Wine Geekery

Nothing like a good bottle of wine to brighten your day. Personally I love almost any wine that is a good expression of its grapes, whether it is red, white, or Rose. Syrah, Mourvèdre, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, petit Verdot, Sangiovese, Zinfandel, Merlot, and many others are all welcome in my cellar.

So what are you drinking? Any good deals around?

Personally I’ve been on a De Negoce kick recently for value wines. Most of it still much too young to open, but those I’ve had seem very solid. His Willamette Chardonnay is excellent.

I bought half a case of Mas Amiel 1980 dessert wine and opening the first one this weekend for my birthday. Hopefully it is worth it. Dinner itself will be accompanied by a 2014 Windy Oaks Reserve Pinot I’ve been saving.

Anyone ever buy from Cellar Raiders? They have some intriguing wines that would spare me the decade plus wait times but I haven’t taken the plunge yet.

I store my Halloween costume in the wine cellar

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No mention of my favorite grape - Barbera...

Now I'm thirsty for a Barbera. Dammit.

It's CellarAiders I think.

And yes, I scour their offerings.
I got a few 83 Climens sauternes from them in the last 6 months.
Last Bottle also has the occasional worthy one, they had some Failla pinot from Willamette and some Willakenzie for a song.

I used to buy from Premier Cru before that Ponzi (not the winery) scheme fell apart. Winebid too. But now all that shit has gotten so expensive, so I'm back to buying direct from Broadley, Hirsch, Littorai and Peay, mostly pinots with a few chardonnays thrown in. I have a stash I'm working slowly through. Favorites include Hudelot-Noellat, Bertheau, Dominique Laurent, J. Voillot, JM Boillot, for the value. Back in the 90s I could afford Vogues, Dujacs, Grivots, etc, but they're ridiculously $ now. I've stashed a bunch of Raymond Lafon, Suduiraut, Doisy Daene, Lafaurie-Peyraguey, de Fargues sauternes.

I found an amazing deal on some 2002 Charles Noellat Gevrey Chambertins 1er crus a few months ago from K&L.

The wines hang around since my wife doesn't drink much.

Under valued: Broadley Estate, Lafaurie-Peyraguey.

During the summer I like crispy whites, Tavel and an occasional red burgundy.
White Bordeaux, Italian Pinot Grigio, German Franken .

I'm into the new zealand wines , Stoneleigh sav blanc/ pinot grigio/ pinot noir

Attachment 378225

Buster or anyone other Pinot fans, you familiar with this Pinot at all? I got it as a gift and debating how long to store. Limited info, general consensus is it’s too young now, and is capable of keeping for “decades”. Prime drinking window 2025-2030? https://www.domaineserene.com/produc...-PN-2017-750ml

Unless you just like older reds I'd guess that should be drinking well in the 7 to 10 year old range. That cuvee is ripe and as a result it'll be generous and friendly throughout it's lifespan.

This thread is like Cruiser and Buster catnip.

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Originally Posted by Cruiser

I store my Halloween costume in the wine cellar

Attachment 378219

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Nice cellar cruiser. That looks about like what I want to build in my crawl space, except I’ll definitely need artificial cooling. I’m hoping to build something functional, that can hold around 2,000 bottles. Just in case.

I need to learn more about Borolo. I’ve only had a few good bottles that were aged appropriately, but every one has been an experience. Cellaraiders has a bunch, but don’t really want to research 20 different wines then plop down $100-$300 and hope I like it.

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Originally Posted by Buster Highmen

...and some Willakenzie for a song.

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I love Willakenzie Estate wines. The Pinots, the Gamay Noir, the Pinot Meunier, all fantastic. My palate isn't as refined as others but I haven't had a Willakenzie wine that I didn't absolutely love. Frankly the pricing isn't too bad considering what some of the more popular labels sell for.

I'm usually pretty satisfied with anything from the Cote du Rhone. The GSM combo makes a really easy wine to drink for my taste.

Recently though, Costco has had this Casa Santos Lima Red Portugal Blend, on sale for under $5/bottle. It's total plonk but value for money, I don't think I've found a bottle that I Iike more for under $12. At that price I can drink as much of it as I want without having to dip into the kids college fund.

Wine drinking soundtrack below. It seems like the good songs about wine are rarely about good wine, but it's better to listen to good songs about bad wine while you drink good wine than it is to listen to bad songs about good wine while you drink any kind of wine. In fact there is something quite satisfying about drinking good wine while listening to a good song about bad wine. Makes you feel like you "made it," if you know what I mean.

Wharf Rat. August West was drinking some really shitty wine

Anybody try any of this? The 100 years of wine making drew me in and I upgraded from Vella.

Attachment 378240

;), and yeah, that is what I drink.

Domaine Serene is my favorite Pinot Noir. I’m pretty good friends with their old winemaker Eleni. Anyway, that one should be great.
And Buster, I really like Failla, I didn’t realize they had any Pinot from Oregon so that’s kind of cool.


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For anyone interested in the wine market, you should check out the State of the Industry, from Rob McMillan

https://www.svb.com/globalassets/tre...eport-2021.pdf

On Supply:

When 2020 totals are calculated, we are guessing that California will have crushed 3.3 million tons, which would be the smallest harvest since 2011. The Pacific Northwest harvests in both Oregon and Washington will also come in smaller than normal.
• Supply in the West is largely balanced going into 2021, but overall growth rates in sales will still be modest, and some acres of vines will still need to be removed in California and Washington in particular in order to sustain the balance.
• Grape and bulk prices will stabilize at lower levels than we’ve seen in the past five years. Buyers will remain cautious on price.
• California vineyard prices in premium regions will remain lower than their prior high points, flattening in the best areas and softening in secondary regions.

Sounds like decent news for consumers but 2020 had a harvest of 3.9 million tons. A 15% decrease.


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Then there's France

At least a third of French wine production worth almost €2bn (£1.7bn) in sales will be lost this year after rare freezing temperatures devastated many vines and fruit crops across France, raising concerns over the climate crisis.

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Originally Posted by PNWbrit

Then there's France

At least a third of French wine production worth almost €2bn (£1.7bn) in sales will be lost this year after rare freezing temperatures devastated many vines and fruit crops across France, raising concerns over the climate crisis.

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That’s nuts. Never heard of them using “candles” to protect grapes from freezing.

I been making the kit wines for > 20 yars, 4 kits a year is 120 bottles for > 20 years is like 2500 bottles @ 4$ a bottle by my cocktail napkin math

So I'm gettn out of the bidness, cuz I can afford to burn off more of the pension checks by buying wine instead of making it

hopefuly my night time rants on TGR will not suffer but kit wine made me what i am today

Hah, my dad use to make his own wine :rolleyes2

This is better than the 2017:

https://s.tannico.it/media/catalog/p...glia-zinga.jpg

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Originally Posted by neufox47

Attachment 378225

Buster or anyone other Pinot fans, you familiar with this Pinot at all? I got it as a gift and debating how long to store. Limited info, general consensus is it’s too young now, and is capable of keeping for “decades”. Prime drinking window 2025-2030? https://www.domaineserene.com/produc...-PN-2017-750ml

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I'm not familiar with that particular bottling, but I like Domain Serene a lot. Their style has both a little jam as well as the tannins that makes a great balance.

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Originally Posted by BobMc

Anybody try any of this? The 100 years of wine making drew me in and I upgraded from Vella.

Attachment 378240

;), and yeah, that is what I drink.

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Some people had us over for dinner and they knew I liked pinot, but they whipped out a Mogen David which they later admitted to see what my reaction would be.

I held out my glass for a pour, but they withdrew the MD and brought out some other wine.

Evidently I passed the test. Now we drink and have dinner regularly. Great folks.

I remember with clarity my wine epiphany.
I didn't normally drink wine, sure I'd have a cup every now and then, but it wasn't really a focus for me.

Then some friends took me to a nice restaurant in Portland, Plainfield Mayurs, circa 1991, which was cited in Wine Spectator as having an impressive wine list.

My friend orders a $40 dollar bottle of 1986 Drouhin Bonnes Mares. I scoffed at the price and kept my opinion to myself about it. The sommelier brought out a weird contraption that held the bottle with a crank that slowly tilted it to pour glasses.

Drinking that wine blew my mind, I could not believe how good it was. All the rich sweetness of welches wrapped up in this bizarre tobaccowy, meat juice, dry grape skin spectra, layers and layers of flavors.

It sent me. I have never recovered.

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Originally Posted by BobMc

Anybody try any of this? The 100 years of wine making drew me in and I upgraded from Vella.

Attachment 378240

;), and yeah, that is what I drink.

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i didnt wants to goober up your important day traders thread
but i so gots your franzia cup covered
gold rimmed ticker style
https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...080&fit=bounds

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Originally Posted by skaredshtles

This is better than the 2017:


https://s.tannico.it/media/catalog/p...glia-zinga.jpg

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Been to that winery. It was pretty cool.

So you remember those commercials for Olive Garden where they claim their chefs spend 2 weeks in Italy training? Turns out they actually do this. And this winery is where they do it. So bizarre to walk up to a winery in siena and see the Olive Garden logo on the side of the building.

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Originally Posted by Wrecked

Been to that winery. It was pretty cool.

So you remember those commercials for Olive Garden where they claim their chefs spend 2 weeks in Italy training? Turns out they actually do this. And this winery is where they do it. So bizarre to walk up to a winery in siena and see the Olive Garden logo on the side of the building.

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My wife and I also visited this winery on our honeymoon in 2000. Small goddam world... :D

I believe our trip must have pre-dated the Olive Garden nonsense, as I don't remember any logo.

It was my honeymoon as well… 2017

This is one of the better $45 bottles that I have had recently.
8 Years in the Desert
https://www.orinswift.com/assets/ima...20v19%20v2.png

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Originally Posted by liv2ski

Hah, my dad use to make his own wine :rolleyes2

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kit wine is not really making your own wine, all you are doing is thro-ing some water in with the concentrate, get the yeast going, 8 week later you got about a 10$ bottle of wine for 4 $ so I would say its > a chateau cardboard, also kit wine has much less sulphates so if yer sensitive to sulphates it might be better for ya/ less headaches. IME the reds were not worth making but the whites were ok also buy the best cuz you gotta drink it

are you dentists drinking 40$ a bottle wines every night or do you have an every day win, you know

for when you are not showing off to other dentists ?

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Originally Posted by XXX-er

are you dentists drinking 40$ a bottle wines every night or do you have an every day win, you know

for when you are not showing off to other dentists ?

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I'm definitely not in the dentist category. I've got 3 little kids that I have to keep in skis and somehow figure out how to put through college. But, see my comment up thread about the sub $5 bottle of Portuguese wine at Costco. So cheap, simple and really easy to drink.

Also, I tend to find the cheaper Côtes du Rhone wines make a consistently good every day wine. Normally if I'm looking for a bottle to drink that night for any given weeknight at home, I just go to the French section and look for a Rhone wine in the sub $13 range. That's one thing that you get from all of the regulations in France around appelation de origine côntrolée. Sure, winemakers might have less room to innovate if they want the marketing advantages of the AoC but it also means that wines within an AoC will usually have similar characteristics. Once you figure out what you generally enjoy, you can just look for cheap options within that AoC.

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Originally Posted by Buke

I'm definitely not in the dentist category. I've got 3 little kids that I have to keep in skis and somehow figure out how to put through college. But, see my comment up thread about the sub $5 bottle of Portuguese wine at Costco. So cheap, simple and really easy to drink.

Also, I tend to find the cheaper Côtes du Rhone wines make a consistently good every day wine. Normally if I'm looking for a bottle to drink that night for any given weeknight at home, I just go to the French section and look for a Rhone wine in the sub $13 range. That's one thing that you get from all of the regulations in France around appelation de origine côntrolée. Sure, winemakers might have less room to innovate if they want the marketing advantages of the AoC but it also means that wines within an AoC will usually have similar characteristics. Once you figure out what you generally enjoy, you can just look for cheap options within that AoC.

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Yup. I do a similar thing, though my cap is about $20 and I go to the Italian section. :D

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Originally Posted by skaredshtles

No mention of my favorite grape - Barbera...

Now I'm thirsty for a Barbera. Dammit.

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My man.

This has been our ‘house red’ for awhile now

https://www.volioimports.com/wine/ca...barbera-dasti/

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Originally Posted by stapes

My man.

This has been our ‘house red’ for awhile now

https://www.volioimports.com/wine/ca...barbera-dasti/

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Goddammit.

I apparently can get that somewhat locally for $10/bottle.

Might have to go out soon and pick some up...

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Originally Posted by XXX-er

are you dentists drinking 40$ a bottle wines every night or do you have an every day win, you know

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No, I don't drink every day, maybe 4 nights a week and if I do open a bottle, I consume about half.

It used to be that when I didn't have dinner guests, I'd drink the $20-25 bottles, and save the snootier ones for guests.

My only goal was to crush them with my coruscating superiority.

I've been so successful, we don't have friends around Seattle anymore, so now I drink the good stuff myself and share it elsewhere.

Drinking with Buster when he brings a bottle out is a special treat. Especially for us younger mags who've never had access to regions we're now priced out of.

Current value pick -- B.Y.O.B. red from Folk Machine. Smaller brand out of Cali, blending high-quality fruit, indigenous yeast fermentation only. This is not your "made to hit a specific taste" boxed crap with a bunch of mega-purple and residual sugar. Can be found for $30 for a 4L box and can be drunk happily alone and a huge variety of food.

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The vast majority of my wine drinking is in the $10-20 range, mostly Old World, low-intervention style wines where I more commonly buy based more on importer/distributor than producer since I prefer to drink new things than repeats most the time. Faves are Louis/Dressner, Skurnik, Kermit Lynch, Eric Solomon, Rosenthal and Weygandt.

I Highly recommend signing up for Garagiste wines daily offers. Based out of Seattle area, if you are local you can arrange pickup from their Renton warehouse, otherwise they store in controlled conditions and ship 2x a year during weather windows. We've been with them for probably 15 years now and have discovered an awful lot of great wines during that time. Range from $6 to a rare >$1000 per bottle offering for you extreme dentists. The founder/owner John Rimmerman does a great job describing the wine so that after awhile you can align your tastes and interests well to the offers. He is well connected with wineries large and small throughout the top Europe appellations as well as NZ, OR, etc. and the volume he can move is rewarded with great discounted lots.

Everyday summer bottles:
White: Santa Margarita Pinot Grigio
Rose: Tavel
Red Burgundy: Les Granges des Papes Chateauneuf du pape
Claret: Krug

All good. All in the $20s

I think the Kirkland Cab. Sauv. box wine is pretty good.

I'm headed to Bordeaux for a few days in 2022. We'll be planning on visiting some winery while we're there.

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Originally Posted by Grange

I think the Kirkland Cab. Sauv. box wine is pretty good.

I'm headed to Bordeaux for a few days in 2022. We'll be planning on visiting some winery while we're there.

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Tell me you're going to St. Emilion... that town is really quite something special. At least... it was back in '99. :D