[deadwolfbones]

I go to the one in Bernalillo fairly often, but I have not made it to the Santa Fe festival. When does it happen?

Santa Fe Wine Festival at El Rancho de Las Golondrinas

[GeneV]

Wow, fantastic comment! I wholeheartedly agree that reserve or elevage are very over-priced. The one we have is the regular bottling. We bought a case in 2007, and still have half a dozen or so left.

Napa wines have become a brand in itself. You are right. But on the other hand, there are still many not so well know wineries that produce and blend excellent wines for a very reasonable prices too!

One of our wine groups did a tasting of Napa Cabs >= 15yrs old last night. I don't know about some of the more recent ueberfruity wines that NorCal has been churning out lately, but these wines from 1995 or older were built to last. One of the wines, A 1995 Shafer Hillside Select, was as fresh as if it had been bottled last year, and with lots of structure to age. It is very pricey though. A 1978 Stag's Leap was still holding its own.

[GeneV]

Santa Fe Wine Festival at El Rancho de Las Golondrinas

That's a nice venue. Too bad there is no train. I've gotten spoiled by not having to drive to the Bernalillo festival.

[wjt]

I have yet to taste a Penfolds that i like, its all personal though (my old boss fixed a guys telescope for him who in appreciation cracked a 50k bottle of grange which was apparently fantastic). My favourite winery in aus is two hands, a little winery in the barossa and highly recommended. There are a few very good wineries in Margaret River in WA.

My wine reserves come almost exclusively from cellar door sales, so my international wine experience is limited to either when i have travelled or at restaurants.

And i LOVE LOVE LOVE fortifieds.

[GeneV]

I have yet to taste a Penfolds that i like, its all personal though (my old boss fixed a guys telescope for him who in appreciation cracked a 50k bottle of grange which was apparently fantastic). My favourite winery in aus is two hands, a little winery in the barossa and highly recommended. There are a few very good wineries in Margaret River in WA.

My wine reserves come almost exclusively from cellar door sales, so my international wine experience is limited to either when i have travelled or at restaurants.

And i LOVE LOVE LOVE fortifieds.

Two Hands is a great buy, even here. However, the ones that I have really liked have come from outside of Barossa. Although if you love fortifieds, Barossa is in your sweet spot--even the ones that are technically not fortified.