Disqus - Friends of randyhall

Re: Sherry Wine Tasting, Time to Save Money

thirstforwine — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 16:04:33 -0000

Gary,

My first post here, so I guess I'm a lurker of sorts. Nice to see you reviewing these sherries, but ... for someone who claims to be supporting them, I got the feeling your heart was not in it.

I actually already like, and drink, sherry, but I'm not sure I recognised some of your descriptions (admittedly I have not tried these particular Montillas and Sherries).

I guess that with the big announcement tomorrow there are lots of things on the go, but I would like to see you try a few more sherries (maybe even a VOS or VORS) to set the quality benchmark and really get people into great sherries. Sherry is a great story and you could be the catalyst for really getting it back on people's tables. Not just with cheese.

Greetings from London (and a facebook friend)

Re: THE BIG DAY

thirstforwine — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 18:20:21 -0000

figured, after the email.

good luck!

Re: California Chardonnay and Questions.

thirstforwine — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 18:28:32 -0000

Gary,

Chardonnay doesn't have "a colour" (or color) of its own. You are too used to oak bombs from California. I'd be worried if your Chablis was golden like that! Please don't make people think that chardonnay has to be that colour or we'll be stuck with nothing but dodgy oak bombs from now on.

Favourite new discovery: ... Apple MacBook Pro + WiFi

Re: Target Alcohol?

thirstforwine — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 04:00:58 -0000

The evils of "progress" - such efficient yeasts we have to start talking about watering down the wine (horrible idea)

Overly alcoholic wines, especially with an aromatic profile of herbs and peaches always ends up filrting with acetone notes to me, a fault that has put me off other rhone whites in the past.

The important thing is to get good ripeness in the grapes (I assume that is a given) and not to mess with it too much. Do you have a choice of yeasts?

I agree that the lower alcohol levels are more attractive, but would you actually manipulate it to lower them?

Of course it is a related issue with other factors. One in particular comes to mind. Oak. I'm sure we'll discuss this further later, but my inclination would be not to oak (it'll get just too funky) and therefore a slightly higher alcohol to add the body would be good. Just a thought

Re: Target Acidity?

thirstforwine — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 04:13:09 -0000

How does the acidity interfere with food friendliness? I am of the opinion that you need higher acidity for food matching - it just affects what kinds of foods you go for. No one likes a flabby wine, on its own or with food, and the acidity will also assist with longevity. I'd vote to keep it relatively intense and not seek to blend it away with too much of another varietal.

If you were making this wine over here (the OLD world) you'd probably be starting off with a specific sort of food match in mind (subconsciously or not), so maybe it would be good to ask ourselves how we all picture this wine?

Finally, I'd just like to ask a question which might affect some of the other decisions being made at the moment.

"When do you expect to be drinking this wine?"

If the plan it to make something that will be great almost immediately (i.e. I guess about 6 months) many things will need to be done to advance its development.

I wondered whether, as the production will be so small, whether it would be more fulflling to make somethign we/you can track over the next few years. It would mean sacrificing immediate approachability in exchange for leaving some rough edges on the wine that will give it character in 2-3 years or more. I think Rousanne could handle it. Do you?

Re: Reflections

thirstforwine — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 14:45:24 -0000

hope you had a great time in London

Re: Unfiltered 7 – Wine Blogging Today

thirstforwine — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 05:08:19 -0000

Great conversation. I don't often listen to podcasts, but it is great to hear from all these people I already know and interact with in different ways. Knowing Ryan's voice in particular makes me feel I'm on the phone and should be able to butt in and join in too.

One of the interesting things about this discussion is that the themes may be universal, but your US perspectives are quite different to experiences in this country (the UK) - I'm sure Ryan and Gabriella would say the same with Spain. "Millenials", "Robert Parker", "Wine Spectator", ...

Interestingly, many of the topics you touch upon fall into my area of interest for my blog as they are about the concept and conversation of wine rather than the wine itself (until you got to your wine picks).

I will definitely try and pick up on these themes and post up my thoughts.

Thanks Tim (and everyone else), and congratulations on the 3 years.

Re: Yipes!! Who put that in my Spanish Cava?

thirstforwine — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 11:10:40 -0000

Surely the best recipe involving cava, if you have to mix it, is with Lemon Sorbet, in a chilled glass and a straw. Nothing more, nothing less.

Re: Yipes!! Who put that in my Spanish Cava?

thirstforwine — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 11:52:47 -0000

I'm not sure if it is limited to Rioja, but certainly you can get a "sorbete" in a number of places I've been to in LogroÃƒÂ±o and it is a bit like a slushy. You could make the sorbet with the cava itself, but it is nicer to pour the cava over the lemon sorbet and get the slushy mix which is very refreshing.

Re: Gulas and Txakoli

thirstforwine — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 15:00:11 -0000

There is such a thing as red txakoli apparently, something I discovered when touring Bilbao on the way to Rioja with a particular wine expert. When we asked the barman about it he gave it the ultimate insult - "it would ruin a good coke!"

I too love the white though.

Re: Aquavit, Sherry education and Catavino’s 2008 Resolutions

thirstforwine — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 10:40:41 -0000

welcome back!

I was thinking of Red, White & Drunk all over as a book for review too, although I have not yet finished it. Good choice!

Re: European Wine Blogger Conference 2008

thirstforwine — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 11:27:51 -0000

Thanks Ryan.

My thoughts are duly posted on my blog, and I've also alerted the Wine Bloggers group on facebook.

You (as admin of that group) might want to also set up a facebook event so people could be invited and show their ability to attend?!

I think this is very exciting and I really look forward to it. I've got a call in to various people in the UK to see what interest we could generate here.

Re: Wine Blogger Dinner! and Wine Blogger Conference!

thirstforwine — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 05:00:24 -0000

Ryan

I definitely hope to be there. I need to sort out my plans for Alimentaria, but I will certainly be at the show on that day.

Re: Every Wine Tasting Note Site Should Be Freebasing!

thirstforwine — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 11:35:55 -0000

Very interesting thought. I think what would be most effective in order to ensure something like this succeeded would be for MERCHANTS (and not just online-only ones) to consolidate on this platform. I can't understand why they do not except that it makes price comparison easier, but that will happen anyway.

If merchants added the information to a standard-ish format, the info would already be available to their customers looking to track, add and save that information. The most useful would then be adding value to their customers.

Non retailing sites would then be encouraged to adopt it to access the wealth of information available, thus also driving traffic to the merchants.

Re: If a Facebook Group crashes and no one is around to hear it…

thirstforwine — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 17:01:38 -0000

Totally agree - groups are one of the worst designed parts of facebook, but since it seems to be based around dating I guess groups that do more than this are not required

I think it would be easy enough to use facebook to drive traffic to a separate group - although they might object if it became too successful. They also seem a little concerned about wine advertising, so it might get a red flag there too.

Wine 2.0 should not be just about blogging, or even just about online stuff. It is about new sorts of relationships, and these do require some face to face opportunities as well. I'd love to know more about new businesses, new ideas and also to tap into new conversations, but I don't think facebook really allows for that.

If you think of an alternative, count me in.

Re: Iberian Wine Wiki – Well Sort of (project closed)

thirstforwine — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 11:55:05 -0000

Good idea, but lots of work!

I happen to know that you will be visiting Dinastia Vivanco on your trip to Rioja. They have 222 varietals (4 plants of each) from across the world planted in the Bacchus Garden in front of the museum. You may need to come back in September and October if you want to take photos of each bunch, but you are more than welcome. Also, these list most known aliases for each plant, so might help with checking against other regions of Spain and the world.

You might even have a word with the Dinastia Vivanco Foundation as this sounds right up their street as a project to support the spread of wine culture (they could be encouraged to send you the materials above so you don't have to re-type them for a start!)

Buena suerte y buen trabajo!

Re: The problem with online marketing in a 2.0 world…

thirstforwine — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 04:09:39 -0000

Well, as you know, I agree. I'd like to see what solution allowed marketers and advertisers to participate in the conversation in a more intelligent way. It might require a lot of human input (something most don't bother with or have time for) which would make it much richer, but potentially more costly.

We will see.

Richard (a.k.a. to family and friends for most of his life as Robert)

;)

Re: This Just In… Wine Blogs Are Boring!

thirstforwine — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 04:32:57 -0000

I wouldn't categorise all/many/most wine blogs as boring, but I do see the point however, that many blogs are not "well written". But if all we wanted were beautifully crafted prose, we'd stick to the mags that are full of qualified journalism majors and wannabe published authors.

Blogs democratised writing and allowed all of us to express ideas and share news that were not available through those channels. It means that not everything will be as entertainingly written as it could have been, but instead we get real personalities.

These personalities might not be of interest to everyone but a blog can keep going even without a big audience, so who cares? Move on! Find another blog or blogger that you do like and read that instead.

I personally prefer blogs that have more than tasting notes and explore wine ideas, but that is just me.

Re: This Just In… Wine Blogs Are Boring!

thirstforwine — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 14:27:40 -0000

Tim, is "schtick" good or bad?

Much as I respect what he has done, and admitting I even find an episode or three entertaining, I must admit that I find Mr V rather grating after a while. I particularly find the self-promotion (on facebook and elsewhere) and rants against 'lurkers' rather tiresome. I certainly hope that we do not take this as a model for lots of other sites!! I think he is, and should remain, unique.

Re: European Wine Bloggers Conference 2008

thirstforwine — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 04:36:14 -0000

Thanks for the plug, and thanks for signing up.

Lots of interesting things planned for this trip to take advantage of being in Rioja for a weekend - check out the site over the next week or so for an outline of the schedule.

See you there!

Re: First Two Days in Rioja!

thirstforwine — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:37:12 -0000

Nice to finally meet you guys in person. I had totally forgotten to ask about the dinosaurs, but I guess we had enough other things to cover. Hope the rest of the trip goes well, and that patchy internet access improves.

Re: The Stupid Things I do for Love

thirstforwine — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 09:43:11 -0000

you ought to be glad he only tried the ears and not all the other 'bits' on offer (if you look)

erm, glad to say that my other half has a similar world-view to mine and therefore no such peer-pressure applies - we like to try local delicacies but try not to go too far off-beam. We did stray too far once on a trip to Burgundy. Have you tried andouillettes? I quote a small paragraph from the article:

"French andouillette, on the other hand, is an acquired taste and can be an interesting challenge even for adventurous eaters who don't object to the taste or aroma of feces."

I'm guessing the author didn't enjoy them either!

One for Ryan maybe?

Re: The Stupid Things I do for Love

thirstforwine — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 09:51:34 -0000

he he he!

Not only that, but (s)he uses it several times.

I must point out that the term "faeces" or anything related, was not found on the dishes description on the menu when we ordered it. Although I managed to eat most of mine, I can reflect back on the occasion and recall the sort of aromas they refer to.

Don't worry Gabriella, with time the memory fades. This was only 6 years ago for me!

Re: Announcing WBC 2: Noble Rot

thirstforwine — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 03:34:36 -0000

thanks Tim. I too failed to see the first book through - I did read the first two chapters, but never quite got the time to focus on it I had hoped. In any case it is a good reference book for the home wine library

I've been meaning to take a look at this book for a while, so I shall renew my efforts and try and get this one done on time!

good luck

Re: Blogger’s Dinner hosted by Bodegas Tintoralba

thirstforwine — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 11:27:33 -0000

Who's is that shiny scalp with the back to the camera? Oh! That's me!

I remember being told I reminded them of someone on the night. I volunteered that i might be Sean Connery. I got no response as she walked away, so I'm guessing I must have been right.