The Wine Thread

[Dusty 66]

THank's Jsaltlick
since WE my wife and I have been on the wine wagon last 3 year's It's become a goal in life to find really good wine's @ a Great price so far I drink most anything but prefer the Red's my wife like's the sweet Gewuirtirztraminer, Reaslings, liber-mulches and the zinfandels if they are white anyway any other suggestions ?
we found a petite sharia's we both like last year in Temecula Ca. DUsty 66

 

[40Flipper]

Petit Syrah is a big jump from rieslings so you should have a few good options. Beaujolais is a great transitional grape when moving from whites to reds. It has a candied plum sort of flavor and no oak. It's very soft in style so it's easy to dive into.

Also, pinot noir is a monster since the Sideways movie. Aside from that it's a very sleek and finessed style wine. Truly on of the best. Inexpensive Pinot Noir from California will either have some sweetness or some bitterness to it. Most have a touch of sweetness to them. Have her try a few of them and she'll be fashionable too. Pinot noir has a red cherry flavor when inexpensive and heads more towards the earthy/mushroom flavor when pricey. The really expensive ones are usuallly worth every penny

Others are merlot, malbec and carmenere. The last two get from argentina or chile. Merlot from CA. Cheap Australian shiraz is generally sweeter and tastes kinda like a spicy merlot.

 

[greytandy]

jsaltlick:

I'm a bit late to this party, but I didn't know there was a middle-man between distributors and retailers. Do you work for a distributor?

 

[40Flipper]

I'm an importer/ producer. Basically I find wineries to import or I create brands that I think will sell well. I buy the wine from the wineries, mark them up and sell them to distributors in different states. These distributors sell locally to restaurants and retail shops. Technically I'm called a supplier.

I worked for distributors for about 7 years in Colorado and MA.

 

[greytandy]

I'm an importer/ producer. Basically I find wineries to import or I create brands that I think will sell well. I buy the wine from the wineries, mark them up and sell them to distributors in different states. These distributors sell locally to restaurants and retail shops. Technically I'm called a supplier.

I worked for distributors for about 7 years in Colorado and MA.

Since you seem like a nice person, I will keep my strong opinions about suppliers/distributors to myself. ;p

 

[Dusty 66]

Petit Syrah is a big jump from rieslings so you should have a few good options. Beaujolais is a great transitional grape when moving from whites to reds. It has a candied plum sort of flavor and no oak. It's very soft in style so it's easy to dive into.

Also, pinot noir is a monster since the Sideways movie. Aside from that it's a very sleek and finessed style wine. Truly on of the best. Inexpensive Pinot Noir from California will either have some sweetness or some bitterness to it. Most have a touch of sweetness to them. Have her try a few of them and she'll be fashionable too. Pinot noir has a red cherry flavor when inexpensive and heads more towards the earthy/mushroom flavor when pricey. The really expensive ones are usuallly worth every penny

Others are merlot, malbec and carmenere. The last two get from argentina or chile. Merlot from CA. Cheap Australian shiraz is generally sweeter and tastes kinda like a spicy merlot.

THE Petit Syrah we loved was from the Bella Vista Winery in Temecula we have since and have become quick friends with the owner's Emery,maybe in his 80s he started making wine when was 7 years old in old country WHAT a jokester,

Pinot noir was the my first real wine experience intruded to me by an ex GF in the mid 70s I remember visiting her and her collage roommates in SF and going to the Local wine-mart and buying a gallon (with a screw cap) of Napa pinot for like $2.99 boy how times have changed..and then crashing my 55 chevy on the GG Bridge

yea I haven't seen the movie, my wife has,told me about it. I think the movie has driven the price of CA pinot up for sure and the few bottles We have tried mostly inexpensive ITAlian ones were not so good.
We do not go to Ca winery as much as I Would like.
I DO like the Australian shiraz & love a spicy merlot columbia valley is one of my favorites....Dusty 66

 

[40Flipper]

Since you seem like a nice person, I will keep my strong opinions about suppliers/distributors to myself. ;p

No need to edit yourself here. I'm in sales so I hear much worse on a daily basis than what you'll throw at me!!! I hate distributors too.

 

[40Flipper]

THE Petit Syrah we loved was from the Bella Vista Winery in Temecula we have since and have become quick friends with the owner's Emery,maybe in his 80s he started making wine when was 7 years old in old country WHAT a jokester,

Pinot noir was the my first real wine experience intruded to me by an ex GF in the mid 70s I remember visiting her and her collage roommates in SF and going to the Local wine-mart and buying a gallon (with a screw cap) of Napa pinot for like $2.99 boy how times have changed..and then crashing my 55 chevy on the GG Bridge

yea I haven't seen the movie, my wife has,told me about it. I think the movie has driven the price of CA pinot up for sure and the few bottles We have tried mostly inexpensive ITAlian ones were not so good.
We do not go to Ca winery as much as I Would like.
I DO like the Australian shiraz & love a spicy merlot columbia valley is one of my favorites....Dusty 66

I've heard of Bella Vsita but never had any. Pinot prices have shot way up. Right after that movie came out EVERYONE planted pinot noir. Since it takes 3 years for vines to mature, there will be a sea of overpriced pinot noir that frankly will be crap. After 5-7 years the vines start to become mature and make nice wines. The baby vines that they'll be harvesting this year and next year is gonna be tough.

 

[HR-OLIFANT]

Have you had any experience with the S.A. producer Ridgeback Winery? I visited on my last trip and enjoyed their products, and I love the dogs as well.

When in Portugal, we downed many bottles of vintage port, black bottles with the years painted on them, sometimes the producer as well. Is it possible to get those here? All I see are from major producers with very commercial labels. I loved the rustic feel of the experience, and it is not the same here.

 

[yooper]

Barbera's are the most interesting inexpensive wines from Italy IMO. Chianti's are usually overrated and cheap ones are mostly garbage.

Find some Valpolicella too. Dirt cheap and really F-ing good. Spring for the Valpolicella Ripasso on a splurge. Amazing shizz and not all that expensive.

I agree on both. Good Chianti's are rare, and I've enjoyed some very inexpensive Valpolicellas from Italy recently. I wish I could remember the name of my favorite recent find, it's a blend of Val and something else. I recognize the label but can't remember the name. A small town near here has a real Italian deli and the manager told me this was his best wine (same as your advice above - he saw me hemming and hawing at the wine shelf and came out of the kitchen to help me ), although it was in the middle of the price range ($11 or so I think). I'm out of it right now but the next time I get some I'll post up here.

This is an AWESOME thread. It should be called THE ULTIMATE WINE THREAD! (there are very few ultimate threads worthy of the name. TUFT, TUBT, TURMT and maybe one or two others... (fishing, boat, red meat)

 

[40Flipper]

Have you had any experience with the S.A. producer Ridgeback Winery? I visited on my last trip and enjoyed their products, and I love the dogs as well.

When in Portugal, we downed many bottles of vintage port, black bottles with the years painted on them, sometimes the producer as well. Is it possible to get those here? All I see are from major producers with very commercial labels. I loved the rustic feel of the experience, and it is not the same here.

Not familiar with Ridgeback. There are thousands of wineries down there now. US distributors are very picky these days so most of what makes it to the shelves is really good.

I'm embarassed to say I don't really like port. My wine amigos that I've worked with make fun of me and consider it a sin. I have tasted many, many ports before and I do appreciate them but I just don't drink them. After a big meal I sip down some nice bourbon.

Quinta Noval, Ramos Pinto, Graham's, Quinta de la Rosa, and plenty of others are great. The painted bottles are available in niceer wine shops usually under lock and key. Read up a bit on those painted bottles. Some are the exact year that is painted on the bottles. Others are a blend of vintages that average to a sytle (ie a 20 year tawny might have some 25 year old wine and some 15 year old wines blended to average to 20 yrs)

"Vintage" ports can only have the years on the bottles if it is a superior vintage overall. The Portuguese government will "declare" a vintage year and allow the years on the bottles. otherwise the wines get aged and blended in to make 10, 20, 30, LBV etc ports.

Best cheapo port out there is Ramos Pinto "Collector" Should be around $10 and it's great. Anything from Ramos Pinto should be easy to find and easier to drink!

 

[40Flipper]

I agree on both. Good Chianti's are rare, and I've enjoyed some very inexpensive Valpolicellas from Italy recently. I wish I could remember the name of my favorite recent find, it's a blend of Val and something else. I recognize the label but can't remember the name. A small town near here has a real Italian deli and the manager told me this was his best wine (same as your advice above - he saw me hemming and hawing at the wine shelf and came out of the kitchen to help me ), although it was in the middle of the price range ($11 or so I think). I'm out of it right now but the next time I get some I'll post up here.

This is an AWESOME thread. It should be called THE ULTIMATE WINE THREAD! (there are very few ultimate threads worthy of the name. TUFT, TUBT, TURMT and maybe one or two others... (fishing, boat, red meat)

Valpo does rock. The house wines in carafes in Venice is valpolicella. It's DIRT CHEAP there since that's the area it's grown in. Those same cheapo wines would be 3-4X the price by the time they got to the US and they'd STILL be cheap! Great stuff.

I thought about calling it the "ultimate" wine thread but wine is so snotty to begin with I didn't want to come across as an intimidating discussion or lecture.

 

[40Flipper]

I was thinking that people could start writing their own wine reviews on this thread. Buy a bottle on a Friday night and write down some notes, opinions, or recommend a particular wine to someone. That will take the intimidation out of it and maybe prod someone to try something new.

Nobody will want to hear me pontificating about wine forever and this way it will be a bit more interactive.

POST THEM UP!!!!!!!!!!!

be sure to note name of winery,vintage year, type of wine(red/white), name of wine (merlot, cab, meritage)

There are no right or wrong reviews. It's all opinion and don't feel intimidated.

 

[greytandy]

Best bottle I ever had:

1996 Bryant Family. It's a Napa Cabernet Sauvignon like nothing I've ever had. Friggin' amazing. And I still have a bottle in my cellar.

Second best bottle:

1994 Rochioli West Block Reserve Pinot Noir. Sonoma makes awesome Pinot. Anything by Williams-Selyem is a close second.

 

[40Flipper]

Best bottle I ever had:

1996 Bryant Family. It's a Napa Cabernet Sauvignon like nothing I've ever had. Friggin' amazing. And I still have a bottle in my cellar.

Second best bottle:

1994 Rochioli West Block Reserve Pinot Noir. Sonoma makes awesome Pinot. Anything by Williams-Selyem is a close second.

X2 on the Rochioli. MA usually gets less than 20 cases of it each vintage. Tough to find but godamn it's good.

Williams- Selyem is great too. Argyle and anything from the Willamette Valley, Oregon is great. The Willamette Valley is on the same latitude as Burgundy in France

I'd drink that 1996 Bryant very soon. 96 was a good vintage but not a vintage to age permanently. Pop it open over the holidays and enjoy. Nothing worse than saving a bottle too long......

 

[greytandy]

I'd drink that 1996 Bryant very soon. 96 was a good vintage but not a vintage to age permanently. Pop it open over the holidays and enjoy. Nothing worse than saving a bottle too long......

Sure, as a whole the '96 vintage was good, but the Bryant was excellent. The boutique Cabs usually age well. That said, I opened a bottle of 1994 Colgin recently and it had faded badly. I still have plenty of 1997 California Cabs that are still not quite ready (it was a great year). The Opus One's, for all the abuse they take by naysayers, have all been fantastic.

 

[NaterGator]

I had a nice Louis Jadot pouilly fuisse the other week (forget the vintage with my dad w/ some cheese and crackers. It had quite a strong mineral bias, but it paired excellently with some potent cheeses and I really enjoyed it alot more than I usually enjoy whites. Every now and then I like to bombard my tastebuds with huge swinging contrasting flavors, and that is exactly what I got having bold cheeses with this bottle.

I'd recommend it to anybody looking to whip their taste buds back into shape

 

[yooper]

I was thinking that people could start writing their own wine reviews on this thread. Buy a bottle on a Friday night and write down some notes, opinions, or recommend a particular wine to someone. That will take the intimidation out of it and maybe prod someone to try something new.

Nobody will want to hear me pontificating about wine forever and this way it will be a bit more interactive.

POST THEM UP!!!!!!!!!!!

be sure to note name of winery,vintage year, type of wine(red/white), name of wine (merlot, cab, meritage)

There are no right or wrong reviews. It's all opinion and don't feel intimidated.

Excellent idea!

One of my regular favorites: Cardinal Zin from Bonny Doon, 2004 and 2005, best zinfadel I've ever had.

Bonny Doon has the best labels I've seen, and a cool website too: http://www.bonnydoonvineyard.com And they are pioneers of the screw cap, having abandoned corks.

 

[40Flipper]

I'm blanking out on the name of the artist that draws those labels but he's very famous. Bonny Doon has all sorts of interesting vinos.

 

[NaterGator]

That'd be Ralph Steadman He also does the Flying Dog beers which are very tasty