Wine Enthusiasts

[Subculture]

The power of Hollywood.

[FunkyFrenchy]

[readytoignite]

for daily drinking you can't really beat trader joe's, even though all their cheap reds sort of taste the same. because of this i never really remember particular labels although the black mountain gravel bar chard is surprisingly good (has an almost northern rhone varietal flair to it, totally unexpected). i also started leaning towards their pinots because you don't need to decant them and i got pretty tired of washing my decanter.

in the next price range up i'm tasting through a few cali chards (bottle #1 - landmark overlook 05 which was excellent, fit the "kistler on the cheap" designation i gave the salesperson). their reserve is also supposed to be really good but were out of stock.

also going through an australian shiraz phase as well, with limited success. marquis philips roogle was a pretty nice one for the price - super intense at the get go but kind of softened up unfortunately. also unrelatedly, melville pinot is pretty nice

by the way about all those boxed wine jokes - the problem isn't the format, it's what goes in them. there was a generally decent macon villages box that daniel boulud had a hand in, if you're a glass a day kind of drinker it might make sense - www.dtourwine.com for more info (distribution is limited and not even sure if they're in business anymore but hopefully this will be a trend that continues)

[Subculture]

^ great post. I appreciate the info. I'm cooking for a few friends this coming weekend. I'm prepairing Salmon. Can anyone recomend a good white to go with it? Thanks.

[alexryb]

Anyone want to give me a decent red wine w/ a very.. "student friendly" pricetag? This summer I'll be getting my own apartment in a different city, & I plan to have a couple dinner parties for friends (as Subculture is). I'd like to provide a bottle or two of something respectable but not expensive.

[mike lowrey]

Yalumba Riesling has been my drank of choice for a while. the Pinot Grigio they have is very good as well. always been more of a wine drinker as I don't drink much beer.

[Subculture]

Anyone want to give me a decent red wine w/ a very.. "student friendly" pricetag? This summer I'll be getting my own apartment in a different city, & I plan to have a couple dinner parties for friends (as Subculture is). I'd like to provide a bottle or two of something respectable but not expensive.

WHat are you making exactly? This makes a big difference.

[poopie boy]

Yalumba Riesling has been my drank of choice for a while. the Pinot Grigio they have is very good as well. always been more of a wine drinker as I don't drink much beer.

Riesling, while good, is for females.

Pinot Noir is that dopeness.

[readytoignite]

^^ you haven't had any good rieslings - which, like belgian lambic beers, are dominated by insipidly sweet crap wines on the international market while the source countries hoard the good stuff for themselves. so unless you go to the wine region in question your options will likely be 9% alcohol sugarfests or a prestige bottles for exorbitant prices. i'd pretty much take sauvignon blanc or a northern rhone white / viognier / kerner any day of the week over an imported riesling.

sub - forget about individual wine pairings, even most sommeliers suck at it. your aim should be to avoid clashing with the dish, meaning you want to avoid the hammer end of things (cab, chianti, etc). pinot would be a safe bet, most shirazes will also go nicely.

a2, a bottle of wine will maybe cover 3 drinkers so unless your dinner parties are small you should scale prices accordingly. and yes the food matters as per above.

[alexryb]

WHat are you making exactly? This makes a big difference.

It'll probably be more hors d'oeuvres / antipasto -- crudités, cheese (type depending on the wine), mushroom vol-au-vents, fruits. Would I want a lighter wine for this? I've heard "the stronger the food, the stronger the wine." Is it even possible to offer one wine w/ a large variety of food?

I would say sorry for being a total newb, but I think all you winos

enjoy showing off yr knowledge on the subject. (!)

[readytoignite]

yeah, it's pretty easy to find table wines that drink well with most things. ask your local wine dude(tte) for a dry white with firm acidity or a red with soft to medium tannins, or just tell him/her what you're telling us.

[Subculture]

Let's get some opinions in on some everyday wines...Im drinking Hess cab right now...

[Guest larry]

Living in france, the rules are:

Cote de Rhone for everyday.

Never comment on wine, just drink it, unless of course its a special occasion and your opening a bottle of chateauneuf du pape, and then simple smile and nod to the right on taste is enough.

Never ever use grapes as a way of classifying a wine, that is for the foreigners.

[readytoignite]

well that's france - even for plonk, terroir is much more important than in the us and most people who give a rat's ass already knows what varietals are legally allowed in a cru wine. they also know how to spell cotes du rhone. in the new world there is a fair amount of education involved.

also the wine you get at your french supermarket is better than most we get for 4x the cost at our neighborhood wine store.

sub - i'll make some notes on good < $30 bottles of wine i've had over the past year when i get a chance (not sure what your definition of everyday is but anything under 15 is not worth making an effort for imo).

[alexryb]

Recently found out the reason why the drunks call it "spacebagging" is because, by drinking the wine out of a bag & through a tube, it goes down much quicker (suction & all). I may have made the part up about them hiding the bag in their coats.. I thought that was the case, but I was rudely corrected.

I still think the whole concept sounds better as I originally stated it.

[Subculture]

drunks are fucking hardcore.^

So. I've read that Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc was pretty good though relatively cheap. Anyone had any experience with it?

[mypropaganda]

How about Alsatian wines where labeling is varietal-based?

Living in france, the rules are:

Cote de Rhone for everyday.

Never comment on wine, just drink it, unless of course its a special occasion and your opening a bottle of chateauneuf du pape, and then simple smile and nod to the right on taste is enough.

Never ever use grapes as a way of classifying a wine, that is for the foreigners.

[sell veg]

valley of the moon cuvee is great - bordeaux varietals. i think i had a 2002 in the mid-$20s. i recently got into amarone, which, while not cheap, are insanely good; i think i'm ruined.

[sell veg]

Anyone want to give me a decent red wine w/ a very.. "student friendly" pricetag? This summer I'll be getting my own apartment in a different city, & I plan to have a couple dinner parties for friends (as Subculture is). I'd like to provide a bottle or two of something respectable but not expensive.

i like marietta old vine red for a great reasonable red. prices ranges from $9-$14 depending on where you find it.

[ken shinoda]

any of u here fancy fine wines?

i'll start..

1993 chateau lafleur- I didnt expect much fromm this bottle, and I didnt get much either... didnt have the concentration, depth etc, like other vintages I've had.. It was completely unlafleur-like..

[alexryb]

http://www.superfuture.com/supertalk/showthread.php?t=48922

[alexryb]

Veramonte Sauvignon Blanc.

Wonderful for summer. Throw some frozen raspberries in the glass.

[jcotteri]

Yalumba Riesling has been my drank of choice for a while. the Pinot Grigio they have is very good as well. always been more of a wine drinker as I don't drink much beer.

good choice, but there are much better of course

living in ozzieland i enjoy a great bottle of Australian wine several times a week. Though being a red fan, there are times when a nice riesling/chardonnay/pinot noir etc really hits the spot

The best for bang for buck being:

whites

Leeuwin Estate Art series Chardonnay (1999 or 2000)

Alkoomi Unwooded Chardonnay

Henschke ‘Coralinga’ Sauvignon Blanc

Leo Burning Riesling (2004)

Petaluma Chardonnay (2004)

Sir James Sparkling Pinot Noir Chardonnay

god i could contine this list for a while

as for reds and blends:

My Favs in a short list:

Penfolds Bin 389,407,138,128,28, St Henri shiraz ...(707, RWT, Grange)(nah i wish)

Eileen Hardy Shiraz

Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon/shiraz Limited Release

going to give penfolds bin 138 another mention (i love blends) especially an "02" or "03"

Wirra Wirra's Scrubby Rise Shiraz or blend

Wolfblass Black label shiraz/blend,

Wolfblass Grey Label Shiraz/ Cab Sav

D’Arenberg various

Clarendon Hills Kangarilla Vineyard Old Vine Grenache (i also love old vine hence bin 138 as well)

There are to many more, perhaps we can get thie thread going, i would love to discuss wines in depth, one of my many pastimes..

[jyoni]

So hard for me to kick this stuff...I'll eat steaks off a fork with it, and it's a third of the cost of the Amarone.

[the Repeater]

[the Repeater]

"One-glass, Motherfuckers!!!"

[ken shinoda]

1978 Chateau Margaux- Wonderful wine. I thought this was the right time to drink it. Much better than some of the 78 Bordeaux Ive had before. Nose of dried berries, wet grass, a hint of cherries. Burgundy like nose actually...

[Guest Goose25]

2002 Domaine la Terrasse d'Elise: (Nth Cote de Languedoc) "Le Pigeonnier" - rich, plummy red

2003 Domaine du Saint-Esprit: (Cotes de Provence) - again, rich and plummy

2004 Pierre Audonnet (Languedoc-Roussilon) - leathery, like fresh cut grass

2005 Chateau de Pennautier (Cabardes) - orange nectarine, one of my favourites

-> I love Meursault white wines - 1997-2004 is heavenly

...will dig for more

[ken shinoda]

1999 Henschke Shiraz Hill of Grace- Not as tannic as I imagined. Had this wine several times before, and I do prefer a Grange to this. Mainly nose of black fruits, but a hint of chocolate, and mushrooms somewhere in there. Very full bodied, ripe, and heavily concentrated, just like all of the otehr Aussie shiraz.

[ken shinoda]

2000 Moulin de la Lagune- This wine surprised me! For its price, its definately amazing. I enjoyed it thoroughly. Elegant nose. Berries, smoke and a hint of mint at the back. Wonderful on the palate too. Medium bodied.