Tempted to look for a bottle from VOS selections
- Thread starter Cole Kendall
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vosselections.com
Apparently, they import Mexican Cabernet. I think these may have already been tariff-free since it would fall under USMCA (I think USMCA-compliant products are still exempt from tariffs)?
So, just in case the court decision gets stayed, you won't get hit with a surprise tariff.
Eden Mylunsch
Eden Mylunsch
It's interesting that VOS was selected as the wine representative for the lawsuit. There are maybe 50 other small importers who come to mind who could have been an equally fine (if not better) representatives of the category for the purposes of the litigation, but maybe it was the father/daughter ownership or their proximity to the Court that made the difference. Or maybe they've got a high tolerance for dealing with the nonsense that'll be spewed in their direction by the powers-that-be in the government these days.
But to the question at hand, VOS has more than a few worthwhile wines in the portfolio. I first became acquainted with Victor when he were selling the Vin Divino book (or maybe it was Torbreck?) and I'd go to NYC to pour at his trade tastings.
I love drinking anything made by Kostis Delamaras of Delamara -- definitely among my top-five Naoussa winemakers (and no, this is not damning with faint praise)(the others being Thymiopolus, Kir-Yianni, Diamantakos, Argatia, and an honorable mention for Vaeni, the massive co-op making stellar wines from/for the masses). Delamaras worked for in Burgundy (Ponsot? Dujac? One of those guys) and his Xinomavro has a Burgundy-like vibe to it (except for the price, which is affordable for a punter like me).
From Ribera del Duero the Pago de los Capellanes are excellent, usually a little more approachable in their youth than some of their neighbors in the D.O. but none the worse for the comparison.
And along with all the swell tariff-free Valle Del Guadalupe offerings from VOS (which I like a lot but there's a strong, underlying note of salinity whenever I drink them which is good when I get sucked into a blind tasting -- such a strong marker guarantees that is from either Baja or the Barossa -- but there are a couple of non-tariffed producers from California that I favor, none so much as the Holus Bolus and Joy Fantastic releases from Amy Christine & Peter Hunken. Amy is a MW but she doesn't let that get in the way of the winemaking, and Peter's tenure with a bunch of other prominent central coast wineries is leveraged as an asset rather than a limitation. Holus Bolus is used for their Rhône releases and the Joy Fantastic wines are indeed fantastic, some of the most restrained and elegant versions of these varieties on the west coast. Plus Amy's @heywineslut Insta account is my primary reason for descending into such social media channels and is worthy of your attention. The Margerum wines are also pretty worthwhile. They're sort of inspired by Bob Lindquist's work at Qupé but are now building on that inspiration and moving into their own thing. And Talisman has always just burbled along under the radar of the collectors but they have a lotta years of producing terroir-reflective PN and they should be famous but the wines' subtlety works against broader-scale notoriety. Talisman is always a great call on a wine list, whether as a sommelier or a patron because it's going to work with the food and it'll provide some vinous enlightenment to the diner.
-Eden (Mr. Trump reminds me of a mean-spirited interpretation of Rufus T. Firefly in "Duck Soup." Demented is too kind of a descriptor for this present Prez of our Fredonia, but he's treating us like we were Mrs. Teasdale, and me I'm getting real tired of it. Find another fat lady to sing for your entertainment)
But to the question at hand, VOS has more than a few worthwhile wines in the portfolio. I first became acquainted with Victor when he were selling the Vin Divino book (or maybe it was Torbreck?) and I'd go to NYC to pour at his trade tastings.
I love drinking anything made by Kostis Delamaras of Delamara -- definitely among my top-five Naoussa winemakers (and no, this is not damning with faint praise)(the others being Thymiopolus, Kir-Yianni, Diamantakos, Argatia, and an honorable mention for Vaeni, the massive co-op making stellar wines from/for the masses). Delamaras worked for in Burgundy (Ponsot? Dujac? One of those guys) and his Xinomavro has a Burgundy-like vibe to it (except for the price, which is affordable for a punter like me).
From Ribera del Duero the Pago de los Capellanes are excellent, usually a little more approachable in their youth than some of their neighbors in the D.O. but none the worse for the comparison.
And along with all the swell tariff-free Valle Del Guadalupe offerings from VOS (which I like a lot but there's a strong, underlying note of salinity whenever I drink them which is good when I get sucked into a blind tasting -- such a strong marker guarantees that is from either Baja or the Barossa -- but there are a couple of non-tariffed producers from California that I favor, none so much as the Holus Bolus and Joy Fantastic releases from Amy Christine & Peter Hunken. Amy is a MW but she doesn't let that get in the way of the winemaking, and Peter's tenure with a bunch of other prominent central coast wineries is leveraged as an asset rather than a limitation. Holus Bolus is used for their Rhône releases and the Joy Fantastic wines are indeed fantastic, some of the most restrained and elegant versions of these varieties on the west coast. Plus Amy's @heywineslut Insta account is my primary reason for descending into such social media channels and is worthy of your attention. The Margerum wines are also pretty worthwhile. They're sort of inspired by Bob Lindquist's work at Qupé but are now building on that inspiration and moving into their own thing. And Talisman has always just burbled along under the radar of the collectors but they have a lotta years of producing terroir-reflective PN and they should be famous but the wines' subtlety works against broader-scale notoriety. Talisman is always a great call on a wine list, whether as a sommelier or a patron because it's going to work with the food and it'll provide some vinous enlightenment to the diner.
-Eden (Mr. Trump reminds me of a mean-spirited interpretation of Rufus T. Firefly in "Duck Soup." Demented is too kind of a descriptor for this present Prez of our Fredonia, but he's treating us like we were Mrs. Teasdale, and me I'm getting real tired of it. Find another fat lady to sing for your entertainment)
Florida Jim
Florida Jim
Eden,
‘Appreciate the suggestions (more than you know) and your post script.
‘Appreciate the suggestions (more than you know) and your post script.
Keith Levenberg
Keith Levenberg
They'd have needed to engage counsel and volunteer!
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www.npr.org
Very interesting background in the interview above on how VOS Selections ended up as the lead plaintiff for this lawsuit. It sounds like they got recruited into the lawsuit.
SCHWARTZ: No, the suit thing, I - totally is something that I kind of backed into. I'm an unintentional plaintiff. This was not something I was looking for. I heard from a family member that their former law professor was bringing a suit about the tariffs. And I was thinking, wow, I want to talk to this guy 'cause I want to tell him what's going on in the wine business. I got in touch with him. I remember it was a Sunday, and he liked what I had to say, and he put me in touch with Jeff Schwab, who's on the line here. And Jeff was kind of interested, too, and he asked me if I wanted to join the case. So one thing led to another. And next thing you know, I'm the lead plaintiff and got my head out there on the chopping block.
And here's info about Jeff Schwab and the Liberty Justice Center.
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libertyjusticecenter.org
Robert Vodicka
Robert Vodicka
I knew his parents: dad was a colleague of mine and mom was the long-time Democratic mayor of West Lafayette (who related to me the story of Marilyn Quayle as a Purdue undergrad: a frat wanted to name a wing after her). Tried the sons wines a couple of times a decade or so ago but found them too extracted at that time.
Hear, here!
Mark Lipton
Eden Mylunsch
Eden Mylunsch
Mark Lipton[/quote]
Nowadays they're made with less extraction, more satisfaction.
-Eden (and in that same vein of thought [or vain thinking on my part?], I recently tasted some newly-released wines from Au Bon Climat. They're still making the best wines coming out of Sanford & Benedict, and Hildegard, as always, was stunning [could we call Hildegard the "Marilyn Quayle of Santa Maria?]. Deft usage of neutral oak across the entire lineup. My favorite was the Valdigue, a midweight,frooty in a good way, porch-pounder with acidity for days, reminiscent of the original Charles Shaw Napa Gamay from the good ol' days)
Claude Kolm
Claude Kolm
Are you talking about the Chalres Shaw Gamays that Ric Forman made?
Eden Mylunsch
Eden Mylunsch
I didn't know that Ric was involved in the label but I recall that the quality was way better than the Charles Krug and BV Gamays that were my initial introduction to the varietal (back before my enlightenment, when I thought the Gang of Four was merely the name of yet another UK post-punk band)
Claude Kolm
Claude Kolm
IRRC, his involvement was the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Oswaldo Costa
Oswaldo Costa
I didn't know that Gamay was a varietal, but for youngsters like me, the organist who got the ball rolling was Keith Emerson. Perhaps that is not so much music to your ears. Wanderley was a minor pride of my country, to be sure.
Claude Kolm
Claude Kolm
According to Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamay_Beaujolais, Gamay Beaujolais is the name of a grape that is an early-ripening clone of Pinot Noir and the name on labels is now banned in the US.
Much of what was sold as Gamay from California back in the 1970s and 1980s (and before) was in fact Valdiguié, a grape that occurs in SW France. Again, IIRC, the Gamays Ric made for Charles Shaw were the first, or essentially the first in commercial distribution, to be made from the true grape of Beaujolais (Gamay noir à jus blanc, but there are wines from various other Gamays one comes across here in France). Thus the irony of the pic that Eden posts of a bottle of Gamay Beaujolais (i.e., presumably from the clone of early-ripening Pinot Noir), but I think by then Shaw had already sold the label and neither he nor Forman had any involvement.
Myron Redford at Amity Cellars was also one of the early US producers of wine from Gamay noir à jus blanc.
On organ, Fats Waller, and he taught Basie. But Jimmie Smith was pretty mean in his time, too.
Much of what was sold as Gamay from California back in the 1970s and 1980s (and before) was in fact Valdiguié, a grape that occurs in SW France. Again, IIRC, the Gamays Ric made for Charles Shaw were the first, or essentially the first in commercial distribution, to be made from the true grape of Beaujolais (Gamay noir à jus blanc, but there are wines from various other Gamays one comes across here in France). Thus the irony of the pic that Eden posts of a bottle of Gamay Beaujolais (i.e., presumably from the clone of early-ripening Pinot Noir), but I think by then Shaw had already sold the label and neither he nor Forman had any involvement.
Myron Redford at Amity Cellars was also one of the early US producers of wine from Gamay noir à jus blanc.
On organ, Fats Waller, and he taught Basie. But Jimmie Smith was pretty mean in his time, too.
Jonathan Loesberg
Jonathan Loesberg
Varietal? Et tu, Oswaldo?
Oswaldo Costa
Oswaldo Costa
Not clearly enough an attempt at humor.
Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
E. Power Biggs.
Henry Purcell.
Albert Schweitzer.
Henry Purcell.
Albert Schweitzer.
Oswaldo Costa
Oswaldo Costa
J.S. Bach
Pavel Tchichikov
Pavel Tchichikov
Peter Hurford.