Just an FYI:

Because I ordered some wine a couple times from his site, I got this e-mail saying the name of FFC's winery has been changed to "Rubicon Estates."

TIS


Rubicon estates

TIS, Weren't there some pictures posted here once of you and Saladbar at the winery?? If I remember, they were terrific.

I've only had his merlot, and I must admit that I was not thrilled. I don't know if his other wines are better, but I was not inclined to try others.

Yea SB, SB ( :p ) and I went there a couple years ago and did post some pics. It really was nice. Beautiful grounds, some GF mementos (including Vito's desk).We could see FFC's place from a distance.

Never went to a wine tasting before. We got our one room with about a dozen people and they kept giving us wine, and we kept drinking it. Didn't think a little sip here and there would even go to my head, but I must admit I had "just right" buzz.

TIS

Oh, and I don't remember if we posted it, but as we were driving to FFC's winery, there were many others we passed along the road. Can you imagine how surprised we were when we passed one called "Turnbull"? We had to stop and take a picture.

All the Coppola wines are good. His lowest-priced red, simply called "Rosso," is an outstanding buy. I recommend it highly.

I agree with TB - Of the 4-5 varieties I've tried, I haven't been disappointed yet... then again, I'm not too fussy with alcohol.

Well, then, I will have to give it a try if Turnbull recommends it. TB, you are a man of excellent taste, so I'll give it a shot. My husband and I were served the merlot as part of the wine dinner at Cite (mine and Plaw's favorite NYC spot, by the way, although we've never actually eaten there together) and we were very disappointed. It actually had a nasty aftertaste, so we never bought any on our own. I will give the label another try.

Edited to add: And of course because JG recommends it, too!!

I like his Merlot, and I'm not usually a Merlot fan.

SB, maybe you got a bottle that was stored improperly. Why not buy a bottle of the "Rosso," and open it two hours before drinking? You can probably get it for less than $7 in a retail store. Here in Arizona, where I am now, Costco usually has it for about $6.
BTW: Costco is the largest retailer of wine in America. They don't have a very varied selection, but what they sell, they sell at unbeatable prices.

Sucks for me, cuz the local "mafia" owns 95% of the local liquor licenses and actually prevented our Costco from selling any alcohol!!! :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

But when I lived in Piscataway, I'd go to the one in Edison all the time... it's just not worth the hour drive to save a couple bucks these days...

Crap... I can't even wait 2 minutes!!

Sucks for me, cuz the local "mafia" owns 95% of the local liquor licenses and actually prevented our Costco from selling any alcohol!!! :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

But when I lived in Piscataway, I'd go to the one in Edison all the time... it's just not worth the hour drive to save a couple bucks these days... [/b][/quote]The Costco nearest to us in NJ is in Union, and they don't have an alcoholic beverage license. I'm guessing it's because NJ allows towns to set the number of retail alcohol permits that can be granted--and Costco was too late to compete with all those giant booze outlets on Route 22.
But the Costco here in Prescott, AZ, which is walking distance to our home here, has a license--probably because Prescott is liberal on alcohol licenses.
BTW: We were in Gallup, NM, last month on a Sunday night. Went to dinner and ordered wine. Sorry, sez the waiter--no alcoholic beverages served in this burg on Sundays; in fact, the town's trying to get all booze banned all the time. I practically had the shakes all night... :rolleyes:

Crap... I can't even wait 2 minutes!! [/b][/quote]Well, Geoff, I was just trying to be "civilized" with SB. Me, I pull the cork out with my teeth and just slug it down.

THAT is why I respect you so much!!

*bows down to Turnbull*

I've never tried his wine. I doubt it's even available over here and I'm not that desperate to import it. Thankfully I know of other great wines that I'm incredibly fond of. I've got tons of people hooked on Tempranillo, a Spanish red, from recommending it to everyone. Sadly I've developed a stomach ulcer and had to seriously cut down.

TB, You could be right. I wish my Costco had a liquor license, but all they sell is beer. My local liquor store does have an excellent selection of wine, though, so I will give it a try. We're always looking for a good red table wine.

And by the way - Me?? Civilized??

Sorry about your ulcer, Turi.
Tempranillo is Spain's ubiquitous great wine grape--like Cabernet Sauvignon in Bordeaux or the Napa Valley. Plenty of good stuff around.
Here's a fun-filled factoid about wine in the UK:
Despite its prominence in the wine trade over many centuries, the UK had (may still have) a big hole in its wine regulations: the UK permits importers and wholesalers to bring in wine from overseas in bulk (casks and vats), and bottle and label it in the UK. Naturally this leads to, uh, temptations--such as cutting the wine with rotgut from Algeria or the Midi in France, or even Thames water. I used to subscribe to a UK wine magazine. Every month, they'd have a big dinner in a fancy restaurant, and scarf down a big selection of supposedly top-notch wines. The Bordeaux they ordered were all ok: all great Bordeax wines are bottled at the estate. But most Burgundy vineyards are too small for the owners to bottle and ship their own wines, so they sell them in bulk to shippers, some of whom sell them in bulk to UK firms. Almost all the "great" Burgundies the wine magazine people sampled were "off" in some way. They used polite euphemisms such as "not quite up to snuff," or "a curious vintage"--meaning that they were drinking doctored wine.
The US does not have anything like the UK's long history of involvement with wine--in fact, the US banned production and importation of nearly all wine and alcoholic beverages during Prohibition. But the US wine law is more protective in its own way. The US requires that any alcoholic beverage imported into this country be sold in the same container that it arrived in--can't be bottled and sold here. That rule isn't designed to prevent the kind of fraud that the UK magazine people encountered--it's meant to assure that Uncle Sam collects his maximum tax on alcoholic beverages. :rolleyes:

Turi

Too much NFL playoff stress?

Seriously, I hope you recover quickly and are feeling better.

It's completely my own fault anyway with all the drinking I do. In just over a few weeks I lost about 20 lbs. But now after finishing a months course of pills I'm on the road to getting that back with the highest caloried beer and cider I can find. Good old Scrumpy Jack.

Shame though because I really miss the wine but that triggers the badness inside of me.