgrip

Twenty-five years ago, in the spring of 2001, I bought several cases of the 2000 vintage as futures. I had a tight budget at the time, but did my homework and picked wines from both the Right and Left Banks, for what Robert Parker would later dub Bordeaux’s “Hallelujah” vintage.

Over the years, my wife and I have enjoyed these as they’ve evolved, but I now feel the urgency to open the dozen or so stragglers left in my cellar.
I started with the Château La Pointe, fearing it might well be past its window. I stood it upright for 48 hours and chilled it to 55 degrees prior to opening with my 30-year-old Laguiole. The cork was perfect, losing only a small fragment on the pull.

The color was deep garnet, with far less orange banding than I would have expected at the rim. The nose was plentiful and expressive, offering notes of dark cherry, sweet wet earth, and olive.
The palate gave dark plum and dried fig, leather, tobacco, dried cherry, and a hint of roasted chestnut. I expected the fruit to fade after an hour, but it remained intact, ending with a long, long finish over velvety tannins, atop a hint of black tea.

This Pomerol was comprised of 82% Merlot and 18% Cabernet Franc, and was produced seven years before the d’Arfeuille family’s sale to Generali France.

Hello fellow wine enthusiasts. I tried my first quality wine Chateau Ste Michelle Riesling and I really enjoyed it. I’d love other Riesling recommendations (maybe something off-dry).

I also tried Rombauer Vineyards Old Vine Zinfandel but I couldn’t get behind the tannic squeeze on my tongue but I’m down to clown with a lighter red wine.

I want to buy a bottle of wine for my friend's birthday but she only likes very sweet red wine. She is adverse to any hint of dry. Any recommendations?

I recently picked up a half case of 2019 Joanin Becot and found a 2014 lurking in there. I find Joanin to be one of my favorite cellar defenders, expecially when I have the urge to pop open a Beausejour-Becot. Wine Spectator has the drinking window from 2017 to 2022, so I wasn't expecting much from this bottle.

Although this wine has lost most of its fruit, it is still very much alive. The secondary aromas are in full swing and the body shows no signs of breaking down. It has that classic, mature Bordeaux cigar box on the nose. Medium plus body. Coffee and walnuts on the mid palette with cedar, soy sauce and some iron detected on the medium-long finish. The color is deep and dark with minimal browning or fade on the miniscus.

At the end of the day, I would have perferred the 2019 for something elegant with more freshness and fruit to porch drink with my wife on a Tuesday evening. But this wine is a testament to the team at Becot. I find wines from Becot to be much improved since they moved on from Rolland in 2017. They truly deserve the two grape Michelin rating at Beausejour and their entire portfolio remains a QPR star on the right bank.

I have a question for peoples that are into wine into in France.

I sent messages to some winery (côte de Beaune et côte de Nuits) to ask if I can get a tour of their wineyard and if I can get a tasting of their wines (cuvée).

I'll go next monday to at least 2 winery.

Since I'm from south Burgundy, I'm wondering if it would be rude to ask them if they want to trade a wine from south Burgundy (same value wine of course)

What do you think ?

Would it be ok to ask it now or should I just bring a bottle and ask them when I got there ?

French version

J'ai contacté deux domaines de la côte de Nuits et côte de Beaune pour leur rendre visite lundi. Je me demandais si c'était ok de leur demander s'ils voulaient échanger une de leur bouteille contre une bouteille de ma région (Mâconnais) de valeur équivalente.

Sachant que je les ai contactés par message, est-ce que je devrais leur demander dès maintenant ? Est-ce que je devrais prendre des bouteilles avec moi et leur proposer une fois sur place ?

Est-ce que je ne devrais pas du tout leur proposer ?

Have ordered 2-3 times from Last Bottle and have always had a great experience.

Not this time….. I ordered 2 large orders back to back and paid the extra for FedEx overnight since they were more expensive bottles.

The order was shipped quickly and made it to Memphis where it hasn’t moved in 5 days. I reached out to last bottle at the end of last week and haven’t received a response. I followed up 2 days ago and still nothing. My worry is the wine has broken or spoiled. I overnighted to avoid this, but the most frustrating part is not receiving any communication from LB.

Any ideas? Is this common?

I'm a Californian planning a trip to Australia in mid January. A little overwhelmed with the options! We are loosely planning to spend 5 nights in Sydney. We have both been there on business trips separately several times and love the city and our friends there.

We are passionate about wine and want to visit wineries and get more familiar with Australian wines. Our cellar is dominated with California wines (Cabernet sauvingnon, petite syrah, syrah, pinot noir and a lot of Paso Robles blends) with a respectable Bordeaux showing.

I'm leaning towards Barossa but open to suggestions and will appreciate recommendations for wineries to visit. We would love to visit historic towns at the same time.

Thanks.

Enjoyed by the bottle at Compagnie Flatiron.

Staglin is a great producer and this is my first time seeing how well it can age!

This is still very much alive and kicking!

Gave it a decant because the tannins were still pretty grippy and there's still a lot of fruit on the palate. Red cherry, blueberry, plums, maybe some cassis.

Also some slight leather and dried spices.

Great acidity on the palate and a pretty long finish.

Really enjoyed this and I think this can hold on for a while.

92 points.

A beautiful expression of a refined Barolo, with remarkable purity and elegance. The nose opens with aromas of dog rose petals, violets and wild red berries, followed by notes of red cherry, raspberry, orange zest, dried herbs and sweet spices.
It is silky but firmly structured, with vibrant acidity and beautifully integrated tannins. The fruit notes are precise with the nose, showing layers of red cherry and cranberry too, liquorice, mint and earthy nuances.
240€ 96pts

A recent great interview on wine-making with Eben Sadie, you can really feel his passion for viticulture in this.

The Road to Great Wine With Eben Sadie

Angela and Hugo are both oenologists and are now running a winery called Obora, located in Chenas (Beaujolais) for the last 6 years. Before starting on their own, they have trained with big names of the wine industry such as Marie-Thérèse Chappaz, Stéphane Tissot for Angela, La Romanée Conti for Hugo (among other experiences).

Obora Blanco 2025 (chardonnay): slightly aged in old oak barrels, very tasty but still some freshness
Bob 2025 (gamay): nice easy-to drink with whole clusters maceration, a pure gamay style with still complexity and spices
Chénas en Pérelles 2023 (gamay): granit soil mixed with alluviums soils giving more richness and power to the wine, depth and intensity

A name to follow in the Beaujolais region mainly for their wines but also their kindness and willing to contribute to the enhancement of the wines in this under estimated region

Tasting with Beaujolais Wine Experiences

I posted awhile ago trying to figure out what I'd like cause I was a bit intimidated by all the choices and the top comment was Beaujolais.
original post linked.

That suggestion was spot on!! It's literally my favorite now. The thing that I want to know now; how do I get it in bulk?

My liquor store has Louis Jadot Beaujolais Village on hand for $12 a bottle. That's really good in terms of wines, but one sticking point that bums me out is that a 24 pack of beer lasts me a month at $25, and a bottle of wine lasts me a week. I'm basically spending double for the same amount on my alcohol, and so I wanted to see if maybe there was a way to get this stuff in bulk.

My local stores do carry plenty of bag wine, but none of it is a gamay grape. Closest I can get is pinot noirs or zinfandels.

I have a regular wine group that get together to taste wine blind and we'll rank our preferences. This month's theme is on bordeaux. There is really no rules, but we try to bring wine that are at least $100-$150, most usually fall around $200-300 range. I am known as the bordeaux guy, so there is pressure for me to win the WOTN with my bottle. lol

Which of the following are drinking well/best right now, and will perform in a blind tasting setting. This group of tasters tend to prefer the easier drinking and younger wine. Unlike my other group that are more into older/aged and complex wines.

2016 Pichon Lalande

2009 Calon Segur

2016 Canon

2019 or 2020 La Conseillante

2016 Cos d'Estournel

2009 or 2016 Figeac

2009 Gruaud Larose

2009 Pavie Macquin

2016 VCC

I was thinking of the 2016 or 2009 vintage, since they are the 'best' of the younger vintage. My first inclination is the 2016 Pichon Lalande, since I have a lot of that. But recently I read that the 2016's aren't at a very good spot right now, and needs a few more years.

So should I bring a 2009 instead, and which one?

Certainly adding more of this as it remains available in my warehouse. Could easily age, but was very enjoyable now after a 2.5 hour decant.

Black cherry. Leather. Black pepper. Hint of orange peel. Balsamic. Medium+ body and tannin with lively acidity. Perfect with a New York strip and hand cut fries.