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

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

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jlaurson

Quote from: Brian on July 18, 2013, 08:31:40 AM
The German Rieslings at my local shops - at least, those which aren't primarily dedicated to fine wine imports - tend to be the $8 kind with garish pink, green, or blue glass. One even actually says "TRY ME!"

Always judge a wine bottle by it's cover! (When you have nothing else to go by on.) You know enough to stay away, then.  :P


Sergeant Rock

Quote from: Brian on July 17, 2013, 11:11:58 AM
The American market is saturated with sweeter rieslings - I might head to the local wine warehouse (!) this weekend to see if I can find one or two more suitable examples of the art.

Dry German Riesling (look for trocken on the label) is a rarity in the States. Great dry Riesling even rarer. Good luck to you; you've taken on quite a quest. Maybe even mission impossible.

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"

kishnevi

Quote from: Brian on July 18, 2013, 08:31:40 AM
The German Rieslings at my local shops - at least, those which aren't primarily dedicated to fine wine imports - tend to be the $8 kind with garish pink, green, or blue glass. One even actually says "TRY ME!"

Give it to a non friend and see how their height changes.

Sergeant Rock

#763
Went to Jacques' Wein-Depot last night. Sampled several Sauvignon blancs and bought three "six packs." From Bordeaux Le Blanc de Monsieur Henri from Famille Ducourt, a Sauvignon-Semillon blend (€6.90 a bottle). From Slovenia (!) Pullus from Ptujska Klet (which translates, I think, as the Wine Cellar of the city of Ptuj), a Sauvignon-Riesling blend (€6.90). And from a local vintner (located a few kilometers to the west of us) Weingut Winter's pure Sauvignon blanc (€7.50). They all have that typical Sauvignon grassiness and are bone dry except for the Bordeaux, which has some noticeable residual sweetness.






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"

Parsifal

Feeling left out, since I'm not a wine freak.

However, we've recently become obsessed with fancy olive oils.




Castillo de Danena comes in two varieties, but we prefer the Picual.


SonicMan46

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on July 25, 2013, 06:10:05 AM
Went to Jacques' Wein-Depot last night. Sampled several Sauvignon blancs and bought three "six packs." From Bordeaux Le Blanc de Monsieur Henri from Famille Ducourt, a Sauvignon-Semillion blend (€6.90 a bottle). From Slovenia (!) Pollus from Ptujska Klet (which translates, I think, as the Wine Cellar of the city of Ptuj), a Sauvignon-Riesling blend (€6.90). And from a local vintner (located a few kilometers to the west of us) Weingut Winter's pure Sauvignon blanc (€7.50). They all have that typical Sauvignon grassiness and are bone dry except for the Bordeaux, which has some noticeable residual sweetness.

Hi Sarge - Sauvignon Blanc has been a long term favorite grape ever since Robert Mondavi came out w/ his version backed in the '60s w/ the name Fume Blanc (i.e. taking one term each from Pouilly Fume & Sauvignon Blanc) - I don't drink the European ones as much as decades ago, but my usual choice is the Upper Loire Valley (Pouilly Fume & Sancerre) and, of course, Bordeaux - in my area, the quality offered seems to favor the Loire Valley, so my usual choice - love the often 'mineral' flavors of that region.  Dave :)

Sergeant Rock

#766
Quote from: SonicMan46 on July 25, 2013, 06:24:33 AM
Hi Sarge - Sauvignon Blanc has been a long term favorite grape ever since Robert Mondavi came out w/ his version backed in the '60s w/ the name Fume Blanc (i.e. taking one term each from Pouilly Fume & Sauvignon Blanc) - I don't drink the European ones as much as decades ago, but my usual choice is the Upper Loire Valley (Pouilly Fume & Sancerre) and, of course, Bordeaux - in my area, the quality offered seems to favor the Loire Valley, so my usual choice - love the often 'mineral' flavors of that region.  Dave :)

Sauvignon blanc was the first wine I was really crazy about. My best man gave me two bottles of Graves which my bride and I drank on our honeymoon (in 1971). It was delicious. Never had anything like it before. Unfortunately, as you alluded to, finding good let alone great white Bordeaux/Graves isn't easy. Cru classé white is rarer, and just as expensive as red. Worth the hunt...and sometimes worth the price. Sauvignon blanc is not a traditional German varietal, but some vintners are planting it. I'm seeing it more and more. It usually tastes German  :D  The 2012 Winter I just bought actually tastes more like a New Zealand example.

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 July 25, 2013, 06:58:01 AM
Sauvignon blanc was the first wine I was really crazy about. My best man gave me two bottles of Graves which my bride and I drank on our honeymoon (in 1971). It was delicious. Never had anything like it before. Unfortunately, as you alluded to, finding good let alone great white Bordeaux/Graves isn't easy. Cru classé white is rarer, and just as expensive as red. Worth the hunt...and sometimes worth the price. Sauvignon blanc is not a traditional German varietal, but some vintners are planting it. I'm seeing it more and more. It usually tastes German  :D  The 2012 Winter I just bought actually tastes more like a New Zealand example.

Sarge

Boy, close dates - we married in July 1970 and spent a week in Bermuda (at the Sonesta Beach below - then & now known as the 'honeymoon' hotel) - my wine knowledge at the point was embarrassing limited - first night we shared a bottle of Lancer's & the second, Mateus - after that I had the wine steward make the recommendations; BUT, I did quickly learn after that point -  ;D  Dave


Sergeant Rock

Quote from: SonicMan46 on July 25, 2013, 07:06:16 AM
Boy, close dates - we married in July 1970 and spent a week in Bermuda (at the Sonesta Beach below - then & now known as the 'honeymoon' hotel) - my wine knowledge at the point was embarrassing limited - first night we shared a bottle of Lancer's & the second, Mateus - after that I had the wine steward make the recommendations; BUT, I did quickly learn after that point -  ;D  Dave

I was married a year later: July 1971.

Ah, Lancers, Mateus. Add some Lambrusco to the mix and you've just written my early wine history  ;D  So you can imagine what a revelation that Graves was. That best man (my oldest friend, actually, met him in 1955, in first grade) also introduced me to Cotes du Rhone a year or two later, thereby weening me off Lambrusco.

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 July 25, 2013, 07:15:24 AM
I was married a year later: July 1971.

Ah, Lancers, Mateus. Add some Lambrusco to the mix and you've just written my early wine history  ;D  So you can imagine what a revelation that Graves was. That best man (my oldest friend, actually, met him in 1955, in first grade) also introduced me to Cotes du Rhone a year or two later, thereby weening me off Lambrusco.

Sarge

Boy - another coincidence - in the summer of 1971 (may have been June or July or an overlap?) - for my medical school graduation that year, Susan's parents arranged a 3-week trip to Italy (my first to Europe) - we discovered plenty of excellent & inexpensive wines, including Lambrusco, which we continued to buy a home (well, at least for a couple of years as our 'vinous tastes' changed - ;) ) - Dave

mc ukrneal

Cool stories. The first wine I ever bought was a Marquees de Caceres. I lived with a guy from Spain and he was proud of wines from there, though they were less well known in those days.  I went with him to the local store, and that was the only Spanish wine, but it's perfectly fine and quite reasonably priced (still). We shared with out other housemates, who I think enjoyed it more than I did. But as I got used to the stronger (tanic) taste of it, I really started to like it.
Be kind to your fellow posters!!

Sergeant Rock

#771
Quote from: SonicMan46 on July 25, 2013, 08:05:36 AM
Boy - another coincidence - in the summer of 1971 (may have been June or July or an overlap?) - for my medical school graduation that year, Susan's parents arranged a 3-week trip to Italy (my first to Europe) - we discovered plenty of excellent & inexpensive wines, including Lambrusco, which we continued to buy a home (well, at least for a couple of years as our 'vinous tastes' changed - ;) ) - Dave

Another coincidence :) Our European trip (hippie trek) happened a year later, June and July 1972. We traveled to England, Scotland, Belgium (I had to see the Waterloo battlefield), France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy, with about three weeks spent in Alsace (where my wife had studied during her junior year of college) and where I discovered wine that would become lifelong addictions (pinot noir, riesling, pinot blanc). One of her college buddies was somewhat of a wine expert. Although he was now a banker, his family owned a winery.

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"

Sergeant Rock

Quote from: mc ukrneal on July 25, 2013, 08:32:09 AM
Cool stories. The first wine I ever bought was a Marquees de Caceres. I lived with a guy from Spain and he was proud of wines from there, though they were less well known in those days.  I went with him to the local store, and that was the only Spanish wine, but it's perfectly fine and quite reasonably priced (still). We shared with out other housemates, who I think enjoyed it more than I did. But as I got used to the stronger (tanic) taste of it, I really started to like it.

Making the transition from a sweet, fizzy red (like Lambrusco) to a more serious, drier and tannic red didn't happen overnight for me. The only wine I'd ever had prior to college was a sip of homemade rotgut a neighbor and his hunting pal dared me to taste when I was seven (apparently the sour look on my face was hilarious; it's a wonder I ever touched wine again  :D ) and the horrible communion stuff I drank every Sunday from age 14. Going from soda pop to Lambrusco was easy. But going from Lambrusco to something dry was tougher, partially because really cheap reds (all I could afford then) were usually pretty bad. Luckily I never gave up  :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"

SonicMan46

Hey Guys - finally got my sink fixed -  ;D

Sergeant Rock

Quote from: SonicMan46 on September 13, 2013, 10:42:56 AM
Hey Guys - finally got my sink fixed -  ;D

Turn both faucets on and you get rosé?   :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"

Brian

Okay Sarge, fess up about that Barbera and I'll see if my Italian grocery happens to have it.

Sergeant Rock

Quote from: Brian on October 08, 2013, 01:49:45 PM
Okay Sarge, fess up about that Barbera and I'll see if my Italian grocery happens to have it.

A 2010 Barbera d'Asti from Olim Bauda. I'll be posting more in the eating thread.






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"

jlaurson

The arrival of new friends!



Baron di Pauli
Alto Adige (South Tyrol)
3 x 2006 "Arzio" (Cuvee)
1 x  2007 "Arzio" (Cuvee)

The 2006 was an enormous treat at a fabulous Dinner this summer... the 2007, which as a year (though I don't know about that particular wine) was even better in South Tyrol, was substituted for the fourth 2006 that was no longer available.

The new erato

I'm a great fan of the Alto Adige wines though I usually prefer their native grapes for the personality and character, Schiava, Lagrein and Teroldego give wonderful reds wines with a profile usually not found eleswhere.

jlaurson

Quote from: The new erato on October 10, 2013, 01:46:49 AM
I'm a great fan of the Alto Adige wines though I usually prefer their native grapes for the personality and character, Schiava, Lagrein and Teroldego give wonderful reds wines with a profile usually not found eleswhere.

Yes, indeed... and that Cuvee I only picked, because the wine menu didn't have a Lagrein on it. That it turned out quite as well as it did...well, that was a bit of luck perhaps. As long as one stays away from Kalterersee Vernatsch and other Raspberry Juices...