Wine Thread

[AAsnake88 0]

Amarone's can be fun. Defintiely an acqured taste. I find them to be a little on the sweet side, kinda like a port. The only food that pairs good with it was rabbit.

In my experience, amarone was an acquired taste only to those who were accustomed to drinking exclusively bone dry cabs and similar wines. One thing that I found funny is that due in some part to the media, and also to the views of their friends/peers we had many customers that insisted that anything sweet was a bad wine. Almost that they believed that sweeter wines were just cheap shit, and nothing can be further from the truth. I've turned many a cab/merlot drinker onto chianti, which often has a subtle sweetness, then Brunello, amarone, and even a ripasso(there is more to this name, but I can't think of it right now) and they didn't realize that they were enjoying exactly the opposite of what they believed to be good wine and they never made many comments about the wine being sweeter than their former favorites. Too many people feel that there are 'rules' to liking wines...there is only one IMO: Drink what tastes good to you.As for the pairing with amarone, we have served it with roast turkey, roast capon, and on Christmas this year standing rib roast. Although it was significantly better this year than in the past it went well with all three. I will definitely save one bottle to enjoy with rabbit because I can see them going together well.Oh, and port? Yum!

[El Guapo 8]

The only time I've decanted wines was for tastings at the store as I don't own a decanter myself. I will invest in one now that I'm gonna drinking more wine again, but also because it definitely does more than just popping the cork and letting it sit for a couple of hours. As for the higher end wines, just letting it breath for at least an hour should go without saying. Even inexpensive young cali reds, chiantis, etc...fare much better with an hour of breathing time.Glad you enjoyed the read...because we sure enjoyed the wine!

I do not have a true decanter, for right now i have a large caraffe that I use, it does not have enough surface area to decant properly, but I just pour the wine in real fast to areate(sp?) as much as possible.

[All_In 0]

http://www.chateaudescharmes.com/admin/dow...ile=PinotNoirWL

[KDawgCometh 2]

well, obviously new years is tommorrow, so what is everyone drinking for it. I hope that everyone checks out some champagnes that aren't moet&chandon white star, veuve cliquot, louis roederer, etc and check out some different stuff and try some sparkling rose's and some blanc de blancs.as far as what I'm drinking, this is what I'm sure about as some friends are gonna pop some serious surprises:95 chateau angelus95 d'Yquem05 Vieux TelegrapheI know my friend is gonna bust out some serious Pichon Baron's with the 96 and 90 being possible (hell, he may pop both ) and he very well may pop a 90 Pegau and said he'd be willing to pop some older Vieux Telegraphe's since we're commiting infanticide

[El Guapo 8]

K, can you suggest some champagne that is $20~ that is not going to taste like everything else I have ever had.

[KDawgCometh 2]

K, can you suggest some champagne that is $20~ that is not going to taste like everything else I have ever had.

honestly, most things in or around 20 aren't gonna be all that great, but, if you are willing to go up to 30-35, you can get some great stuff. I'd highly suggest the piper-heidsieck monople blue top, extra dry, and the brut. all are quality sparklers and are miles better then the regular crap of veuve cliquot and white star. if you want something very special, try the charles heidsieck brut reserve NV and the 99 L'ermitage from california. I honestly can't reccomend the L'ermitage enough as it killed the 98 perrier jouet fleur and the 99 dom that we had at our store. It wasn't as good as the 99 cristal and the krug grand reserve, but man, if you want something awesome, you probably won't find a better sparkler for under 50 then that one and it will destroy a lot of big champagne houses

[El Guapo 8]

honestly, most things in or around 20 aren't gonna be all that great, but, if you are willing to go up to 30-35, you can get some great stuff. I'd highly suggest the piper-heidsieck monople blue top, extra dry, and the brut. all are quality sparklers and are miles better then the regular crap of veuve cliquot and white star. if you want something very special, try the charles heidsieck brut reserve NV and the 99 L'ermitage from california. I honestly can't reccomend the L'ermitage enough as it killed the 98 perrier jouet fleur and the 99 dom that we had at our store. It wasn't as good as the 99 cristal and the krug grand reserve, but man, if you want something awesome, you probably won't find a better sparkler for under 50 then that one and it will destroy a lot of big champagne houses

Thanks, not a big bubbly guy so I have never wanted to spend money on it, maybe when my wife is not pregnant I will try a nicer bottle. I usually end up just up making mimosas anyway, and you don't need a great bottle for that.So I had this tonight. 2004 Stags Leap Pine Ridge Cabernet.It was about 80ish from the winery, not sure in the store but maybe over 100. It was too young, I decanted it for an hour then tasted a little and it was still not open, veryy acidic and tannic. So I waited another hour and finally had a glass and it was just starting to open up, very smooth but young, it could have used a year or two of aging. My second glass at about three hours in was great, velvety, still pretty tannic, and with strong oak and subtle choclate hints.Overall a 7/10 because of the youngenss and cost (Idont know how to do the 92, 94 etc. like wine magazines do).

[NoSup4U 0]

Yay NYE! Staying home, probably will drink the bottle of Owen Roe I just got with dinner, have some port (Taylor Fladgate 20), and have coffee with baileys or something later in the evening. (random I know)Had a magnum of JP Insignia tonight and a 28oz Tbone. Mmmm no carb diets rule. (not really but tonight wasn't so bad)Mark

[leftygolfer 7]

honestly, most things in or around 20 aren't gonna be all that great, but, if you are willing to go up to 30-35, you can get some great stuff. I'd highly suggest the piper-heidsieck monople blue top, extra dry, and the brut. all are quality sparklers and are miles better then the regular crap of veuve cliquot and white star. if you want something very special, try the charles heidsieck brut reserve NV and the 99 L'ermitage from california. I honestly can't reccomend the L'ermitage enough as it killed the 98 perrier jouet fleur and the 99 dom that we had at our store. It wasn't as good as the 99 cristal and the krug grand reserve, but man, if you want something awesome, you probably won't find a better sparkler for under 50 then that one and it will destroy a lot of big champagne houses

I dunno Keith. The fiance and I like Vive Clicquot (gold label) which is around $30-35. It's not bad and doesn't give me a headache. I have found that the cheaper the champagne, the bigger the headache. I will see if I can find the L'ermiatage and report back.

Yay NYE! Staying home, probably will drink the bottle of Owen Roe I just got with dinner, have some port (Taylor Fladgate 20), and have coffee with baileys or something later in the evening. (random I know)Had a magnum of JP Insignia tonight and a 28oz Tbone. Mmmm no carb diets rule. (not really but tonight wasn't so bad)Mark

JP Insignia is one of my favs. Have a vertical from 92-2002.

[leftygolfer 7]

well, obviously new years is tommorrow, so what is everyone drinking for it. I hope that everyone checks out some champagnes that aren't moet&chandon white star, veuve cliquot, louis roederer, etc and check out some different stuff and try some sparkling rose's and some blanc de blancs.

Going to a friends house for some surf & turf. Will see if I can get the Lermitage and we will probably go deep with dinner. I have a '95 Chateau Ausone ( Bourdeux) or possibly a '94 Chateau Montelena - Estate. (Napa).Sanata brought this decanter for me this year:

[KDawgCometh 2]

I dunno Keith. The fiance and I like Vive Clicquot (gold label) which is around $30-35. It's not bad and doesn't give me a headache. I have found that the cheaper the champagne, the bigger the headache. I will see if I can find the L'ermiatage and report back.

say it ain't so jeff, say it ain't so. There's a lot better stuff out there then Veuve Cliquot. IMO its the santa margherita of bubbly. If you experiment, there is a lot of stuff that's in it's price range that is miles better. I'll write down a bunch of stuff that I've tried that is better then cliquot when I'm at work next thursday

[El Guapo 8]

Yay NYE! Staying home, probably will drink the bottle of Owen Roe I just got with dinner, have some port (Taylor Fladgate 20), and have coffee with baileys or something later in the evening. (random I know)Had a magnum of JP Insignia tonight and a 28oz Tbone. Mmmm no carb diets rule. (not really but tonight wasn't so bad)Mark

A Magnum huh, whatd that set you back $300? I'm jealous.

I dunno Keith. The fiance and I like Vive Clicquot (gold label) which is around $30-35. It's not bad and doesn't give me a headache. I have found that the cheaper the champagne, the bigger the headache. I will see if I can find the L'ermiatage and report back.JP Insignia is one of my favs. Have a vertical from 92-2002.

I wanna party with you

[Suited_Up 2]

I'm not a bubbly guy either, but I have recently done a tasting including Dom, Veuve, White Star, Rheingau (sp?) Rose and Krug.Honestly, The Rheingau was probably the best, followed by Krug, although I still prefer Cristal, as much as people think it's overrated and then try to say other things are better (Krug for example).... Cristal is still the best one I've had. Had it this past year when I went for the WSOP. Met up with Seth (Cardcore) at the Wynn on my first night there, to find out he had a comp card from a business partner and we partied it up, getting Cristal and Dom all night. Not a big Dom fan either, but I can see why people like it.

[KDawgCometh 2]

I wanna party with you

jeff has very soft hands and he's a good cuddler. o wait, you mean like drink wine party with him. yea, he's fun with that too

I'm not a bubbly guy either, but I have recently done a tasting including Dom, Veuve, White Star, Rheingau (sp?) Rose and Krug.Honestly, The Rheingau was probably the best, followed by Krug, although I still prefer Cristal, as much as people think it's overrated and then try to say other things are better (Krug for example).... Cristal is still the best one I've had. Had it this past year when I went for the WSOP. Met up with Seth (Cardcore) at the Wynn on my first night there, to find out he had a comp card from a business partner and we partied it up, getting Cristal and Dom all night. Not a big Dom fan either, but I can see why people like it.

you have to have a vintage krug kurt. I loved the 99 cristal that I had, but, I've had a 95 krug, and well, it really puts all other champagnes to shame with its awesomeness. The regular krug cuvee is amazing too, but, it isn't the vintage champagne. What you have to remember is that Cristal is Louis Roederer's top vintage champagne and the second quality grapes go into vintage roederers and the quality below that's grapes go into the various NV champagnes that roederer makeswell, I had a great night last night. I got together with a few friends and we popped open some heavy duty stuff. Here are my notes that I put down in Cellar Tracker:ENDING THE YEAR IN STYLE - chicago, ward's apartment (12/31/2007)So, I headed over to my friend ward's for new years where I also met up with shane, shane's wife, ward's wife, and a few other people who's names leave me right now. Just based on what ward and I talked about before hand, well, I knew this night was gonna be special.

• 2005 Domaine La Millière Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes Cuvée Unique - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Papenose: interesting dusty old world nose with earth, leather, and some blueberry and sour cherry on the back endtaste: very tart mouth. Lots of earth, leather, with big amounts of dark fruit toooverall: really nice. wonderful rustic mouth with a real nice lasting finish and some good polish. This is still young and you can tell, but this is really good now (92 pts.)
• 2004 Chateau St. Jean Chardonnay Reserve - USA, California, Sonoma Countynose: very standard on the nose with lots of butter and some oak and vanilla too. this is your stereotypical "big" cali chard, and it doesn't do much to seperate itself from the rest of the pack in those regards. taste: loads of butter with some toasted oak. the butter isn't on the obnoxious levels, but it's there and it's kinda annoyingoverall: stereotypical cali chard in each and every way. It is what it is and is a decent drinking wine. It's not insanely flawed or disjointed, but, it certainly isn't great. It's solid, but certainly doesn't inspire in any way shape or form (83 pts.)
• 2005 Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Crau - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Papenose: loads of spice with some blueberry and cherry with hints of earth and leathertaste: big time structure on this wine. good lord, the tannins are big and firm, but they aren't overpowering. The mouth is utterly explosive with tons of blueberry, sour cherry, earth, leather, and some underbrush too. overall: this wine is a Knockout. Utterly massive that can be approached right now, but this will be insanely amazing with about ten years on it. tons of polish and a great finish, this is in that next level of wine that makes you very happy that you are drinking it and you know that you are drinking something special (95 pts.)
• 2000 Domaine de la Charbonnière Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Papenose: real sumptuous nose with earth, leather, blueberry, and sour cherry. This nose kept on changing a lot as when I first swirled it, lots of dark fruit, and then a few minutes later, it would be tons of earth, leather, and root notes, and then later on it would go back to teh dark fruit. I found this really interesting and was really fun to smell throughout drinking ittaste: very smooth and creamy mouth. Lots of dark fruit, leather, and earthoverall: very elegant wine. lovely from the first sip to the last. has an interesting chimera aspect to it on the nose that I mentioned. real nice finish and a lot of polish on it too. this is just a really damn good wine (93 pts.)
• 1996 Henriot Champagne Brut Millésimé - France, Champagnenice fat slow bubblesnose: very nice crisp nose with green apple, lemon peel, minerals, and a nice amount of yeasttaste: real nice amounts of yeast along with apple and mineralsoverall: really nice crisp effervescant champagne. THe bubbles just glide on your tounge and bring about a quality lasting finish (93 pts.)
• 2003 Château Fombrauge - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Crunose: a lot of cedar along with earth, roots, spice, and a bit of black currant. quintessential bordeaux nosetaste: real great grip and structure. nice amounts of cranberry, cedar box, tobbacco, and spice notesoverall: I'm a fan. this has grown a bit since the last time I had it and it really excels on the flavor profile and finish. (91 pts.)
• 2000 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillacnose: huge massive nose. really big and rich with tobacco, cedar box, tons of cranberry and spice taste: huge grip on the palate with extremely firm tannins. Lots of sour cherry, cranberry, tobacco, and leather. mouth just explodes like a heavyweight punchoverall: this is a big time wine. There is no messing about with this one. The finish is massively long and this one is still a baby. structure out the wazoo, this one can age for a real long time (95 pts.)
• 1989 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillacnose: whooowheee, barnyard all over the place, and I love it. also getting a ton of earth and cedar with some cranberry poking in there tootaste: very smooth and full of finesse that lalande is known for. This mouth is pure LaLande with cedar, cranberry, and tobaccooverall: a very beautiful wine. This is class and finesse in a bottle. This is long on polish and finish (94 pts.)
• 1995 Château Angélus - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Crunose: utterly gorgeous. tons of spice, mocha, leather, blueberry, and cedar. the nose is so dense and complex, but yet is so beautiful at the same time. I just couldn't stop smelling this nose, but yet I looked so forward to drinking it because of this utterly sublime nosetaste: coffee, blueberry, and tons of spice with slight earthyness and hints of leather poking through. This is pure integration on the palate and near flawless execution. When I drank this, all I could think of was listening to some of the great Miles Davis sextet albums. It's not Kind of BLue good, but round midnight or the 58 stella by starlight sessions good.overall: this is pure elegance in a glass. Sublime and supple, this is what it's all about for me and it just puts me in a pure happy place as I drink it (98 pts.)
• 2003 Château Coutet - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Barsacnose: tons of honey with a bit of honeydew melon and a bit of carmeltaste: nice viscous mouth with mostly honey and melon. sadly it dies a bit fast on teh palateoverall: a very nice wine. Strong nose and nice initial mouth feel, but the finish dies fast and the mid palate is lacking a bit. still, this is really good wine (90 pts.)
• 1995 Château d'Yquem - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternesreal beautiful golden colornose: succulent nose that gives off amazing amounts of apricot, honey, carmel, and melon. this nose is very deep and enjoyabletaste: wow. this is amazing. apricot, honey, carmel, and honeydew are all insanely balanced together. Very much like a viennese waltz in my mouth from this gorgeous wine. overall: just utterly amazing. The harmonious balance of this wine is off the charts and is pure delight. (97 pts.)
• 2000 Domaine du Pégaü Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Papenose: real interesting nose with smoke notes, baconfat, crushed blueberry. also getting hints of underbrush, wild cherry, anise, and ever slight notes of cracked pepper. really wonderful nose with tons going ontaste: really big mouth. THe tannins are just massive on this still, and this had been sitting out for a while before we dug into it. Getting Pepper, anise, lots of dark fruit, and underbrush on the mouth. overall: this is something special. the tannins are still really big on this, so this one has a ton of life left in it. Along with bringing all of those wonderful flavors, it also gives a insanely long finish. (95 pts.)

what an amazing night. All of this great bordeaux and CdPs at our disposal and we made sure that it was a great night. It's always great to see friends and talk over wine, but when you add in special stuff like this, well, it makes for a memorable nightPosted from CellarTracker

[leftygolfer 7]

say it ain't so jeff, say it ain't so. There's a lot better stuff out there then Veuve Cliquot. IMO its the santa margherita of bubbly. If you experiment, there is a lot of stuff that's in it's price range that is miles better. I'll write down a bunch of stuff that I've tried that is better then cliquot when I'm at work next thursday

I know there is better that VC. Just have to go where my putter gets polished. We did go the the Binny's in St. Charles and they were out of the '99 L'ermitage. By coincidence, we did get the Henriot you reviewed. For $29, it was a great value and your tasting notes are spot on.We did go deep on NYE and I pulled a mag of the 1990 Leoville Las Cases. All I can say is wow, wow, wow. It may be the one of the best wines I have ever had. Fair warning...I am biased, because LLC is my favorite Bourdeux for value and taste. It was just filled with loads of fruit ( straw and raspberry), absolutely no tannins, and the taste was like velvet and had a long, long finish. If anyone gets the opportunity to try the 1990 Leoville Las Cases, do not pass it up.

jeff has very soft hands and he's a good cuddler. o wait, you mean like drink wine party with him. yea, he's fun with that too

awww, you say that to all the girls guys.

[KDawgCometh 2]

can't let this thread die, so time for me to post some TNs. Right now I'm in the middle of having a really good 02 burgundy. if you like pinot, you have to check out burgundy. You can get some really good deals on 02s, 01s, 00s, and 99s. Those are all drinking pretty well right now and you don't have to spend an arm and a leg for some good stuff. I've also had some other good stuff that's been under 25 and I'll post up my TNs from those, but here is my TN from teh burg(I paid 35 for this):

• 2002 Louis Latour Volnay 1er Cru En Chevret - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru (1/8/2008)real light ruby see through colornose: tough to get a read on this nose, but, in a good way. It's changed a lot over the past 30 minutes in the glass and I opened the bottle for about an hour before pouring. it went from being tight and tart, to having a ton of mushrooms on the nose(to where I thought it was a very bretty nose), to now having a nice dusty aspect along with those hints of mushrooms, sour cherry, and earth notes. Though not overly complex, I find this to be very interestingtaste: very nice easy drinking mouth. mostly sour cherry with some earth and briars thrown in there. little tannins, so now it's right there with finesseoverall: for me it's the nose that makes this one. Transforms all over the place. The mouthfeel is very good too with nice grip and supple structure that leans into a very pleasent finish. This is right in it's drinking window right now I bet, and gives off some nice acidity. Well worth the money I paid for it, it's hard to find a good burg in the 30-40 range, and this is right there89-91 (90 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

[wsox8 10]

just bought some cheap Lindeman's chardonnay... hope it's good..

[KDawgCometh 2]

here are some wines that I've had in the past few days that are really good value. I've decided after the 20th(I have a chateaunuf-du-pape tasting I'm going to) that I'm gonna spend the next 5-6 weeks or so drinking nothing but wines under $20 except for any tasting that I go to and wines that I'd have to buy for said tasting(I'm making this caveat because I'm going to a high end cali syrah tasting in late feb and I have to represent well of which I already have a big time Pax for it and am probably getting a major Ojai syrah or a Copain for it too). I'll also be drinking a lot more whites because of this, and will check out a bunch of other stuff that I probably wouldn't normally check out. This year I want to be a lot more experimental in what I drink while also keeping up my normal backbone of the three big french red regions in bordeaux, burgundy, and the rhone. I'm sure that I will certainly come across some real crap, as I'm gonna try to buy as many under 15 wines as possible. I need to relate to my customers more because I normally drink stuff that is between 30-60 a bottle. But, after doing all of this for 6 weeks, I'm gonna reward myself with a 97 casanova di neri cerratalto(jeff, I'm sure you'll want to get in on that on when I pop it), cause I like to celebrate with brunello and bordeauxSo here are some more TNs of some stuff that I think is worth checking out that I've had since the 1st:

• 2005 Van Duzer Pinot Noir - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley (1/7/2008)decanted for 1 1/2 hoursnice dark red color to this, but can still see my fingers through the glassnose: very nice grounded nose. tart cherry and earth mostly with hints of earth, chocolate flake, and very slight hints of black pepper. you catch the pepper aspects in the end nose itself as the smell lingers in your nostrilstaste: nice silky mouth. a good amount of cherry and pepper on the finish. good tannin structure on this one too to provide some real good structure. just flows right over the palate in a very smooth fashionoverall: this is a good showing of the oregon style. New world/old world that provides a nice peppery and chocolate finish. really good wine and extremely enjoyable. at around the $25 mark, this is one to really look for while it's still around (91 pts.)
• 2004 Folie à Deux Zinfandel - USA, California, Sierra Foothills, Amador County (1/7/2008)nose: nice dusty nose with spices, loads of dark fruit, and black curranttaste: big mouth and well integrated, absolutely zero heat and this was pretty much a pop and pour. Loads of big dark fruit that give a lot of gripoverall: I'm a fan for sure. Real nice and big with lots of good grip and good tannin structure. The tannins aren't overwhelming at all and it's really nice to see a zin this way this young. good stuff (88 pts.)
• 2005 Folie à Deux Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, California, Napa Valley (1/7/2008)nose: a lot of cherry on the nose after it opened up a bit. also getting a bit of cranberry and anise tootaste: pretty chewy feel on the mouth. mostly getting cherry and anise with a little bit of spices and dark strawberryoverall: good structure and fruit. real nice feel on the mouth and nice tannins. (88 pts.)
• 2006 Folie à Deux Ménage à Trois Rosé - USA, California (1/7/2008)nose: nice easy nose with mostly strawberry and some spice notes on it tootaste: lots of strawberry. surprisingly full bodied for a roseoverall: a nice easy drinker. the full bodiedness of it surprised me, and it's an enjoyable rose (85 pts.)
• 2005 Lucien Crochet Sancerre - France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre (1/3/2008)real light straw colornose: a bit tight on the nose, but getting lemon peel and grass with hints of sea salt and lime. nice rounded nosetaste: very nice smooth mouth. a good bit of lemon initially, but it then gives into a bit of lime and vanilla. very soft on the palateoverall: this is a very nice wine. very easy to drink, but unfortunetly the finish dies a bit fast. still this is a really nice wine that is fun to drink (89 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

[KDawgCometh 2]

just bought some cheap Lindeman's chardonnay... hope it's good..

post some tasting notes on it. Just tell us what you smell and what flavors come out when you taste it. THere are really no wrong answers, so go for it

[jmkiser 0]

Is my love of champagne (or sparkling wine... I don't know) just a typical young man's taste? I've had my first merlot (black swan 2005 $5 australian) and it seemed too ... watered down compared to what I enjoyed better being my first cabernet (fat cat 2003 $7-8 napa valley). Of course, on top of both of those, I can easily just grab bottle after bottle of Domaine Ste. Michelle (love Brut... and what is Brut btw?) and just down that stuff all day with no stopping. And of course for even cheaper if I need to, I'll go Cook's and then Andre's.What do I need to try and what direction do you suggest I go?Remember a poor man just walked into your store

[Suited_Up 2]

Is my love of champagne (or sparkling wine... I don't know) just a typical young man's taste? I've had my first merlot (black swan 2005 $5 australian) and it seemed too ... watered down compared to what I enjoyed better being my first cabernet (fat cat 2003 $7-8 napa valley). Of course, on top of both of those, I can easily just grab bottle after bottle of Domaine Ste. Michelle (love Brut... and what is Brut btw?) and just down that stuff all day with no stopping. And of course for even cheaper if I need to, I'll go Cook's and then Andre's.What do I need to try and what direction do you suggest I go?Remember a poor man just walked into your store

Champagnes and Sparkling wine are put into categories based on how dry or sweet they are. They go like this...Extra Brut - Most DryBrut - Darn close to the most dryExtra Dry - Less dry than brut, even though the name suggests otherwise.Sec - Sweeter yetDemi-Sec - the most sweet of the group.And try some wine that you've never heard of. Seems that you're trying the cheap yet well marketed wines. Spend maybe a couple bucks more and try something without a bright, fun little picture on the front. (Generalizing here a bit, but hopefully you know what I mean.)Granted I haven't tried most of those wines, but that's mostly because I don't really expect much from them. Someone correct me if I'm missing out on something though.

[KDawgCometh 2]

And try some wine that you've never heard of. Seems that you're trying the cheap yet well marketed wines. Spend maybe a couple bucks more and try something without a bright, fun little picture on the front. (Generalizing here a bit, but hopefully you know what I mean.)Granted I haven't tried most of those wines, but that's mostly because I don't really expect much from them. Someone correct me if I'm missing out on something though.

this is spot on stuff kurt. I don't see why people would spend $7 on a wine when they could spend $12 on a spanish crianza and get a much better wine or spend $15 and get a solid aussie shiraz or some nice syrahs or cabs from chile or a good malbec from argentina. there's a lot out there and sticking to certain things is dull IMOJMKiser- what you also need to realize is that there is a major difference in how merlot and cabernet sauvignon feel in the mouth and smell. They only get related because they are part of the bordeaux AOC and get blended together a ton because a blend of the two can make some great wine. Merlot is a much more soft wine. It's about finesse and a velvety mouth feel. It's a "feminine" grape if you would. Cabernet Sauvignon is a much more robust grape in both its skin and in what it brings to the table on the nose and palateas far as champagne, it's cool to like it, but also try other sparklers too. You can get a ton of value from prossecco in the 10-12 range that destroys a lot of sparkling wine in that price range. Same goes for a lot of cava. but, start trying other white wines though and don't limit yourself to just $10 a bottle. if you bring your range up to about 15-17 a bottle, you can find a whole bunch of other great stuff. Like kurt said though, be willing to experiment and don't just always go for the nice label or the standard thing like yellowtail because there is tons out there that is really good that doesn't neccessarily have the slick label. after all, it's whats in teh bottle that counts

[jmkiser 0]

I don't think Black Swan really had that impressive of a label. Guilty on the Fat Cat, though.I wish I could jump into the more 15-17 range on a consistent basis. I'm moving into a new place where rent is just going to be eating up my paycheck :(I'll definitely take those suggestions to heart and start trying more and more different stuff in a better price range.

[Suited_Up 2]

I don't think Black Swan really had that impressive of a label. Guilty on the Fat Cat, though.I wish I could jump into the more 15-17 range on a consistent basis. I'm moving into a new place where rent is just going to be eating up my paycheck :(I'll definitely take those suggestions to heart and start trying more and more different stuff in a better price range.

Even 10-11 will do.Look at Spain.

[RhinestoneCowboy 2]

I don't see why people would spend $7 on a wine when they could spend $12 on a spanish crianza and get a much better wine or spend $15 and get a solid aussie shiraz or some nice syrahs or cabs from chile or a good malbec from argentina. there's a lot out there and sticking to certain things is dull IMO

Why? Because what you typed above is a foreign language to most.