detlef Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 Beringer Sbragia Chardonnay is one f'ing awesome wine. Just tasted it along with other Cali offerings from the Fosters group (St Clement, Chat St Jean, Stags' Leap...) Honestly, the Sbragia really jumped out at me. If you try to make that wine out of half assed grapes, I'm guessing you end up with the type of silly crap that has given Napa Chard a bad name. However, if you take it all the way, like this guy does, you end up with something really, really remarkable. It is absolutely not a wine you'd want to drink everyday, which is convenient because most of us couldn't afford to anyway. In fact, I'm not even certain I'd want to share a bottle with any less than 3-4 people. However, it is a stunning and impressive wine if taken for what it is, which is Chardonnay at it's most opulent state. The irony is that it reminds me of some of the best White Burgundies I've tried and many White Burgundy "purists" would scoff at this stuff as being overblown. That's because many White Burgundy "purists" can't afford the really good stuff and assume that White Burgundy is all crisp and bright village level wines, not magnificent an opulent creatures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted March 10, 2009 Author Share Posted March 10, 2009 I love Fosters, especially CSJ. FWIW, the CSJ's did represent. The Rbt Young Chard was nice and the Cinq Cepages was pretty banging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twiley Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 I had a great little Corbieres a few weeks ago and found out it was owned by Kendell Jackson. Domaine Lignères - grenache, mourvedre, and merlot blend. Very rustic and earthy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted March 10, 2009 Author Share Posted March 10, 2009 I had a great little Corbieres a few weeks ago and found out it was owned by Kendell Jackson. Domaine Lignères - grenache, mourvedre, and merlot blend. Very rustic and earthy. Yep, they got smart and bought a bunch of places but let them do their thing and didn't slap their name on the bottle. I think they're known as Majestic Brands or something now. Funny story though, I had a guy from KJ on a ride along with my local rep (I have fine relationship with the local company as I used to work with them). It was always a pain when the KJ guy came to town because they always wanted to stick their juice in front of your best accounts and you didn't want to annoy your customers. I used to actually come by a few days before and actually bribe them with free bottles of stuff they liked if they'd play nice with the KJ rep. At any rate, I always wished that KJ would get over themselves and realize that their Chard didn't belong in every restaurant in the world but also wished that some of the places that weren't as cool as they thought would get over themselves and realized that it would totally crush it in their restaurant. None the less, my place is not a KJ place. I respect what they do, but it's not my thing and people that come to my place come to my place to get turned on to things, not buy a wine they see stacked at the local Kroger. I digress... My rep makes a point of pulling only stuff from their book that is, like your corbieres, a KJ wine, but not really a KJ wine. That's because my rep is not a dumb ass and understands that I'm not going to put KJ on my list. None the less, the KJ guy just wont let it go and proceeds to spend like 45 minutes arguing with me and asking me why I insist on "denying my customers KJ Chard which has been proven to be America's favorite wine". I don't know how many times he actually said that. Eventually I lost it and reminded him that I actually had about 3 wines from his portfolio on my list and that guys who were obviously smarter than him who worked for KJ realized that if they wanted spots on lists like mine, they'd be wise not to slap "KJ Special Reserve" on every bottle of wine they touched and that he should do his poor local rep a favor, the guy who's cowering in the corner right now hoping that you don't alienate him from yet another account, and just quit while you're ahead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theprofessor Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 Beringer Sbragia Chardonnay is one f'ing awesome wine. Just tasted it along with other Cali offerings from the Fosters group (St Clement, Chat St Jean, Stags' Leap...) Honestly, the Sbragia really jumped out at me. If you try to make that wine out of half assed grapes, I'm guessing you end up with the type of silly crap that has given Napa Chard a bad name. However, if you take it all the way, like this guy does, you end up with something really, really remarkable. It is absolutely not a wine you'd want to drink everyday, which is convenient because most of us couldn't afford to anyway. In fact, I'm not even certain I'd want to share a bottle with any less than 3-4 people. However, it is a stunning and impressive wine if taken for what it is, which is Chardonnay at it's most opulent state. The irony is that it reminds me of some of the best White Burgundies I've tried and many White Burgundy "purists" would scoff at this stuff as being overblown. That's because many White Burgundy "purists" can't afford the really good stuff and assume that White Burgundy is all crisp and bright village level wines, not magnificent an opulent creatures. Curious as to the cost of the Beringer wine? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted March 11, 2009 Author Share Posted March 11, 2009 (edited) Curious as to the cost of the Beringer wine? My cost was around $35. Thing is, NC wholesale prices are higher than normal, so I wouldn't be surprised if one could find it in other states for close to that retail. Edited March 11, 2009 by detlef Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nogohawk Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 Have a couple of 2005 Sbragia in the cellar - waiting on a nice occassion this year to pop them open. Tried a bottle when I bottle when I bought - agreed - Fng awesome juice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theprofessor Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 My cost was around $35. Thing is, NC wholesale prices are higher than normal, so I wouldn't be surprised if one could find it in other states for close to that retail. That's reasonable. Thanks, I'm going to look for this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theprofessor Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 Beringer Sbragia Chardonnay is one f'ing awesome wine. Just tasted it along with other Cali offerings from the Fosters group (St Clement, Chat St Jean, Stags' Leap...) Honestly, the Sbragia really jumped out at me. If you try to make that wine out of half assed grapes, I'm guessing you end up with the type of silly crap that has given Napa Chard a bad name. However, if you take it all the way, like this guy does, you end up with something really, really remarkable. It is absolutely not a wine you'd want to drink everyday, which is convenient because most of us couldn't afford to anyway. In fact, I'm not even certain I'd want to share a bottle with any less than 3-4 people. However, it is a stunning and impressive wine if taken for what it is, which is Chardonnay at it's most opulent state. The irony is that it reminds me of some of the best White Burgundies I've tried and many White Burgundy "purists" would scoff at this stuff as being overblown. That's because many White Burgundy "purists" can't afford the really good stuff and assume that White Burgundy is all crisp and bright village level wines, not magnificent an opulent creatures. Hey Detlef ..... I have been looking for this wine since your post and went into a specialty wine shop today and they ordered 2 bottle's for me @ $53.00 per bottle. It will arrive Thursday, just in time for a small "before the casino" party at our home next Saturday. I'll let you know what I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted April 4, 2009 Author Share Posted April 4, 2009 Hey Detlef ..... I have been looking for this wine since your post and went into a specialty wine shop today and they ordered 2 bottle's for me @ $53.00 per bottle. It will arrive Thursday, just in time for a small "before the casino" party at our home next Saturday. I'll let you know what I think. I hope you dig it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theprofessor Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 I hope you dig it. Reporting back ....... Had 3 other couples over this past weekend for quick apps and wine tasting party before heading out to the casino for a profitable night at the roulette table. This wine is incredible. The only drawback was that we had only 1 bottle. We went down and bought a case this past Monday which a buddy of mine are going to split. Thanks for the recommendation! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted April 16, 2009 Author Share Posted April 16, 2009 Reporting back ....... Had 3 other couples over this past weekend for quick apps and wine tasting party before heading out to the casino for a profitable night at the roulette table. This wine is incredible. The only drawback was that we had only 1 bottle. We went down and bought a case this past Monday which a buddy of mine are going to split. Thanks for the recommendation! Glad to hear. Both that you liked the wine and that it sounds like the casino bought your next case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theprofessor Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 Glad to hear. Both that you liked the wine and that it sounds like the casino bought your next case. I'll say it did ...... walked away from the casino floor with $840.00 more than I walked in with, all on the roulette table Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pope Flick Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 detlef - not a big char fan, but what do you like in viognier? - which I have yet to find one I do not like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twiley Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 detlef - not a big char fan, but what do you like in viognier? - which I have yet to find one I do not like. The Hermit Crab is an inexpensive Viognier / Marsanne blend that you may like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted April 17, 2009 Author Share Posted April 17, 2009 detlef - not a big char fan, but what do you like in viognier? - which I have yet to find one I do not like. Well, that's a hard one for me, sort of like asking for suggestions on Gewurtz because I don't much like the most popular style of either. Versions that, perhaps people who really like those wines might find a poor representation of the grape. That said, if you don't mind laying out some jack, I can't recommend highly enough the creme de la creme of Viognier and that is a fine Condrieu. It's a tiny area in the Northern Rhone that makes only that grape. It's profound, stunning, and totally hedonistic. Guigal makes a good one (his Dorraine is prety legendary). I really like St Cosme and Texier's versions. These, however, will easily set you back $50 or more a bottle. I actually stumbled across a pretty cool poor man's Condrieu made by Jean Luc Colombo. It's 70/30 Viognier/Roussanne grown just outside of Condrieu. Pretty good stuff that I pay $13.50 for so should be less than $20 retail in most markets. The best value in Viognier, I think, is coming out of Chile. One called Cono Sur Visions is pretty balanced but has all the pieces in place and cam be had for about $10. Alamos out of Argentina makes one a bit cheaper but I think it's sort of clunky (which is the fault I find in Viognier when I don't like it). As for Cali Viognier, I tend to only like the ones coming out of the Central Coast (certainly there's exceptions). Tablas Creek makes a white rhone blend that is really nice (they have a few price points). Also Sellers Viognier is really tasty and has been on my wine list for some time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piratesownninjas Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 I love Fosters, especially CSJ. I love the Fosters portfolio... They came to our wine division and told us that every case we sold from January-March that was above the numbers last year was $15 a case... Needless to say, Fosters had display placements at every single account I call on. Made a few extra grand, which was nice, since my freaking car is deciding to break one part at a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nogohawk Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 Just picked up a case of Beringer Sbragia 2006 from the local PLCB - it just arrived thru the back door this AM - $27 / blt Might have to crack one of these puppies open when I get home I called as soon as they were open since this is the first day listed on their website - they got 14 cases in ... now only 13! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted April 24, 2009 Author Share Posted April 24, 2009 Just picked up a case of Beringer Sbragia 2006 from the local PLCB - it just arrived thru the back door this AM - $27 / blt Might have to crack one of these puppies open when I get home I called as soon as they were open since this is the first day listed on their website - they got 14 cases in ... now only 13! That's a nice price. Damned the wine prices in this state (and it appears WA, assuming that's where the prof is). I don't know how many times I've been offered something on close out only to see that I could still get it for less or the same price from some out of state retailer. Not always, mind you. But nearly every time I get offered wine that's cheaper than I can find from the cheapest on-line retailer, it's because my distributor is really knocking it down (like 50% or more). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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