Wine

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I’ll see your Gloria ferrar, and raise you a Roederer Estate. Granted, the Anderson Valley is too far a drive for the casual tourist visiting via the Bay Area…

Roederer estate brut is great. Along with Ferrer blanc de noirs it's another "cheap" one I buy by the case when I'm in the mood for something a bit dryer and crisp. Both the Roederer brut and Ferrer bdn are technically "dry" (brut), but the dosage on the bdn is a bit higher and it's just a weeeee bit sweeter which I like.

 

[amyl]

For napa trip- domaine carneros to start the day with some bubbly. It’s gorgeous inside and out. For posh brunch - Auberge du soleil ❤️ If you feel like a huge bill stay there too (I got married there and it was amazing). They also have an amazing spa
For great food- dine at bistro jeanty. Morning stop at bouchon bakery in yountville is a must do…. The most amazing pastries but also a good place to grab some sandwiches for later and picnic somewhere - amazing ham sandwich and breakfast pastries. ❤️Napa

 

[fakin' the funk]

Good advice on here about Napa and Sonoma. Neither are excellent value, but Napa tends to be an absolute zoo, super pretentious, expensive. Sonoma it's easier to get off the beaten path, tends to be cheaper (not cheap tho!), there are some fun smaller wineries off Glen Ellen, Kenwood, up into Healdsburg.

Would definitely recommend you have some styles in mind you want to explore before you go. The bigger winemakers that each make all the varietals will tend to be big, probably impersonal, and Disneylandesque. If, however, you know you love Dry Creek Zin or a certain subregion Cab, you can go to 3-4 of those places to explore.

Second the Vsattui vote if you do go to Napa - unpretentious, busy, great picnic spot, you can try a ton of wines.

 

[DoctwoB]

This thread makes me glad I'm a beer snob and not a wine snob. Walked into total wine the other day and walked out with 2 cases of many of the best beers in their style in the world for 100$. Ayinger doppelbock, Weihenstephaner hefe, Trappist Rochefort 10, Pliny the Elder, Stone Enjoy By, Founders KBS, Firestone parabola, Alpine Nelson pale ale. And don't even get me started on my sours.

 

[chocomorsel]

God this thread sounds snooty and pretentious. I am picturing Niles Crane from Frasier.
I am with @Newtwo.

 

[cchoukal]

It only sounds snooty because people think wine is snooty. When we’ve had threads about guns and cars, there are plenty of opinions and plenty of people with very specific and particular tastes and bits of knowledge about bullets, engines, holsters, and exhaust mods that are at least as… snooty as the comments here.

 

[MirrorTodd]

2 things. I have really only had like one REALLY good wine (merlot) in my life. I was a busser at an Italian restaurant back in Hawaii and a table ordered one of the expensive like $350 dollar bottles. I took a swig since they left and didn't finish it and damn it as goooooood.

But now I'm all about that sweet wines. Stella Rossa is what I buy when I want a little taste. **** all those dingy, bitter ass hints of white oak and snozzberries type wines.

 

[deleted126335]

 

[GassYous]

2 things. I have really only had like one REALLY good wine (merlot) in my life. I was a busser at an Italian restaurant back in Hawaii and a table ordered one of the expensive like $350 dollar bottles. I took a swig since they left and didn't finish it and damn it as goooooood.

But now I'm all about that sweet wines. Stella Rossa is what I buy when I want a little taste. **** all those dingy, bitter ass hints of white oak and snozzberries type wines.

Man how do you buy a 350 dollar bottle and not finish it? Even if it tasted like **** I'd still finish it because it's 350 dollars.

My wife likes ice wine if sweet is what you want. She also likes those colorful drinks with the mini umbrellas if I can recommend that to you.

 

[MirrorTodd]

Man how do you buy a 350 dollar bottle and not finish it? Even if it tasted like **** I'd still finish it because it's 350 dollars.

My wife likes ice wine if sweet is what you want. She also likes those colorful drinks with the mini umbrellas if I can recommend that to you.

I do like mini umbrellas.

 

[deleted162650]

Stella Rossa is what I buy

I do like mini umbrellas.

Aren’t you in the Army??

This is the kind of person defending America everybody.

SMH.

 

[MirrorTodd]

Aren’t you in the Army??

This is the kind of person defending America everybody.

SMH.

Meh I've put lead downrange in battle, so I think I'll drink whatever the hell I want.

 

[deleted162650]

Meh I've put lead downrange in battle, so I think I'll drink whatever the hell I want.

Were you infantry before med school?

 

[MirrorTodd]

Were you infantry before med school?

I was a medic, infantry unit.

 

[chocomorsel]

God this thread sounds snooty and pretentious. I am picturing Niles Crane from Frasier.
I am with @Newtwo.

So because I made this comment I was barred from adding to this thread for a few days. Come on mods, really?
Who complained? Who's feelings did I hurt? How unprofessional was I?
I have seen much worse than "snooty and pretentious" on here before. Is this one gonna get me banned?

 

[vector2]

So because I made this comment I was barred from adding to this thread for a few days. Come on mods, really?
Who complained? Who's feelings did I hurt? How unprofessional was I?
I have seen much worse than "snooty and pretentious" on here before. Is this one gonna get me banned?

What an absurd temporary thread ban. Part of any wine thread should be letting people have wrong opinions such as yours about wine 😉 and then allowing discussion about why that opinion is growingly wrong.

Wine people being snooty and pretentious is a well-known stereotype that was certainly not an unfair one, at least historically. However I think if you go to almost any wine shop or wine bar nowadays the staff really try to make wine less intimidating to the average person. There are more wine websites, videos, and books than there ever has been. As someone else pointed out, parts of Napa are like Disney world.

In actuality, wine has never been as accessible to the average person as it is now.

 

[chocomorsel]

What an absurd temporary thread ban. Part of any wine thread should be letting people have wrong opinions such as yours about wine 😉 and then allowing discussion about why that opinion is growingly wrong.

Wine people being snooty and pretentious is a well-known stereotype that was certainly not an unfair one, at least historically. However I think if you go to almost any wine shop or wine bar nowadays the staff really try to make wine less intimidating to the average person. There are more wine websites, videos, and books than there ever has been. As someone else pointed out, parts of Napa are like Disney world.

In actuality, wine has never been as accessible to the average person as it is now.

I love wine. But I am one of those semisweet, Riesling, Rose and Pinot Grigio lovers. Been enjoying it for about 15-20 years. My palate has never matured past that and therefor my wines are all around and under $10 bucks.
So I can’t see myself buying a $100 bottle. I hate red tart, bitter, wine.

 

[Justice4all]

Until I broke the 40 bucks a bottle , I didn’t know what I was enduring. The aftertaste and burning of your throat all gone

 

[chocomorsel]

Until I broke the 40 bucks a bottle , I didn’t know what I was enduring. The aftertaste and burning of your throat all gone

Ok. Let me try it once and see.

 

[deleted126335]

I love wine. But I am one of those semisweet, Riesling, Rose and Pinot Grigio lovers. Been enjoying it for about 15-20 years. My palate has never matured past that and therefor my wines are all around and under $10 bucks.

Mouthwash.

 

[Arch Guillotti]

So because I made this comment I was barred from adding to this thread for a few days. Come on mods, really?
Who complained? Who's feelings did I hurt? How unprofessional was I?
I have seen much worse than "snooty and pretentious" on here before. Is this one gonna get me banned?

It had nothing to do with any of the mod staff. Let’s just say it was a glitch in the matrix.

 

[vector2]

I love wine. But I am one of those semisweet, Riesling, Rose and Pinot Grigio lovers. Been enjoying it for about 15-20 years. My palate has never matured past that and therefor my wines are all around and under $10 bucks.
So I can’t see myself buying a $100 bottle. I hate red tart, bitter, wine.

Drinking dry (aka not sweet) wine is an acquired taste like anything else, but I think it's a lot more accessible than something like getting into drinking neat scotch.

Perhaps you'll never like drinking dry wine, but if you're going to give it another shot then don't start by trying something that's trash. The lower quality dry reds and whites are going to emphasize some of the worst notes which probably turned you off of them in the first place (i.e. they're not rounded, have too much alcohol burn, too much or too little acid, too much or too little oak or tannin, other off aromas etc).

Keep an open mind and try a higher quality pinot noir. It's lighter body and lower in tannin, which is the "bitter" taste that you're referring to. When you say tart I doubt that acid is a problem for you considering Riesling has pretty high acid. Other than pinot noir, I suggest trying an Amarone, garnacha, barbera, cab franc, malbec, or cote du rhone. Don't start with a big bold expensive cabernet sauvignon.

 

[Drwine]

View attachment 339924

He can be excused because his only experience was with some insipid cheap merlot from CA and had never visited Pomerol or Tuscany. He definitely never had Masseto.

Masseto | Masseto

As a tribute to the soil from which it rises, Masseto was named after the rock-hard clusters of blue clay that form on the vineyard’s surface.

www.masseto.com

 

[deleted126335]

He can be excused because his only experience was with some insipid cheap merlot from CA and had never visited Pomerol or Tuscany. He definitely never had Masseto.

Masseto | Masseto

As a tribute to the soil from which it rises, Masseto was named after the rock-hard clusters of blue clay that form on the vineyard’s surface.

www.masseto.com

I'll put it on my list to try. Thanks.

 

[turnupthegas]

California wines FTW. I like Orin Swift wines a lot.

 

[cchoukal]

Drinking dry (aka not sweet) wine is an acquired taste like anything else, but I think it's a lot more accessible than something like getting into drinking neat scotch.

Perhaps you'll never like drinking dry wine, but if you're going to give it another shot then don't start by trying something that's trash. The lower quality dry reds and whites are going to emphasize some of the worst notes which probably turned you off of them in the first place (i.e. they're not rounded, have too much alcohol burn, too much or too little acid, too much or too little oak or tannin, other off aromas etc).

Keep an open mind and try a higher quality pinot noir. It's lighter body and lower in tannin, which is the "bitter" taste that you're referring to. When you say tart I doubt that acid is a problem for you considering Riesling has pretty high acid. Other than pinot noir, I suggest trying an Amarone, garnacha, barbera, cab franc, malbec, or cote du rhone. Don't start with a big bold expensive cabernet sauvignon.

Read the book Cork Dork. A great chronicle of a journalist both trying to become a sommelier and exploring what makes wine “good.” She visits trade shows of chemical makers designed to make wine look and taste a certain way, interviews experts in taste and scent, and kind of puts together some interesting viewpoints on why people like what they like.

for those who like sweeter wine but are trying to like drier, I’d go with Zinfandel. The price points are attractive and there are good wines across the sweet-dry spectrum, from the Clines, ravenswoods, to the seghesios, ridges, and rafanellis.

 

[GassYous]

So I tried this list at v sattui and I liked the off dry reisling and the rose. The madeira was also good and we got a bottle of that. I think I'm not that much of dry wine person.

 

[turkeyjerky]

Ok, I'm over here visiting from the EM forum, so my price range is a little lower than most here, but I consider myself a little bit of a cheap wine connoisseur (I save my my money for craft beer and fancy gin, plus amari). My advice is to work one's way through the european section of Trader Joes. Best value this side of a french grocery store. Also, at most wine shops, try to look for anything from the former Yugoslavia or Bulgaria, have had some really good stuff from the Balkans.

Anyone have any recommendations for 'value' wine destinations?

 

[TJRock]

Ok, I'm over here visiting from the EM forum, so my price range is a little lower than most here, but I consider myself a little bit of a cheap wine connoisseur (I save my my money for craft beer and fancy gin, plus amari). My advice is to work one's way through the european section of Trader Joes. Best value this side of a french grocery store. Also, at most wine shops, try to look for anything from the former Yugoslavia or Bulgaria, have had some really good stuff from the Balkans.

Anyone have any recommendations for 'value' wine destinations?

Costco.

 

[GassYous]

Costco.

I like their huge bottle of sangria

 

[deleted126335]

Ok, I'm over here visiting from the EM forum, so my price range is a little lower than most here, but I consider myself a little bit of a cheap wine connoisseur (I save my my money for craft beer and fancy gin, plus amari). My advice is to work one's way through the european section of Trader Joes. Best value this side of a french grocery store. Also, at most wine shops, try to look for anything from the former Yugoslavia or Bulgaria, have had some really good stuff from the Balkans.

Anyone have any recommendations for 'value' wine destinations?

Try wine tastings at local wine shops. Also wine dinners at local restaurants. Often excellent for the price point. Also a good way to get some relatively low cost education on the subject.

 

[GassYous]

So we went to Napa and did a bunch of wine tastings.

We checked v.sattui. We went early before the crowds (10 am tasting) and left right as it started getting super busy. Then we stayed at bed and barrel as recommended. Daniel was great, explained a lot of stuff to us that I didn't know. I also highly recommend both experiences.

We ate at bistro jeanty and my wife loved it. She really liked the escargot and I thought the mussels were delicious.

Took some pics of the wine I bought so far.

7 deadly zins was recommended by a patient to me, haven't tried it yet.

The two bottles are some French Bordeaux I bought before I made this thread are next to it and didn't like one of them much.

All the others are ones I tried this weekend and liked enough to buy. Thanks for the advice guys! We will be going back soon to try some of the other recommended tours.

 

[dhb]

Bourdeaux

Bordeaux

 

[cchoukal]

Bordeaux

Or, as the millennials and natural wine snobs say, “bored-eaux.”

 

[fakin' the funk]

Ok, I'm over here visiting from the EM forum, so my price range is a little lower than most here, but I consider myself a little bit of a cheap wine connoisseur (I save my my money for craft beer and fancy gin, plus amari). My advice is to work one's way through the european section of Trader Joes. Best value this side of a french grocery store. Also, at most wine shops, try to look for anything from the former Yugoslavia or Bulgaria, have had some really good stuff from the Balkans.

Anyone have any recommendations for 'value' wine destinations?

My recommendation for "jewel in the rough" wine finds under $20 is either a) Costco, or, b) whatever your biggest local independent wine shop is. I do agree that European wines can be great in the <$20 range but TJs is obviously not gonna be a place with proper bottle handling and care (temp, light etc). And If all u have is Bevmo and Total Wine, I'm very sorry.

In SF Bay Area, K&L Wines is an incredible shop(s) with consistently outstanding staff picks and very good value to be had at all price points. Worth a stop even if just passing through.

 

[turkeyjerky]

My recommendation for "jewel in the rough" wine finds under $20 is either a) Costco, or, b) whatever your biggest local independent wine shop is. I do agree that European wines can be great in the <$20 range but TJs is obviously not gonna be a place with proper bottle handling and care (temp, light etc). And If all u have is Bevmo and Total Wine, I'm very sorry.

In SF Bay Area, K&L Wines is an incredible shop(s) with consistently outstanding staff picks and very good value to be had at all price points. Worth a stop even if just passing through.

Yeah, I shop at Costco a fair amount. I haven't been lucky enough to have many great wine merchants near me recently. I don't get the TJs hate.

I was more asking about value wine vacation destinations...

I'll start--the Western Cape is well-priced and beautiful.

 

[Drwine]

Yeah, I shop at Costco a fair amount. I haven't been lucky enough to have many great wine merchants near me recently. I don't get the TJs hate.

I was more asking about value wine vacation destinations...

I'll start--the Western Cape is well-priced and beautiful.

Portugal is a standout value wine destination.