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Wine (?) for internet nerds who don't know anything
UncleChet
N00bLancaster, PARegistered User regular
N00bLancaster, PARegistered User regular
So I've recently discovered an enjoyment of wine. I'm only experienced in what I would consider budget wines, 20$ or less/bottle but never under 10 (no boon's farm for me). I'm finding that I like more fruity, and less acidic wines. I'm interested in learning more about wine, food pairings and what to look for in wine in general. I enjoyed the chocolate thread a bit so maybe we can have a wine thread?
Let's discuss.
Let's discuss.
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http://winevoice.blogspot.com/2006/11/how-to-drink-wine.html
http://www.drinkwine.com/wine_guide/pairing.html
This link is going to be SO good. Got it up on my phone now. THANKS!
Red and White are "sweet" or "dry" depending on whether they let all the sugars ferment or if they fortify it.
You've got your Appetizer wines, Vermouth, Dubonnet and Lillet - mostly chilled or on ice with a mixer at times.
Table Wines, like Cabernet, Burgundy, Merlot, Claret, Pinot Noir, Chianit (for red) or Chablis, Johannisberg Riesling, Chardonnay, Muscadet, Sauterne (for white) and then White Zinfadel, Blush, or X Rose (for Rose) which vary widely in vintage, fermentation process, body and taste.
Dessert Wines are fortified but have things like brandy in them. They're rich, sweet and are usually drank after dinner. Port, Sherry, Muscatel ... etc. They're generally served at room temperature.
Sparkling is ... well, you know what sparkling is. Wine bottled with CO2. Generally served cold.
It's basically a matter of learning what you like, you don't have to go expensive. I've had 60 dollar shit that wasn't as good as a 20 dollar bottle. It's all in the experimentation.
This is probably the best wine advice.
Also: Don't buy a bottle because of the price. There are shitloads of good wines available for under $10.
Barefoot makes decent cheap wine (reds, their whites, not so much). Like $6/bottle.
Lo Tengo has good wines that run around $9/bottle.
Also:
Ravenswood is good for around $12-15
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
The BevMo 2for1 sale is always a good bet as well.
Hungarian Tokaji Aszú wine. Favourite wine of kings and emperors. "Wine of Kings, King of Wines", or "Vinum Regum, Rex Vinorum" - favourite beverage of such historical figures as Kings Louis XIV, XV, Frederick the Great, Beethoven, Voltaire, Bram Stoker, Napoleon III. Best served at room temperature, I drink a bottle of it on Christmas day. A friend of mine in Hungary sends me a bottle every year. It is the most delicious wine I have ever tasted, and goes especially well with food, which is why it is so special for me at Christmas.
Nothing's forgotten, nothing is ever forgotten
I'm a big a wine snob as they come, but this is seriously what it all boils down to.
Fruity, less acidic wines? Stay away from your typical Italian reds. (At least, those within the price range you mentioned)
You'll probably enjoy a good ol' Australian new world fruit bomb, just as long as you stay the hell away from Yellowtail. It's basically the Coca Cola of the wine industry - they source in the cheapest grapes from all around the world and then spike it with a heavy dose of sugar.
Some value ideas off the top of my head:
Pillar Box Red
Little Penguin Shiraz
Triventi Malbec (hands down my favorite malbec for the price)
Columbia Crest Grand Estates Cabernet Sauvignon
Look into red zinfadels if your tastes begin to trend towards stronger fruit bombs. But if you're just looking for something light and fruity, give beaujolais a shot. (But not beaujolais nouveau! This is the time of year where everyone will be releasing it, but this stuff is traditionally aged for 7 days and tastes like dirty grape vomit)
It's technically a "wine" but it's not similar at all to what most Americans think of wine. It's a lot sweeter and it's more reminiscent of fortified dessert wines like sherry and port.
Personally I think it's the foulest shit to come in a bottle, but hey that's just my opinion.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
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Edit: Wikipedia tells me that they went from shipping 100,000 bottles in 2001 to 7 million in 2005. They probably switched from growing their own grapes in their own vineyards to buying other vineyards' tossed-out shit to keep up that kind of demand.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
It was great when it first came out. Wonderful value wine.
And they just exploded in popularity, so much so that they couldn't keep up with demand, hence the necessity of having to source in grapes from other places. Demand grew so much that they eventually had to turn to the cheapest leftover grapes from other vineyards. This, of course, led to some awful swill, so they had to cover up the worst of it by spiking it with sugar.
This is generally what happens when value wineries get too popular.
Edit: Yup, beat'd by Feral. =P
If its under 12% that's a fruity/sweet wine.
If I'm having a steak I'll go for a dry red.
If I'm having wine with cheese/fish I'll go for a white wine.
If I'm having wine with desert or on it's own I'll have a fruitier white win.
Also as already mentioned just go for what you like. A study found that for over 99% of the population more expensive wines don't taste better in a blind taste test, but if people know they are being served expensive wine they will generally like it better. Go go placebo effect!
...except that older vintage wines usually keep a little better (assuming you have a cool, dark, dry place to keep them). Cheaper 1-2 year old wines are meant to be consumed off the shelf, within a few weeks of buying them.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
Tokaji generally has an alcohol content of 14%, and is classed as a sweet, fruity, dessert wine.
Nothing's forgotten, nothing is ever forgotten
You think i'm kidding. I'm not.
I recently went to a tour du franzia party, there was about a dozen boxes that included everything they offer. best. night. ever.
But if i'm not feeling quite so classy (now I am being sarcastic) I love desert wines... i had the most amazing chocolate port the other day. can't remember what its called though. There is also this really good banana wine from south Africa they serve at a restaurant here. so tasty :P
if I want a glass with dinner, its almost always chardonnay, even if i'm eating red meat. I find most red wines to be too dry and even one glass will give me a hangover.
now I'm getting excited for the penny sale... a wine store here has a sale every holiday season where most wines are buy one, get one for a penny. its a good time to stock up. though it usually doesn't last as long as I'd like.
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the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
Well, that or tequila.
It's like Gasoline or some shit.
i prefer franzia. the smell of tequila makes me sick, even when sober.
3 words: slap the bag. thats about exactly what it sounds like.
Auslese and Spatlese are categories designating the quality and sweetness of German rieslings. From worst to best, kabinett -> spatlese -> auslese ->eiswein. But even kabinett rieslings are light and sweet, making them good crowd pleasers that won't break the bank.
Unfortunately this rule isn't as useful as it may seem. Often when the alcohol percentage goes up, so do the residual sugars. All you have to do is look at any dessert wine to see this. It is nearly impossible to find one with an alcohol percentage below 13.
My father is a wine reviewer for one of the big publications so I've tried a really wide variety of wines and I have to say, some of the more expensive wines really are a treat. Nothing can rival the complexity of a well aged wine. That being said, unless you truly adore wine and have a lot of experience tasting it, you probably will not get any more enjoyment out of a $200 bottle of wine than a $15 bottle, if you get the right things. The best rule to follow, as many have said is "Drink what you like."
For sweeter fruitier whites, try Riesling and Gewurztraminer. For a sweeter red try Sirrah (or Shiraz as it's called in Australia and New Zeland). Sirrah tends to be a bold fruity wine, big flavors and works well with meats (both red and white meat, not so much fish).
Australia is producing a lot of good fruity reds right now, but their whites tend to be drier and more mineral-laced. There is a lot of fantastic wine coming out of Washington and Oregon right now. The past two years have been fantastic growing conditions so definitely check out some of the big inexpensive names from there like Chateau St. Michelle and Columbia Crest. I had the privilege of doing some barrel tastings in Washington this summer and the wines in the next few years are going to be stellar.
When I was in southern France (Provence) a couple years ago doing some volunteer work, we were in a village surrounded by vineyards. Every night we would take this 2 gallon earthen jug to our favorite winery and fill it up with their wine gas-station hoses. They dispensed table wine basically through gasoline hoses. For a handful of euros to fillerup. It was awesome.
Basically because I've had plenty of iffy wine but that combination has never failed me.
Spanish wines are nice too.
The Bevmo 2c sale can be bullshit for a lot of wines, they'll mark wines way up and put them out. I find that, in general, they have poor wine prices.
Tonight I'm torn between a bottle of Alley Cat Pinot Noir which I've had before and found to be tasty and I best describe as "buttery" or a bottle of Doghouse Cabernet Sovignon which I got because I liked the idea behind it. This will be consumed with some good 70 and 85% chocolate and Naruto Shipuden episodes
Those are terrible for beginners and the first one is terrible in general.
Pay attention to how the wines you like are described by reviews or displays. It can help you pick out other wines you might like.
At the same time, though, don't be discouraged if it doesn't taste quite as described (and takes chances on stuff when you're not sure but think you may like something).
Anyone who says X_Wine tastes like Y_Fruit as if it's a hard-and-fast rule is just being a jerk.
Every person's palette is different and they're just guidelines.
Fixed. Spend the money and get Tres Rios.
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http://wine.woot.com/ and associated resources is pretty nifty in my experience.