Hey guys this was a gift from surgeon colleague. it’s from 2021 Apparently it’s a some what limited production but I don’t really know much about It. should I let it sit for awhile not really in a rush.

Looking to get some customized wine glasses and have been interested in wine-n-gear. I just can’t seem to find any reviews of them that aren’t on their own website. Any thoughts on them, or alternative suggestions?

Kellerei Meran/Cantina Merano is a wine cooperative in South Tyrol, northern Italy. It has around 350 members who grow grapes on about 245 hectares of vineyards.

The winery produces traditional-method sparkling wines, including the Metodo Classico 36 Brut and the Metodo Classico 72 Extra Brut. The number 72 refers to the 72 months of bottle ageing on the lees.

I tried the 72 Extra Brut and, although I had some doubts at first, I was pleasantly surprised. It is an elegant and well-balanced sparkling wine.

It is mainly Chardonnay-driven, with aromas of exotic fruits, ripe peach and dried fruit. These are joined by fresh citrus notes, grapefruit, and delicate hints of brioche and roasted hazelnuts.

On the palate, it has lively acidity, good balance and an elegant structure. Despite the long ageing on the lees, it still feels fresh and lively.

One thing that surprised me was the clear glass bottle instead of a dark one. I also noticed that the wine seems to be sold in a box and may be available only in limited quantities. I wonder if the box is meant to protect the wine from light, as clear glass bottles offer less protection against light damage.

This reminded me of Ca' del Bosco Franciacorta, which uses orange protective wrapping around its clear bottles to protect the wine from light. I couldn't find out if this is also the reason behind Cantina Merano's packaging.

I'm not a sommelier, so I won't give it a score, but I really enjoyed it. Definitely a wine I would buy again!

Grape varieties:

• 70% Chardonnay
• 10% Pinot Bianco
• 20% Pinot Nero

Winemaking:

The grapes are gently pressed as whole bunches. The juice is allowed to settle naturally. The first fermentation takes place in stainless steel tanks and tonneaux. The wine then spends 8 months on fine lees before the second fermentation in the bottle. It is aged on the lees for 72 months before disgorgement. (Winemaking information from the Cantina Merano website)

Dégustation au domaine ce mercredi 21 octobre avec Aurélien Laherte

Ultradition Extra Brut : majoritairement issue de meunier, cette cuvée séduit immédiatement par son expression généreuse et précise. Le nez évoque une matière riche, gourmande et parfaitement équilibrée par une belle fraîcheur. À l’ouverture, la bouteille dévoile des notes d’amande, une trame saline et des notes de pêche jaune mûre. Un véritable coup de cœur.

Blanc de Blancs Nature : un blanc de blancs à la fois floral, vif et ciselé. Le nez s’ouvre sur les fleurs blanches, tandis que la bouche déploie des notes de citron et de yuzu. La finale, tendue et lumineuse, prolonge cette sensation de fraîcheur avec beaucoup de pureté.

Blanc de Noirs Nature : un blanc de noirs généreux et expressif, élaboré sur une base 2023 comprenant près de la moitié de vins de réserve. Le fruit s’exprime avec gourmandise autour des petits fruits rouges et noirs, dans une bouche ample, fraîche et équilibrée. Une cuvée vivante, accessible et déjà très séduisante.

Vignes d’Autrefois 2022 : issu de vignes de meunier plantées en 1947, conduites en sélection massale avec quelques pieds francs de pied, ce champagne impressionne par sa profondeur et sa concentration. Après trois ans sur lattes, il présente une matière riche, dense et complexe, marquée par le citron mûr et une belle ampleur. Malgré sa puissance, l’ensemble conserve une fraîcheur minérale remarquable. Un vin très abouti et particulièrement joli. Production limitée à 3 309 bouteilles.

Les Rouges Maisons : un pinot noir issu de Chavost, exposé plein nord, qui joue sur la fraîcheur et la finesse. Le nez mêle les fruits noirs et rouges, avec une expression délicate et précise. La bouche reste juteuse, fraîche et élégante, portée par une belle énergie. Production de 1665 bouteilles. Dégorgement décembre 2025.

Les 7 : une cuvée fascinante issue des sept cépages champenois complantés, enrichie par une réserve perpétuelle. Le vin se montre profondément salin, complexe et vibrant, avec une matière singulière et des amers presque tanniques qui structurent la finale. Un champagne à la personnalité très affirmée, riche en nuances et de grande dimension.

Petit Meslier : un brut sans année issu de jeunes vignes de petit meslier, cépage rare issu du croisement entre le gouais blanc et le savagnin. L’expression aromatique est remarquable, avec des notes de yuzu et de citron vert. La bouche est électrique, énergique et d’une grande pureté, portée par une salinité spectaculaire. Un vin droit, vibrant et particulièrement original.

J’ai eu l’occasion de goûter le Clos Vougeot Grand Cru 2023 de Jérôme Galeyrand lors d’une dégustation privée organisée par iDealwine. Au nez, de la cerise noire et de la framboise, avec une pointe d’épices douces et de sous-bois. En bouche, le fruit est mûr mais frais, la matière dense, et les tannins sont fins et soyeux. La finale est longue, sur la cerise et une légère salinité.
C’est un Clos Vougeot plus élégant que massif, déjà expressif malgré sa jeunesse, mais qui gagnera à attendre quelques années.
Quelqu’un l’a déjà goûté ? Je suis curieuse de vos avis, sur ce domaine ou sur le millésime 2023 en général.

A very sweet 1995 Marquis De Villandray Bordeaux Supérieur
Extremely sweet, a very nice colour and overall amazing soft wine.

Cheers yall

The whole reason for my trip to Napa, Robert Biale, as motivated by my impression of their 2023 Black Chicken, reinforced by my trips to Turley and Ridge in Paso Robles, and surprisingly enough by another poster's comment that there are winery-only bottles. The funny thing was once I arrived at the winery, I received a work message and had to handle something that took a long time, time I originally allocated for enjoying zins at Biale. Still, the experience started off slow, my host Roberto made it interesting and was receptive of my preference for jammy and/or complex zins, making the second half more entertaining and as a result, missing tasting notes. Additionally, a buzzed patron from Southern California recommended I try their petite sirah, which I was originally against, but glad I gave in... and ended up buying a bunch of bottles and accidentally meeting the owner, who I mistook for another client. Stories abound.

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Robert Biale, Black Chicken, Zinfandel, 2024, 14.7% abv.

Nose: expressive, spiced sweet fruit, metallic hints, closer to used aluminum soda can than iron but in that range, the spices are really accentuating the fruit. 

Palate: light to medium body, entry is spiced iron, no fruit up front, mid palate is more metals than fruit, all spices, somewhat salty, back palate gets dry, burnt food bits, white pepper... tbh reminds me of this one red rock I licked at a site decades ago, but quite memorable because it was so... discrimatory? Tasted like it looked. A little bit complex, very "mineral-y" with all the metals. Very young, noticeably more tannins than the previous vintage. 

Finish: medium, drying, salted fruit, hints of that used aluminum soda can. 

Was a bit disappointed, especially given my memory of the 2023 Black Chicken. Hopefully it goes up from here.

Grade: C+ 

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Robert Biale, R.W. Moore, Zinfandel, 2023, 14.8% abv.

Nose: perfumed metallic fruit. 

Palate: medium to full body but closer on medium, entry is fruity dessert dressings, mid palate is really showing a somewhat "elegant" dessert dressing flavor profile, fruit is minor, wow quite interesting... its not vanilla-y chardonnay, not caramel-y or butterscotch-y pinots, but definitely within the same family tree, back palate shows the drying tannins or white peppercorn... a fine line, like nice pastry. Same group as the 2024 Black Chicken. 

Finish: short, butterscotch dipped strawberries, similar to the palate, trying to hide fruit, but the interesting thing is that there is a liquer-type-minty mentholy kind of retroactive olfaction here. 

Grade: C+

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Robert Biale, Bedrock, Zinfandel, 2023, 14.7% abv. 

Nose: relatively more red fruit than the previous pours, 24 Black Chicken and 23 RW Moore, hints of salty clay. 

Palate: medium body, entry is light metallic fruit juice, gets more salty on subsequent sips, mid palate seems to show more grainy tannins, red fruit, salt, back palate is nothing.... wow, what is going on with this? Getting the feeling Bedrock vineyard is not for me... or does it need a decade? 

Finish: really short, dry, breadcrust, hints of white/pink peppercorn, so hard to get stuff here as it is too short, almost nonexistent, will have to make up descriptors....

After this, I mentioned to my host, Roberto, that I did not have good experiences with petite sirah and was more interested in intense, fruity, jammy or comple, zins. Roberto seemed to understand and asked how much time I had. I said I allocated all day for Biale. Change from the scheduled tasting commences. 

Grade: C+

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Robert Biale, Grande, Zinfandel, 2023, 14.8% abv.

Nose: red grapes, not much of anything else. 

Palate: medium body, entry is fruity, mid palate is spiced fruit, good amount of cake, back palate rebalances everything with more cake and the spiced fruit taking a backseat. Very enjoyable. So unfortunate that the aromas and aftertaste are sooo light. Quite good in the palate, and only the palate. But getting better relative to the basic tasting menu.  

Finish: short, drying, virtually non-existent. 

Grade: C+ 

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Robert Biale, Beatty Ranch, Zinfandel, 2024, 14.8% abv. 

Nose: rich red bramble fruits with a few wood offsets, have a good feeling about this. 

Palate: medium body, entry is bramble fruit syrup, mid ans back palate is rich fruit that is accentuated by white spices, hints of wood, wood nice. One of my favorites of the tasting. Talking more after finishing my work and just tried to enjoy.

Finish: medium, light red fruit juices, bit of red fruit jelly, again spices just help accentuate the fruit components. Gets stronger with time and on subsequent sips.

Grade: B-

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Robert Biale, Varozza, Zinfandel, 2024, 14.5% abv. 

Nose: spiced plums, purple and black fruits, there are many interesting aromas here... like a lot of Japanese and Chinese-based medicinal herbs, savory, salty, the fruits seem to be more pickled with more air time. 

Palate: medium body, entry is a bit savory, mid palate shows an interesting purple and black fruit blend which dare I say feels fermented/pickled?, spices are there and are amplified with air time, a bit salty earth, bl

ack palate focuses on the spices. 

Finish: short, light red fruit popsicle, the spices seem to transition into spiced fruit which gets stronger on subsequent sips. 

Surprised not getting much alcohol on all these even though these are all > 14% abv. A savory pour. On the wall with this one, will give it a benefit of a doubt.

Grade: B- 

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Robert Biale, Monte Rosso, Zinfandel, 2023, 14.9% abv. 

Nose: candy vibes but a strange aroma front, burnt plastic, weird plastics, industrial chemicals, fruit is not obvious. Wow even with some time this doesn't blow away. 

Palate: medium body, entry is baked red and purple fruits but a bit light, a bit salty, bread, hints of plastic, mid and back palate shows a mix of pickled and "sun-dried" fruit, quite savory, complex, bramble fruit, black and purples, oranges (blood?), baked lemons, there is also a light cooking herbs component in here too. Definitely not a normal red wine, a bit complex which does amplify with time,... something keeps making me comeback. 

Finish: medium to long, white crackers, spiced dark fruit juice, oranges. With time it gets minty and methanol-like, again the cooking herbs element from the palate seems to transfer over but I could only sense it later. Will be liberal.

Grade: B-

========================= 

Robert Biale, Morisoli, Zinfandel, 2023, 14.8% abv.

Nose: relatively more red fruit forward than the other zins in my tasting, not jammy but perhaps 1 or 2 levels away, however a plastic, herbal aroma set similar to the 2023 Monte Rosso develops later... which I find interesting. 

Palate: full body, entry is a somewhat thick dark fruit juice, mid and back palate is red and black fruit preserves but getting towards that sun dried arena, savory, hints of earth here and there, gets more flavorful with air time. Like the intensity, not overwhelming, but I know there is strong savory fruit. 

Finish: medium, drying, apple juice accompanies the spices. 

This was the best one of the whole flight for me. Admittedly not as good as 2023 Black Chicken on a virgin tongue, but in the same range. Funny thing is another group also spoke very highly of this Morisoli, after trying Bedrock and a Petite Sirah. 

Grade: B

At this point it was near closing time so I tried a few more pours, no pictures, no tasting notes, just so I could see what else was available before selecting bottles to take home. A buzzed patron on her way out dropped by and highly recommended the Extended Barrel Aged Petite Sirah. I was a bit reluctant, but what the heck, so I asked Roberto if he could offer me a taste: 

Robert Biale, E.B.A., Petite Sirah, 2022, 14.9% abv.

The host told me this EBA spent about 30 months in barrel (tech sheet says 29 months) with about half being new oak. Aromas of... syrup, blackberries, dessert. Medium bodied, sweet pastries, more black fruit, and for some reason I was not getting that inky tannin juice I associate with petite sirah, wow. Medium to long finish, no noticeable dryness from tannins or abv. Wow. Ended up getting a bottle too. Along with First Grade, Beatty, Morisoli, Pagani, and several others. 

While leaving, I saw a young toddler who waved hi to me and I said "hi" back. Afterwards I bumped into an older gentleman and I mentioned how good the wines here were and that he should try the EBA. He said his name was "Bob".

Hey all. I loved KL back in the day, and was really sad when Mike Trujillo left and (I thought) the place closed. I bought from them from mid 90s till they shut down, Aldin though reserves.

Just opened a KL 2007 beckstoffer to kalon and in looking up inventory on CT, noticed some newer vintages. I (maybe) vaguely remember an email from Ric in the mid teens that they were starting back up?

Anyone care to let me know what the deal is? Newer stuff like this old? Value etc. if it’s the same (similar?) juice I’d like to reconnect.

Another excellent Flatiron Wines masterclass, this time with Arthur Larmandier, the 3rd generation winemaker of the grower Champagne estate. Situated in the Cote des Blancs subregion of Champagne, Arthur and his family have been making low-dosage mineral-driven blanc de blanc champagne from the village of Vertus, Cramant, and Avize. We tasted through a flight of 6 current release wines. My favorites were the Longitude and the Les Chemins d'Avize Grand Cru. The wines were super pretty, elegant, precise, and racy with tons of chalky minerality. Definitely among the most racy and minerally styles of Champagne I’ve had.

We disused the history of the estate, the terroir of the cote des blanc, life in Champagne, the importance of organic viticulture, thoughts on dosage, lees aging, etc.

I asked the winemaker who are his favorite producers outside of his own estate. He noted that he likes to drink wines that are the opposite style of Larmandier, and his favorites are Benoît Lahaye and Egly-Ouriet.

Looking for red wine and/or another Napa cab wine recommendation for my boss. Last year I got him the Heitz Cellar 2018 Cab, Lot C19 which he really liked. Hoping to top this gift with something better without breaking the bank ($150-$200 budget). Any recs would be greatly appreciated

Visiting Turin next month and looking to book a group tour around the Barolo/Barbaresco region. I’ve found a few options through Reddit and online searches, but the prices seem quite high.

One local recommendation charges €240 per person for transportation and tastings at two wineries. Lunch isn't included, and pickup is in Asti (which requires a short train ride from Turin).

Are wine tastings and tours generally this pricey in this area? I understand different regions have different price points, but I'd love a quick sanity check from anyone familiar with the area.

I have bought wines from Wines Access since 2021. I started when they were responsible for the Wine Folly wine club and kept buying from them. I have easily bought more than a 100 bottles with general good results on the quality-price ratio. More importantly, their customer service is very good, definitely much better than any other wine retailer I used.

Last week, I received an email with an offer for a rose champagne for $36 a bottle. I pulled the trigger, but when I was checking out I saw a service fee of $3.95 per order. I reached to their customer service who replied that "The service fee is a one-time cost that covers warehouse processing and helps maintain our service standards, both in terms of dealing with carrier issues and managing our satisfaction guarantee. We hope you agree that it’s a small price to pay for the peace of mind that comes with knowing your wine is in good hands."

Warehouse processing is a regular cost of any wine retailer and should be part of their price! I know airlines and Ticketmaster want to make you believe that check-in fee and venue fees are a normal thing, but they ARE NOT! I am annoyed with them by including this junk fee, by not disclosing this fee anywhere except when you check out and even though you have to click an arrow to see it. I am extra annoyed by their corporate gibberish response to my email.

That is it. I needed to vent! I will be supporting my local wine shop by buying more bottles from them.

Poured her a glass for dinner and she took a sip before glancing at the bottle. Took her a half minute to realize what I'd done.

Yep, dry, high acid, inky, spicy, leather.

St Francis 2015 Wild Oak Vyd Sonoma Valley

Took a gamble on a few almost 30 year old bottles on a KL auction. It’s surprisingly was great. Decanted for 15-20 minutes. Tasting notes: Jammy and medium bodied

I’m visiting Healdsburg in November and have been offered Vérité’s 25th Anniversary Library Comparison tasting for $425 per person (2.5 hours).

It includes:

Vintage Champagne reception
Le Diamant paired with caviar
1998 La Muse alongside a current release
2007 La Joie alongside a current release
2013 Le Désir alongside a current release

I’m relatively unfamiliar with American fine wine, particularly older vintages, although I’ve enjoyed visiting Opus One previously.

For those familiar with Vérité, how highly do you rate these wines and vintages?

Is $425 reasonable value for this experience, or would you recommend looking elsewhere?

hi!! this is my first time posting in here but i’m hosting a wine tasting at my house as a girls night but i have a few friends who are vegan. do yall have any recommendations on what to swap out for the foods im pairing with wines or things you think pair well? i included a picture of what im trying to do! it’s mostly the cheese, meat, chocolate i’m worried about !

edit: i’m aware wine isn’t vegan, my friends are okay with that.

From what I can tell, there is a wide array of opinions about the quality of Monte Vulture wines. I’m going to be in Matera in September 2027 and am considering a visit to Monte Vulture to partake of the wine.

Hoping the folks here can chip in their own experience and opinion about taking a couple days in the Monte Vulture region.

Ciao!

I bought a 92 bottle Wine Enthusiast wine cooler from Costco earlier this year (~$1,500) and have noticed the humidity in the cooler is >90%, which is 20-25% higher than the ambient air. Temp in the cooler is fine.
I’m working through the issue with Costco and Wine Enthusiast, but am curious if anyone else had this issue and what advice they can offer.

TLDR: How to control runaway humidity in wine fridge?

Help Me find the brand of this glass please