Anyone from Georgia? Yonah Mountain vineyards surprised me. Really liked their wine. Their Genesis wine was really good and was decently priced.
Wine cunts, can you tell me if this is a good deal and if the wines are worth a fuck? $65 shipped for 6 wines sounds good to me for some xmas gifts? Mix, all reds, or all white? Likes will be given for help/suggestions. http://www.virginwines.com/travelzoo
Il Papavero Prosecco = $15.14, avg rating 86.1 2013 Stones & Bones = $13.30, no rating 2014 Bourg Lachamps Ardèche = $15.75, no rating 2015 J. Opi Malbec = $12, no rating but previous vintages are 86-87 rating 2008 Ramón Roqueta Pla de Bages Gran Reserva Las Barracas = $12, avg rating 84 2013 Pillastro Negroamaro Primitivo Puglia IGT = $14.75, no rating but prior vintage avg rating was 86 Total Retail Cost of 6 bottles $83. I've never had any of them so based on CellarTracker user ratings I'd call them about average wines (CT tends to be wine enthusiasts so average for them is above average to a normal consumer).
Girlfriend is a pretty big wine fan and I've tried to start to come around on it but I still much prefer some craft beer. Watching Somm on Netflix really got me intrigued, then the TV series of that Uncorked started and we watch that religiously; we also did a nice dinner in Vegas a couple weeks ago and talked to the sommelier a little bit about how he got into it and just general wine talk so now I've resigned to choosing wine over beer now and then. Read through this thread and based on all the recommendations we picked out a pinot noir from the Willamette Valley a few nights ago that I really enjoyed. It was a 2013 Montinore Estate. My store also had a 2012 so I'm very interested in picking that up and seeing how it's different. Cheers, folks
wine is overwhelming, more so than any other alcohol finally finding the few cheap oregon pinots that are becoming the go to's
I'm a big craft beer fan and that is my go to with friends and when food isn't involved. I love wine with food. What I love most is that life in general is hectic and just the act of choosing and opening a bottle of wine with dinner makes it seem like an occasion. For that time, things seem to slow down and at the end of the meal we're more likely to linger and talk while we finish the wine or at least our glass.
Parents are asking for ideas for Xmas. Anybody recommend any vineyard memberships or clubs? We mostly drink Pinot but not oppposed to any red specific club.
If you like Oregon Pinot this is a good value. http://www.depontecellars.com/ They are located on the same hill as Domaine Serene, Domaine Drouhin Oregon & Archery Summit (bordering DDO & AS) but don't cost near as much as their neighbors. They only have one white which is fine but I replace it with an extra bottle of their lowest priced red. You get 6 bottles in the spring and 6 bottles in the fall. It ran $441 (plus tax & shipping) for me this year. I really like that you get a mix of price points ($24-60) and they give you one older vintage in each shipment. The winemaker grew up and studied in Burgundy so that dictates the style. They tend to be lighter bodied, high acid that are good with food but also fine without. They receive light oak treatment. Most of the wines are Dundee Hills designated so you can expect bright red fruits (cherry) as the predominate flavor and they take on mushroom or earthy forest floor type notes with age. Fall shipment: 2012 De Ponte Cellars Pinot Noir Baldwin Family Reserve ($60) 2012 De Ponte Cellars Pinot Noir Clay Hill ($24) 2013 De Ponte Cellars Pinot Noir Clay Hill ($24) 2008 De Ponte Cellars Pinot Noir Dundee Hills ($50) 2011 De Ponte Cellars Pinot Noir Dundee Hills ($35) 2011 De Ponte Cellars Pinot Noir Halsey ($30) Spring shipment: 2x 2013 De Ponte Cellars Pinot Noir Clay Hill ($24) 2007 De Ponte Cellars Pinot Noir Dundee Hills ($50) 2011 De Ponte Cellars Pinot Noir Dundee Hills ($35) 2012 De Ponte Cellars Pinot Noir Estate ($50) 2012 De Ponte Cellars Pinot Noir Lonesome Rock Ranch ($35)
Champ got any suggestions for a self-guided or online course? I've been doing a lot of reading and exploring, enough to have a general profile, but would like to get a little better at identification and scope of knowledge I like complex old world reds and dry new world whites. also a big fan of virtually anything effervescent. my summer was dominated by vinho verde.
Guildsomm is a great resource. It's what I use most of the time when I need a detail/question answered. As for online courses, perhaps try browsing around WSET's website to find any school providing online classes. If you like Vinho Verde, try Rias Baixas. It's just north of Portugal in Spain, in Galicia. It's the same grape (though they call it albarino instead of alvarinho), same climate, and IMO, a bit more qualitative. Try looking for vineyards such as Pedralonga, Albamar, Pazo de Senorans or Nora, among others. It normally doesn't have bubbles as you open like Vinho Verde sometimes does, but you should like. As for complex old world reds, that can go in any direction, but perhaps worth trying out would be Sicilian wines? Warm climate so the fruit is very ripe, though a lot of vineyards use old oak so the wood doesn't take over the wine. The Etna volcano brings complexity to the wines through smokey aromas, and the nearby sea offers a much appreciated freshness. Vineyards such as COS, Terre Nerre, Occhipinti and Gulfi are among my favorites. Also, if you like italians, I'm a big fan of the Gattinara region and the surroundings, north of Barolo and Barbaresco. It's Nebbiolo also, but you'll often see less oak aging, which makes the wine much more accessible in youth and lets the terroir speak rather than only feeling the wood and the powerfulness of a full bodied Nebbiolo. Southern Rhône can also be an option for you. Lots of different grapes are cultivated in the area, which can lead to wonderful blends. Provence is also a region that I believe a lot of Americans like. It's very ripe fruit, full body wines, but not as oaky and "easy" as Bordeaux. Wines from vineyards such as Trevallon, Tempier, Ste-Anne, Simone, Léoube are all fantastic and are worth exploring. Dupéré-Barrera also offers very honest wines and is very affordable. Henri Milan, if you can find in the US, is also a must. Provence nature wines that are absolutely stunning. Cheers.
Can't really help you with that. In Quebec, the province has a monopoly on wine sales, and you can deal straight with the import agencies when they have a product that's not available in stores. Where do you live?
Wine + market in Lexington would be worth a visit, from what I'm reading. They apparently have a great selection of natural wines, which might be a little bit atypical from what you're used to drink, but that also means they likely focus on smaller organic vineyards, which is better than the commercial Menage a Trois/Kim Crawford that we see everywhere.
Really like uncorked. Your post got me hooked up on it. It's surprisingly less douche than I thought it would be. Here's the pilot:
His tastings are unreal The blind tastings are my favorite part about that stuff. I have no clue how it's possible to know all of that information and be able to conclude what the wine is like that
Have done this before especially when doing a big fam dinner with friends that don't know much / haven't had much experience with wine. Also during tax season when I drink a lot more often during the week (~2 glasses 3-4 weeknights not getting hammered) I will buy a Bota CabSav or Pinot box. The longevity is another reason I don't necessarily have to drink it the next night to avoid pouring out half an bottle that's gone bad. 3-Buck Chuck CabSav is another one if I want to take a bottle(s) somewhere that isn't a snooty wine crowd. I actually only pop my $15 bottles at home for date dinner nights
The Guild of Sommeliers does a podcast too. I listen to it regularly. The last one was on wine regions (AVAs) in Washington. I thought it was really good. The current one is Napa past and present but I haven't listened to it yet.
Fucking love bota boxes...never been much of a wine drinker but I get those all the time now...always get the redvolution but picked up the nighthawk black today...the guy at the wine store said he expects the NB to be the second best selling wine of it's kind in six months(don't know what #1 is)
It really is tasty. Bota is a brilliant product...twice as cheap as a cheap bottle of wine, much better than an average cheap bottle, and I drink less with a 3L than I would be if I was drinking beer.
Anyone have anything good lately? For me: Muga Rioja Reserva 2011 - solid Spanish red Sheriff of Buena Vista 2012 - blend I really really like. Tobin James Zinfandel Ballistic 2011 - I enjoyed it Cali's Cuevee Pinor Noir 2012 - thumbs up, hints of cherry/cinnamon Want to branch out to more blends, Spanish reds, and Malbecs. Had a Bordeaux Cab from the left bank that was bad. Not sure if I just didn't like it or just a bad bottle. French wine is intimidating to break into. I get the left/bank right bank of Bordeaux and that Burgundy is chardonney/pinot but the language barrier and tiers/cru system are tough to navigate
With Bordeaux, both 2009 and 2010 were once a generation years back to back so if you see bottles from those years give them a try.
Finally found a wine store I like - guy tastes over 200 wines month and focuses on limited releases. He personally visits most of the vineyards he stocks at least annually and knows more about the vineyards and wines than any other store I've been in. Spent about 2 hours in there last night tasting and joined their club (2 bottles a month). Walked out with the following: 2013 verso rosso salento puglia 2013 chronic cellars suite petite 2013 babich Pinot Noir 2013 peirano petite sirah 2012 regusci cab 2010 korbin kameron cuvee kristin Top two I thought were very good for the money - both under the $20 price point. They said the first benefits from being open a day. Those will be my party wines over the next two weeks, bought a few of both. Third was the first new Zealand Pinot Noir I've had, really liked it. He said that particular vintage and wine may be the best to come out of the region but that seems like hyperbole. Bottom two I thought were incredible. Anyone familiar with any of these?
Also got this card which will be helpful since I'm not quite at the level of memorizing all of this...hope it's accurate: Tried for 15 minutes to fix the formatting...apparently it doesn't matter how it's oriented on my phone. But you get the idea.
Fine wine source in Livonia. Same family that opened Vertical in Detroit, a new wine bar/store that specializes in vertical tastings. Believe they own another store somewhere else, too but the Livonia store seems to be the de facto HQ http://finewinesource.net/
Been buying Washington cabs, magnum and imperial bottles at Costco for a fraction of the price with the intent to cellar for 5+ years. I've had a few inexpensive bottles that just tasted fantastic with age recently and figured this was a good way to build a starter collection of large formats.
Rabid what are your wahington wine recommendations? $30-$50 a bottle range. Trying to expand beyond my ample supply of Pinot and I feel like Washington has better value than California.
Had a few of these. ~$20 range Yall ever heard of uncorked on esquire tv network? Follows some MS dudes and ladies around as they train and do competitions. Pretty insane wine knowledge gets dropped. On mobile but google the promo/pilot
Talked about it earlier up on this page. In case you haven't already seen it there's a documentary on Netflix called Somm that is basically the same thing as Uncorked
You are right that Washington offers better value than much of California. My favorite producers from WA that you can find a cab from in that range include: Gramercy Cellars (Master Somm turned winemaker, balanced/food-friendly wines --- $50-ish unless you can find "Lower East" that retails for $30) Abeja (Smooth, balanced) Betz (Fuller bodied/riper with tannins so they generally need time but have a great reputation) Spring Valley Vineyard (a littler riper, more Napa-like style but with underlying earthiness, the cab has a floral quality) Andrew Will (Fits with the Betz & SVV style, solid wines that age well) Washington also does a great job with Merlot (or Cab/Merlot blends) and Syrah. All I mentioned above make a Syrah and all but Gramercy does a Merlot or Merlot blend and I would also recommend them. Other great ones to look at for Syrah/Blends in that price range: Rotie Cellars (give it a 1 HR decant) Kerloo Proper Result of a Crush (Reynvaan off-shoot/declassified barrels at a significant discount)--Pinot like body. Meaty, funky wines that people either love or hate. I love them. Avennia Maison Bleue Others big producers that are consistently good but in my mind don't offer as much value or just don't blow me away: Northstar (a bit riper style, merlot focused, owned by Columbia Crest) Col Solare (Antinori/Col Crest partnership, "Super Tuscan" blend, solid wine but not as much bang for the buck) Pepper Bridge (Also a bit riper, full bodied style, Napa-like at a cheaper price but low value for WA) Amavi (Pepper Bridge second label...better value than PB IYAM) Saviah (you can find a good $15-20 cab from them) Columbia Crest also offers pretty good value from the H3 line ($10-15) all the way up to Walter Clore Reserve at about $35. I haven't had either but I've heard great things about Sleight of Hand & Rulo. I've only had one Seven Hills but that was up my alley too. L'Ecole 41 is another that I'd say I've liked what I've had but don't have enough experience to strongly recommend. Personally, my favorite AVA in Washington is Walla Walla. The producers are pretty consistently good and the area is a bit cooler than surrounding areas so the wines the wines still have plenty of fruit but with more earthy notes rather than the big fruit driven wines that can wear you out over a bottle. Red Mountain is also a really well regarded area. The wines from Red Mountain tend to be a bit riper and have heavy tannins that reflect the warm weather and high winds that cause the grapes to have thicker skins. They age well and command a steep price for WA.
anybody have particularly strong feelings about their wine fridge and want to share the brand? I mainly drink red and sparkling, so I'm thinking two zones-- about counter height. considering building a buffet around it as a full bar.
DistantFactor any good wine stores in Portland that are easily accessible from 26? Spending New Years in Cannon Beach with a bunch of friends (and kids...) since we call all stay under one roof in one families beach house.