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

Started by SonicMan46, April 07, 2007, 06:14:18 PM

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BorisG

Quote from: bhodges on January 16, 2008, 12:06:47 PM
To me one of the great myths about wine is that quality wines are very expensive.  There are tons of bottles around in the $10 range (hey, the price of a movie) that will give you much more pleasure than the $2 one(s).  Just one example: one of my favorites is Wyndham Estates Bin 555, a deep-flavored Australian Shiraz, and at least here in NYC you can find it for around $10 or even less.

--Bruce

Right you are about inexpensive wines, and the value is rapidly getting better. We are now seeing quality grape for $10 to $15, that was in the $20 to $40 range a couple of years ago. Grape glut or competition? We will just have to wait and see.

I found early on that most Australian reds provide me with an unpleasant medicinal taste. I still like Australian Chardonnay.

For the past few years I have almost exclusively used Argentine reds.

Sergeant Rock

#201
Whoa...this topic had slipped to page six. That just won't do!

For the first time in quite some time Mrs. Rock and I went serious wine shopping. We bought single bottles to test and if we like them, we'll go back and buy by the case:



From left to right:

Australia - Bleasdale Vineyards Langhorne Crossing 2004, a Cab/Shiraz €6.20
Australia - Bleasdale Vineyards Frank Potts Langhorne Creek 2005, Cab/Shiraz from old vines €18.20
New Zealand - Shepherds Ridge Sauvignon Blanc 2007 €13.50
Argentina - Finca el Diamante Cab/Malbec 2004 €7

Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

SonicMan46

Sarge - we've slipped to the third page again, so must do an update!  ;D  Those wines shown on your recent post look great & right up my alley -  :D

For me this month, doing a 'sampling' of my 1995 Bordeaux, which were bought as 'futures' in '96 and delivered in 1998, so have been sitting in the basement cellar for 10 years; purchased 3 half cases of the following (purchased price first, and current web listing prices adjacent):

1995 Ch. Leoville Barton (St. Julien) - $32 futures price in '96 - now, $120-$168 range in USA

1995 Ch. Branaire Ducru (St. Julien) - $21 futures price in '96 - now, $60-$120 range in USA

1995 Ch. Lafon Rochet (St. Estephe) - $21 futures price in '96 - now, $43-$115 range in USA

Note - pics don't necessarily match the years; as I would expect the Leoville Barton, being a 2nd classified growth has escalated the most in price - having that one tonight w/ some veal!  ;D

   

Sergeant Rock

Quote from: SonicMan on February 09, 2008, 02:32:28 PM
Sarge - we've slipped to the third page again, so must do an update!  ;D  Those wines shown on your recent post look great & right up my alley -  :D

We drank the Sauvingnon blanc last night. Mrs. Rock made her famous Shrimp with lemon grass. The food paired beautifully with the wine. We drank the cheap Cab/Shiraz tonight with a beef stew. I was mightily impressed! A real bargain. I'm definitely buying a case of this.


Quote from: SonicMan on February 09, 2008, 02:32:28 PM
1995 Ch. Leoville Barton (St. Julien) - $32 futures price in '96 - now, $120-$168 range in USA

That's my favorite Bordeaux. Consistently good, even in off-vintages, and reasonably priced....at least compared to most other second growths. Unfortunately, even the price of this wine escalated beyond what I was willing to pay. The last time I invested in a case was in '93, the '91 vintage. A wonderful wine, one of the best of that vintage. As M would say, I chose wisely  ;D I'm rationing them though; drinking a bottle about once every two years since they matured.

Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

SonicMan46

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on February 09, 2008, 03:19:52 PM
....That's my favorite Bordeaux. Consistently good, even in off-vintages, and reasonably priced....at least compared to most other second growths. Unfortunately, even the price of this wine escalated beyond what I was willing to pay. The last time I invested in a case was in '93, the '91 vintage. A wonderful wine, one of the best of that vintage. As M would say, I chose wisely  ;D I'm rationing them though; drinking a bottle about once every two years since they matured.

Sarge - yes, my exact feeling as bolded above - the prices have become outrageous - the last 'futures' that I bought were from the 2000 vintage, but have not purchased any further - as w/ you, I'm just infrequently drinking the Bordeaux that I have remaining in the cellar - looking for better value & bargains in reds at the moment (and as we know, there are plenty of excellent offerings, luckily!) - Dave  :D

Sergeant Rock

the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

toledobass

2005 Chateau du Lort Bordeaux with dinner last night.  The price is good but the wine is little on the lighter side for me.


Allan

SonicMan46

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on February 14, 2008, 01:34:10 AM
Great article about the legendary '47 Cheval Blanc:

http://www.slate.com/id/2184371/


Sarge - thanks for the link - looks like it's time to sell your house & buy a few bottles of the '47 Cheval Blanc!  ;) :D

Last night did a little comparative tasting w/ dinner, which included buffalo filet mignon cooked medium rare.  Sampled what was left of the '95 Lafon Rochet (pictured a few posts back) & opened a newly bought bottle of a decent 2006 Malbec from Argentina - YES, quite a contrast, but both went quite well w/ the filet!  Argentenian Malbec is becoming a favorite 'red wine' of mine - usually excellent value - this one will be a lot smoother w/ 2-3 yrs of age - the Bordeaux was in 'ideal' shape -  :)

toledobass

While the Mrs. was singing out in Sacramento, she used a day off to go out to wine country and ended up visitng the Peju winery and signed us up for the wine club.  We'll be getting something every 3 months and we're expecting our first shipment any day now.  I'll report on what we get and what we try when it arrives.

Allan

toledobass

Tried the 2005 Estate Cabernet-Napa Valley from Peju.  I enjoyed it very much and so did the wife.  She's generally not a big fan of the fuller bodied wines,  but the tannins in this aren't overwhelming.  It's a deep rich fruit that rounds out to some sort of earthy flavor then finishes off with a licorice or toffee kinda thing.   Can't wait to try the next 2 bottles that were delivered.  A 2005 Merlot-Napa Valley and A 2006 Provence-North Coast were also delivered.


Allan 

SonicMan46

Well, again the 'wine thread' has been inactive too long!  :o  :D

I've been drinking a lot of wines since my last posting, but we're such an 'international' community that it is not easy to make regional or even country recommendations because of availability; but, over the last few days, wife & I have been sipping on a Muscat dessert wine called EOS, 2007 vintage from a winery of the  - SAME NAME - made from late harvest muscat grapes (same grape as in Italian Asti Spumanti & Beaume de Venise from the southern Rhone region) - absolutely delicious wine @ a good price - not sure about the availability even in the USA (picked up my bottle @ Costco) - but if you see this wine on the shelf & like dessert offerings, give it a try!  ;D


uffeviking

It was my lucky day to go shopping for wine in my favorite super market, a Northwest chain, diverse inventory and great service. There were three men standing in the wine isle and one of them, in civilian clothes, not the Top Foods uniform, asked me what I was looking for and offered his help. Another one of the group of three, the store manager, introduced the civilian as a representative of a national wine distributor company. He located my regular Kiona Lemberger, but only 5 bottles left and we joked about the necessary half a dozen. I took advantage of his knowledge and asked him to acquaint me with a change in my taste, how about at Pinot Noir. This is what he recommended and then I learned that huge amounts of juices from France and Germany are being shipped to the US for bottling by our wineries. The Europeans have too much juice, we don't have enough to fill the growing demand, easy solution: ship the juice across the Atlantic in vats big enough to fill a swimming pool!

Now I have a bottle of Pinot Noir from grapes grown in the SW of France and bottled by HMR Rex-Goliath in California. - $9.99 minus $1.40 store discount, and I shall tell you what it's like as soon as I tasted it! -  :D

http://www.rexgoliath.com/rexgoliath/catalog/view_product.jsp?product_id=1005&cat_id=1

Lilas Pastia

A full report is expected once you've sobered up, Lis  ;D (I mean, a swimming pool load of pinot noir... ::)).

Meanwhile, I have to be content with the discounted 3L pack of Fish-Eye, an australian shiraz. Not bad, good fruit and some wood. When I'm done woth it I'll indulge again in the nice and veeeeeery affordable Albernoas alentejano red (form Portugal). 

uffeviking

Quote from: Lilas Pastia on May 09, 2008, 08:06:33 PM
(I mean, a swimming pool load of pinot noir... ::)).


But André, at $9.90 minus the discount, how could I refuse?  ;D

Heather Harrison

The last wine I drank was a bottle of "Peak White", a proprietary blend from Pahrump Valley Winery.  This winery is located in Nevada, about an hour away from Las Vegas.  I visited there in February, and I found the wine to be of high quality and they had an excellent restaurant, which was quite welcome given that there is little else in Pahrump.  They get their grapes from California and Oregon, but they have planted some zinfandel nearby, and that should do well in southern Nevada's hot climate.  http://www.pahrumpwinery.com/

There are wineries in many unexpected locations.  Next week, I am taking a road trip to explore some of the flat states.  I'll be staying in Sioux City, Iowa, most of the time.  I have found that there are numerous wineries within two hours' drive of Sioux City, and I plan to check out as many as I can.  I'll probably come back with many bottles of wine from Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa, and Minnesota.  The wines of the northern plains states exhibit a distinctive regional style.  Since they cannot grow the standard European wine grape, they plant European/American hybrids that have unique flavors.  This type of wine may not be to everybody's taste since it often exhibits hints of the distinctive flavor of Welch's grape juice.  In some (i.e. concord wine) that flavor is quite strong, but in others it is barely detectable.  I have found these wines to be the perfect match with certain traditional American foods, such as barbeque, big juicy (and preferably bloody-and-mooing) steaks, and Thanksgiving dinner.  I am almost out of wine from this region, so it is time to stock up.  These wines are seldom available outside of the states where they are made, so one must visit to try them.  I'll report back with recommendations on the best ones I encounter.

Next time you take a road trip through any part of the United States, search the web for wineries.  You might be surprised at how many there are.

Heather

Bunny

Quote from: Heather Harrison on April 08, 2007, 07:48:40 AM
One type of wine that I have always loved, but which seems to be somewhat neglected these days (although it has its devoted fans) is unfortified dessert wine.  I'm curious to find out if there are others here who love these very sweet wines.

So has anyone else discovered these sweet wines?  If so, please post recommendations.

Heather

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on April 11, 2007, 11:35:13 AM
Although my taste in German wine underwent a radical realignment about 17 years ago (I basically lost my sweet tooth) I still love those concentrated, ultra-sweet categories: Beerenauslese, Trockenbeerenauslese, and Eiswein. I also love the French equivalents, especially those wines from Barsac and Sauternes. I pulled some individual bottles from their cases and racks and had them pose in front of the Bordeaux:

Pride of the pack is probably a rare 1976 Scheurebe Trockenbeerenauslese from a vintner friend of ours who lives in the next village north of us, and, of course, my Chateau d'Yquem:


I could never afford...or rather, would be unwilling to spend the money for one of the great vintages but the 87 d'Yquem was still mind-bogglingly delicious (we only have one bottle left of the six we purchased in 1993) and, at 250FR a half-bottle, "relatively" cheap.

You're right about the current neglect. In some ways these wines are like classical music: only appreciated by a small minority with specialized taste: even in Germany they're a hard sell. My problem now is I have no one to share them with. Mrs. Rock has completely lost her taste for even moderately sweet wine and we have no friends or relatives who are interested in these great bottles. I'm forced to drink them alone...poor, poor, pitiful me ;D

If you ever get to Germany, Heather, we'll open that last 87.

Sarge

Well, I love these wines and have for many, many years.  Heather, Chateau d'Yquem became a favorite of mine after a night in college when we feasted on Roquefort cheese accompanied a couple of bottles.  It was much less expensive then because, if you can believer this, sweet wines were not fashionable!!!

Sarge, if I'm ever in Germany, I'll be sure to look you up so that I can sample some of those trockenbeerenausleses! 


I recently discovered an American wine which stands up to the European wines from the Philip Togni Vineyard.  It's made from a varietal called the Black Hamburgh grape (also called golden Hamburg, Black Hamburg or Black Muscat).   It had been cultivated in South Africa where it was used to produce the popular 18th and 19th century Constantia wine.  It produces the only unfortified red desert wine in existence.  It's really very special and so far the prices are not killer.  The production is very limited, so it's easier to order directly from the vineyard because it's distribution is so small.


SonicMan46

Quote from: Heather Harrison on May 21, 2008, 06:23:51 PM
...............Next time you take a road trip through any part of the United States, search the web for wineries.  You might be surprised at how many there are.

Heather - thanks for the info on the Nevada winery (just was in Las Vegas a few years ago!) - as you likely know, virtually all states in the USA are currently making wine (not sure all from grapes?) - but as you state above, for those interested in wine, check out wineries in the states you plan to visit.  For example, in my area, Virginia & North Carolina have probably about 150 wineries in toto!  And, please post here for recommendations regardless of 'where' you plan to visit since we have forum members from so many areas!   ;D

Heather Harrison

Quote from: SonicMan on May 22, 2008, 04:32:50 PM
(not sure all from grapes?)

There are many wines that are made from something other than grapes, and they are often found at these out-of-the-way wineries.  Wine is frequently made from apples, pears, peaches, cherries, many types of berries, plums, rhubarb, honey, and dandelions.  In the region near Grand Junction, Colorado, there are numerous fruit orchards; some of the wineries there make use of the fruit.  Cherry wine is a specialty of that region.  There is a winery in Mt. Pleasant, Utah, that makes dry wine out of a variety of fruits.  I'm sure I will encounter a number of fruit wines in the plains states.

Heather

SonicMan46

Although I live in North Carolina w/ a rapidly emerging wine industry, I have not posted many comments or recommendations: 1) the wines are unlikely available beyond the borders of this or adjacent states, and 2) the wines are pretty average or even poor (esp. the reds) @ best - now there is likely a great future, but will take a while to decide which 'grapes' are best in this area & 'how' to make the wines!

But, just recently I visited a local winery near my home town of Winston-Salem (Piedmont North Carolina) - Westbend (first vines planted about the time my son was born in 1973) - made a recent visit to the winery and tasted the '05 Chardonnay (barrel fermented) - sampling some @ the moment!  This wine is SHOCKINGLY good!  I would probably rate it in the high 80s (or B+) in a blind tasting - actually there was such a tasting @ a local restaurant in town, and the 'blind' tasters preferred the wine over a California Kistler Chardonnay - not BAD!

Guess my point is that these North Carolina (and Virginia) wines continue to improve, so if you plan a visit to the mid-Atlantic states & enjoy tasting wines, please visit some of the wineries; both states have plenty of info on the web & guides to the wineries - if you plan to visit my area (i.e. Piedmont NC, the only NC AVA is currently the Yadkin River Vly) - my suggestions are:  1) Westbend; 2) Shelton (Dobson, NC); 3) RayLen Vyds; and 4) Childress Winery (Lexington) - all are near Winston-Salem; please 'report back' if you do visit - I'd be interested in your thoughts!  :D


SonicMan46

Quote from: Heather Harrison on May 22, 2008, 04:41:47 PM
There are many wines that are made from something other than grapes, and they are often found at these out-of-the-way wineries.  Wine is frequently made from apples, pears, peaches, cherries, many types of berries, plums, rhubarb, honey, and dandelions.  In the region near Grand Junction, Colorado, there are numerous fruit orchards; some of the wineries there make use of the fruit.  Cherry wine is a specialty of that region.  There is a winery in Mt. Pleasant, Utah, that makes dry wine out of a variety of fruits.  I'm sure I will encounter a number of fruit wines in the plains states.

Hi Heather - of course, you know that I'm well aware of this distinction -  ;) ;D  But for me, a true traditionalist , real wine is made from grapes, and specifically the Vitis vinifera species; now I might accept the American varietals & even the hybrids, but please don't call any fermented products made from other than Vinifera species a wine!  :D  Just kidding, of course, but still my basic feeling! Dave  :)