Thursday, April 13, 2017

Cooter's Wine Reviews: Grocery Outlet Wine Sale

I told him it was the life, being unemployed. Sleep in as long as you want, take your time doing everything, go to the runoff ditch behind the golf course and fish for crawdads all day, scam free beer from your friends, watch re-runs of the Daytona 500 on ESPN. Richard Petty's Barrel Roll, I never get tired of that video clip.

Dumpsters can be a real gold mine, you never know what you'll find digging in them, and  a great place to sleep off a drunk where the Politzei can't see you, especially if there's an abandoned easy chair stashed next to it. Sometimes I wonder where my dog, a black lab I named "Dog," got off to. Probably found better digs.

I don't see what the big deal is, doing about 8 shots of Jagermeister in a row, wandering all over the place with a big smile on my face, lit up like a Christmas tree, pissing myself, then accidentally starting a fire at my brother's apartment, because I spilled Taaka on the carpet and fell asleep snoring, the lit cigarette falling from my fingers, and getting annoyed at the smoke detectors and sprinklers soaking my Goodwill Dockers, fuck, why won't they fucking let me just sleep the fuck in?

I gotta say, I love a bargain. My people are thrifty. They used to have a store for me, Thrifty Macfrugral's, but they got bought out. My old boss bought a DNA testing kit there to figure out who was stealing meat and cheese from the walk-in.

But now there's all kinds of dollar stores and thrift stores, and the best place for discount food and spirits here in California is Grocery Outlet. Seriously, they've got all kinds of great wines heavily discounted, most around $5. The wine experts I overheard said many of these are "ghost labels" or "seconds." I remember when I used to smoke cigars in the 90s, some dealers would sell "manufacturer seconds" at great discounts. This is sort of the same thing, but the vast majority of these wines are from around here, near Napa & Sonoma (or distributed by local importers).




Red Lava Vineyards Petite Sirah Lake County 2013
Dense fruit, some structure, long finish.

Pata Negra 2012 Valdapenas Spain 80% Tempranillo 20% Cab
Very dry, solid finish, tart berry fruit notes.

Thomas Patrick Lot 04 Winemaker’s Blend Napa 75% Zin, 14% Petite Sirah, 11% Merlot
Outstanding blend with bold fruit, balance, some tannins

Clos La Chance Estate Grown Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 Central Coast
Serious fruit explosion, akin to unfiltered organic small run vintages—I’ve had 6-7 bottles of this vintage and have noticed some minor variance, suggesting what science acknowledges, that wine is living and undergoes change within the bottle

Gauthier Zinfandel Sonoma Valley 2013 Los Chamizal Vineyard
A classic Zinfandel, fruit forward, bold

Pra Vinera Reserve 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa
Highly-nuanced Cab, elegant, complex, & smooth, a concerto for the ages singing light through leaves, a harmonious expression of natural fruit flavors gently coaxed to a profound sweetness, a masterpiece

Barbaresco Mergozzesi 2013 Piedmont Region 100% Nebbiolo
Dry and tannic, complex nose. Let this one breathe longer than usual, or decant. I found there are some subtle nuances undetectable without sufficient exposure to oxygen

Chateau Le Mas 2014 Bordeaux 90% Merlot, 10% Cab
Solid Bordeaux. Plum and berry notes, fruity & spicy. Balanced finish.

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