I hope you had a bit of help with that All-Star lineup.

 

Maluhia, that food/drink looks pretty damn good! I like events like that because they allow me to taste things (both food and wine) I might not try otherwise.

I definitely fall much more on the novice side when it comes to wine - I've been drinking more and more of it over the last 5 years or so but have mostly stayed with the stuff you can find in a grocery store - more mass produced. Some of them have been meh and some pretty dang good, at least to my less developed palate. This thread has been great and I've even taken some notes!

I did go to Napa a couple years ago which was a great experience, and joined a wine club (Regusci) that has me, 4 times a year, spending more on wine than I ever would have thought I would. The whites aren't that much, coming in around $40, but the reds run between $60-$90. My struggle now is trying to decide which ones to open and drink now versus allowing them to age and for how long. I suppose what I ought to do is just call them and ask, huh?

I wish I could get my husband to like wine, I think I'd have the chance to try more things if we were sharing bottles. Alas, 32 years in the beer industry has taken it's toll and he's a beer guy all the way.

 

Vintners will have recommendations on how long is good, how long is great and how long is too long, so ring 'em up. And I would imagine they send out notes with each shipment so there could be some info there, or on the website. I guess to me that's the "problem" -- we only can house so many wines here, and it is fun to taste stuff over time, to watch it develop, but that means we'd have to buy more of less. Aaaaargh.

Varietal, terroir, the maker's intent, your tastes ... it's really all just a big matrix.

And keep him on the brew; more vino for you.

 

Many good friends and an incredibly generous host! Good times.

 

A follow-up thought: Don't be overly concerned about the time thing. Storage is more important. A wine with 25 years of legs ain't going to get there if not properly stored. Conversely, most wines don't need or can't even take a lot of Rip Van Winkle. Some of the most highly touted Pinots from where I live are ready when released, and after five or six years -- this ain't Burgundy -- they will lose their character. Cab? Different story, of course, but again, a good measure of what you come across domestically isn't down for going down like a top Bordeaux.

 

We had this tonight

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$400

 

This is positively true.

 

Great wine drinking well now. Lot of time left on it, too. 2000 Bordeaux is epic.

 

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some of my favorite new world Pinot comes from RR.