In Vino Veritas

[AfterDusk]

I’m probably in the minority here, but I prefer a good mead to pretty much anything else. My tastes aren’t due to a lack of education either, I took a course from a viticulturist and tried many from amazing things (and after class had late night choir practice at church...good times), I just find I prefer sweet subtle tastes. Am I alone in this?

 

[Torinona]

As it's the holidays, our home bar is a mixed batch, ranging from tasty n' cheap to pricier n' cheap, LOL

Currently on our bar:
Silver Oak - Cabernet 2013
The Prisoner 2015
Cakebread - Cabernet 2014
One - Malbec - Argentina 2014
Taymente - Cab 2016
Rascal - Pinot Noir - Oregon
Cono Sur Reserva - Cabernet - Chile 2012
Elk Cove - Pinot Noir
Aluado - Portugal 2015
Chateau Marquis de Terme - Margaux 2009
Saint-Amour 2013
William Selyem - Pinot Noir - Sonoma 2013

and through in some Mondavi bourbon barreled red, a pinot grigio and a chardonnay in reserve for white winers and some cold duck and champagne that I should refrigerate so's I can have them ready for surprise guests... as I don't think all our Christmas-intended gatherings will finish up until the 3rd week of January, as so many people we know were working or were traveling on/around Christmas.

Happy New Year, by the way!

I will be treating me and Hubby on a mixed case soon. Depending on the plushness of my year-end bonus, I may treat him early for his birthday with a case of his favorite, Chateau Leoville Barton 2010.

And last night I polished off the last of the Smoking Tree Pinot Noir. Life is good, life is better with wine!

 

[ChefMario77]

Riojas are my favs. Followed by Bordeauxs and Argentine Malbecs.

 

[RubyThursday]

My favorites are an Oregon (Willamette Valley) Pinot Noir or a very expensive Burgundy....light but complex...Kind of like me

 

[jackofthedawn]

I'm loving this thread. Old SoCal guy here. I love wines but I'm budget conscious. I tend to explore the $10-$15 range in discount shops like Trader Joe's and BevMo. I've come to appreciate blends more than I used to, but the problem is most domestic blends are proprietary whereas varietal labeling at least gives you some clue as to what you're getting.

 

[base10]

As it's the holidays, our home bar is a mixed batch, ranging from tasty n' cheap to pricier n' cheap, LOL

Currently on our bar:
Silver Oak - Cabernet 2013
The Prisoner 2015
Cakebread - Cabernet 2014
One - Malbec - Argentina 2014
Taymente - Cab 2016
Rascal - Pinot Noir - Oregon
Cono Sur Reserva - Cabernet - Chile 2012
Elk Cove - Pinot Noir
Aluado - Portugal 2015
Chateau Marquis de Terme - Margaux 2009
Saint-Amour 2013
William Selyem - Pinot Noir - Sonoma 2013

and through in some Mondavi bourbon barreled red, a pinot grigio and a chardonnay in reserve for white winers and some cold duck and champagne that I should refrigerate so's I can have them ready for surprise guests... as I don't think all our Christmas-intended gatherings will finish up until the 3rd week of January, as so many people we know were working or were traveling on/around Christmas.

Happy New Year, by the way!

I will be treating me and Hubby on a mixed case soon. Depending on the plushness of my year-end bonus, I may treat him early for his birthday with a case of his favorite, Chateau Leoville Barton 2010.

And last night I polished off the last of the Smoking Tree Pinot Noir. Life is good, life is better with wine!

That is a very nice selection; might have to go with the Silver Oak, was my Thanksgiving dinner drink this year.

Life is much better with wine

 

[Torinona]

That is a very nice selection; might have to go with the Silver Oak, was my Thanksgiving dinner drink this year.

Life is much better with wine

The Silver Oak is ear-marked for an evening soon with a dear friend of Hubby's who we haven't been able to see for a couple of years. She's also a big fan of Silver Oak and it's the sort of wine that while it's excellent with food... it's a great wine to just sit back and sip on while you chat the night away.

I need to skim emails and see if the latest offering of WSJ Wines has anything interesting - we started buying mixed cases from WSJ a couple of years ago... great prices [I've researched the prices and you definitely get some very nice discounts] and it's a great way to try stuff with little commitment, plus it's Fed Ex'd to your door and often you'll get a bonus of additional wines or prosecco and sometimes Riedel wine glasses which are great to give away with, you guessed it, a bottle or two of wine!

 

[Torinona]

Additional recommendations

These are all in the $10-15 range here in NYC and are all quite tasty...

"One" - Antigal Winery - Mendoza Argentina - Malbec - it's actually got a 3-inch tall "1" - what I can only describe as an address numeral-style "1" seemingly riveted to the bottle

"Primal Roots" - California - Red Blend

"Root:1" - Colchagua Chile - Cabernet Sauvignon

"Altos Las Hormigas" - Mendoza Argentina - Malbec

"Red Velvet" - Cupcake Vineyards, California

"Apothic" - red blend, I believe from California too...

And a nod to the occasional over $20 bottle - The Prisoner, Napa Valley, red.

 

[base10]

The Silver Oak is ear-marked for an evening soon with a dear friend of Hubby's who we haven't been able to see for a couple of years. She's also a big fan of Silver Oak and it's the sort of wine that while it's excellent with food... it's a great wine to just sit back and sip on while you chat the night away.

I need to skim emails and see if the latest offering of WSJ Wines has anything interesting - we started buying mixed cases from WSJ a couple of years ago... great prices [I've researched the prices and you definitely get some very nice discounts] and it's a great way to try stuff with little commitment, plus it's Fed Ex'd to your door and often you'll get a bonus of additional wines or prosecco and sometimes Riedel wine glasses which are great to give away with, you guessed it, a bottle or two of wine!

Haven't looked at the WSJ collection, probably because the WSJ fixed their paywall google glitch a while back and I don't want to pay for another newspaper subscription. Also spoiled with a liquor store right across the street from my apt that gives discounts if you buy at least 6 bottles at a time.

I will have to look into that though, maybe it will help resist the urge to start signing up for the wine programs straight from the wine makers. That will get very expensive.

 

[base10]

These are all in the $10-15 range here in NYC and are all quite tasty...

"One" - Antigal Winery - Mendoza Argentina - Malbec - it's actually got a 3-inch tall "1" - what I can only describe as an address numeral-style "1" seemingly riveted to the bottle

"Primal Roots" - California - Red Blend

"Root:1" - Colchagua Chile - Cabernet Sauvignon

"Altos Las Hormigas" - Mendoza Argentina - Malbec

"Red Velvet" - Cupcake Vineyards, California

"Apothic" - red blend, I believe from California too...

And a nod to the occasional over $20 bottle - The Prisoner, Napa Valley, red.

Can someone explain the Apothic red to me, I took 2 sips and poured it down the drain. Tasted more like cough syrup than wine. I know people are very budget conscious, but I feel by going a little above that price range you get a big jump in quality.

Will recommend the Francis Ford Coppola Claret Cabernet as an excellent wine for under $20. Been through more bottles of that than I can count.

 

[Torinona]

https://www.wsjwine.com/

WSJ Wine is a separate and free-standing site that has nothing to do with the WSJ news publication, so the whole "you have looked at your limit of free articles" issue is not relevant in this case.

Haven't looked at the WSJ collection, probably because the WSJ fixed their paywall google glitch a while back and I don't want to pay for another newspaper subscription. Also spoiled with a liquor store right across the street from my apt that gives discounts if you buy at least 6 bottles at a time.

I will have to look into that though, maybe it will help resist the urge to start signing up for the wine programs straight from the wine makers. That will get very expensive.

 

[base10]

https://www.wsjwine.com/

WSJ Wine is a separate and free-standing site that has nothing to do with the WSJ news publication, so the whole "you have looked at your limit of free articles" issue is not relevant in this case.

Good to know, I'll have to give it a look. I haven't been a big fan of curated collections by someone else, I like walking up and down the aisles of the store and looking for something that stands out (also picking the brains of the people who work there)

 

[Torinona]

Was it the Apothic Brew you tried, by any chance?

The one with the cold-brew-coffee-infused deal? Neither of us like it at all. Yuk!

We like the Apothic Red, Crush and Inferno... but we will never buy the Apothic
Brew, again.

Can someone explain the Apothic red to me, I took 2 sips and poured it down the drain. Tasted more like cough syrup than wine. I know people are very budget conscious, but I feel by going a little above that price range you get a big jump in quality.

Will recommend the Francis Ford Coppola Claret Cabernet as an excellent wine for under $20. Been through more bottles of that than I can count.

 

[Midwest50Guy]

thanks to everybody for the suggestions. Look forward to trying some of these.

 

[base10]

Was it the Apothic Brew you tried, by any chance?

The one with the cold-brew-coffee-infused deal? Neither of us like it at all. Yuk!

We like the Apothic Red, Crush and Inferno... but we will never buy the Apothic
Brew, again.

No, it was not the coffee infused deal. That sounds horrible.

I love coffee, and love wine, would never in a million years want to mix those flavors in one cup.

 

[base10]

thanks to everybody for the suggestions. Look forward to trying some of these.

Only one way to figure out what you like, drink

 

[hotforpolitics]

Give me a Super Tuscan on a Saturday night!

 

[Midwest50Guy]

Only one way to figure out what you like, drink

of course, and will use them on dates also.

 

[Wylie_Cyotee]

I may be a touch biased here as i do come from Marlborough in New Zealand. (Or is that just lucky?)

 

[Annalisep47]

Can someone explain the Apothic red to me, I took 2 sips and poured it down the drain. Tasted more like cough syrup than wine. I know people are very budget conscious, but I feel by going a little above that price range you get a big jump in quality.

Will recommend the Francis Ford Coppola Claret Cabernet as an excellent wine for under $20. Been through more bottles of that than I can count.

It’s because Apothic red and all of those “value” brands of wine basically put all kinds of gross things in the bottle. High production = low quality. They add chemicals to make it taste ok, but overall it’s a wine produced for price not for taste. Examples of things in the bottle — super purple, bugs, stems, rotten grapes, under ripe grapes etc etc.

 

[Annalisep47]

California Cab

Somehow it always ends up back at California Cab

I’m not saying there’s not great ones. But I’d much rather get something French or Italian. Earthy. Elegant. Acidic. I want something weird. Something that’s an experience. Something that 6 months from now I’ll still think back on. California Cabs just aren’t that for me.

 

[ShyGuy68]

I'm a big fan of Spanish wines, and have many favorites. I also have a weak point for German Rieslings I also tend to like sauvignon blanc's from New Zealand.

 

[wildchild24143]

It’s because Apothic red and all of those “value” brands of wine basically put all kinds of gross things in the bottle. High production = low quality. They add chemicals to make it taste ok, but overall it’s a wine produced for price not for taste. Examples of things in the bottle — super purple, bugs, stems, rotten grapes, under ripe grapes etc etc.

Unfortunately your mistaken. Yes they do make a lot of it but there is rules on what they can or cannot use in wine and those same products can go into small production high end luxury brands. Mega purple is grape juice with the water extracted so the concentration is much higher. They also don’t use rotten grapes nor underripe grapes.

 

[wildchild24143]

Maybe go with Oregon/Washington wines? And avoid natural wines. I know a fair amount of acidification happens in Australia/New Zealand. And the French actually enjoy that sensation lol. You could also try petit Syrah out of California. I wish you all the luck!

The volatile acid or VA is created by two things, first and most likely is poor barrel maintenance. The wines exposure to air (oxygen) causes the production of ethyl acetate. The second and least occurring problem is stuck fermentation’s, when a fermentation is lacking nutrients, has too high concentration of sugar or is too cold the primary fermentation will slow or even stop and the malic acid bacteria will begin to eat sugar instead of malic acid and produce ethyl acetate. Typically the larger production wines do not have VA issues as the big production wineries have the ability to remove VA in house and do not have to pay for another company to come in a filter it out.

As for the bottles having problems after being a few days old you can buy and use a corivin which keeps the bottle sealed and pushes the wine out through a hypodermic needle. Otherwise you can use a spray can of mixed gas and a vacuum pump to reduce the exposure to oxygen.

 

[Annalisep47]

Unfortunately your mistaken. Yes they do make a lot of it but there is rules on what they can or cannot use in wine and those same products can go into small production high end luxury brands. Mega purple is grape juice with the water extracted so the concentration is much higher. They also don’t use rotten grapes nor underripe grapes.

Unfortunately you’re mistaken actually. Maybe that’s the case for the wines you’ve allegedly produced. But machine harvest does frequently lead to less desireable grapes and such being added to wine. Also mega purple is a blight on the world of winemaking.