Last year I had aquired this above wine which was a recomendation from a
retailer Avalonwine.com in Corvalis, Or.

A few weeks after it arrived I tried and it was OK. Tonight I tried a
bottle with a Hangar Steak my wife did with French Fries(diabetic nightmare)
and the wine was outstanding.

Amazing what a year can do for a wine...more than that it may have not fully
overcome bottle shock when I tried last year.

Now the question: How long should you wait to drink a wine that was shipped
cross country. Took 2 - 3 days to my recollection. I normally give them 3
weeks.

> more than that it may have not fully
> overcome bottle shock when I tried last year.

What is bottle shock? (on a chemical or physical level). Why does it affect wine? Or is it an old wives tale?

Jose
--
"Never trust anything that can think for itself, if you can't see where it keeps its brain." (chapter 10 of book 3 - Harry Potter).
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

I don't really know the answer to this question on bottle shock. Often when
I have received wines that were shipped cross country I notice that some
wines didn't show well. Were not the same as I remembered.

They wineries suggested to lay down for 1-3 weeks and try again. Usually it
was great then. They called it bottle shock.

I never have wine shipped when excessive heat or cold.



"Jose" > wrote in message
m...
>> more than that it may have not fully overcome bottle shock when I tried
>> last year.
>
> What is bottle shock? (on a chemical or physical level). Why does it
> affect wine? Or is it an old wives tale?
>
> Jose
> --
> "Never trust anything that can think for itself, if you can't see where it
> keeps its brain." (chapter 10 of book 3 - Harry Potter).
> for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

On Thu, 21 Sep 2006 02:34:24 GMT, "Richard Neidich"
> wrote:

>Last year I had aquired this above wine which was a recomendation from a
>retailer Avalonwine.com in Corvalis, Or.
>
>A few weeks after it arrived I tried and it was OK. Tonight I tried a
>bottle with a Hangar Steak my wife did with French Fries(diabetic nightmare)
>and the wine was outstanding.
>
>Amazing what a year can do for a wine...more than that it may have not fully
>overcome bottle shock when I tried last year.
>
>Now the question: How long should you wait to drink a wine that was shipped
>cross country. Took 2 - 3 days to my recollection. I normally give them 3
>weeks.
>

I've always had great luck with Avalon. They have a huge selection and
their web site offers a lot of advice, which leads to discovery of
some great wines at good prices that might otherwise never be
encountered. It's like having a "friend in the business".

My experience has been that for everyday wines, a week or two is
usually adequate to settle them down. For special wines, I try to hold
out for at lease a month, but sometimes fail. For exceptional wines,
they simply go into the rack and wait.

A year makes a lot of difference in a lot of wines. That's why I like
to keep impressions (we don't do TNs, I'm told by an Italian wine
aficianado) over several bottles over time. I'm not sure if the
changes are always due to maturation--that's definitely a factor-- but
there's also the issue of what accompanies the wine, both food and
friends.


Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
www.thunderchief.org
www.thundertales.blogspot.com

On Thu, 21 Sep 2006 02:55:48 GMT, "Richard Neidich"
> wrote:

>I don't really know the answer to this question on bottle shock. Often when
>I have received wines that were shipped cross country I notice that some
>wines didn't show well. Were not the same as I remembered.
>
>They wineries suggested to lay down for 1-3 weeks and try again. Usually it
>was great then. They called it bottle shock.
>
>I never have wine shipped when excessive heat or cold.
>
I've usually considered it about the same as giving it a good shaking.
Any sediment is certainly going to be moving about after shipping.
Unfiltered/unfined wines are most susceptible. Then there is also
temperature stabilization.

I've had wines shipped when quite cold. Never seen any freezing, but
there has most surely been evidence that the UPS truck was cold.

Now, having just lived through my first N. Texas summer, with better
than 50 days over 100F, I've learned to delay orders until fall or get
ordering done by spring. Had no adverse reactions in shipments yet,
but also didn't get any deliveries in the heart of the heat. Might opt
for overnight shipping if I absolutely had to move it then.


Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
www.thunderchief.org
www.thundertales.blogspot.com