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

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

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SonicMan46

Over the last week or so, I've been sampling bottles of my 2003 Zinfandel from my basement cellar - I was surprised in checking my cellar database that my last tastings of these wines was in 2005!

The wines, again all from the 2003 vintage (despite the labels):  Seghesio, Rancho Zabaco, and Cline (Ancient Vines) - these are perennial good values; amazing none of these have thrown any substantial sediment - I call these kind of 'aged' reds 'squeeky clean' and fear that excess filtration may have extracted important aging components; but, all were just excellent (liked the Seghesio & Cline the best).

Zinfandel is a unique California wine (although the grape originated in the area of Croatia, crossing the Adriatic to southern Italy, and known as the Primitivo there; DNA analysis has now proven this ancestry) that still remains an excellent value (although my favs from Ridge have now crossed the $30+ bottle price for many of their offerings - not buying them anymore); so if you can find Zins in your area, give them a try - America's answer to Australian Shiraz:D


   

toledobass

I bought a Whole Foods label Chianti last night.  Boy that sucked.

Allan

Sergeant Rock

Quote from: toledobass on September 29, 2008, 06:14:29 AM
I bought a Whole Foods label Chianti last night.  Boy that sucked.

Allan

;D :D ;D

One thing I appreciate about Germany is the amount of decent, really low-priced wine. We've been drinking a 2 Euro Vin de pays D.O.C Merlot from Aldi...and really enjoying it. It won't win any prizes but as a basic every day red it fills the bill nicely.

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"

Lilas Pastia

Portugal reds are the flavour of the month (year) in this household. Indecently fruity and yet full-bodied with good, elegant tannins. Quite unbeatable at the price.

Lilas Pastia

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on September 29, 2008, 08:07:03 AM
;D :D ;D

One thing I appreciate about Germany is the amount of decent, really low-priced wine. We've been drinking a 2 Euro Vin de pays D.O.C Merlot from Aldi...and really enjoying it. It won't win any prizes but as a basic every day red it fills the bill nicely.

Sarge

You can count on Aldi to bring forth unsuspectedly good wines at bargain prices.

SonicMan46

Quote from: Lilas Pastia on October 10, 2008, 08:33:14 PM
Portugal reds are the flavour of the month (year) in this household. Indecently fruity and yet full-bodied with good, elegant tannins. Quite unbeatable at the price.

André - good evening - and a delayed response to your post above; I've not been drinking wines from the Iberian pennisula for a while, except for the vintage Ports in my basement cellar purchase years ago; wife & I actually did a tour of Portugal in the early '70s, and enjoyed the table wines @ the time - from my readings, particularly in Wine Spectator, these wines have improved dramatically - must search them out in my area, but fear a pacuity will be available.

My first exploration of wine was back in the late '60s - I was pretty 'green behind the ears' then relative to any knowledge of wine and was more use to beer, so my wife & I started by drinking the Portuguese rose sparklers of the times, such as Lancers; we 'honeymooned' in Bermuda in July of 1970 - had a couple of familiar wines from Portugal the first two nights, then ask the wine person for additional recommendations - can't remember what we had, but that was the start of a much more interesting exploration! Dave  :D

SonicMan46

I've not contributed to this thread much lately, although I drink wine pretty much on a daily basis (the wines that I drink tend to be repetitive, so not worth repeating, I guess, or just not available - a problem w/ an international forum) - but, for white wines, I've been enthralled over the last several years w/ two offerings from the west coast of the USA - of course, these may not be available in many areas of the world - present cost is just over $15 per bottle USA currency, so kind of in my 'comfort zone' -  :D

King Estate - Pinot Gris (2007) from Oregon - well done w/ excellent tropical fruit flavors; I've purchased this wine for my cellar the last 4-5 years and the '07 vintage is one of the best from this winery - a recommendation, if available to you - also, I order this wine often in restaurants (if available) - good 'per glass' purchase (but, of course, always OVER PRICED in that situation!).

Rosenblum Cellars - Viognier - Kathy's Cuvee (2007) from California - of course, this is the famous white grape from northern Rhone in France, and a difficult varietal to make well elsewhere (and even in Rhone!) - this has been a consistently good wine @ a price similar to the offering above - the current vintage is quite good and refreshing; North Carolina (my home state) is producing a lot of Viognier (much pretty poor), but occasionally is making some decent ones - will keep trying!  :)

 

Lilas Pastia

Hi, Dave! Well, if you can't recall what wine you had during your honeymoon, I guess that's a good sign  ;)

This past weekend, I had a good barolo to go along with the bison meatballs stew. Boy!  That wine is just so much above all the other italian wannabes I know. Curt of nose, deep on the palate, mouthfilling and very aristocratic at the same time. As good as a vintage Hermitage or Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

Heather Harrison

Every now and then, I buy Austrian reds, and I have found them to be very good for the price.  There isn't a huge selection in the state-owned wine stores in Utah, but they usually have a few good ones in stock.

Right now I am drinking Zantho 2006 St. Laurent (Burgenland).  It is very smooth and flavorful.

Heather

The new erato

Quote from: Lilas Pastia on October 15, 2008, 07:48:01 PM
This past weekend, I had a good barolo to go along with the bison meatballs stew. Boy!  That wine is just so much above all the other italian wannabes I know.
Barolo an Italian wannabe? I learn something new from this site every day.

SonicMan46

Quote from: Heather Harrison on October 18, 2008, 05:17:55 PM
Every now and then, I buy Austrian reds, and I have found them to be very good for the price........

Hi Heather - I've not had much Austrian wine, except for 'dessert' selections, although in my early 'resident' years, I use to buy a lot of eastern European & Balkan wines (Hungary, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, etc.) - cheap & often quite tasty!

But, my 'red wine' buying has taken a drastic turn in the last 10-15 yrs. mainly because the price of my previous choices has escalated to the point of being ridiculous, particularly in today's economy.  My basement cellar 20 yrs ago had multiple vintages of Bordeaux reds, cabernets from California, Burgundy, Italian Piedmont selections, and others - now all are dwindling away - my largest California collection now are Zinfandels & small number of cabernets (only at decent prices); still collecting Australian reds, esp. Shiraz; have added a lot of Chilean & Argentinean reds, plus can't give up on the Pinot Noirs (nearly all from Oregon & fewer from California, again only @ decent prices).

Just as an example, I've recently finished looking @ the most recent issue of Wine Spectator which was largely devoted to California Cabernet Sauvignon - in there selection of the top 100 or so current offerings (ratings from 92-97), the price range was  $45 to $750 per bottle!  However, there were very few wines under the $100 price - there are a lot of new labels being offered, but many of my 'old favorites' were on the list now selling for several hundred bucks a bottle (used to pay 1/10 that amount!).

Not sure 'who' buys these wines, but the more expensive small production ones are often 'sold out' before release - same w/ the French & Italian reds that I use to collect (and often worst w/ the status of the dollar!).  Well, I'll be still looking for good 'red wine' deals - Washington State is one of my current USA havens that seems to be producing some excellent values, but will take suggestions from elsewhere!  :D

Heather Harrison

Washington is a good choice.  Also, check out Oregon; the pinot noir there is typically a better value than Burgundy.  Idaho sometimes has decent everyday reds for a low price, but quality is uneven.  I have also found some decent reds from Arizona, but again quality is uneven.  And if you ever get over to the plains states, a few wineries in that region are making some very good reds in the $10 to $20 price range.  As for European wines, I have found good values for everyday red wines from Austria (as I have mentioned) and Portugal.  Lesser-known wine regions of France can also be a good value; I have had good luck with Cahors lately.  Spain still has some good values but prices there are heading up.

Heather

Brünnhilde forever

An interesting web site about Austrian wines:

http://www.austrian.wine.co.at/eindex.html

Unfortunately world powers stole from Austria their best wine producing areas and gave them to Italy. - Trying hard not to get political!  >:D - Those great wines, coming from the Alpine regions of Südtirol, are my favourites, and any Lagrein Ketzer is on the top of my list. Hard to get here in this country though, and I haven't found one here in this State. Lucky Lilas Pastia gets them in Quebec!

Brünnhilde forever

See what I mean? Now they brag about being Italian wines!  >:D

Forgive me OT blurb, but it has to be known that Südtirol will always be Austrian and some day we'll be successful in getting this area back to the Heimat!  $:)

Brünnhilde forever

Everybody abstaining? Or did my political rant put you off?

Must have been two months ago when I bought twelve bottles of a variety of wine to wean myself off the Kiona Lemberger habit. Unfortunately medication I had to take was not compatible with alcohol and it was not until today I finally could taste the first one of the twelve.

I chose the Trimbach Pinot Gris, an Alsac wine bottled in 2001. What a surprise, starting with the colour when I poured it: Pure gold, such an intense gold it had a hint of green. And then the taste! Of course I do not have the vocabulary you experts have, but I can say that the first impression was a collection of the fragrance of all my garden flowers concentrated in this small amount of wine in my mouth. As a finish to the sensation was a pleasant, gentle bite left on my tongue.

My first experience with a Pinot Gris!

Now about those twentyfour bottles of Kiona Lemberger. . .  ???

The new erato

Quote from: Brünnhilde forever on October 19, 2008, 10:29:35 AM

Unfortunately world powers stole from Austria their best wine producing areas and gave them to Italy.

When anyone going by the name of Brünnhilde forever says this, the world should listen. If I were Italian I wuld be very scared.

Anyway, the best Austrian wine region would be the Wachau beyond doubt, even if Tirol were Austrian.

Brünnhilde forever

Die Wachau, indeed, good wines, especially the Gumboldskirchner praised in his usual charming way by a Wiener Orginal:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HLYVAa2PKA

Erato: have you been listening to Hans Moser recordings??



SonicMan46

Torrontes - a NEW wine grape discovery for me!  :o

Did 'early' voting yesterday - wife & I stopped off @ Harris Teeter in the same shopping center - I picked up a 'mixed' case of wine, and just added a few Argentinian wines, including one that I've never had before, i.e. a white wine from Argentina made from a 'mystery' grape called the Torrontes (probably from Spain - Wiki Article) - the bottle that I bought was inexpensive (about $10) and was absolutely delicious - another 'new' grape for me to explore!  :D


Brünnhilde forever

Opened another of my 12 bottle collection and learned a lesson: Don't buy because you like the picture on the bottle! I just wanted to test the truth of the warning; it's true! At least in the case of a bottle of 2005 Barton & Guestien Pinot Noir with the cute picture of two guys enjoying the wine at an outdoor table of a bistro. The label actually says: Bistro Wine.

I always had good experiences with the local, unnamed wines served in Italian trattorias and assumed bistro wines are good too. This one is not! It's nice and red, the fragrances are indiscernible, and it bites the tongue!  :-[

SonicMan46

Well, can't believe that the 'wine thread' has DROPPED to page 3 in the DINER!   ::) ;) :D

Just want to add a 'potential' book recommendation - this new release was highly praised in one of my wine periodicals (California Grapevine ) - just ordered & received a copy from Amazon:

Wine Politics: How Governments, Environmentalists, Mobsters, and Critics Influence the Wines We Drink (2008) by Tyler Colman (CLICK on the image for Amazon Reviews - 4+/5* average) - just getting started, but already a 'fun' read - if you're irritated (as I am!) about the cost of wine, distribution in your state, and the reasons you can't get what you want (whether locally or by mail), then this book may be a read for you?  :D