Wine Thread

[savagerebel 0]

Does anyone know anything about Oklahoma wines? It seems like there is a winery on every country road now. Some of them (Grape Ranch, I think) have won some big awards. I am kinda new to the wine world. I am looking for a tasty white wine for ~$20 and my wife does not like it if they burn her throat. Any suggestions?

[cardcore 0]

I know this sounds seedy, but I've got to recommend a wine called "Joe Blow" -- it's cheap ($10) and it's a mix of fume blanc, chardonnay, and pinot. It's SO smooth, incredibly tasty. I had it last night and it's now up there on my list.

[KDawgCometh 2]

Tasted 2 Zinfandel's at work the other day.Dashe and Cosentino CigarZinThought both were pretty decent. I don't think I'd ever had any Zinfandel until now.Both pretty dry, which isn't necessarily my style, but they both had some qualities I liked and I can definitely see drinking them with a meal.The Dashe was more fruit forward I thought, more on the jammy side, with a more alcoholic, astringent nose. Definitely tasted better than it smelled. Probably my preference of the two, but they were both well balanced and just had some different qualities. I personally think this is super versatile when it comes to food pairing, you could take it in a few different directions. The CigarZin, I thought was more earthy, slightly more oak, which still wasn't a ton. The Dashe had very little oak come through at all. The CigarZin was a ton of spice though. All kinds of different spices as soon as you taste it. I preferred the nose on the CigarZin, but the taste of the Dashe. But that's just because I like fruit over spice. Both very well balanced and the Cigar was a little more full bodied, but I thought both were on the medium bodied side.All in all... A good start to Zinfandel for me.

i didn't even realize that you posted notes. good stuff kurt, keep on doing thisalso, if you have a chance, there is a free bordeaux tasting a week from today in evanston that Hart Davis Hart is putting together. you have to call in to make reservations and it's from 5-7. Let me know if you plan on going and I could work on picking you up from the metra or L station in E-town if you and bridget need a ride

Does anyone know anything about Oklahoma wines? It seems like there is a winery on every country road now. Some of them (Grape Ranch, I think) have won some big awards. I am kinda new to the wine world. I am looking for a tasty white wine for ~$20 and my wife does not like it if they burn her throat. Any suggestions?

I haven't had any wine from oklahoma, and to be quite honest, I think i'd be a bit scared. there's a lot of good whites for 20 and under. What I would reccomend is start checking out new zealand sauvignon blancs. there is a ton of quality there and at affordable prices. you should also check out the mulderbosch sauvignon blanc from south africa. they are consistently very good. you can also get a bunch of nice torrontes from argentina and chile. good quality whites, they won't blow you away but they are nice. I don't want to give out too many recs as I would fully encourage you to experiment. There is a lot of great stuff out there and people get rooted down in one region without trying much different. but, you will find a lot of good whites too from germany, austria, italy, and the loire valley in france. just look to those regions and stick to your price point and experiment

[dapokerbum 0]

Just wanted to see what everyone else thought of Root1 Cab. I personally loved it, but I am not sure how that rates with higher end wine. I usually spend about $15 max on a bottle but would be interested to start getting a $30 - $50 bottle every once in a while.Thanks

[KDawgCometh 2]

Just wanted to see what everyone else thought of Root1 Cab. I personally loved it, but I am not sure how that rates with higher end wine. I usually spend about $15 max on a bottle but would be interested to start getting a $30 - $50 bottle every once in a while.Thanks

what regions have you had before and what have you liked. I'd hate to make a blanket rec and then have you hate it. what varietals have you generally drunk too

[fatman 1]

I went to a wine bar once............................****ing hated it.............................wine sucksI love beer!!!!!!!!!!

[dapokerbum 0]

what regions have you had before and what have you liked. I'd hate to make a blanket rec and then have you hate it. what varietals have you generally drunk too

Mainly California Wine. We are wine club members at Temecula's South Point winery and I have had some napa wines and some from monterey county (my uncle works up there) I have been enjoying some Syrah and Zinfandels lately. J. Lohr is one of my favorite Cabernets right now although the Root1 was great as well. I think I will have to start taking better notes as I don't remember all the wines that I try. I usually just go to the store and try something new.Bevmo and Costplus World Market are where I do most of my wine shopping. I have been recently trying New Zealand wines but really I like a hearty robust wine. Something with a lot of meat to it...sorry that i don't know anymore technical stuff I am just starting to get more into wine.Thanks again for any recommendations you can give.

[KDawgCometh 2]

Mainly California Wine. We are wine club members at Temecula's South Point winery and I have had some napa wines and some from monterey county (my uncle works up there) I have been enjoying some Syrah and Zinfandels lately. J. Lohr is one of my favorite Cabernets right now although the Root1 was great as well. I think I will have to start taking better notes as I don't remember all the wines that I try. I usually just go to the store and try something new.Bevmo and Costplus World Market are where I do most of my wine shopping. I have been recently trying New Zealand wines but really I like a hearty robust wine. Something with a lot of meat to it...sorry that i don't know anymore technical stuff I am just starting to get more into wine.Thanks again for any recommendations you can give.

cool, hopefully I can find you some good stuff. For syrah and syrah blends that are under 20, check out the regular beckman syrah and check out Hitching Post's generation red. both of the 05 offerings should be available right now. For that next level, there is a whole bunch of stuff, with washington being the region I would concentrate on. I haven't had enough california syrah to give a ton of recs, but, in the 30-50 level I would always reccomend Tensley's wines. If you can't find them at the places you normally go, check out K&L's site and check out JJ Buckley's site. They are two of the best places on the west coast to get wine.what I would also say is to start checking out australia. THere is tons of great wines in all prices ranges. I think this is an area that you should experiment with, so I really won't say what to buy and just encourage you to try a bottle or two a week from this region over the next two months. Get one bottle from the 15-30 category and get one bottle from the 31-60 category and have some real funAlso there is a bunch of great Chateanuf-du-Pape in the 30-50 price range. CdP is more grenache based, but judging on your tastes, I think you'll like a bunch of the 05 offferings, and I would also check out 03 CdPs. I would also encourage you to start experimenting with CdP and Gigondas. Gigondas is cheaper, so, what I would say is when you go in and buy some southern rhone wines, buy one gigondas to one CdP(or Cotes Du Rhone, but CdP is where you should really start). I would say don't buy any young Beaucastel or Vieux Tellegraphe as those wines are infants and it's murder to drink them now(though I am gonna go against my own advice and drink a 05 Tellegraphe for christmas). You can probably buy the 05 Charvin, but that needs some aging too for it to show what it really has.*the following advice is for anyone who wants to get more serious about wine drinking*most of all though, what I really would reccomend is investing in some reidel stemware. All you really need if you want to keep it to big reds is the reidel vinum bordeaux glass. Get a set of 4. Also for whites, just get the regular vinum chard glass. if/when you get into pinot noir, then invest in teh vinum burg glasses, but i'd say concentrate on putting together a pallate right now. Also, what you really need to invest in is a decanter of some sort. All reds need some air of some sort. Popping and pouring just won't show you what they're about more often then not.I didn't realize how important this stuff was until I bought some glasses and a decanter, and it really opened my eyes and the decanting really opened my friend's eyes as he was always a pop-n-pourer before I showed him the difference with just a $10 wine, so imagine the different when you want to start investing in more expensive wine

[strategy 4]

personally I enjoy the latest release. runs warcraft 3 quite well.

[El Guapo 8]

*the following advice is for anyone who wants to get more serious about wine drinking*most of all though, what I really would reccomend is investing in some reidel stemware. All you really need if you want to keep it to big reds is the reidel vinum bordeaux glass. Get a set of 4. Also for whites, just get the regular vinum chard glass. if/when you get into pinot noir, then invest in teh vinum burg glasses, but i'd say concentrate on putting together a pallate right now. Also, what you really need to invest in is a decanter of some sort. All reds need some air of some sort. Popping and pouring just won't show you what they're about more often then not.I didn't realize how important this stuff was until I bought some glasses and a decanter, and it really opened my eyes and the decanting really opened my friend's eyes as he was always a pop-n-pourer before I showed him the difference with just a $10 wine, so imagine the different when you want to start investing in more expensive wine

QFT the truth. I was having a year ender dinner with my chamber of commerce and someone had a bottle of Chateau St. Jean Cab. I am not a big fan, it is an OK wine that you will not offend anyone with, but I would not buy it. Anyway, I had some viognier before dinner with appetizers and I got a nice NY Steak for dinner, so the Syrah that I wanted was already gone, but this Cab had been open for about and hour and a half at this point, and it made it dinkable/enjoyable but I gurantee if I had a glass right after it was opened I may have spit it out (J/K I never spit out wine, that nonsense talk right there, but you get my point)

[dapokerbum 0]

cool, hopefully I can find you some good stuff. For syrah and syrah blends that are under 20, check out the regular beckman syrah and check out Hitching Post's generation red. both of the 05 offerings should be available right now. For that next level, there is a whole bunch of stuff, with washington being the region I would concentrate on. I haven't had enough california syrah to give a ton of recs, but, in the 30-50 level I would always reccomend Tensley's wines. If you can't find them at the places you normally go, check out K&L's site and check out JJ Buckley's site. They are two of the best places on the west coast to get wine.what I would also say is to start checking out australia. THere is tons of great wines in all prices ranges. I think this is an area that you should experiment with, so I really won't say what to buy and just encourage you to try a bottle or two a week from this region over the next two months. Get one bottle from the 15-30 category and get one bottle from the 31-60 category and have some real funAlso there is a bunch of great Chateanuf-du-Pape in the 30-50 price range. CdP is more grenache based, but judging on your tastes, I think you'll like a bunch of the 05 offferings, and I would also check out 03 CdPs. I would also encourage you to start experimenting with CdP and Gigondas. Gigondas is cheaper, so, what I would say is when you go in and buy some southern rhone wines, buy one gigondas to one CdP(or Cotes Du Rhone, but CdP is where you should really start). I would say don't buy any young Beaucastel or Vieux Tellegraphe as those wines are infants and it's murder to drink them now(though I am gonna go against my own advice and drink a 05 Tellegraphe for christmas). You can probably buy the 05 Charvin, but that needs some aging too for it to show what it really has.*the following advice is for anyone who wants to get more serious about wine drinking*most of all though, what I really would reccomend is investing in some reidel stemware. All you really need if you want to keep it to big reds is the reidel vinum bordeaux glass. Get a set of 4. Also for whites, just get the regular vinum chard glass. if/when you get into pinot noir, then invest in teh vinum burg glasses, but i'd say concentrate on putting together a pallate right now. Also, what you really need to invest in is a decanter of some sort. All reds need some air of some sort. Popping and pouring just won't show you what they're about more often then not.I didn't realize how important this stuff was until I bought some glasses and a decanter, and it really opened my eyes and the decanting really opened my friend's eyes as he was always a pop-n-pourer before I showed him the difference with just a $10 wine, so imagine the different when you want to start investing in more expensive wine

thanks for the advice. Like I said i am going to try to start taking more notes and notice of the wines that I am trying. I will probably go and get a decanter as well.Happy Drinking!

[dna4ever 2]

My wife and I goto a cabin in the Smokey Mountains every year and every single year we stop into this winery and get their Blackberry Wine. It is awesomeeeehttp://www.mountainvalleywinery.com/our_wines.htm

[strategy 4]

My wife and I goto a cabin in the Smokey Mountains every year and every single year we stop into this winery and get their Blackberry Wine. It is awesomeeeehttp://www.mountainvalleywinery.com/our_wines.htm

ugh, pigeon forge is the nut low

[dna4ever 2]

ugh, pigeon forge is the nut low

dude it's $12.99 a bottle, this is not gonna be some fine aged $500 a bottle stuff.It tastes GOOD! and thats what matters.

[El Guapo 8]

dude it's $12.99 a bottle, this is not gonna be some fine aged $500 a bottle stuff.It tastes GOOD! and thats what matters.

That is truely all that matters. If you like berringer white zin (I feel bad for you) but cool, its cheap, it gets you drunk, enjoy!

[strategy 4]

dude it's $12.99 a bottle, this is not gonna be some fine aged $500 a bottle stuff.It tastes GOOD! and thats what matters.

Oh, I have no clue about the quality of the wine. I just hope the place you stay at isn't in pigeon forge, is all.

[solderz 0]

****ing Merlot

[pmk-one 0]

I don't want this thread to die, so I encourage that everyone take down some notes everytime they try a wine. There is no wrong answer to any of the notes that you jot down as you get what you get on the nose and mouth and it's a good way to learn. I'd also say that if you aren't used to using scores, don't put them down, especially if you don't have a point of reference to know what a 95-100 pt wine tastes like

This to me is definitely the key to enjoying wine, I just wish I was better about taking down notes. I just checked out this thread, and wanted to note a few of my favorites:I am definitely a Pinot fan, and my absolute favorite is Merry Edwards. Other California pinots I like are Williams Selyem, Davis Bynum, Papapietro Perry, and Miner (a rare good Napa pinot). For Oregon, I like Van Duzer and a small producer called Stevenson Barrie (met the winemakers several years ago, and then recently re-discovered them at a restaurant in Portland).The best wine I've ever had is probably the 1994 Colgin Herb Lamb cab. Close behind is the 2003 Colgin IX Estate; I finally got on their mailing list after waiting almost 5 years. It was definitely worth it. Also, and although it is a totally different wine, I was blown away by the 1990 Pol Roger Cuvee Sir Winston Churchill; if you like champagne, this is fantastic.Having said that, my tastes are far more down to earth and I like finding bottles <$10 since the quality is definitely there. I also enjoy a nice pink (not sweet) wine and am a proud Rose Avenger, check out: http://www.rapwine.com/. There are also some pretty exciting "urban" wineries here in the Bay Area (like Periscope), making a trip to Napa unnecessary.

[El Guapo 8]

This to me is definitely the key to enjoying wine, I just wish I was better about taking down notes. I just checked out this thread, and wanted to note a few of my favorites:I am definitely a Pinot fan, and my absolute favorite is Merry Edwards. Other California pinots I like are Williams Selyem, Davis Bynum, Papapietro Perry, and Miner (a rare good Napa pinot). For Oregon, I like Van Duzer and a small producer called Stevenson Barrie (met the winemakers several years ago, and then recently re-discovered them at a restaurant in Portland).The best wine I've ever had is probably the 1994 Colgin Herb Lamb cab. Close behind is the 2003 Colgin IX Estate; I finally got on their mailing list after waiting almost 5 years. It was definitely worth it. Also, and although it is a totally different wine, I was blown away by the 1990 Pol Roger Cuvee Sir Winston Churchill; if you like champagne, this is fantastic.Having said that, my tastes are far more down to earth and I like finding bottles <$10 since the quality is definitely there. I also enjoy a nice pink (not sweet) wine and am a proud Rose Avenger, check out: http://www.rapwine.com/. There are also some pretty exciting "urban" wineries here in the Bay Area (like Periscope), making a trip to Napa unnecessary.

Where in the bay r u from?

[pmk-one 0]

Where in the bay r u from?

Oakland / The Town. Do you live in the Bay?

[El Guapo 8]

Oakland / The Town. Do you live in the Bay?

East Bay - Discovery Bay, bout an hour from you

[KDawgCometh 2]

o good lord. RIght now I'm in teh middle of utterly enjoying a 01 Gaja Rennina Brunello di Montalcino. If no one here has ever had a brunello, they don't know what they are missing out on. This wine is just soooo expressive and beautiful. Brunellos really do this to me when they hit the spot, and there is just nothing like it. THey aren't cheap in the slightest (this one cost me 80 with my employee discount), but unlike many other wines, you almost always get what you pay for with brunello. Here is my review that I put into cellar tracker:<h1 class="banner">2001 Pieve Santa Restituta (Gaja) Brunello di Montalcino Rennina</h1>real nice light blood red color. also a bit see throughnose: utterly intoxicating. Floral notes, dark cherry, raspberry, blueberry, with hints of chocolate flakes and a bit of slate rocks on the nose too. if this is what the nose is like now, good lord i'd love to smell it now when this baby is actually maturedtaste: amazing mouth feel. This is a full on velvet attack. Dark cherry, raspberry, and blueberry hit you right off the bat. you then get some more chocolate, rocks, and earth. tannins just grip your mouth, but they add firmness as opposed to overwhelming you(granted this was decanted for a good while)overall: splendid. just utterly sublime. this is what brunello is all about. This is the kind of stuff that makes me think of what being in tuscany must be like just driving around in the beautiful country side. the finish just seems to not quit and it wraps your tounge in a tender loving embrace. the scary thing, is that this can and will get better. You just want to keep on drinking it and wish that it was a never ending bottle 96+

[El Guapo 8]

o good lord. RIght now I'm in teh middle of utterly enjoying a 01 Gaja Rennina Brunello di Montalcino. 96+[/i]

Orly? Thats high praise

[KDawgCometh 2]

Orly? Thats high praise

try it and tell me otherwise. the thing with brunello, you have to decant the bejesus out of it young. Basically, I put it in the decanter an hour before I went to my final and started having it almost 5 hrs later. But, like I said, if you've never had a brunello, you really don't know what you're missing. It's worth spending the $$$ to have one. What I would suggest is having the 01 Il Poggione or the 01 Banfi. They are both great wines that are prefect for introducing someone to brunello if they haven't had much old world wines. but remember, decant for at least 3 hours on the young brunellos, they need it, but man are they awesome

[El Guapo 8]

try it and tell me otherwise. the thing with brunello, you have to decant the bejesus out of it young. Basically, I put it in the decanter an hour before I went to my final and started having it almost 5 hrs later. But, like I said, if you've never had a brunello, you really don't know what you're missing. It's worth spending the $$$ to have one. What I would suggest is having the 01 Il Poggione or the 01 Banfi. They are both great wines that are prefect for introducing someone to brunello if they haven't had much old world wines. but remember, decant for at least 3 hours on the young brunellos, they need it, but man are they awesome

Could you put a link to your wine notes in your sig?