In that last thread, **Jodi **said she’d be gone and asked someone to start the next thread today. So, here it is.
Our sommelier is: Christopher. [is the list, in case **Christopher **doesn’t show up, and we have to move down the list (next up: thingnumberone, and then Aceospades)
So, Chris: What are we drinking this week?
[url=http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=430831]Week 14 thread.](]Here[/url)
waits with baited breath
Then let’s hope that it is a wine that marries well with nightcrawlers… 
I’m choosing my favorite wine from southern Oregon. I have a 2005 bottle of a Baco Noir from Girardet. It is one of my favorites because it is very smooth and not too heavy on tannins. I’m reminded of strawberries when I drink it. I only hope that it is not too difficult to find.
:smack: I don’t believe I did that…
I’ll look for the new wine tonight! (or tomorrow)
Just checked my supplier’s on-line product search and came up empty. Not even an alternate Baco Noir available. I’ll do some more checking, but it’s not looking good for being able to find this one in Houston.
How much do you usually pay for it? Their web site say $25, and I believe we’re supposed to keep it under $20 here.
I’ve got a call into the winery asking for their local distributor, but I’ve got a feeling this one is going to be very hard to find.
800 cases produced. And how much did they actually distribute? Probably not even half of that.
I’m all for trying new wines, but I think the idea here is to choose something that will be generally (and easily) accessible for the vast majority of members. I think once you start looking at production under 5000 cases, maybe even 10,000, chances are most people just aren’t going to find it. I love small producers, but unfortunately choosing wines from them just isn’t practical for this exercise.
Yeah, I noticed that, too. I’ve never heard of this wine, but I’ll take a look tomorrow at BevMo. Still, if it sells for $25, I think we should pick something else.
I paid 18$ for it, but then i lived in southern Oregon at the time. I’ll need some time to find something else then. My only source is Wla-Mart around here so no doubt it will be easy to find.
Allright, heres my choice. Now i want yall to understand, three weeks ago I lived in Eugene Oregon. That was wine central. I now live an hour and a half from anywhere Missouri. I have no idea what I bought, the purchase was based entirely on the label. I’m guessing the Missouri wines are even less accesible than my first choice so I stayed away from the local shelf which left me about 3 wines to choose from.
The choice is:
Fat Bastard Shiraz. I have a 2005 bottle. I probably know less about it than you do.
I don’t have to look up the label for this one - I’ll just look in the mirror
I was unable to find any Baco Noir at either my massive, down-the-street liquor store, or the smaller “can-get-anything” liquor store I also frequent (of course that didn’t stop my from buying $200 worth of other wine…), thought the latter store did say they could order it.
I’ll try for the Fat Bastard today.
I don’t think that it was a waste to have chosen the Baco Noir (although I agree that we should try to find a more widespread label). I have never heard of this varietal, and it sounds great. I’ll look for it from now on.
I know that I can find Fat Bastard; here’s hoping they have the Shiraz, although with my luck they’ll have everything but. Seeing that the wine is French, I was a bit surprised to see it called “Shiraz”. I know that shiraz and syrah are the same grape, and my extremely limited wine knowledge is that, while they can be used interchangeably, Syrah typically refers to the old-style “black peppery” style usually found in France, while Shiraz typically refers to the New World “fruity” style usually favored in Australia. I did a little searching and it appears that this does in fact conform to the newer fruitier style. I’ll look for it on the way home tonight.
While we wait, I’ll add a few notes on previous wines that I brought on vacation for… ummm… research.
Smoking Loon Viognier: I know that one of the attractions of viognier is the floral bouquet. Unfortunately, I don’t have a finely developed sense of smell, so that may be why it really didn’t register with me and why I was generally disappointed with this one. If you folks had better results, I may have just had an off bottle, but I don’t think that I’ll buy this again. On the other hand, I’m drinking a Kestrel Viognier now (well, not right now, I’m at work, but last night) and I really like it. Of course, it is also two or three times what I paid for the Smoking Loon. For those in the Virginia area, I have heard that Horton Vineyards makes a nice Viognier, but I have yet to find a bottle in this area.
Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc: This was the second bottle I’ve had of this, and I just like it more and more with each glass. Crisp, nice “clean” scent. And it goes great with fresh PEI mussels.
It’s a regular guest in my wine cellar now. Very distinctive, and I think I’ve finally found out what the “cat piss” is all about.
I was unable to find either the Baco Noir or the FB Zin at BevMo this AM. I’ll try a few other places this week, otherwise I’m out. I was suprised BevMo didn’t have the Zin since it’s on their web site and I think that’s a fairly popular wine.
I did pick up another bottle of the Leitz Riesling and a few bottles of another wine which I shall not mention yet since it will probably be the white I recommend when my turn comes.
It’s a Shiraz, not a Zin, so that may have been part of your problem. 
Found the Fat Bastard at a random liquor store I happened by for $10.
A note on the Baco Noir. A recommendation of the wine guy at Mondo Vino was to try a Pinot Fin from Burgundy, which he said may be similar to the Noir. I’ll have to do some research and find out, but he did convince me to buy one.
Typo. :smack: No, I was looking for the Shiraz. Maybe they were just out-- I didn’t ask any of the salespeople for help.
Well I’m glad it wasn’t a complete flop. It is my favorite wine and I will order it by the case once I’m employed. I was happy with the Fat Bastard Shiraz. Not fruity at all like the Baco Noir, but very smooth and not overloaded with tannins. I think it was slightly more acidic than I usually like, but not unpleasantly so.
I’ll be making a stop tomorrow to pick up the FB and to restock some of our “regulars” 
This hot weather has really taken a toll on our supply of whites and roses.