OT: Wine Aficionados - What's your favorite wine?
Since cigars and wine pair well, thought I'd toss this one out there. I'm not an aficionado, but I like to drink wine.
There are no wrong answers except for Franzia and Barefoot. Three buck Chuck is okay.
I think wine is strongly influenced by where you are and who you're with, so that's probably going to influence my top two:
1. I may get mocked for this, but I had a delicious rosato made from cabernet grapes at a small, family owned vineyard in Napa. It was a warm day, sitting in the midst of gorgeous scenery, with my beautiful wife, drinking a bone dry, totally unsweet rose, which was quite unique to me and entirely unlike the run-of-the-mill grocery store rose.
2. Had an awful day and was super stressed. Decided to open a bottle of chateau gigognan chateauneuf du pape clos du roi 2013. It was really good so I went and bought a case.
Great Washington winery making awesome Bourdeaux-style Reds.
I'm also a fan of Delille. Good stuff.
Well I was going to be snarky but I'm going to Paris on Saturday so tell me what cheap French wines I should be drinking when I'm there.
Usually a craft beer guy and homebrewer...
Just order the "house wine" wherever you go. A lot of times it's Sancerre.
And it's usually cheaper than a glass of pop.
As a patent lawyer, he has repaid me with access to rare vintages starting at $5,000/bottle, going well beyond, and the two of us will drink two of those together per session until his wife cuts us off when we're pawing at the third one. My daily swill, ostensibly for cooking although I enjoy drinking it, is Alias blend. And candidly the best-tasting most complex wines I've enjoyed were from the basements of French farmers in the haute medoc region - I enjoy old stinky sweat socks, must and "the shovel" taste in my wines and cheeses. Then again I chew on garlic while cooking and so I am weird.
South African pinotage. It's amazing.
Been in the wine business for almost 20 years, so although I still know about 3% of what is possible about the subject, that is probably 2.99% more than most. Here are my quick thoughts:
Best Value Red: Still Argentinian Malbecs - Great wines for the cost
Most Undervalued WInes: Washington wines as a whole, but specifically Cab and Merlot. WA Merlot are not what Americans are used to when they think of Merlot. WA Merlots are more like Cabs and can/should accompany a great steak.
We are still on the very front end of the Rose trend
I love the Napa Valley and have been there a lot. Also love their wines. But Sonoma Wineries - to visit and drink - are less crowded, a better value (most of the time), and still incredibly undervalued
Best Wine on a hot summer day: Still Marlborough region Sauv. Blancs. Continue to think something will overtake these until you taste another one on your hot porch
You've validated most of the wine advice I've accumulated/followed over the past 15 years.
Local wine shop recommended South American wines to me starting about ten years ago. Been loving them...and they are a great value. Love the Malbecs.
Been all over the Roses the past two summers...especially like the French ones.
Been drinking more and more Napa/Sonoma wines since we went there last August.
The former Wall Street Journal wine writers wrote and article about the Marlborough Sauvignon Blancs about 10 years ago. Been enjoying them ever since.
I really appreciate your comments. I'm hardly a wine expert but do like trying different wines and prefer not to have to spend over $15-20 a bottle.
Are an insane value for red wine. Unfort, they don't export their best except at the high end. I have enjoyed wines at the Buenos Aries airport lounge that are superior to what they send here. So it has been a fine thing that I wasn't flying the planes. Again unfort, like Argie beef, the Argies have begun cheapening their products, for example, by finishing the beef with grain instead of water plants and soaking their wines in wood chips instead of traditional ageing process. Enjoy while you can.
Tough to go wrong with a malbec. I've never been a fan of merlot, but the more of them I have here in WA, the more I'm coming around to them. Good ones are excellent with a good steak.
Very much agree about Sonoma. Seems a little more laid back to me, also. Had some fantastic times there.
I love Sauv Blancs, but the wife doesn't care for them. I don't like chardonnay, so we end up drinking a lot of dry reislings in the summer. And roses. Lots of roses. Two last night.
Perfect on a warm day. I had to give up grapefruit which interferes with medication. SB helps me not miss grapefruit so much.
New Zealand's Marlborough region grows some of the best. They can be expensive; Oyster Bay is a brand I like which won't break the bank.
Our "house wines" for the summer are the Peju Sauvignon Blanc and the Lone Madrone Chenin Blanc. I don't have the bottles in front of me, but I believe they're both 2015.
I haven't really found a go-to red lately. Went through a big 2014 Thistle Ridge Pinot Noir from New Zealand phase earlier in the year but that well ran dry. Before that it was the 2009 Cristom Pinot Noir from Oregon. But that's long gone, too.
After many years of absence from CA plus paying for kids expensive educations, I'm finally in a position to enjoy good wine. Current favorites:
Red
- Ghost Block cabernet
- Cliff Lede cabernet
- Red Mare cabernet
- Chateau Montelena cabernet
- Ridge Monte Bello bordeaux blend
- Paradigm zinfandel
White
- Rombauer chardonnay (known as Hillsborough herion in these parts)
- Grgich Hills chardonnay
- Duckhorn sauvignon blanc
I downed two of these shortly before throwing up on the band The Cure from five rows back
That's some powerful vintage working fer else against ya, trust me. I appreciated the rest of the concert while laying on a car floor and everything was spinning madly about.
your enthusiasm for Ripple explains your avatar.
Blend: Opus 1, OPC from Boun Christiani.
Cab: Summers Reserve, Buon Christiani
Petite Syrah: Vina Robles, from Cresent Vineyard.
Syrah: NorthXNorthwest King Estates, Wala Wala.
Zinfadel: Turley from Paso Robles. Bella Vineyards in Sonoma
Merlot: Henry Estates in Wala Wala
Whites, I like Sauvignon Blancs from NZ!
Hell yes! Forgot to include that in my post above.
Some friends brought us a bottle as a gift (it was from their Atlas Peak vineyard), it sat for a year, and then I opened it at an Italian dinner. Great stuff!
Cloudy Bay, etc.
A. Rafanelli is great however if you ever get a chance you should check out Outpost in Napa. Awesome zin from Howell Mtn
Bella's tasting room was only a simple trailer back then. Now they have great tasting rooms in the caves and a big stand alone tasting room. Still one of our favorite house wines. We had a wine dinner with the owner and wine maker back in 2010.
Tough question.
In terms of quantity I probably drink more Rosé than anything else, especially now that the weather is warm. There are some really great Rosés in the $12 to $14 range from France (specifically the Loire Valley and Provence regions). I've also been drinking a lot of a Txakoli Rosé from the Basque region of Spain. All are great wines to enjoy outside on a warm afternoon or evening.
However if we're talking about quality I always stick with Cabernet blends, and two winerys in particular: Ridge (Santa Cruz Mountains) and Dominus (Napa). Neither are inexpensive enough to drink on a daily basis, but about once a month we make steak and break out a good (or occasionally very good) bottle.
Ridge is great. I am never let down. Winery is nice too, although an annoying drive.
Also would recommend Clos du Val.
Agree on the French roses. Such good value for a summmer wine.
Ballard from France is great Ros'e You can pick it up for around 15.00. There's a good one from Bella, Zin based, but I think it runs around $30 to $40.
Unless I'm having steak...it's just too hot for red.
Prefer Savingnon Blanc from California or NZ. There are also some amazing Italian whites, like Verdicchio and Soave. Also, Cotes de Provence is an ultra light (and dry) rose that's fantastic for hot weather.
If you enjoy offbeat, moderately priced wines, try some Portuguese wines like Vinho Verde!
If you're looking for great price/perfornance chardonnay, you can't beat Butter from Jam Cellars. $13
In the zinfandel category, Seghesio has great price/performance. $16
I haven't tried any of their wines in a while, but Cameron Hughes is a negociant, which means they buy up juice on the cheap from labels that have too much, repackage it under their own label, and sell it to the public for a fraction of the label's price. Sometimes, you can get fabulous wine for under $15. At least in our part of the world, Cameron Hughes is available at Costco.
