Topic: WINE - Red, White, or Other - Discussed Here!

[Sergeant Rock]

Beaujolais proper isn't available here either.
Sarge

A mere four days later, and cru Beaujolais shows up at my local Aldi    Not a great example of Saint-Amour but very enjoyable and went well with a one-pot supper of zucchini, red bell peppers, onions and meatballs in a tomato sauce.




Sarge

[SurprisedByBeauty]

Just got a case of the 2015 Gelber Muskateller from Peter Uhler's wines, straight out of Vienna (incidentally also the place where better half and I shall celebrate wedding; sorry Arabella :-)), and three of his 2015 Riesling and his 2014 Gruener Veltliner Reisenberg "Jubilee Edition". The latter for storing, the former for drinking/storage... as the mood takes me. The GM is particularly fine (as was the sensational 2014 Gemischter Satz), because it was able to sit on the vines forever, without having attained too much sugar. That way it became very mineral-y, rather than a fruit-bomb... and very complex. Another case of 2015 Gemischter Satz is for greeting guests with, at the apartment that I take care of via AirBnB... to make them feel extra lucky and appreciated.

Gelber Muskateller Reisenberg 2015
12,5°Alk. 2,5g Restzucker, 6,5g Säure

Der steinig-steile Weingarten am Grinzinger Reisenberg verleiht dieser Aromasorte eine spannende, individuelle Note. So bleiben am Gaumen der eindringliche Ausdruck von Holunderblüte, Litschi auch etwas Eibisch als auch der kreidig, und  fast prickelnde Nachhall der dort vorherrschenden Bodenstruktur lange anhaltend. (Biowein AT-BIO-301) 

STERN actually reported on him, a few years back. http://www.stern.de/reise/wein-aus-oesterreich-wiener-weinwunder-3435170.html

Riesling Reisenberg 2015
13,1° Alk.  15,7g Restzucker, 7,8 Säure

Der Reisenberg und der Riesling sind ein perfektes Gespann. Die eindringliche Mineralität von Granit , Quarz und etwas Schiefer, wie auch die kühlen Nächte des Wienerwaldes prägen seine zarten Reize! Weingartenpfirsich, Zitrus, rote Beeren, hohes Entwicklungsptential. (Biowein AT-BIO-301)

Grüner Veltliner Reisenberg 2014, "Der Jubilar" Reserve"
13,5° Alk. 6,3g Restzucker, 6,7g Säure

Dieser Weingarten wurde 1960 (!) gepflanzt; tief verwurzelt, zieht er alle notwendigen Ingredienzien aus dem Reisenberg. Wenig Ertrag, konzentrierte Kraft. Teilbarrique: Heuer wurde 1/3 des Weines im Akazienbarrique ausgebaut. Gelbfruchtige Anklänge, schöne Röstaromen, weich und vielschichtig, lang! (Biowein AT-BIO-301)

[Brian]

In NYC this past spring at a great restaurant (Bâtard) I had a beautiful, still-young '07 Nicole Chanrion Domaine de la Voûte-des-Crozes Côte-de-Brouilly - another KL import cru Beaujolais.

Just found the '06 of this at my local liquor store! Only question is, should I buy ALL of their stock, or let someone else try it?

[SurprisedByBeauty]

Just found the '06 of this at my local liquor store! Only question is, should I buy ALL of their stock, or let someone else try it?

By buying all, you give the proprietor a clear signal that he should now or in the future stock more of this wine, thereby giving OTHERS a greater (!) chance to get it. Buying only part of it would be very selfish, indeed.

[Sergeant Rock]

Vienna (incidentally also the place where better half and I shall celebrate wedding; sorry Arabella :-)

     

...and congratulations on the upcoming wedding.

Sarge

[k a rl h e nn i ng]

Congratulations, Jens!

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[The new erato]

Knoll Kreutles Gruner Veltliner Smaragd 2008:



A mature and peppery Gruner Veltiner, intense and fruity but still long and minerally.

My only bottle from Knoll in the cellar (a legend for his Gruner Veltliners); though happily I have fine stashes of Gobelsburg, Brundlmayer, Prager, Hirtzberger and Nikolaihof on the shelves!

[Bogey]

Had this with the 28 pound bird my mom cooked for the family.  It was a hit.  Huzzah!

[SurprisedByBeauty]

No pix of the quail dinner, but I will muster pix of the wine we had:

(are the pictures showing?)



The GF of the French friend who brought the 2007 Château Grand Seuil Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence joked that he's got a spray to make wine labels look like the bottle is ancient. :-)

The Clos de los Siete is an excellent Argentinian Malbec (Cuvée?) that I like and try to pick up for storing whenever I can find bottles at a good price.

To the great Parsifal Poll This Way!

[Brian]

My spring order from Bedrock Wine Co. - a California boutique winery specializing in old-style (ie not fruit bomb) zinfandel and "Heritage Wines" of mixed-grape vineyards - got delayed until fall due to Texas' hot weather, and my fall order got lumped in with it, so today I received...18 bottles! Yikes!

From '13 Alder Springs V'yard syrah to '16 "nouveau" (a purposely light and Beaujolais-evoking blend of zinfandel & cinsault), I will certainly not go thirsty any time soon.

[The new erato]

Another night of some good wine - and some disappointments.

Among the disappointments:

An oxydized Dauvissat Chablis Les Clos 2000
A distinctly odd Leon Beyer Riesling Vendange Tardive 1995
And biggest heartbreak of all a corked Allemand Cornas Reynard 2000! I consider Thierry Allemand perhaps the best and most interesting winemaker in the Rhone, and his wines are very rare.

Among the succesess:

A Duplessis Chablis Fourchaume 2000, fresh like a daisy and minerally and cleansing.
A fine Meursault-Blagny 2007 from Matrot. Superb acids with some underlying yellow fruit.
Two JJ Prums, a Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spætlese 1999, fresh and gracious as a ballet dancer, and a WS Auslese 2004, young and sweet, both brought out for the cheeses.

For the main meat course:

An incredibly fine Ch Talbot 89, sweet and succulent, perhaps the best Talbot I've had
A bruiser of a Grand-Puy-Lacoste 88, some dusty tannins characteristic of the vintage, a brute.
BTW; all wines were served blind and I guessed the vintage of both these, and also the appelation (St Julien) of the Talbot. But the Grand-Puy-Lacoste had more of a St Estephe character.

A sweet and elegant Barolo Monprivato 2001 from Giacome Mascarello, quite burgundian.
A Vajra Barolo Bricco Viole 96 hastily brought up by the host to substitute for the Allemand., should have been decanted for a day (like my Monprivato had been)
A slightly pruney and big Barolo Vigna Rionda 98 from Massolino, I have a few in my cellar, no haste
A very fine Pommard Rugiens 2002 from Jadot (not mine, but I have a few of this as well), pretty Pinot primary.

[SurprisedByBeauty]

I've side-stepped to Rust on Lake Neusiedel, which is of course famous for its sweet wines, and found a vintner very much to my liking in Tremmel. http://www.weinbau-tremmel.at/

Got a few Ausbruch and Auslese varieties, including a terrific Rosé Auslese Merlot, Ruster Ausbruch 2013 (a game-changer for Ausbruch, as far as I care; very drinkable... not just sippable), and a 2006 Blaufraenkisch Auslese. Also a few reds and whites which, however, will have to undergo another round of tasting with friends to determine whether or not to stock.

[The new erato]

I've been lucky enough to get my hands upon some of the relatively scarce alottments of Døænnhoff GGs in the 2015 vintage.

So far I've received 12 bottles of the Felsenberg GG and 6 bottles of the Hermannshøhle GG. I'm not keeping them all for myself, they will be shared with wineloving friends eager for Dønnhoff 2015s, but I've kept 3 of each for myself.

Hope to get some of the remaning vineyards as well, particularly the Dellchen.

[The new erato]

Some good wines last night, this Bertheau Bonnes Mares 2006 was perhaps the star of the show, silky, powerful and earthy at the same time:


Otherwise a Colomier Hermitage 2004 and a Selvapiana Bucherciale Chianti Classico 2004.

Two fine Rheingaus amongst the whites, a Weill Græfenberg 2007 and a Breuer Sclossberg 2005, both very representative of the vintages, the 2005 richer and fuller, the 2007 very linear and finely wound. A Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Brand 2001 was suprisingly over the top.

[SonicMan46]

BOY - despite starting this thread nearly 10 years ago, I've not been participating much recently (although still drinking wine daily!  ) - since my 'hey days' of the 80s & 90s, my wine cellar has gone from nearly 800 bottles (many for long term aging then) to 100 or so, now for short term consumption - I buy mainly from my local grocery stores (a little online purchases) and probably spend about $20/bottle on the average.  My declining interest in 'collecting & aging wine' relates to my own age (cannot buy young vintage Ports anymore and wait 20+ years!), my wife not drinking much (medications), no longer having home parties, and MAINLY the cost of wines that I use to buy, age, and enjoy.

In the past, I subscribed to 4 wine magazines and now get just the Wine Spectator - the January 31, 2017 issue arrived the other day and was reading tonight - one of the starting articles on the 2016 ratings vs. bottle price included the bar graph below which was shocking to me and confirmed my last point above (18,055 wines reviewed - 6,600 rated 90 or higher).  I use to purchase many 90+ rated wines from virtually all of those 'countries' - presently, I rarely will spend more than $30-$35 for a bottle of wine (exceptions are Oregon Pinot Noirs occasionally), which now prohibits me from buying many of my favorites from the past, including CA cabernets and Bordeaux ($84 & $100 respectively for a 90+ beverage!) - I'm still drinking a lot of 'good' wines and have not really explored searching out the 'best values' (just limited offerings in my home town).

SO, just curious what others' may be thinking about these drastically increased wine prices for presumably the 'best ones' (at least according to the Wine Spectator) - at least when I go to my local groceries, I do shop off that top shelf of the wine area!   Dave

[SurprisedByBeauty]

SO, just curious what others' may be thinking about these drastically increased wine prices for presumably the 'best ones' (at least according to the Wine Spectator) - at least when I go to my local groceries, I do shop off that top shelf of the wine area!   Dave

Interesting stats and post. I think that since there's a glut of wine being produced (much is being turned into alcohol, actually) and since there are enough enterprising people who wish to go beyond just quantity, there will always be interesting, high quality wines popping up in the world at all kinds of prices. It just takes looking harder, perhaps, since there are few 'safe buys' among those. Or investment of time and effort (i.e. traveling to those places.) Or luck of location, mostly. Let the upper crust have their party and ruin prices for each other; I'll be happy to explore the regions between 50 and 5 Euros for anything from fantastic, storage-worthy wines, to lovely if not perhaps lastingly remarkable companions to good food. The sacrifice means leaving the well trodden fields of excellence to others, but as long as I still make wonderful discoveries, I'm fine. A particular joy of mine has been biking through wine regions (bicycle, not motorized) and drink and discover and then eventually order from those estates directly. But of course not every region offers that.

[SonicMan46]

Hi Jens - thanks for responding!

Although I knew the pricing of wines I enjoyed previously was escalating over the decades, that bar graph was a shocking summary to me!  There is SO MUCH wine made on this planet and plenty of excellent ones are available at decent prices - for those just getting into wine, don't despair - but you're unlikely to afford the wines I and many older members enjoyed buying 30 years or so ago - BUT, there are plenty of good to excellent wines out there that are quite affordable - I know because those are the ones I'm buying presently -   Dave

[Spineur]

SO, just curious what others' may be thinking about these drastically increased wine prices for presumably the 'best ones' (at least according to the Wine Spectator) - at least when I go to my local groceries, I do shop off that top shelf of the wine area!   Dave

How big a difference is there between a 90 and say an 86 score in term of your personal enjoyment ?
Here is an example from Piemont italian wines, which represent some of the best value in red wines.  To get to 90 you need to hit some of the top Barrolo winemakers.  The cheapest price I found for them was 47 euros from a Milanese dealer (and in very limited quantities(.  If you are willing to settle for an 86, you can get a Nebiolo d'Alba for 17 euros.  It come from the same wineries, with slightly less favorable sun exposures than the Barolos
There is a difference between the two, but in my opinion, it is a small one.

[SurprisedByBeauty]

Hi Jens - thanks for responding!

Although I knew the pricing of wines I enjoyed previously was escalating over the decades, that bar graph was a shocking summary to me!  There is SO MUCH wine made on this planet and plenty of excellent ones are available at decent prices - for those just getting into wine, don't despair - but you're unlikely to afford the wines I and many older members enjoyed buying 30 years or so ago - BUT, there are plenty of good to excellent wines out there that are quite affordable - I know because those are the ones I'm buying presently -   Dave

That's true; the idea of getting to know, appreciate, and love Burgundy, for example, is pretty much out of the window for me. I have to live with that. But I don't consider the rest that's left merely sufficient for 'getting into wine'. A "90" rating means very little when only a fraction of wine has been tested in the first place and, more cynically, the economic effect of such a rating means that these ratings need not be taken uncritically, in the first place. Moreover, I would argue that the need to really look and get into it 'from the ground up', is a benefit to some degree [OK, that's 'sweet lemon' syndrome], because it motivates/forces you to explore much more independently and in-depth, rather than buying 'from the top', courtesy your local super Carrefour. (Also, thanks to psychology being a neat handmaiden of the pallate, a wine with a story [i.e. the finding process or a special occasion] will seem to taste better than it otherwise might; the same effect that makes wines with ratings taste better... but more powerfully in the former case.)

[SurprisedByBeauty]

Just 2,- more expensive than the 2012, I thought that that was a good value for having a wine stored professionally for 8 years. Not great-great, perhaps, but a very fine Blaufraenkisch for sure.