Originally Posted by
lhgreengrd1
Not at all - but it certainly seems as though you are drinking Parker and Wine Spectator scores.
And I will reitterate, you are WAY overpaying for Achaval Ferrer and Cobos top-end Malbecs, if you are paying $125 for those bottles.
Haha, I've not looked at WS in a decade...but I have read Parker reviews before. I think it's more that my palate enjoys similar types of wine, perhaps. But I've loved wines like Littorai that Parker eschews, so I don't follow rankings. I follow my own tastes.
As I said, I was giving estimates. We also get single vineyard offerings that tend to be more expensive, but since we are ordering directly from the wineries, whatever we are paying is the lowest retail/wholesale price...so maybe I just overestimated. But I know we've ordered Cobos wines costing $175 from Paul Hobbs Imports (co-owner of Cobos).
Originally Posted by
gfunkdave
You know, I really wish I had a good palate (also: a nice singing voice). My palate is adequate, but I frequently feel like I'm missing the next level of the wine experience.
Strawberry is a really excellent description of the main fruit on the nose of the Shea I had last night.
What are some pinot noirs that exhibit the complexity you're referring to? I'll keep an eye out. Or are these only Burgundies?
We rarely buy Burgundies--just too damn expensive for a difference in taste that I admit to loving but which isn't big enough for me to justify. We mostly go for Burgundian style California Pinot Noir for the most part--since we do live here--and Felton road from New Zealand. My favorite Pinot is Aubert, followed by Morlet and Pahlmeyer and Sea Smoke. I've had some amazing Rochioli and Sean Thackrey, too...and Littorai may be the most elegant of them all. Williams Selyem are good, too...but the number of different single vineyard offerings were too crazy. I'd recommend looking at Pahlmeyer's Jaysen second label for a good deal, and also some Williams Selyem and Littorai if you can find them. But try out different ones and ask the salespeople at your local shop for their recommendations.
Palate is personal. What I describe one way you might also be enjoying but simply use different terminology to describe. It's wine. Enjoy it...and don't worry so much about these "qualities" unless you discover some that matter to you. For me, it often depends on my mood or what I happen to be eating. I can drink a big heavy Kistler Pinot with a steak, for example, even if I most often drink Syrah or a bigger red/blend. If I could get Carmenere more reliably, I'd drink them more, too--same big body and fruit as the biggest reds but without the complexity...and with significantly lower price tags! Syrah tends to fit that big for me more now these days...but it changes.