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Re: the wine thread
Mojo #205720 04/27/08 11:41 PM
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Were you educating me Chess, or other readers? My comments were in regards specifically to Chardonnay. I too like a little oak, but not to the point where I feel like I just bit into a stick of butter, which many are like.

I prefer a good Sauv Blanc from Marlborough (New Zealand) or Casablanca Valley (Chile) then Chardonnay.

Mojo,

Look above at my recommendations for Chile and Spain. Those are the best bang for the buck on the planet right now. Hop on over to wine.com and filter your search to Red > South America > price. Then do the same for Spain. I have found terrific bottles for under $15. With South America, the wines have a general “earthy” / “smoky” nose and pallet to them. With Spain, you get more of a traditional fruit forward type of wine. Neither have that big, in your face chewy characteristics found in Napa reds and French Bordeaux, but that isn’t always desirable, so I tend to hop around the globe to fit my mood.

Re: the wine thread
michael_d #205725 04/28/08 12:27 AM
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Thanks!


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Out in the mid or far field
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Re: the wine thread
michael_d #205734 04/28/08 02:22 AM
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 Originally Posted By: mdrew
Were you educating me Chess, or other readers?

Nope, just talking in general. Sometimes people don't know the whole process of what MLF is or all the side compounds created in the process like diacetyl (the buttery smell).

 Quote:
My comments were in regards specifically to Chardonnay. I too like a little oak, but not to the point where I feel like I just bit into a stick of butter, which many are like.

Are we talking about oak flavour imparted by barrels or the fat texture imparted by the MLF? I've had one or two oaky chardonnays that were not 'fat' in texture. The both tended to be more nutty in flavour and hence i'm thinking the winemakers toasted the oak barrels too heavily. The smooth texture created by MLF is used in reds to control acidity. I've had a few smooth reds and again, i really quite like the mouth feel in texture but i also prefer low acid wines most of the time.


 Quote:

I prefer a good Sauv Blanc from Marlborough (New Zealand) or Casablanca Valley (Chile) then Chardonnay.

I thought you weren't a white wine drinker?
;\)

 Quote:

Look above at my recommendations for Chile and Spain. Those are the best bang for the buck on the planet right now. Hop on over to wine.com and filter your search to Red > South America > price. Then do the same for Spain. I have found terrific bottles for under $15. With South America, the wines have a general “earthy” / “smoky” nose and pallet to them. With Spain, you get more of a traditional fruit forward type of wine. Neither have that big, in your face chewy characteristics found in Napa reds and French Bordeaux, but that isn’t always desirable, so I tend to hop around the globe to fit my mood.

Unfortunately we cannot buy wines from online stores in the US, not unless you get them shipped to the state south of one's province, drive down, pick them up, pay duties at the border...
The array of wines available down south can be far greater than here, depending in part on where you live and which provincial government has a stranglehold on the liquor imports.

Good wines for under $10 in Canada?
Brutally tough if they even exist.
Decent reds under $15, there are a number. For easy to find ones Mojo, i recommend looking at Fetzer and Mondavi's offerings at your local Liquor Barn. Sticking with some again, easy to find N.American names, also see Beringer, Kenwood, Kendall Jackson, Ironstone (all make good zins, cabs, and some chardonnays).

If you want to venture out and get recommendations from the local wineshop folk who know what they have in stock, then i would recommend a variety of Chilean reds as well.
Concha Y Toro is pretty common. Have a look for their Trio.


Last edited by chesseroo; 04/28/08 02:27 AM.

"Those who preach the myths of audio are ignorant of truth."
Re: the wine thread
michael_d #205735 04/28/08 02:25 AM
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Tex,
I'll second Mike's recommendation, for the price Imo there is nothing that compares to the Latin American wines.
Chile and Argentinian wines are a couple of my favorites.

When you decide you want to spend a little more, the choices go up exponentially.

Let us know what you go with and your thoughts.


A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.
Re: the wine thread
HomeDad #205814 04/28/08 06:01 PM
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Just got back from a wine tour in Paso Robles about a week ago...so I figured I'd share some gems we found with you all.

We'd gone to a few places in Paso a few years back, and quite enjoyed Tablas Creek, and [url=]Opolo[/url]. Tablas makes some quite good whites, Rhone blends. Opolo is best known for their great Zinfandel. A few years later, they do not disapoint. Tablas still makes great white wine blends, and Opolo continues to produce terrific, big, tasty Zin.

The new gems we found included Adelaida, while a pricey, we really enjoyed their Reserve Syrah, and Rhone style whites.

Pipestone was another favorite...one of the few stops in which nearly every bottle we tried was quite excellent. Their a husband and wife micro-winery, and do pretty much everything themselves. All organic. Just darn good stuff. Again their Syrah was my favorite. Their Zinfandel is somewhat unusal in that it was a bit sweet. Very jammy. It could almost be drunk as a desert wine. It would certainly need to be paired with some very spicey, bold food. Very tastey though.

Zenaida Cellars was good too. We really enjoyed their Cabs, I particularly like the 2002 Estate Cab, which at $22 was really reasonable.

I saved our favorite for last. Dover Canyon Their Viognier was good, but their "White Bone" white blend was outstanding. What really blew us away though was their Zinfandels. Simply amazing. I had no idea Zinfandel could be so good. The '06 "Cujo" is their entry level Zin, and it alone was the best Zin I've ever tasted. Then I tried their '06 "Old Vine", which was even better. Lastly we tried their '06 Reserve which was outstanding as well. We stopped by on Friday, and immediately bought several bottles. We had our full limo tour on Saturday, hitting a bunch of vineyards, and then decided we had to go back to Dover Canyon on Sunday before heading home. We bought another full case then. Sooo good!

A quick note on some places that didn't float our boat so much...

Four Vines...not bad wine at all, I actually enjoyed their Chardonay quite a lot, but nothing really stood out from their wines, and they were pricier than any place else we visited.

Still Water...their wines again, weren't bad at all, but nothing special. They do also make their own olive oil from 100+ year old olive trees on their property, and THAT was very tasty. It's also one of the most beautiful properties we visited. Well worth stopping by for the views, and olive oil. The wine though...eh.

Midnight Cellars. Bleck. I think they cater to people who tend to not like wine. It all tasted like watered down juice.

If you get a chance to visit Paso Robles, do it! It was a blast!

Re: the wine thread
spiffnme #205840 04/28/08 09:06 PM
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Craig, Thanks for the tips, I've tried all the ones that you listed except for Pipestone and Dover Canyon. I wasn't crazy about Four Vines either, though it seems to be quite popular up there. We are heading up there either this weekend or next so I'll put those two on my list.
Paso really is a great place if you want to try some great wines at reasonable prices.


A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.
Re: the wine thread
HomeDad #205846 04/28/08 09:50 PM
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Yeah...if you're going don't miss those two! Pipestone is a little out of the way, but not really...it just seems like it because so many others are right on top of each other.

Just noticed my link to Opolo above was bad...

Opolo



Last edited by spiffnme; 04/28/08 10:31 PM.
What got me started...
michael_d #205852 04/28/08 10:41 PM
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Our first wine trip was through Santa Ynez, and at the time Roger and I enjoyed wine, but weren't what you'd call enthusiasts. The first wine that really grabbed us and made us realize just how good a bottle of wine could be was this beauty from Sunstone.

2003 Sunstone Eros

I've since had other wines that were likely as good or better, but this was certainly the first one that made me really start getting interested in fine wine. \:\)





Last edited by spiffnme; 04/28/08 10:45 PM. Reason: spelling
Re: the wine thread
HomeDad #205882 04/29/08 03:25 AM
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We actually served an un-oaked Four Vines Chardonnay at our wedding. After having tried so many oaked and malolactified chards, it was a refreshingly crisp break from the norm. (And it was a great deal at the time, too.)

Re: the wine thread
pmbuko #205907 04/29/08 06:30 AM
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I can only speak for their reds, it's very rare that I will do any white wine tasting unless someone compels me to have a taste.
So most opinions I have of wineries are based on reds only, lately I have started to delve a little into whites, but I would consider myself a complete novice when it comes to white wines.


A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.
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