Comments on: Winecast 48 – Judge a Bottle By Its Cover

By: Winecast - A wine blog and podcast

Winecast - A wine blog and podcast — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 02:40:56 +0000

[...] This time last year was another Wine Blogging Wednesday and, as was my custom then, I both blogged and podcast the monthly theme that was, “Judge a Bottle By Its Cover.”Ã‚Â I think I had an entertaining post and podcast featuring the 2005 Norma Jeane Merlot and Lavradores de Feitoria, Ã¢â‚¬Å“Tres BagosÃ¢â‚¬Â? 2002.Ã‚Â My only embarrassment is that was Winecast 48 and I’m only up to 69 right now; how could I have only 21 shows in the past year?Ã‚Â Pathetic. [...]

By: Winecast - A wine blog and podcast

Winecast - A wine blog and podcast — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 03:40:07 +0000

[...] I’m not one to buy wines for their labels, except when required by Wine Blogging Wednesday. I have also steered (mostly) clear from the so-called “critter labels” but I’m not as adamant about this as some other wine bloggers. It took a recommendation from fellow podcasters The 3 Wine Guys for me to pick up this bottle for review. [...]

By: Winecast » Blog Archive » Winecast 64 - Lite (alcohol) Reds

Winecast » Blog Archive » Winecast 64 - Lite (alcohol) Reds — Sun, 13 Aug 2006 22:33:52 +0000

[...] This edition of Wine Blogging Wednesday (WBW for short) is a bit different than normal for me as IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m the host wine blog this time. The theme I picked was also a bit of a change for both WBW and my podcast. I asked participants to pick a red wine with an alcohol content of 12.5% by volume or less. Sounds easy enough. No specific varietal or wine region; no fancy label or food matching required. This was a bit more of a challenge than even I expected, however, in this day and age of powerful, fruit driven wines that average 13.5% ABV and up. [...]

By: Tim

Tim — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 23:01:56 +0000

Jeff,

No, the cork stiffness really is not an indicator of quality. What I look for is even color, length and that it is not dried out or crumbly. This would be a bad sign if the wine is less than 15 or 20 years old. The longer corks are more expensive and indicates that at least the winemaker thinks it’s a fine wine (or the owner is sparing no expense).

If the cork is “soft” it will probably also be falling apart, which will let too much oxygen into the bottle. Open the bottle and pour some wine out and check the color and aromas; that will tell the tale if it’s still drinkable.

Thanks for your question.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 22:46:16 +0000

Can you tell a good quality wine by stiffness of the cork? Is a soft cork the sign of a acid tasting wine? … getting too much oxygen?

By: Winecast » Blog Archive » Almost Half of UK Wine Buyers Judge Wine By Its Label

Wed, 04 Jan 2006 02:03:26 +0000

[...] An interesting poll of UK wine consumers which shows that almost half of them judge a wine by it’s label (or bottle and label) that reminds me of last month’s Wine Blogging Wednesday. The next entry in the series is tomorrow night and, much to my chagrin, will prevent the usual podcast because of my part-time night job as marketing professor (for some reason I thought WBW was next week or I would have prerecorded a show). I have a wine to taste and blog about once my class is over, but if it is too late, it might be Wine Blogging Thursday for me this month [...]

By: Tim

Tim — Sat, 10 Dec 2005 22:49:23 +0000

I am the opposite; I cellar to age some wines, but always end up drinking them I would encourage you to pick up 2 bottles of Norma Jeane; one to drink now, the other for your collection. It’s a fun wine and not too expensive.

Cheers!

By: Melinda

Melinda — Sat, 10 Dec 2005 03:42:33 +0000

Very interesting review of the Norma Jeane wine. I collect the Marilyn Merlots and have never tasted it

By: Tim

Tim — Thu, 08 Dec 2005 14:35:59 +0000

Ha! That would be the day… as I said on the podcast, I would have otherwise passed on this wine because of my perception that they are a rip-off since most folks don’t drink the wine behind the label. I must admit I had low expectations, but the nose was so good that I was somewhat deflated by the taste. I’ll try some more tonight and see if it gets any better, but I doubt it. The label, however, is a home run.

By: Derrick Schneider

Derrick Schneider — Thu, 08 Dec 2005 07:41:30 +0000

Tim,

Thank goodness you didn’t pick the bottle with the Marilyn Monroe nude. I’d have to label my roundup as Not Safe For Work.

I’m sorry to hear it wasn’t better, but thanks so much for participating. Expect the round-up this weekend.