Why am I still staring at this? It’s making me want it. Must resist!
In for one. The last Meeker I bought did not disappoint.
Loved your wine making description, in for a half case. I think Lucas is definitely making Meeker into one of the wine.woot favorites with the great participation on every offer.
Agreed, between Lucas and Jim at Humanitas / Michel-Schlumberger we’ve got more entertainment here than your average open mic night!
Yeah, we use oak chips to add a touch of oak tannin to any wine that we think needs some oak going into the last 6 or so months of its aging. Tons of wineries use them. The concept that they’re “inferior” or a sign of a poor wine is pretty much a marketing myth. The reason they have that rep is because they’re often used as a SUBSTITUTE for barrel aging, which we DO NOT DO.
The reality is this: if I were to 100% new French oak a wine, it would cost me about $3.60, off-the-truck hard cost, per bottle. When I mark that price up to wholesale, it’s probably about a 80-100% markup before you then get a distributor and retailer markup. That $3.60 to me can end up costing you, purchasing on the shelf, upwards of $11/bottle retail. We think that’s ridiculous, and it’s not our style anyways. So, instead, we like to under-estimate the amount of oak we think a wine will need. And then, if it needs a touch more (which often times they don’t because of our stylistic preferences), we’ll chip the wine during the last year of aging. A bag of chips cut from the scraps from coopering, that I can put on 400ish cases to add a touch of oak, costs me $65. That costs the consumer, um, pennies?
Granted, you would rarely 100% new oak a wine, but even at 50%… it’s a BIG price difference.
BUTBUTBUT: DO NOT. DO NOT. DO NOT. ASSUME that we don’t use barrels. In fact, we have over 2000 barrels. We do buy new barrels every year, almost all French. We barrel age everything we make, ev-er-y-thing, at LEAST 24 months, even the inexpensive stuff. Nobody else does that. We prefer to spend our money on aging, quality, and keeping the price down, rather than spend it all on overpriced oak.
Most wineries will not tell you the truth about oak chips because they don’t want to seem “cheap”. I’m happy to be honest with you about the reality of this product because it’s an effective way for us to bring you a better wine at an even better price.
I actually don’t remember using them on this wine, however. And on top of that, anybody who tells you that they can taste the difference between a barrel and a chip is probably lying. That might have been the case 15 years ago, when the chips were made from crap wood, but now the chips are made from great wood, the same as the best barrels. That guy tasted the wine right after it was released… and it was admittedly pretty tight at the time, but still an awesome wine. Now that it’s been in bottle for a while, it’s evened out quite a bit, and it’s currently one of my personal favorites.
Oak chips are a great tool for “touching up” a wine. But not a great substitute for barrel aging. I hope this helps, and I hope I can help clear up the stigma around the reasonable (keyword) use of chips.
Let me know if you have any other questions!
Aw crap. SIWBM (Self-Imposed Wine Buying Maniac). I need a cardboard sign - will work for wine.
Meeker 2007 Forklift Grenache - 3 Pack
Current numbers (updated each minute)
First sucker: jimjacks66
Speed to first woot: 3m 38.903s
Last wooter to woot: stormn1
After having the great Cab Franc in a past offering I am definately in for one. Only wish I would have been around during yesterdays offering…
shoot, in for one. winery participation was too good.
Last wooter to woot: daddybush
You are the man.
In for one! Grenache is always a fun bottle to have around and the Cab Franc we ordered from Meeker a while back was great! My wife typically will pass on Cab Franc but she loved Meeker :o)
going to be another sell-out, right now Texas is in the lead.
I think I will go for this Kyle if I give you one I think we will be even in the big trade 
Hi Lucas:
did u ever address the oak chips question? Do you guys USE oak Chips? Thanks!
Your wife has excellent and discerning taste, clearly.
Lucas:
I was in Geyserville for Vineman Tri in July and went into tasting room looking for you. The place was packed! Left you a note. did u get note?
So how long does this need to open up?
Is this in oak for 24 months with chips added in the last 6?
I did get the note. You need to let me know ahead of time so I can make sure to be there!
Damn, I’ve held out all day long, even through the last Meeker offering, which was oh so tempting, and this one was just too good. In for one. Thanks Lucas!
Yes… please scroll up and read my really long post about it.
We won’t be even, but it will help. Remember, we split the 2 Rhone 2-packs @ $50 each? Plus the few dollar difference between the white burg and the Gigondas. That puts us at owing each other wine and you owing me $56. I’ll PM you when I get home with the breakdown of who owes who what and such. I have it all logged out because I’m a weirdo. :happy: