What kind of WINE did you drink last night? (2 Viewers)

[Loomba]

Barbequed a couple of nice ribeyes tonight and was reaching for a Lasendal or an Imagery wine when I stumbled across an dusty bottle of Cab Sauv (2000 Sonoma County) from Gallo, and thought what the hell.  And considering my sad experience with the 1983 Sterling Cab Sauv recently, I thought I should pull this cork before it starts waning.  Don't recall buying this wine, probably a bottle someone dropped off who we had over for dinner or drinks once upon a time...

Nice bouquet.  Smoky cherry and soft fruit nose.  Not overpowering or a "big cab" but nice nonetheless.  Softer, lighter than most cabs out there.  A nice drinkable CS.  Probably not best suited for barbequed steak.  At least it was still good.  The bouquet was a bit deceptive as it hinted at a fuller bodied wine.

Whenever I grill ribeyes I always open up a Malbec. I love me a nice Malbec.

I love me some nice Malbec too! I had my hand on a bottle of Imagery's Malbec that was very nice in their tasting room last fall. My wife is reluctant to burn through our Sonoma bounty, but the next time I fire up the barby, methinks the Malbec will be as good as gone.Argentina is the next Australia, they keep saying. I agree. Stock up now while the price for some very nice Malbec's etc. are still very reasonable.

 

[phrozen]

tonight I am enjoying a fantastic 2002 Peter Franus Zinfandel (the red zin not that white zin ####).

I love a great Zin and this bottle is fantastic. At my wine shop it is $20.99 but worth every penny.

He also makes a 2001 Cabernet which retails for over $50 a bottle. I bought one and saving that for a special occasion.

If anyone cares here is a link to his website.

LINK

 

[Loomba]

Funny you should mention Zinfandel, phrozen.

Had a 2003 Sinfarosa Zinfandel (primitivo) last night with some friends at a little Italian restaurant. Very nice.

I don't typically think of Italy when I think Zinfandel (probably because they tend to call primitivo???). I usually relate Zin with California. Probably just my ignorance...

 

[bane]

I'm not a wine drinker, but those of you who are might appreciate this website: http://www.corkd.com. It's a community of wine lovers that allows you to review and read reviews of various wines. It's also a good way to find new wines to try.

I hope this helps.

btw, I am in no way affilitated with this site. Just a cool site I ran across a couple of weeks ago.

Cheers!

eta: it's free

 

[DA RAIDERS]

i went to the wine warehouse(major distributor in CA) sping tasting on Wed.

there were over 600 wines to taste . there were also over 40 spirits & over 200 beers to try as well !

here are some highlights:

anderson's conn valley vineyard 03 estate reserve (napa)

dry creek 03 zin 'somer's ranch'(sonoma)

nickel & nickel 04 'darien' syrah(sonoma)

heitz 98 'trailside' cab--i preferred this to the 99 & 01 martha's vineyard and over the 01 bella oaks as well.(napa)

pio cesare 04 dolcetto, i liked this over their barbera, barbaresco & barolo(ITA)

martin ray 01 'diamond mtn' cab(santa rosa)

voss estate 03 pinot (NZ)

canonbah bridge 02 shriaz-grenache-mourvedre(aus)

niner 'bootjack ranch' 03 cab franc & their 03 'fogcatcher' cab(paso robles)

petroni vineyards 01 poggio alla pietra, brunello(sonoma)

talbott 'aubrey' chardonnay(carmel valley)

trefethen 99 reserve cab(napa)

some pricy, some not. enjoy!

 

[ditka311]

going to the local Binnys tomorrow to stock on for a trip to the Ozarks. Will report back tomorrow.

 

[17seconds]

Anybody buying 2005 Bordeaux futures?

I'm probably going to get a few bottles of Petit Cheval, which will likely be a 95pt wine. It's $80/bottle now but will be well over $100/bottle when it arrives in '08.

 

[17seconds]

anybody here a fan of Buehler Vineyards?

The '03 Zin is very good.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Anybody buying 2005 Bordeaux futures?

I'm probably going to get a few bottles of Petit Cheval, which will likely be a 95pt wine. It's $80/bottle now but will be well over $100/bottle when it arrives in '08.

i am definitely getting some. where are you getting yours? i'm looking to buy a few 6 packs of first growths & hopefully a sixer of petrus as well.

 

[Loomba]

Remind me gents, but isn't the 2005 Bordeaux vintage considered one of the best in recent times?

I think I read that somewhere. Might worth stocking up now.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

the 05 is being compared to 00, 82 & 61. it'll be a monster.

 

[cyberrat]

Anybody buying 2005 Bordeaux futures?

I'm probably going to get a few bottles of Petit Cheval, which will likely be a 95pt wine. It's $80/bottle now but will be well over $100/bottle when it arrives in '08.

i am definitely getting some. where are you getting yours? i'm looking to buy a few 6 packs of first growths & hopefully a sixer of petrus as well.

Where are you finding your futures? I was going to try a Google search, but recommendations might be a better way to go for this.I have never bought futures in the past and I am new to the collector aspect of wine buying.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Anybody buying 2005 Bordeaux futures?

I'm probably going to get a few bottles of Petit Cheval, which will likely be a 95pt wine.  It's $80/bottle now but will be well over $100/bottle when it arrives in '08.

i am definitely getting some. where are you getting yours? i'm looking to buy a few 6 packs of first growths & hopefully a sixer of petrus as well.

Where are you finding your futures? I was going to try a Google search, but recommendations might be a better way to go for this.I have never bought futures in the past and I am new to the collector aspect of wine buying.

i too, have never bought futures. i am looking to buy through some major wine distributors here in CA. so far i haven't been able to land any first growths. the best i've seen so far was la tour blanche, a beautiful sauterne, but not what i'm looking for as an investment.

 

[tipsy mcstagger]

One of the owners was out in Napa 2 weeks ago & sent a bunch of stuff too me. Tonight, chef & I are drinking "Persistence" from the Reynolds Family Winery (03). At $50 each, it is out of my everyday drinking list, but this wine is great. Mostly a bordeaux blend, but with some syrah as well. He really fell in love with them, and I must agree with the fat man that this winery is fantastic.

Renold Family Winery

Very small, really well made wine. We will tast their caneros pinot & napa cab by the end of tomorrow methinks....maybe even tonight.

 

[tipsy mcstagger]

I wish we had a master list of all the wines listed here. that will take a good bit of work.

 

[Jules Winnfield]

Tonight I was fortunate enough to drink some 2002 O'Shaugnessey Cabernet. Outstanding!

Anyone else been fortunate enough to drink this very good wine?

 

[DA RAIDERS]

One of the owners was out in Napa 2 weeks ago & sent a bunch of stuff too me. Tonight, chef & I are drinking "Persistence" from the Reynolds Family Winery (03). At $50 each, it is out of my everyday drinking list, but this wine is great. Mostly a bordeaux blend, but with some syrah as well. He really fell in love with them, and I must agree with the fat man that this winery is fantastic.

Renold Family Winery

Very small, really well made wine. We will tast their caneros pinot & napa cab by the end of tomorrow methinks....maybe even tonight.

their regular cab is quite good. i like their stuff quite a bit.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

decided to go to napa for the day on thursday.

will report in on fri. if functional.

 

[Genedoc]

Had a very close family friend in town for a couple of evenings, and they're also wine fans. Thursday night we celebrated with a Shafer 2001 "Relentless", which is as good a Syrah gets IMO. If you haven't tried one, do it.

On Friday evening, we went to a local wine bar and ordered ourselves up a hand picked wine tasting consistingof one glass each of the following:

2004 Jed Steele’s Shooting Star Chardonnay - Good crisp, clean Chardonnay. Not overly oaky, easy to drink.

2002 Willowbrook “Owl Ridge” Chardonnay - Clearly the better of the two Chardonnay's, this one was a little more acidic and had a touch of butteriness. Both of these were very good Chardonnays, but this was everyone's favorite.

2004 Dolium Cabernet Sauvignon - The only dog in our tasting, I'll give this wine the benefit of the doubt and simply say it's immature. That said, if what we tasted is any indication, it's got a long way to go. Teases with a nice initial taste that fades really quickly and becomes thin and tinny.

1999 Eric Ross “Occidental” Zinfandel - Nice and spicy with a little tobacco, this was a table favorite. Darn fine Zin.

2002 Martin Family Petite Sirah - It suffered from us having had Relentless the night before, but this wine was solid. Nothign spectacular, but all of the characteristic you'd expect from a good Petite Sirah.

2002 Châteauneuf du Pape - Domaine du Pegau - This was a major change of pace after the previous three, and it was really, really good. Very earthy as you'd expect, and lots of tobacco. Wonderful finish and a great contrast to the others.

2000 Barolo Monvigliero - Fratelli Alessandria - Nobody else at the table liked this, so I was the big winner in that I got our whole serving of it. I thought it was spectacular and my favorite, others thought it was too dry.

And for desert, a chocolate tort with....

1966 Porto Rocha - Holy Christmas was this spectacular. The smallest little sip sat in your mouth and changed textures and flavors for minutes, and all of them were amazing. This taste was too splendid and complex for a novice liek myself to describe accurately, but Wow was it fabulous. This + a little bite of chocolate tort was nearly a religous experience.

 

[Loomba]

Apart from the Okanagan Valley, the Niagara region of Ontario is Canada's other major wine producing region. I had the 2002 Stratus Red the other night, which is a blend of 7 grapes. Very very nice, balanced and smooth with an elegant, linear finish. Very prominent bouquet and floral flavours. The first few sips had a chocolate taste to them that became more obscure after the wine breathed a little to show more of the fruit. Costs about $40 bucks in Canada. Was $68 at the restaurant. Thankfully we had a gift certificate from a friend so chose to go with this nicer wine.

Here's a write up I found on the net:

“The art of blending grapes, which Groux mastered at Hillebrand, is in full play in the Stratus wines. The flagships are Stratus 2002 Red (rating 90/100) a blend drawn from cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, petit verdot, gamay, syrah, malbec and merlot with blackberry, vanilla, and mellow chocolate accented tones...”

—Gordon Stimmell, The Toronto Star

I understand every year, the Stratus Red is blended differently, which makes sense given the vintages of the varietals that go into it each year will have varying qualities that need to be balanced off.

Good stuff.

 

[Mystery Achiever]

If you all don't mind slumming it for a minute , do you have any suggestions for a relatively inexpensive merlot and chardonnay. I need to buy several bottles for a weekend gathering and I don't drink either of these often. No, i'm not talking Boone's Farm! i do want people to enjoy it! was thinking something in the Mondavi Woodbridge range.

Thx!

 

[Genedoc]

If you all don't mind slumming it for a minute , do you have any suggestions for a relatively inexpensive merlot and chardonnay. I need to buy several bottles for a weekend gathering and I don't drink either of these often. No, i'm not talking Boone's Farm! i do want people to enjoy it! was thinking something in the Mondavi Woodbridge range.

Thx!

A couple of questions - why merlot and chardonnay, and what price range is "inexpensive"? 7-10$/bottle? 15$? 20$IMO - and there are plenty of more refined opinions than mine in this thread - Merlots and Chardonnays get bad raps because of these types of affairs. While there are certainly some good finds in the inexpensive ranges, there's also a lot of decidedly average to bad wine in these price ranges. I've had better luck with inexpensive Zins and Sirahs for reds, and Gewurztraminer and blends for White.

 

[Mystery Achiever]

[A couple of questions - why merlot and chardonnay, and what price range is "inexpensive"? 7-10$/bottle? 15$? 20$

Those two because that's what a lot of people coming like. I drink mainly pinot grigio and shiraz, so I don't know which are the "bad brands" you mentioned- and I know they are out there. For pricing, I guess 7-10 for 750ml, and to $15 for the 1.5L. I know prices vary by area - that's why I mentioned Woodbridge as an example. More expensive will not be appreciated - plus I have to buy several bottles!

 

[bane]

I'm not a wine drinker, but those of you who are might appreciate this website: http://www.corkd.com. It's a community of wine lovers that allows you to review and read reviews of various wines. It's also a good way to find new wines to try.

I hope this helps.

btw, I am in no way affilitated with this site. Just a cool site I ran across a couple of weeks ago.

Cheers!

eta: it's free

I hate to quote myself, but I think you guys would really get alot of use out of this site. I hope some of you will try it out.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

If you're tied to those varietals, as inexpensive and widely available Merlots go, the Blackstone isn't bad. I think Bogle makes a pretty decent and inexpensive one as well. You can usually get either around $8. I'm not much of a Chard drinker, so I can't help you there.

 

[Mystery Achiever]

If you're tied to those varietals, as inexpensive and widely available Merlots go, the Blackstone isn't bad. I think Bogle makes a pretty decent and inexpensive one as well. You can usually get either around $8. I'm not much of a Chard drinker, so I can't help you there.

Thx! You live in a good wine area! I noticed the Blackstone when I was in the store for something else because a friend served it at a dinner. The 1.5 liter was $19; I think the 750 was $11. It is on my list of possibilities.

 

[cyberrat]

[A couple of questions - why merlot and chardonnay, and what price range is "inexpensive"? 7-10$/bottle? 15$? 20$

Those two because that's what a lot of people coming like. I drink mainly pinot grigio and shiraz, so I don't know which are the "bad brands" you mentioned- and I know they are out there. For pricing, I guess 7-10 for 750ml, and to $15 for the 1.5L. I know prices vary by area - that's why I mentioned Woodbridge as an example. More expensive will not be appreciated - plus I have to buy several bottles!

For a Merlot - if you don't ming the jug - Three Thieves Bandit Merlot might be worth a try. I have had their Cab Sauv and it was great at the price point. They also have a Chard, but once again, I have not tried it.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

If you all don't mind slumming it for a minute , do you have any suggestions for a relatively inexpensive merlot and chardonnay. I need to buy several bottles for a weekend gathering and I don't drink either of these often. No, i'm not talking Boone's Farm! i do want people to enjoy it! was thinking something in the Mondavi Woodbridge range.

Thx!

blackstone merlot, the GREY label(not the orange :X ) is $9.50 @ costco right now.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

a little harder to find, but really good, is the chateau julien chardonnay. $6-9

& merlot gets a bad rap because of sideways & the rampant crap that a lot of US winemakers put out. what people fail to realize is that merlot is a key component in some of the finest wines in the world, french bordeaux. did you know that the most expensive wine in the world is primarily merlot? chateau petrus.

 

[Genedoc]

a little harder to find, but really good, is the chateau julien chardonnay. $6-9

& merlot gets a bad rap because of sideways & the rampant crap that a lot of US winemakers put out. what people fail to realize is that merlot is a key component in some of the finest wines in the world, french bordeaux. did you know that the most expensive wine in the world is primarily merlot? chateau petrus.

I told a good friend and accomplished eonophile friend of our family that I didn't like Merlot, and this was well before the Sideways backlash. His response was much the same as yours as he told me "No, you don't like bad Merlot, and there's a awful lot of bad Merlot going around".

Best Merlot I've ever had was Shafer's, which was very good.

 

[Mystery Achiever]

[blackstone merlot, the GREY label(not the orange :X ) is $9.50 @ costco right now.

thanks for the heads up that there are different labels. just ran into a neighbor coming home from buying black swan merlot -- says it is very good.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

decided to go to napa for the day on thursday.

will report in on fri. if functional.

well, i'll fly out in the morning. I'll start at katherine hall(we sell more of their wines than anyone else so they style us out bigtime!, then opus one(private tour) and then lunch. mumm's for one of the girls & then to darioush. after darioush the winery is taking us all out to dinner.

 

[Loomba]

decided to go to napa for the day on thursday.

will report in on fri.  if functional.

well, i'll fly out in the morning. I'll start at katherine hall(we sell more of their wines than anyone else so they style us out bigtime!, then opus one(private tour) and then lunch. mumm's for one of the girls & then to darioush. after darioush the winery is taking us all out to dinner.

I don't know if there is a "green with envy" icon. Perhaps this combo... :( :X Enjoy !

 

[Bob Sacamano]

decided to go to napa for the day on thursday.

will report in on fri.  if functional.

well, i'll fly out in the morning. I'll start at katherine hall(we sell more of their wines than anyone else so they style us out bigtime!, then opus one(private tour) and then lunch. mumm's for one of the girls & then to darioush. after darioush the winery is taking us all out to dinner.

I was really disappointed with Darioush when we were there. I'd read so much about their wines, and the only one that really blew me away was their Cab Franc, which was phenomenal with some kabobs I fired up on the grill.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

Last night:  Turley Juvie. 

Tipsy or anyone else who has had them - I just found a wine shop here that has a handful of them for $45/btl. Worth the buy?

 

[Jules Winnfield]

Last night:  Turley Juvie. 

Tipsy or anyone else who has had them - I just found a wine shop here that has a handful of them for $45/btl. Worth the buy?

Turley wine for $45 a bottle?Buy 'em. Now.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

decided to go to napa for the day on thursday.

will report in on fri.  if functional.

well, i'll fly out in the morning. I'll start at katherine hall(we sell more of their wines than anyone else so they style us out bigtime!, then opus one(private tour) and then lunch. mumm's for one of the girls & then to darioush. after darioush the winery is taking us all out to dinner.

HAD A FREAKING BLAST!!!!!!!!!katherine hall was awesome! the winery is perched WAY, WAY up at the top of rutherford hill. up above auberge. truly unreal view. beautiful small winery, state of the art facilities. very nice! i bought a case of their 03 cab at $25 a bottle.

we went to lunch at bouchon, which led to few bottles of wine & the blowing off of the opus & mumm's portion of our day.

darioush was a bit of a let down. they took great care of us & we did barrel tastings of most of their wine but really wasn't overly impressed with anything. by this time we were all fairly deep in the tank so that might have contributed to not really caring for their wine.

dinner was at N.V. get the shortrib! we all shared our entree's & ordered an extra shortrib to share.

great time had by all & i can't wait to go back!

 

[tipsy mcstagger]

Last night: Turley Juvie.

Tipsy or anyone else who has had them - I just found a wine shop here that has a handful of them for $45/btl. Worth the buy?

Turley wine for $45 a bottle?Buy 'em. Now.

While I loved all of the Turleys this year, the juvie isn't worth 45 a bottle IMHO.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

Last night:  Turley Juvie. 

Tipsy or anyone else who has had them - I just found a wine shop here that has a handful of them for $45/btl. Worth the buy?

Turley wine for $45 a bottle?Buy 'em. Now.

While I loved all of the Turleys this year, the juvie isn't worth 45 a bottle IMHO.

Well, it's too late. The wife bought me 2 bottles for father's day. The guy had 5 when I was there last night and sold 3 after I left, so we got the last 2. Here's hoping we have a difference in tastes.

 

[tipsy mcstagger]

Last night: Turley Juvie.

Tipsy or anyone else who has had them - I just found a wine shop here that has a handful of them for $45/btl. Worth the buy?

Turley wine for $45 a bottle?Buy 'em. Now.

While I loved all of the Turleys this year, the juvie isn't worth 45 a bottle IMHO.

Well, it's too late. The wife bought me 2 bottles for father's day. The guy had 5 when I was there last night and sold 3 after I left, so we got the last 2. Here's hoping we have a difference in tastes.

Don't get me wrong...it is really nice. Just $45 for it thirty dollars above what it cost that wine shop.

 

[Loomba]

Finished off a bottle of 2005 Richland Shiraz from Australia tonight watching the Oilers push it to a game seven. Awesome game!

And the wine was pretty good too. Cost about $17 Cdn. bucks per bottle -- I bought a 6 bottle case of this stuff via Opimian. It is a bit tight still, no surprise for a 2005. But it has a lot of potential. Nice and chewy right now. In another year or two the other 5 bottles are going to slide south very smoothly, methinks. I am beginning to see the potential in my Opimian membership. Excellent wines at reasonable prices.

Not sure if Richland is winery that sells a lot in North America, but if you see it, give it a shot.

 

[Jules Winnfield]

Last night: Turley Juvie.

Tipsy or anyone else who has had them - I just found a wine shop here that has a handful of them for $45/btl. Worth the buy?

Turley wine for $45 a bottle?Buy 'em. Now.

While I loved all of the Turleys this year, the juvie isn't worth 45 a bottle IMHO.

Well, it's too late. The wife bought me 2 bottles for father's day. The guy had 5 when I was there last night and sold 3 after I left, so we got the last 2. Here's hoping we have a difference in tastes.

Don't get me wrong...it is really nice. Just $45 for it thirty dollars above what it cost that wine shop.

Are you talking '03 or '04?Tipsy, you're telling me that you're getting an '03 Juvie for $15? I'll take a case right now.

This is not a Zin for the weak hearted.

The '03 was fantastic!

What mark up do you use in your restaurant for bottles of wine?

 

[tipsy mcstagger]

Last night: Turley Juvie.

Tipsy or anyone else who has had them - I just found a wine shop here that has a handful of them for $45/btl. Worth the buy?

Turley wine for $45 a bottle?Buy 'em. Now.

While I loved all of the Turleys this year, the juvie isn't worth 45 a bottle IMHO.

Well, it's too late. The wife bought me 2 bottles for father's day. The guy had 5 when I was there last night and sold 3 after I left, so we got the last 2. Here's hoping we have a difference in tastes.

Don't get me wrong...it is really nice. Just $45 for it thirty dollars above what it cost that wine shop.

Are you talking '03 or '04?Tipsy, you're telling me that you're getting an '03 Juvie for $15? I'll take a case right now.

This is not a Zin for the weak hearted.

The '03 was fantastic!

What mark up do you use in your restaurant for bottles of wine?

It must have been the 04, whatever they released this year.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

03 mission hill family estate, S.L.C. sauvignon blanc, semillon blend out of okanagan valley, canada. just north of the washington state border.

interesting little wine, nice crisp fruit up front, green apples, not quite ripe pear. deep rich orangish color(the semillon) no finish to speak of, just sort of vanishes mid way through. perfectly swillable, but nothing special.

 

[Genedoc]

Picked up a couple of inexpensive bottles this weekend that I highly recommend. Both were on Whole Foods "Top 10 Summer Wines list", and they were $8 and $13. We tried the Indabe Steen Chenin Blanc and the Love Grass Shiraz. Both were very good values that I would gladly serve to guests again. Looking forward to trying out the other 8.

 

[Loomba]

Tried a 2003 Don Rodolfo Malbec from Argentina on the deck the other night with a little steak action. A very very nice wine. Big nose. Dark cherry and other darker fruit flavours explode. Well balanced, smooth finish. For a wine that I think cost me less than CDN $15, a huge steal. Going to go buy several more bottles.

As Jules likes to say, "I love me some nice Malbec!".

This varietal from Argentina is becoming a big favorite. Consistently good wines from this region. I have yet to have a disappointing Argentinian Malbec.

For you trivia buffs, Don Rodolfo is from one of the world’s highest-elevation viticultural regions (about 6000 feet) -- the Cafayate Valley in Argentina’s Salta province. That's over a mile high, about where I was after the bottle was empty...

 

[Jules Winnfield]

Tried a 2003 Don Rodolfo Malbec from Argentina on the deck the other night with a little steak action. A very very nice wine. Big nose. Dark cherry and other darker fruit flavours explode. Well balanced, smooth finish. For a wine that I think cost me less than CDN $15, a huge steal. Going to go buy several more bottles.

As Jules likes to say, "I love me some nice Malbec!".

This varietal from Argentina is becoming a big favorite. Consistently good wines from this region. I have yet to have a disappointing Argentinian Malbec.

For you trivia buffs, Don Rodolfo is from one of the world’s highest-elevation viticultural regions (about 6000 feet) -- the Cafayate Valley in Argentina’s Salta province. That's over a mile high, about where I was after the bottle was empty...

I just purchased a case of Antis Malbec that is very good.I can't wait to grill up some rib-eyes to enjoy it with.

 

[Loomba]

Ribeyes. That's exactly what we had with the Rodolfo. Great minds think alike...

Ha!

 

[DA RAIDERS]

98 viader--sexy silky fruits..mellow tannins..hint of smoke

97 pikes shiraz--super dark kick you in the ### aussie shiraz. great rich dark berries with some mild earth to it. needed decanting. really enjoyed this.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

Question: I'm looking for a specific wine that I can't find for purchase anywhere, including the winery, anymore.

It's a '97 vintage that isn't a high-priced bottle many people would have collected or anything. It's just a good wine that has some sentimental value. It's probably even on the decline at this point. Is there a source (website?) anyone would recommend trying to find such a thing?