Wine

[Mise]

wow... Chateau d'Yquem? That's like one of the most expensive wines indeed... they produce only 600 liters per year, and that's if they decide to go with production - some years the quality is simply not up to what they expect and so no wine will be made. Oh, and they handpick the grape grain by grain...

One bottle can easily sell for more than 400 euros - hey, even the sticker can be bought for 20 euros by collectors

you were lucky indeed

No you're not an expert on wine at all

 

[Masquerouge]

No you're not an expert on wine at all

well it's like very famous... But I guess you're right, maybe there's a minimum amount of wine culture that you simply have when you're French

 

[Whomp]

I had a nice Chilean Merlot which was so good the other night, however I forget the name. I want to try more Chilean wines now though.

There's a pretty good value in a Chilean Cabernet I've had that's called Morande Vitisterra Grand Reserve you can find for around $13.99.

Has anyone tried wines from Greece (the Moschofilero grapes)?
I've heard these could be some of values out there right now but haven't tried any.

 

[jonatas]

There's a pretty good value in a Chilean Cabernet I've had that's called Morande Vitisterra Grand Reserve you can find for around $13.99.

Thanks a lot for the recommendation Whomp I'm going to check it out. The Chilean wine I had really impressed me and I want to try more from there. Oh and I'll return to this thread later on and try to make a simple recommendation for a Portuguese wine to go with seafood, in case anyone's interested

 

[CaptainF]

When I start drinking, I probably won't care about wine or where its from or what taste it has.

I'll just drink the damn stuff. Its all ethanol anyway.

 

[Masquerouge]

When I start drinking, I probably won't care about wine or where its from or what taste it has.

I'll just drink the damn stuff. Its all ethanol anyway.

You must be eagerly awaiting these new fuel regulations

 

[Sidhe]

When I start drinking, I probably won't care about wine or where its from or what taste it has.

I'll just drink the damn stuff. Its all ethanol anyway.

Actually no, it's all a mix of chemicals, some contains more methanol, some contains more x, but alcohlol in general is never simply ethanol. That's why some things give you a different experience than others, and some people can't drink whiskey or Vodka, or wine without becoming an arse. It's complicated.

I once heard that most of the European varieties of wine died out in a wine plague so the grapes varieties had to be reimported from the colonies. I wonder if this is true?

Wine is much like falling in love, they all have different characters and personalities, but you'll stay with the woman that suits you

 

[AL_DA_GREAT]

I have never understood how adults can be so obsessed with wine. I could never spend a fortune and many hours reading up on what pop I am going to drink for supper. What is the big fuss. To me it is all the same.

 

[Drewcifer]

I like wine a lot. Actually I have about a forty bottle stash of good stuff and one of those wine storage refrigerator things to age it in.

Because of my profession I have been fortunate enough to sample a lot of good wine that I didn't have to pay for. I have also sampled a fair amount of pretty bad wine I didn't have to pay for.

One good rule of thumb that is not very well known is that wine regions that are at lower latitudes (within the range of cultivation) tend to be fruitier and higher in alcohol than the ones from higher lattitudes which tend to be more austere. My guess would be that this has something to do with day legenth and light intensity during the growing season. The quintesential fruit bomb reds usually come from places like Australia, California, and southern Italy. There are a few exceptions to this but for the most part it works.

When I first started drinking wine I really liked the rich, fruity reds of the New World. As time has gone by I have tired of those wines and have come to prefer the ones from France, Piedmont in Italy, and the Pacific Northwest of the US. Those wines taste more balanced to me. I do go back to the fruit bombs sometimes, a bit of variety is nice. The thing about wine is that there is so much out there that no matter how much you have tried there is always something new.

Outside of top tier Bordeaux and Burgundy a lot of French wines are very good bargins right now.

Minnesota isn't exactly wine country though there is one decent vinyard (Alexis Bailley).

 

[Drewcifer]

If you are going to be pitching wine to customers try to figure out what they want. Ask them what they like and try to sugest something similar in style. They won't always like what you like.

 

[Grisu]

Has anyone tried wines from Greece (the Moschofilero grapes)?
I've heard these could be some of values out there right now but haven't tried any.

I had a few greek wines when I was there on vacation, unfortunately I can't exactly remember what they were called I remember that I quite liked them, but they tasted somewhat 'different' (and I'm not talking about Retsina here)

 

[Princeps]

So, my question to you people is -
do you like wine? No, I hate it when people whine.
If so what styles? I hate all kinds of whining.
Fave country/grape? My favorite country is San Francisco and I like to eat green grapes not red/purple ones.
Any recommendations? Don't get too drunk

HAHAHAH. Ah, the hilarity.

 

[Lambert Simnel]

Wine is much like falling in love, they all have different characters and personalities, but you'll stay with the woman that suits you

Eh ? That's a terrible analogy. There's a dozen different styles of wine I love, and I've had no intention of staying "faithful" to a single one, or of returning to a single favourite. Nor do most wine drinkers.

 

[warmonger]

My wife and I would share at least a bottle of good wine every day - weekends sometimes two.

always with good food - each must compliment the other.

a dinner with 6 people may last 6 hours with at least 3 different wines; as we change the food we change the wine.

We spend a lot of time in northern Italy - mainly the Piedmonte, sometimes Vento. every village has its cantina sociale which is the local co-op for the local grape growers. At most you can taste the wine before you buy. 90% is rubbish but occassionally we stumble across a real gem and less than 1/2 the normal retail price.

My basement currently holds around 1,000 bottle from Europe and Australia. I no longer by California wines as they are too expensive for the quality. For the same price I can by better wines from elsewhere or I could by the same quality for much less money.

The best wine I have ever tasted is a 1995 Tarrawarra pinot noir from the Yarra Valley - just outside Melbourne in Australia.

 

[Fifty]

I love wine, and don't understand why people are so quick to dismiss it as "all being the same" or wine knowledge as being "BS".

I don't think there is no difference in taste among wines, I just think that a large degree of people's judgement of them comes from how the wine is presented not the taste itself. I recall one episode of some TV show where supposed wine lovers were given some Convenience Store crap brand (like Franzia) and it was presented as some fancy shmancy wine with a cool name. They all raved about it. When an award-winning fancy shmancy wine was brought to them, and they were told it was crappy throw-away wine, they all agreed it sucked.

As Sidhe said, wine is one of those things (like clothes, etc.) in which people's preference is determined largely by what they are *supposed* to like.

Another corollary of this rule is that everybody confronted with it claims to be an exception.

Personally, I only drink one wine (chianti) and only with one meal (liver and fava beans).

 

[Urederra]

When I start drinking, I probably won't care about wine or where its from or what taste it has.

I'll just drink the damn stuff. Its all ethanol anyway.

That is one of the cultural differences I found between the mediterranean culture (Italy, Spain, France... ) and the american culture. In the mediterranean culture a lot of people drink alcohol, but the vast majority drink for pleasure, so taste is important and usually thay drink with moderation. Although the new generations seem to drink just to get drunk, but that might be a late teenager fad, when you grow older you stop drinking as much to get drunk and you start enjoying the "broths".

I found that in America, maybe it is a misperception, that drinking is considered a bad habit, no matter what you drink. That consideration doesn't exist in the mediterranean countries. There are fewer percentage of people who drink in the US. And some people, like whomp, knows how to drink and drink for pleasure, but I found a higher percentage who drinks just to get drunk. Again, I have to stress that it is my impression, probably biased. One friend of mine in the US is an alcoholic, he drinks almost every day and when he is alone at home, just to get drunk. I haven't seen that behavior in any of my friends in Spain, and I have more friends in Spain than in the US, and almost averybody drinks, but not for the sake of getting drunk.

 

[ComradeDavo]

When I start drinking, I probably won't care about wine or where its from or what taste it has.

I'll just drink the damn stuff. Its all ethanol anyway.

Your age shows with this post!

I used to be like that, started actually careing abotu the taste of alcohol once I was legal! (18)

 

[Whomp]

I'm not sure Urederra. I work in a very social business so alcohol has never been discouraged however getting drunk would be a poor business decision.

The drinking demographic in the U.S. has changed dramatically over the past decade as the baby boomers have shifted tastes from beer to wine/spirits.

Getting drunk is more prevalent with the under 30 crowd than the over 30 crowd imo.

 

[Urederra]

Yeah, good taste when drinking comes with age, that is for sure. I am just saying that, IMHO, mediterranean countries have a more prevalent drinking culture and people over there don't preceive that as sinful as much as in the US.

 

[Lambert Simnel]

I don't think there is no difference in taste among wines, I just think that a large degree of people's judgement of them comes from how the wine is presented not the taste itself. I recall one episode of some TV show where supposed wine lovers were given some Convenience Store crap brand (like Franzia) and it was presented as some fancy shmancy wine with a cool name. They all raved about it. When an award-winning fancy shmancy wine was brought to them, and they were told it was crappy throw-away wine, they all agreed it sucked.

As Sidhe said, wine is one of those things (like clothes, etc.) in which people's preference is determined largely by what they are *supposed* to like.

Nah, I disagree. Quite simply, if it was all an "emperor's new clothes" scenario, then we'd quickly see through it (after all, there are enough poeple shouting that there's no great difference between the quality of wines). To be honest, Fifty, although in general I do enjoy your posts and your offbeat contribution to our debates, I'm forced to conclude in this instance that you really don't know what you're talking about. You don't actually drink a variety of different wines yourself, do you ?