This is a problem?

Ah - never heard that before
But you say that like it’s a bad thing!

In honor of Mr. Foley’s new purchase, we enjoyed a 2004 Foley Pinot Noir Santa Rita Hills / Rancho Santa Rosa tonight.  It was a nice balance of fruit and earth (actually, quite earthy).  I would recommend it.

Well, it’s not necessarily a bad thing.  My husband likes them.  I’m more into those that are fruity and earthy (see above). 

edited for being to slow to respond  

If you like the hot taste, I know some great Vodkas.

Too much alcohol doesn’t allow the fruits or other flavors to come through.

Actually Darin, your explanation was way better than mine.  Thank you!

OK - now I’m really freaking out.
I went downstairs to refill my glass ,and lo and behold, I forgot I am drinking Justin’s 2004 Savant.
It’s a syrah-cabernet blend, and it’s really good!
I ran out of "everyday" wine, and didn’t feel like running out.
I definitely can’t afford to do this everyday.
 

If you like the shiraz/syrah - cabernet blend, check out the Australia section.  They do a good job of blending the two.  You pay a little premium for the importing, but they have some good stuff.  Might have to go a bit further than TJs to find it though.

Janet - I think I hear TJ’s calling you. 

If you’re near Orange (or just want to drive by), both Graph & I recommend Wine Exchange.  They don’t have any <$5, but do have some <$10/bottle.

A few months back,TJs had a Penfold’s Reserve Blend that was $7.99.
It was mind-blowing.
I bought an embarrasing amount of it
Sorry!

Don’t be embarrassed - go with what you like.  We found a Penfold’s Chard (Rawson’s Reserve) for $5/bottle at the Wine Club in Santa Ana last year.  Bought so much of it, I never want to see it again.  But it was pretty good.

If they still have it, you can have Wellington send you a case of The Duke for $5/bottle.

Thanks,
That’s the thing with TJs - the product lines are always turning over.
You gotta act - or someone else will!

Buy before it’s too late - they aren’t making any more wine!

If it’s for personal consumption (as opposed to guests), I consider it a big experiment.  "Oooh!  Let’s see if this is any good."  Most of the time it’s fine, but there have been about four or five bottles I’ve tossed down the drain as undrinkable - and not all were from TJs. 

If you go to winex find the guy who is native american with long hair. Tell him what you like and your budget and he will find you the good deals. He has never let me down and has opened my mind up to new regions and grapes that I wouldn’t have even thought of.
I also recommend wine club in Santa Ana. Janet this a lot closer to you and don’t let the neighborhood fool you. I can’t recommend a specific person there as they have high employee turnover. But you can tell the newbies from the ones who know what they are doing. They do tastings on Saturday and Sunday which you can find out more about by reading their newsletter. They usually are fairly free flowing especially if you have a basket full of bottles. They also have some unique beers for the Effennewguy.
I know how the buying too much syndrome can take over. Cost Plus has a shiraz from Aus called Timbuktu and I bought it for the label because it had the rear end of a 57 Chrysler. They will have it on sale for 2 for $12 and it is a case everytime. Plus no cork taint with the twist top. The people downunder get it that they don’t need corks any more. It’s the old school who won’t give it up even if it costs them more.
EvaL - I hear you on the high heat. This has been a common complaint and I think that many are changing their ways. Check out Eberle and Dunning. Eberle can have some high heat but they give the alcohol level so you can be warned. Dunning is one of those where I shouldn’t be telling people about because they are so small. Me greedy.

>>I know how the buying too much syndrome can take over.

Yes, first it was a simple 30 bottle wine ‘fridge for the house, then another one for the garage,* and now . . . there’s wine across two shelves of the kitchen refrigerator too.  I think our all time high was 102 bottles in storage.

*Yes, I know it’s bad to put them in the garage with the heat and fluctuations.  It’s whites only down there.

Weekend wine wrap-up for 8/26:

We had some friends over for dinner on Friday and did quite a bit of . . . um. . .  tasting.

[url=“http://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=231142”]

2004 Jordan Chardonnay[/url] - Nice and clean w/ not much oak.  Paired with Cowgirl Creamery Mt. Tam cheese.  The wine was good, but you could find its equal for half the price.

2003 Jordan Chardonnay - Pretty much the same as the 2004.  Went well with the lemon caper tilapia.  Again, good wine, not so great on value.

Dessert was a strawberry mousse cake paired with a 2006 Michele Chiarlo Moscato d’Asti Nivole.  It’s a nice, light, and mildly sparkling Moscato (and inexpensive!).  Good for summer. 

We then opted to open a true dessert wine: a Sauternes.  We had the 2001 Chateau de Malle.  This wine is still very, very young and almost undrinkable.  It was a little astringent and tasted like bell pepper.  After a glass, we opted to open a different bottle - a 2003 Chateau Broustet.  Although significantly less expensive than the de Malle, it was ready to drink now and will definitely improve with age.  It was sweet peaches and honey - nectar of the Gods.

Saturday was steak and seafood out.  We opted to bring a wine and we chose the 2003 Doffo Cabernet Sauvignon.  This is a local boy who made good, but I haven’t been able to tell if he’s still in business.  Marcel Doffo was (is) a member of the Orange County Wine Society and made some of his first wines for their Home Wine competitions.  He later opened his own winery in the Temecula area.  This wine was quite good, but requires serious decanting; otherwise it tastes fruity and flat, like a common Merlot.  Sadly, we didn’t ask the restaurant to decant it, and it didn’t hit its stride until after dessert. 

Once home we re-opened the de Malle and let it sit for a good hour and a half.  After that, it improved tremendously, losing the astringent bell pepper smell and taste, and really coming into its own. 

I happen to be a big fan of Oregon Pinot Noirs and a friend of mine who lives in Portland has raved about Erath vineyards. I am 99% sure that I found their "house" pinot at the Costco at the District and it probably cost around $17.
This weekend I made one of my never to be recreated because I can’t remember what I did voo doo marinades for a pork tenderloin that I grilled up. What better to go with grilled pork but the Erath Pinot Noir. This wine is awesome. It is very fruit forward with rainier cherries, plum and ripe raspberries flavors. Surprisingly the finish was more of the Burgundian drier style finish. Although that is quite a contrast the complexity made for a very nice balance. Now I know why my friend raves about them because for under $20 this is by far an excellent buy.
I almost didn’t say anything for fear that someone *cough* EvaL *cough* would get down there and scoop it up before I got a chance to buy some more. But I just couldn’t not tell everyone how good this wine is.  

What? Me? 

Believe it or not, I haven’t been to Costco in years.  It was just too crowded.  But now that you’ve reminded me, yes, we did score some great wines there.  I’ll have to think about renewing.

I figured out Two Buck Chuck, by the way.  It’s the wine that you switch to after you’re too schnockered on the $15 wine to give a damn what you’re drinking.
I tried the cab.  It’s not great, but you could easily do worse for such pocket change.

Oh yeah, the BevMo $0.05 sale is on.

EvaL,
You may think about joining just by knowing that they are the largest fine wine buyer in the US now. They have some really good stuff like the Erath and a few New Zealand sauvignon blancs. Even their Kirkland label wines are made by well known wine makers. If you ever see some guy at the wine section cursing them for not taking Visa, that’s me. I usually walk out thankful that they don’t.

You could get an AmEx One card and earn pennies against your wine purchases.

Honestly, I’m a little frightened of the Kirkland label.  I don’t know why, just am.  I’ll have to give it a go.

.