2004 Bordeaux hitting Costco

I scored 2 bottles of 2000 Latour gran vin @ costco in 2003 -- each bottle was $285. I tried to buy more but that was all they had.

That was a good price at the time, I think other big boys were selling for $330+ at the time - however - costco doesn't have a clue about bottle storage. Both bottles I purchased were *standing up* in a case. They could've at least been layed down.

rafloh in Wine

Trader Joe wine bargains

I can't pump this enough ... buy a bottle of "Stonehedge Cabernet Sauvignon, Reserve Stagecoach" at Traders. It was 12.99 last time I was there...... and it easily tastes like $30.

Don't play games people -- just go there, buy it, DECANT IT FOR 45-90 MINUTES, and it will rock your world.

As someone else was mentioning, the stock def varies location to location -- I've found these in SF at both locations. Here's the label: http://www.stonehedgewinery.com/sigvin_2000CAB.htm

Here's some reviews: http://www.vinquire.com/wines/185459/detail/

It's the best deal I have ever found at TJ's. BUT .... decant for at least 45 minutes. Otherwise ... it's just too tight.

rafloh in Wine

your "go to" online store for wine?

First off, IMHO, avoid bevmo like the plague. Their wines lack in quality and excel in price. Wilfred Wong (the bevmo rater) can't rate a wine to save his life ... unless it's from BevMo and in that case .... 87+ points no doubt). As another (clearly brilliant) poster wrote .... hit the San Diego wine bank http://www.sdwinebank.com/

2nd of all, if you're really gonna pay shipping by going through an online wine retailer, then use the wine search engines that exist:

1) www.vinquire.com
2) www.winezap.com
3) www.wine-searcher.com (amazing if you pay the $30/year, otherwise the above searches "can be better"..... let the flames begin)

r

rafloh in Wine

Alternatives to Wine-Searcher

"Do you expect web developers spending their time for free???"

Of course not. Most sites make their money from page views (ads) and retailer sponsorships, not charging the actual user. Think google.com ... heck, even chowhound.com. Of course people have to make a living ... wine-searcher.com has chosen to charge users for full search results, unlike www.vinquire.com and www.winezap.com.

I will re-iterate -- if you want to pay $30/year www.wine-searcher.com will give you the best wine search engine out there. I won't debate with you whether it's "worth it" or not to give them the $30 for their quality product, it depends on who you are, how much wine you buy, and what type of wine you buy.

However, if you choose NOT to pay this fee then www.vinquire.com and www.winezap.com are very often a better choice. Since I have no life this friday nite i did some research:

4 bottles that (sort of) cover the spectrum:
2000 Lynch bages (the high end, a solid french wine on a great vintage)
2002 bonny doon cigare volant (CA cote-du-rhone style)
1997 beringer knights valley (great CA cab/vintage - medium price range)
2006 Ruffino Chianti Classico (random whatever, popular italian)

The moral of the story is that Vinquire.com had the best price on 2 of those wines, winezap.com on one, and wine-searcher.com on one as well.

2000 Lynch Bages (125.00 Winezap.com (WINNER), 129.99, www.vinquire.com, 149.99 wine-searcher.com)

2002 bonny doon cigare volant (21.99 www.vinquire.com (WINNER), 23.99 Winezap.com, 23.99 wine-searcher.com)

1997 beringer knights valley (www.vinquire.com 25.00 (WINNER), winezap.com 39.99, wine-searcher.com 104.99!)

2005 Ruffino Chianti Classico (wine-searcher.com 7.00 (WINNER), www.vinquire.com 9.95, winezap.com 9.99)

The point is clear, if you want a *free* wine search engine, you are often better looking at either www.vinquire.com or www.winezap.com than www.wine-searcher.com. If you want to pay $30/year, I would bet that wine-searcher.com would win.

Back to my cab player -
r

rafloh in Wine

ABC of Wine Classes (Bay Area)

The best thing you can do train your palate and get "in the wine game" is drink A LOT of wine -- but not just to get bombed (duh) , take notes on each wine you drink (no matter how lame they are) this forces you to figure out the nuisances of your own palate.

A good, free, and social place to do this this is wine meetup group:
http://wine.meetup.com/321/

Espeically the "Citizen" events which involve everyone bringing a cheap (~$10) favourite bottle. Pretty good fun, but again, take notes on each wine -- most ppl don't because it's more of a social event.

r

rafloh in San Francisco Bay Area

ABC of Wine Classes (Bay Area)

I recently attended one of the vintner's club tastings, a few things to note (DISCLAIMER -- i went to ONE of these events only):

1) It's expensive. Between $100-$140 for a single tasting event. Mind, they pour hi-end bottles, but you pay for it

2) There's no education at the wine tasting events. You will walk in the door, sit at a wine tasting table, and start drinking. There is no "table talk" at these events, they are the most formal tasting events I have ever attended. Literally, it is almost dead silence for the ~30 minutes you have to work your way through the 9-12 glasses in front.

3) Let's just get to the point, if you don't have a somewhat trained palate, you will most likely feel like a real moron at these events.

4) The positives. They taste amazing juice -- end of story. If you do have a trained palate, but simply can't afford to taste those amazing CA cabs, french burgundies, whatever -- then for ~$100 you will have the opportunity to taste about $1000+ in hard-to-source wines.

I guess end game, vintnersclub doesn't sound like what the OP really needs.

r

rafloh in San Francisco Bay Area

Temecula Wine & Almond Champagne?

Wow so many things to say about this post:

1) Better quality less mass market infused champagnes
This is a difficult request because anything that has an infused flavor is (1) rare and (2) already intentionally targeting a mass audience. I have never had another flavor-infused champagne. That almond-gig is a real freak show, it was sold at the Costco in San Diego for a bit because it was wildly popular. Why? Because the average non-connoisseur obviously loves it, it reminds me of a wine cooler and less of a champagne. PS, if i misunderstood and u just want a solid sparkling wine (not infused) your best bet in temecula is Thornton -- pretty solid champagnes

2) Temecula at a distinct disadvatange
I totally see what you're saying, but think about it this way. Temecula is at a distinct *advantage* in that they are the only palatable wine-producing region anywhere outside of the central coast. It reminds me of why Snow Summit and Bear Mountain (the two only "legit" so-cal ski places) are swamped w/ ppl but their snow sucks. Because they are the only option within hundreds of miles. Tasting room prices in Temecula were (recently) approx $5 -- last time i went many places were now up to the $10 mark -- it's not because their wines are amazing, it's because the have the market cornered (for the "winery" experience) in this region.

3) General "favorites" in temecula
There are winners that can compete.
#1) Stuart cellars. http://www.stuartcellars.com/ -- haven't been there in a few years now but amazing quality
#2) http://www.doffowines.com/ used to need a reservation - solid structured wines
#3) Hart - http://www.thehartfamilywinery.com/ -- not neccesrily the "best", but great relatively inexpesive wines, and just GREAT freaky blends. They have a ton red blends that you won't find commonly ....
#4) Keyways - http://www.keywayswine.com/ Out of the way, but great pricing, and generally solid wines.

The only other thing i can say ... don't buy at the wineries -- hit up the longs drugstore in T town for your purchases. Amazing discounts, close to half price. Mind you, they don't have everything so you run a risk going this route -- but they stock a lot of the winners from T town.

4) ... somebody else mentioned Orfila
Orfila winery is about 30 minutes south of Temecula. If you're driving up that way anyways, hit it up. Well worth the visit.

rafloh in Wine

Trader Joe wine bargains

I personally believe two things about finding these less than $10 winner bottles.

1) You need to find somebody at a local store who can help guide you. Usually IMHO trader joes does NOT have that person. However, you can (and I have) gotten lucky and still found a knowledgeable "wine guy" at traders who actually does know something about wine. But good luck w/ that. In general, you're *much* more likely to find that person at a local wine retailer than TJs.

2) Stick to South America/South Africa/Spain. It's damn difficult to find solid CA bottles in that range.

r

PS. Point (3) would be to check out this guy http://quaffability.com/ if you are headed to a TJ's

rafloh in Wine

Alternatives to Wine-Searcher

wine-searcher.com is only the most comprehensive if you are paying them $30/year. Otherwise they're only showing you hits from sponsored retailers. Try http://www.vinquire.com or as suggested, http://www.winezap.com unless you want to pay $30/year for wine-searcher.com

rafloh in Wine

Trader Joe wine bargains

Voila -

http://www.vinquire.com/wines/search/top-rated/all/10/?r_traders=on

If it has a yellow star next to the name, it means "recommended". I'm not sure how they got these but u can read the reviews also to see what ppl said.

rafloh in Wine