Not to be too negative…
But who else thought the reserve offered previously was good but not quite worth the price tag…
In my opinion…I thought we have received some much better deals over the years…My opinion…
Not quite sure on this one…
[How good is this deal?](http://bit.ly/ww20101018" title="How good is this deal?)
Interesting pricing matrix on the shipping from Jocelyn. Probably one of the most predictable and standard I’ve seen. And if you were to buy a case from the winery it would be cheaper than buying 9 bottles from the winery. But still not as cheap as this woot!
Click the link above for full discount details, links, etc.
Hey there! This is Brandi from the winery. Just wanted to introduce myself and let you know that I will be fielding all your questions today. For those of you who have already ordered thank you!
The Lonen wine is a second label we created to address the fa**iling economy a few years ago. We called it our “stimulus package”. The wine is made using a base of wine from our “Jocelyn Lonen” program. We then purchase bulk wine others are selling in order to complete the blend. There is a lot of amazing wine being sold right now at lower than normal prices. That is the only reason we are able to offer such a good deal. We did not set out to blend with Syrah but happened upon such a beautiful source that we couldn’t pass it up.
This wine is a different blend than the reserve, which may not have been your style. The Lonen is made to be more of a “crowd pleaser”. With a reserve, you are looking for something unique that sets it apart. At this price point, you want a wine that is more widely appealing. I don’t think you would be disappointed giving us another try.
I agree 
I am really proud of this wine.
We tried to create a second label that could stand alone but also be traced back to the original brand. The Lonen is different with the lower price point and the process for making the wine. The Jocelyn Lonen wine is made from grapes we harvest. The Lonen includes purchased wines from other vineyards. The process is completely different.
There are two “early drinking” vintages that stand out for me and those are 2002 and 2006. The wines from those vintages showed their stuff very early on. 2007 wines were a bit mixed based on the wine making style in my opinion. I think it is early to judge 2008 but I do know our wine turned a big corner a few months ago. We sold out of the 2007 very quickly and released the 2008 young. It was tight for awhile but has really bloomed recently.
This wine is still a baby and will really start showing it’s stuff over the next few months.
The winemaking process for the Lonen is completely different than the Jocelyn, which allows us to make a more inexpensive wine.
Hey, I’m near Canton. Did you find these at a local wine store or one of the grocery chains with the ever improving wine selections?
LMAO that is statistically pretty likely, predilections notwithstanding! Still, if you’re looking to up the hit-rate, then psychologically I reckon that if you changed to less of a gung-ho picture - and more of a Hobbity one like the woot cartoons - that might perhaps induce more laid-back image, and reduce the error rate a little… and it would look a little less freaky too!! 8)
Thank you! That’s, er… “otterific”. You weren’t in Smoke and fire-affected territory in 08 then?!
ROFL Someone changed the awesome filters! At least I know not to rely on the bleeding things any more. I had to signpost the lovely and a*wesome link about otters manually now. Embarrassingly it’s on the first page too!
So, do you at Lonen believe in “bottle shock”? Either after it’s put in the bottle, or for travel? There are differing opinions here…
or do you just think it needs time to integrate more? I’m not seeing this, being an everyday drinker, as something to hold for a few years, but it seems you’re agreeing it may come better after some time in bottle. Interested in your views as to what happens!
Thanks for the extra info. I have had a couple 2007 Napa Cabs in the lower end of the price spectrum that were already drinking great. Any one else tried the Pine Ridge 2007 Forefront?
You got me at beautiful woman holding bottles of wine! :happy:
Not to mention I really liked the reserve cab.
Yes I am that shallow.
Cheers
Welcome Back Brandi
I still have several bottles of the 05 reserve; and a few of the 2006 from a wootoff a while back. I already purchased this item this morning; but my question for you is for your opinion on the drinking window of this particular bottle? Thanks!
We were not affected by smoke taint but I did taste quite a few samples from other areas that had damage. They were real bad!
There is a wonderful moment right before bottling when you do a final taste test of the wine out of the tank. You taste it and is it wonderful and you feel great. The next time you taste it is usually a week or so after bottling and it hardly ever tastes the same. Wine is a living, breathing thing and it does go into shock when you cork it up in a bottle. It can take several weeks to months to unwind itself and find that initial beauty again. I would define that as a “bottle shock” problem. The aging process of a wine maturing over time is a different thing. It’s the joy of experiencing the wine in different stages of it’s life.
This wine is made to drink now, but we released it very early. It has really started to open up over the past few months and will continue to do so over the next year. It will taste good now but will probably peak sometime between 2012 and 2014.