A fair restaurant corkage fee is:
$10-20 - depends on the price range of the restaurant
A tell-tale sign of a wine snob is:
Anybody who buys those nitrogen things to preserve wine. When the cork comes out, it should be done with the clear intent of finishing the bottle.
The wine region I most want to visit:
Bordeaux & Champagne - or South Australia
My "wish list" of wines I want to acquire soon:
Two Hands Shiraz, Grgich Hills Chardonnay, and a number of first or second growth 2005 Bordeaux - not the top flight - something I can afford (sort of).
My biggest wine pet peeve:
That large format is pricier than 750ml. It didn't used to be that way. That and busloads of rude people showing up at the tasting room just when I'm getting into a good conversation with the staff.
My dream wine to one day taste or own:
I guess I'd like to try the Screamin' Eagle so I can see what makes it so "coveted."
Any of the First Growth Bordeaux from 1961, 1990.
The best wines I have ever tasted:
1996 Chateau St Jean Cinq Cepages
1997 or 1998 Merryvale Profile
2000 Beausejour Becot Bordeaux
1996 Dom Perignon
1997 Silver Oak NVCS
A Peter Huwiler "Graveyard Special" He buried several bottles of Merlot (1992?) in his backyard and brought them to a party - they looked awful but tasted divine! Sorry to see him leave Merryvale. He's a fun guy!
The people with whom I most often enjoy wine:
The last wine I had that I absolutely loved:
1996 Chateau St Jean Cinq Cepages - this was a #1 on Wine Spectator's Top 100 list if memory serves.
What I think of the movie Sideways:
It was very different from what I expected but I liked it. And I happen to like Merlot :)
My thoughts on the 100 point rating scale made famous by Robert Parker and emulated by seemingly everyone:
It really doesn't tell you much, but it does help. I find it more useful for wines Bordeaux than I do for California Cabernet, but that's probably because I live just a ways from Sonoma and Napa county apellations, so I just go there and taste for myself.
My wine travels have taken me to the following wine regions:
Napa/Sonoma county apellations
Santa Barbara county
Loire Valley
Rhone
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterrey County
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