Posts belonging to Category Merlot

Touting a Garagiste – aka “G.” – purchase is always dicey. Like nostalgia, praising a great G. buy only works in retrospect. Rimmerman’s selections almost always sell out so there is no going back and buying in. You have to be there when it all goes down. There are other pitfalls when mainlining G. which Dotoré will insist we mention [ed. and we have in an earlier G. post] such as Rimmerman’s twist on the “availability principle,” as in “it’s not a question of price but availability.” With G. you have to strike early and decisively since it is apparent G. buys “on the come.” When you check your warehouse chart you will find many “pre-arrival” notes next to the wine for which you so willingly even anxiously..yes thrillingly!!…pulled the trigger! (more…)

Collectible kosher wines? The thought boggles the mind. How could inky purple Manischewitz syrup with a shelf life of 20 minutes get a Parker rating? Next you’ll tell me there are “growth” Bordeaux, as in those classified in 1855, that obey Talmudic law. Every year there are more customers than there are wines for those lucky labels classified under the five levels of Bordeaux Growths: wines such as Château Léoville-Poyferré a 2nd Growth St. Julien; or Château Malartic-Lagravière an unclassified yet coveted Graves; Château Pontet-Canet a 5th Growth Pauillac; and Château Le Crock a Crus Bourgeois Pauillac. Oh yes. Each one of those highly coveted labels has a kosher “edition.” N’kidding. (more…)

This is NOT a post about JEREMY LIN. Isn’t he fun? Asian kid from Harvard? OK. Plays in the NBA? Wha? Has led his crummy Knicks team to 7 consecutive wins? No freakin way. But this is NOT a post about Jeremy Lin just so we can write about unlikely wines that turn out to be stars. Like Tom Waits. Who could have expected he would become a cultural icon. Do they love him in France? The piano has been drinking…
(more…)

This is a story about a descent into wine madness albeit mild madness, we think. You be the judge. A conspiracy of circumstance and opportunity when everything just happened to fall into place at the same time. Kris-B introduced tBoW to Garagiste in January 2011. We looked. We read. We dipped. The first order was a 2009 Hautes Cotes de Beaune Debray that was all of $16 and change. We’re suckers for the region, vintage and especially the value price. As Sanni Bananny would put it…this was the gateway buy. (more…)

After touring southern Spain for a couple weeks it is obvious the rules for tasting and writing about wine must be rewritten. At least when it comes to southern Spain the commonly accepted and greatly emulated business of swirling, sniffing, comparing, opining, recalling and placing the drink in context of anything simply does not apply. This is a land where life is all at once and wine is an important part of the experience…as is love…as is living…as is dressing to show it off. When it comes to wine you should pull the cork, fill a copaand throw it down the gullet with a bite of something. Wine is often served chilled regardless of color. Eat. Talk. Look at your surroundings. (more…)