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

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

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bwv 1080

Quote from: Bogey on May 01, 2010, 05:30:16 PM
Really cool, Dave.  Just went to a little wine tasting down at the local shop in Old Arvada that I like to frequent.

you mean the area by St Anne's church?  (I grew up in Arvada - moved to TX in Jr high)

bwv 1080

There is too much wine out there for me to spend my money to challenge my prejudice that decent wine can only come from a mediterranean climate (there are 4 outside the namesake - the US Pacific Coast, Chile / Argentina, Australia & South Africa). 

Had some more Turly zin (don't remember the year or type) at a business dinner recently which confirmed my opinion that it is the best of its type

on my own dime, been liking this alot (about 1/10 the price of a bottle of Turley)




Bogey

Quote from: bwv 1080 on September 11, 2010, 12:44:33 PM
you mean the area by St Anne's church?  (I grew up in Arvada - moved to TX in Jr high)

Yes!  One street over.  My wife and I love the area.  They have redone much of it and added a few shops and restaurants.  On a side note, I attend Communion Service every Friday morning at St. Anne's Shrine, so know it fairly well. :)
There will never be another era like the Golden Age of Hollywood.  We didn't know how to blow up buildings then so we had no choice but to tell great stories with great characters.-Ben Mankiewicz

The new erato

Quote from: bwv 1080 on September 11, 2010, 12:55:22 PM
There is too much wine out there for me to spend my money to challenge my prejudice that decent wine can only come from a mediterranean climate (there are 4 outside the namesake - the US Pacific Coast, Chile / Argentina, Australia & South Africa). 

Pedantic here: Bordeax, Loire, Champagne, Mosel etc are most definitely not examples of Mediterranean climate, something that are very obvious if you travel in these areas. It's very instructive to travel from eg the North of France, through Lyons, and note how you suddenly on most occasions just south of Lyons you suddenly find yourself in another world with regard to temperature, dryness/moisture,  cloudyness etc. The same experience is very noticeable on most occasions when you go from Bordeaux (which is definitely Atlantic) to eg Agde/Perignan which I have done on a number on occasions.




bwv 1080

Quote from: Bogey on September 11, 2010, 08:30:39 PM
Yes!  One street over.  My wife and I love the area.  They have redone much of it and added a few shops and restaurants.  On a side note, I attend Communion Service every Friday morning at St. Anne's Shrine, so know it fairly well. :)

I have taken communion there too (but was not supposed to, as the lone episcopalian in the 7th grade class at St. Anne's school)

Harpo

Quote from: SonicMan on September 10, 2010, 01:18:00 PM
Off on a quick 'overnight' trip to visit some North Carolina wineries in the middle of the Yadkin River Vly & Swan Creek AVAs (American Viticultural Areas), 2 of the 3 now in this state which has reach about 100 wineries total!


One of the wineries we visited was called "Slightly Askew." They make their wines from grape concentrate and do not have a vineyard. They offer reds, whites, and 8 kinds of fruity dessert wines. I, a semi-teetotaler, liked all 8 and bought 3 bottles from them.  Another winery made a "strawberry shortcake" wine, which I also purchased. True oenophiles are probably gagging by now, but these wines are refreshing and actually not overly sweet.

If music be the food of love, hold the mayo.

Sergeant Rock

#546
Quote from: SonicMan on September 11, 2010, 11:02:51 AM
Just a follow-up of the second day of our stay in the Yadkin Vly wine region of North Carolina - just did 2 wineries on the second day - the one that fascinated me the most was Raffaldini Vyds; picture below shows the tasting building



That's the tasting building? Wow...magnificent. I think I could happily live there  :D  Mrs. Rock and I both love Italian reds. We'll have to make an effort to visit that winery.

Ate supper twice this weekend at a favorite Rheinhessen winery, Weingut G.A. Schneider in Nierstein. The third weekend in September every year they and other Nierstein vintners have an "open house" (Tag der offenen Winzerhöfe), featuring cellar and vineyard tours, tastings, and home-made food (Frau Schneider's specialty is Backeskartoffeln, kind of like scalloped potatoes with ham, heavy on the cinnamon--really quite delicious and goes well with either red or white wine). I bought several cases of dry Riesling. He elminated the vineyard names on the label (why, I don't know: a marketing mistake, I think). Anyway, the Riesling vom Kalk (chalk) is from the Paterberg; the Rotliegenden is from the superb and very steep Hipping (the soil red slate).





The Paterberg tastes great now but the Hipping will need a year in the cellar before it starts showing well, I think. That's been the case in the past anyway. Interesting in that the wine ready to drink now comes with a screw cap; the one for cellaring with cork.

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 - well, if you two are ever in this area, we'll meet you at the winery (and possibly others) - BTW, I did buy a half case of their wines, and so far several are rather tasty - still a ways to go for North Carolina, but I find improvement w/ each coming year -  :D

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on September 20, 2010, 07:24:58 AM
That's the tasting building? Wow...magnificent. I think I could happily live there  :D  Mrs. Rock and I both love Italian reds. We'll have to make an effort to visit that winery.

Trocken of course means dry (if not 'bone' dry!) - so, I'm curious if the alcohol content is higher than in the 'sweeter' Rieslings?  I use to collect German Rieslings but my cellar is now a 'shadow' of its former self! Still drinking plenty of wine but as I've gotten older (and the prices of many of the wines I use to buy have escalated into the heavens), I'm purchasing much less to 'lay away' except for short term.

BTW - the dining (and wine) experience sound fabulous!  Finally, I'm all for screw tops, even on wines to be laid down for a while; I'm glad I never got that interest in collecting antique corkscrews -  ;) ;D  Dave

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on September 20, 2010, 07:24:58 AM
Ate supper twice this weekend at a favorite Rheinhessen winery, Weingut G.A. Schneider in Nierstein. The third weekend in September every year they and other Nierstein vintners have an "open house" (Tag der offenen Winzerhöfe), featuring cellar and vineyard tours, tastings, and home-made food (Frau Schneider's specialty is Backeskartoffeln, kind of like scalloped potatoes with ham, heavy on the cinnamon--really quite delicious and goes well with either red or white wine). I bought several cases of dry Riesling. He elminated the vineyard names on the label (why, I don't know: a marketing mistake, I think). Anyway, the Riesling vom Kalk (chalk) is from the Paterberg; the Rotliegenden is from the superb and very steep Hipping (the soil red slate).



The Paterberg tastes great now but the Hipping will need a year in the cellar before it starts showing well, I think. That's been the case in the past anyway. Interesting in that the wine ready to drink now comes with a screw cap; the one for cellaring with cork.

Sergeant Rock

Quote from: SonicMan on September 20, 2010, 09:03:31 AM
Trocken of course means dry (if not 'bone' dry!) - so, I'm curious if the alcohol content is higher than in the 'sweeter' Rieslings?

Yes, higher. For example, Schneider's 2008 Hipping Riesling Spätlese has 55g/l sugar and 9.5% alcohol. The Hipping Riesling Spätlese trocken has 6.3 g/l sugar and 13% alcohol.

The non-dry Mosels are a delight to drink. Because of the sugar/acid ratio they don't necessarily taste sweet (especially Kabinetts) and go well with food, and yet only have 7 or 8% alcohol. You can drink a lot and not feel the effects. Nice  8)

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"

The new erato

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on September 20, 2010, 10:49:20 AM

The non-dry Mosels are a delight to drink. Because of the sugar/acid ratio they don't necessarily taste sweet (especially Kabinetts) and go well with food, and yet only have 7 or 8% alcohol. You can drink a lot and not feel the effects. Nice  8)

Sarge
I agree, but IMO  they need several years laying down to move beyond the sugary stage and develop complexity - as well as to get rid of all the sulphur necessary to stabilize such a sweet wine. Dramatic airing (I think several days here) ususally helps, but there's really no substitute for some serious cellaring time (3-4 years for Kabinetts. 7-10 years or more for Spætleses).

Sergeant Rock

Quote from: erato on September 20, 2010, 10:55:33 AM
I agree, but IMO  they need several years laying down to move beyond the sugary stage and develop complexity - as well as to get rid of all the sulphur necessary to stabilize such a sweet wine. Dramatic airing (I think several days here) ususally helps, but there's really no substitute for some serious cellaring time (3-4 years for Kabinetts. 7-10 years or more for Spætleses).

I agree. Mosels not only can age well, they should be aged. Still, some producers make wine that can be enjoyed fairly young, like Fritz Haag, probably my favorite vintner on the Mosel proper (my absolute favorite "Mosel" wines come from the Ruwer and Saar). The famous J.J. Prüm, though, needs years in the cellar. His young wine can smell like the bowels of hell, the sulphur so strong  >:D   :D

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"

The new erato

I've tasted with Wilhelm Haag a few years ago (as well as with Ernie Loosen and Rheinhold Haart on another occasion). I also am somewhat partial to the Saar Ruwer, Maximin Grunhaus of course (I've met Carl von Scubert as well), and Zilliken (where I narrowly missed an appointmeint in 2004). Egon Mullers wines are wonderful, but waaaaay to pricey unfortunately.

SonicMan46

Well, not much going on here for six weeks or so -  :-\  I'm sure that we are all still drinking wine -  ;D

Concerning my wine cellar, I've mainly added some reds from South America & Oregon - the latter were some excellent recommendations w/ most in the mid-$20 range - will be glad to list the wines for those interested who may be able to purchased them - just respond -  :)

But main reason for this updated post relates to the purchase of a couple of wine books relative to 'tasting wines':

Making Sense of Wine Tasting: Your Essential Guide to Enjoying Wine, Fifth Edition by Alan Young - as indicated, this is the 5th ed; I've owned at least several earlier ones - just started my read (and nearly half way done) - this is an excellent and short book w/ plenty of illustrations; however, there is considerable technical  discussion regarding physics of light, anatomy of tasting/smelling, and molecular organic chemistry - not a problem for me being a past reader (and also a physician who took organic chemistry) - might want to take a look at this book in a local shop before a purchase?

How to Taste: A Guide to Enjoying Wine by Jancis Robinson - now in third edition (I've own at least one previous publication) - another short book w/ Robinson's usual easy writing; this book (which I've not started yet but know from previous experience and the author's style) will be an easier introduction than the previous one discussed above - this should be an enjoyable read, as usual.

For those just getting into wine who want a book on 'tasting', then I would definitely such Robinson; otherwise if your wallet has enough $$, then buy both -  ;D

 

SonicMan46

Well, I'm sure that many of us are still drinking wine regularly, but not much action here in recent months!  :-\

As in my last post in this vinous thread, a couple more books that I am now ordering off Amazon:

Washington Wines and Wineries - Essential Guide, 2nd ed. (2010)  by Paul Gregutt - I own the first edition and want this one, too!  Washington State is the 2nd largest producer of wine in the USA (of course, way behind California) - this state offers some of the best bargains around from the West Coast (although in a delayed fashion, the prices are escalating which has turned me off to purchasing many California favorites from the past); but if you have access to wines from this state, then this new edition is a recommended buy (just written up in the California Grapevine, December 2010-January 2011 issue as 'highly recommended).

The New Connoisseurs' Guidebook to California Wine and Wineries (2010) by Charles Oaken & Joseph Furstenthal - although not listed as a 'new' edition, this is an update!  From the pens of another wine newsletter, i.e. The Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wine, which I've subscribed to for years; again, well recommended in the same Grapevine issue mentioned above - just ordered a copy from Amazon; for those who have access to a lot of CA wines, another recommendation (same rating from the Grapevine as above for the other book) - looking forward to receiving both of these new editions!  :D

 

Sergeant Rock

#554
Quote from: SonicMan on December 09, 2010, 02:31:38 PMended).

The New Connoisseurs' Guidebook to California Wine and Wineries (2010) by Charles Oaken & Joseph Furstenthal - although not listed as a 'new' edition, this is an update!  From the pens of another wine newsletter, i.e. The Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wine, which I've subscribed to for years; again, well recommended in the same Grapevine issue mentioned above - just ordered a copy from Amazon; for those who have access to a lot of CA wines, another recommendation (same rating from the Grapevine as above for the other book) - looking forward to receiving both of these new editions!  :D

Hey, Dave. I bought wine this weekend, including some California reds at the PX (army store) in Wiesbaden: Frei Brothers 2007 Dry Creek Valley Reserve Merlot ($17.95) and Louis M. Martini 2006 Napa Valley Reserve Cabernet ($23.95). Bought blind, six bottles each. Does your book mention them? Did I choose wisely?  :D  (Actually, there wasn't much choice; they've essentially stopped offering many wines above the 10 buck barrier.)

In a wine shop in Worms, I picked up a couple bottles of Champagne produced by a "boutique" vintner, the 2003 Tarlant Reserve Brut. 1/3 chardonnay, 1/3 pinot noir, 1/3 pinot meunier. 30 Euro a bottle.

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 December 13, 2010, 09:50:17 AM
Hey, Dave. I bought wine this weekend, including some California reds at the PX (army store) in Wiesbaden: Frei Brothers 2007 Dry Creek Valley Reserve Merlot ($17.95) and Louis M. Martini 2006 Napa Valley Reserve Cabernet ($23.95). Bought blind, six bottles each. Does your book mention them? Did I choose wisely?  :D  (Actually, there wasn't much choice; they've essentially stopped offering many wines above the 10 buck barrier.)

In a wine shop in Worms, I picked up a couple bottles of Champagne produced by a "boutique" vintner, the 2003 Tarlant Reserve Brut. 1/3 chardonnay, 1/3 pinot noir, 1/3 pinot meunier. 30 Euro a bottle.

Hi Sarge - the books have not arrived yet, but I don't recall a rating on the Frei Brothers 2007 Merlot - but a simple google would likely bring up some sites w/ comments and ratings; now concerning the Louis Martini 2006 Cabernet, I do have some of their 2006 'regular' cabernet which did receive a very good rating, so I suspect that reserve bottling will be quite excellent!  Hope that you enjoy both -  :)

I picked up a couple of sparkling wines for the holidays (actual the same one) - Mumm Napa Brut Rose (non-vintage and just $15 a bottle) (pic below right) - in the Conn. Guide, holiday issue, this wine received a **/90+ rating, so just an outstanding value;  for those who may have access to this wine and need some seasonal bubbly, pick up a bottle (or more!) - Dave  ;D


Sergeant Rock

Quote from: SonicMan on December 13, 2010, 01:35:32 PM
now concerning the Louis Martini 2006 Cabernet, I do have some of their 2006 'regular' cabernet which did receive a very good rating, so I suspect that reserve bottling will be quite excellent!  Hope that you enjoy both -  :)

We'll be trying the Martini reserve cab tonight with filet mignon.

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"

Bogey

Prime rib and Yorkshire pudding, complimented by garlic mashed potatoes and brussel sprouts cooked in olive oil and fresh garlic.  Chose this wine (2009) to go with the meal.  Just my wife and I will be drinking it, but we are most pleased with very modest sweet and dry finish.

There will never be another era like the Golden Age of Hollywood.  We didn't know how to blow up buildings then so we had no choice but to tell great stories with great characters.-Ben Mankiewicz

Sergeant Rock

#558
A Christmas gift from Mrs. Rock's parents: a case of Knipser reds:



Six bottles of the 2004 Großkarlbacher Burgweg Spätburgunder (pinor noir), three bottles of 2007 St. Laurent (an old varietal related to pinot noir, grown primarily in Germany and Austria) and three of the 2007 Gaudenz, a blend of cabernet sauvignon and Dornfelder.

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"

The new erato

Hope they're not too heavy on the oak, a fate seeming to occur to most ambitious German reds (and the reason I often prefer the cheaper bottlings).