rib eye then
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Same as less expensive backdoor to Bordeaux’s venerable First Growth names through through their “second wines” such as Forts de Latour, Carruades de Lafite, etc.
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Found a bottle of the 2018 at a reasonable price, so we’ll do the comparison.
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A good example of marketing a label that announces it is in fact a white wine. Happy it was pleasant.
Nice, I’m a big fan of Anderson Valley wines. Have you tried any of Anthill’s pinots?
Yes, a few. They remind me of Williams-Selyem.
Friends from near Besancon introduced us to wines from Jura a few years ago. We celebrated the ice melting off the grill with burgers and a bottle of Cote du Jura. The estate (Bourdy) is one of the oldest in the region. A blend that includes Pinot noir and trousseau, the wine is pale though not quite a rose. Refreshing, we’ll balanced and a good complement to the burgers. The bottles shaped like bowling pins are characteristic of Jura, both red and white. We also are fans of the white blend of Chardonnay and savignin common in Jura.
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We used Super Bowl as an excuse to get together with wine loving neighbors to explore unusual cellar selections. My CA Pinot guru blew us away with a Mixed Blacks ( Peugh Vineyard 2019) from Anthill Farms - an inky, fruit forward field blend that was juicy without being jammy, couldn’t find info on the blend and it was fun trying to guess - and a Grüner Veltliner (Vista Verde Vineyard 2019) from Williams-Selyem, crisp, dry and had that distinctive Grüner minerality.
My contributions were tame in comparison. An Archimedes Cab from Francis Coppola (2014), highly extracted, tannins tamed at this point, and a Ramey (RRV 2018) chard. First time trying a Ramey - pleasant surprise to find oak very subtle, very crisp almost Burgundian. If this is the house style I look forward to trying others.
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Haven’t tried a Rhys syrah - how was it?
Last night our neighbors invited us over the the last stuffed cabbage of the season (soul-satisfying) and I broke out a Rhys Bearswallow Pinot for the occasion.
Ooh that Bearswallow pinot is really nice.
Syrah was great, but they really need time to open up. I drank half the next day and it was much better. No rush on opening Rhys wines.
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I have a wine question. If there is a better thread feel free to point me to it. Question: what criteria do y’all use when deciding to shelf and save (age?) a particular bottle of wine?
I don’t mean better like better than. This is a fine thread. I mean better like more appropriate for my question. 
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Should generate some thoughtful responses here . I’m curious too. One reads that zins and not age worthy but I’ve had some 30-year olds from Ridge that were outstanding.
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There are some general rules to go by, highly tannic wines like cabernets, decent and up Bordeaux, Brunellos, Borolos can usually benefit from some age. Also acidic wines like well made/higher end Riselings and Sauternes benefit from aging. But these are just general rules. As @MaxEntropy notes Ridge zinfandels age particularly well, but while they are mostly zin, they usually contain a percentage of other grapes like carignane. petite syrah, etc. If its only one bottle I’ve bought and have never tasted it, it is hard to tell, but if it is a higher end wine you can likely find online reviews that will discuss aging potential. If I you buy several of the same bottle you can see how they develop over the years. If a wine is flabby without much structure it is probably not worth aging. Some wineries have a reputation for making wines that are better aged - Rhys pinot noirs for example are pretty closed when they are first put out but really open up after a few years. These are just my criteria though, I’m sure there are others that know better than I.
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Thanks @brisket44 & @MaxEntropy!
Helpful info for this budding wino. The aging part is especially confusing to me. Example: We went to a tasting at Demetria Estates in Los Olivos and bought a bottle of the delicious 2016 Pinot Noir “Wabi-sabi” . It’s a little pricey (for me) and I thought it would be nice to save, but my research on aging shows that Pinot isn’t particularly good for aging. 
What do you think? Save for a couple more years or invite a friend over and crack it open?
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