The wine thread

[Redlinerobert]

As to not derail any other threads, there seems to be enough interest in wines here to merit this. 

 

Living 90 minutes from Napa Valley has some bonuses.  Like being able to drive up for an afternoon or for a couple of days for some wine tasting.  Can't think of a better way to spend a couple days with the wife (other than fishing of course).   I could go on and on but these are some of the wines that come to mind and I drink quite often. 

 

Some of the favorites;

 

Hahn Winery - This is really good every day wine.  The cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, and pinot are all really good and about $10 a bottle. 

 

Meiomi - Really good Pinot Noir.  Good price too. 

 

Cask 23 - Epic Cabernet.  This is one of the wines that beat the French back in the 70's blind taste tests. 

 

ZD - Most of their wines are really good, but I have a preference for the Reserve Pinot Noir. 

 

Orin Swift - relatively new company that makes some really good wines.  Palermo, Abstract, Papillon, and the one that put them on the map, Prisoner, are all really good.  Prisoner is no longer owned by the company as it's been sold twice I think.  Still a really good wine. 

 

Silver Oak - They only do cabernet sauvignon and they do it quite well.  I prefer the Alexander Valley wines over the Napa.  Don't ask my why, they simply taste better to me.

 

Pahlmeyer - The proprietary red and pinots are really really good.  Also the lower priced Jayson line is very good.  Heck I'll even drink their merlot on occasion and for the most part I'm not a fan of merlot. 

[XpressJeff]

I only knew Manichewitz!

 

Although we drank a whole lot of Boones Farm as young Marines!

 

Never understood wine much, been a Bourbon guy my whole life.

[kickerfish1]

Never could get into wine. Guess I am just a fan of room temperate drinks.

[River Dave]

Certainly can't compare to Napa Valley but I'm not too far from some great New York wineries. The Niagara region and particularly the Finger Lakes area have some great wines. Going on wine tastings is a great way to spend a weekend. Great scenery and I love the whole atmosphere. 

[Bluebasser86]

I don't have sophisticated enough taste to enjoy expensive wines. There's a local place that makes blueberry wine though, a guy could hurt himself with that stuff.

 

I also enjoy sangria wine. We make some homemade sangria occasionally, not as often now that we have kids, but once in awhile. There's a couple store bought brands of sangria that I really enjoy too. My wife spent several months living in Spain when she was in college, so she's the one that got me hooked on sangria. 

[slonezp]

The Carlo Rossi pic you posted in the other thread brought back memories of my childhood. My father drank that and Gallo. There were 4 gallons to a case and the liquor store was next door to the pet store. Dad would take us kids to the liquor store with him and we'd get a lollipop at the check out, then go next door to look at the animals.. Mind you, this was before all these goofy animal regulations. The pet store had exotic animals like monkeys, bears, big cats, and llamas. Dad would give us each a quarter and we would buy a handful of food from the gumball type vending machine and feed the llamas and goats before going home. Anyway, had dad been a smart man, my family would be living on easy street. See, he invented the wine cooler. Dad used to mix red wine and 7 Up in the early 70's. Dad Could have been Bartles and Jaymes instead of being just Jim.

 

Me, I don't drink much wine. Cheap beer and whisky is my poison.   

[Redlinerobert]

There's lots of great wines that are inexpensive.  Check out Hahn and Meiomi.  Not sure if they are available out east but out here they're readily available.

[.ghoti.]

Hahn is available here in Illinois, and its a regular buy for me. The remainder of your list is not to be found here.

 

Paringa, an Australian wine is a lot of bang for the buck. Shiraz and cab for $12.

 

Coppola Claret is a regular buy. $13 for what is basically a red blend.

 

19 Crimes has a few nice reds from $13-22(thanks Kent)

 

We drink a lot of Kendall-Jackson. The Grand Reserves are really nice $18-24

 

Cloverdale Ranch merlot and cab are near top shelf at non top shelf prices. Discovered these at Diedorf & Hart; a great place regularly voted the best steakhouse in St Louis. Cloverdale Ranch was their house wine. Nobody sells it locally so we have to order case lots. $18-24 at case prices.

 

In January we spent a week in Cancun. The Vines had a wine tasting featuring Spanish wines. Around 15 wineries were represented, showing from 3-6 varieties each. A large tapas bar was in the middle of the room. We sampled every wine there. Two hours later we were both stuffed and staggering!! Found several wines we liked enough to search them out when we got home. Dont remember any names, but my wife has pictures of the bottles on her phone. We found a few of them.

[Redlinerobert]

Is Dierdorf closed?  Looked for it to see their wine list.

[Darren.]

My wife and I enjoy Cabs, Merlots, Pinot Grigios and Chards.

 

Brands vary as we are unable to buy the more expensive 

varieties. But we stick to California, Argentina, and Aussie

wines for their smoother, less acidic varieties.

 

Rex Goliath, Dark Horse, Bare Foot (wife likes), Big House,

Beringer, among brands.

 

For wife's birthday Saturday we picked up a bottle of Napa 

Valley Iter cab. Very nice!

[Redlinerobert]

I've actually cut back about 90% of my drinking in the last few years.  I use to drink a lot.  Feels good not to anymore.  And the weight loss is a nice side effect.

[halochef]

i like Sonoma a little better then Napa. we have been to the "mid winter wine festival"  and many vinerys  contributed.  i like Clos du Bois,  Preston.  cant remember them all.  but i do like Napa  Hawk Crest  Silverado.  and the big guy  Mondovi.  we tasted all up and down the main road in Napa and were fairly light headed by 2 pm   i cant remember all the places,  in sonoma we went to some places the just did Zins and Cabs.  nothing else.  and went to some that do not sell out of state,  one  women had her tasting in a indian TeePee.  true.  the costal region is also good.

 

ps  OBTW  in sonoma,  napa was referred to as that   "4 letter word"

[RoLo]

My wife likes wine, her favorite is Merlot.

Wine doesn't do it for me, I'd just as soon have a glass of Concord Grape Juice from New York (high in Resveratrol)

Oh wait a minute, I forgot about my martinis....that's a lot of Pinot Noir right there.

 

Roger

 

[Darren.]

On 5/29/2017 at 0:54 PM, Redlinerobert said:

I've actually cut back about 90% of my drinking in the last few years.  I use to drink a lot.  Feels good not to anymore.  And the weight loss is a nice side effect.

 

I never drank until I was in my late 20s, and then it was

maybe a glass of wine/week at work dinners, or special

events.

 

Increased amount over the years, so working on the cut

back now. Weight gain definitely a bad thing. Talk about

spare tires around the waist... I only need 2 for my bike, 

and 4 for my truck, not one around my belly.

[Redlinerobert]

This last year I've made a substantial effort to cut weight.  Down 15.  I'd love to cut another 10 to 15, which will be the toughest. 

[.ghoti.]

On 5/29/2017 at 9:08 AM, Redlinerobert said:

Is Dierdorf closed?  Looked for it to see their wine list.

Sorry, should have mentioned that. Its been gone for three or four years. I miss it.

[Raul]

On 27/5/2017 at 9:09 PM, Bluebasser86 said:

I don't have sophisticated enough taste to enjoy expensive wines. There's a local place that makes blueberry wine though, a guy could hurt himself with that stuff.

 

I also enjoy sangria wine. We make some homemade sangria occasionally, not as often now that we have kids, but once in awhile. There's a couple store bought brands of sangria that I really enjoy too. My wife spent several months living in Spain when she was in college, so she's the one that got me hooked on sangria. 

 

Sangría is not a wine but a beverage where wine is involved so you can make sangría with the cheapest or the finest it's just a matter of choice, I like sangría with "kick", Sangre de Toro is my choice of wine to prepare it.

[Bluebasser86]

7 minutes ago, Raul said:

 

Sangría is not a wine but a beverage where wine is involved so you can make sangría with the cheapest or the finest it's just a matter of choice, I like sangría with "kick", Sangre de Toro is my choice of wine to prepare it.

Hmm, it's called Sangria Wine here. Of course it didn't originate anywhere near the Midwest, so I'm sure it's just a misnomer. 

I know very little about wine (obviously). If I'm drinking alcohol, which I rarely do, it's almost always going to be whiskey. 

The cheap blueberry wine the local store sells is a great after the kids go to bed drink that my wife and I drink together once in awhile. 

[River Dave]

"The cheap blueberry wine the local store sells is a great after the kids go to bed drink that my wife and I drink together once in awhile."

 Like this

I hear you there. As much as I enjoy a complex Merlot there are some times when I just want some fizzy grape juice with a lot of ice. I'm in Western New York home of Welch's and concord grape paradise. There are some pretty good local sweet wines made with concords that most real wine drinkers would turn their noses up at but, I gotta' say, they're pretty tasty. ?

 

    I hardly drink at all anymore. Couple of wine tastings a year and split maybe a dozen bottles with the wife out on the patio over the course of a summer. That's really the only time I drink anymore. As for spare tires...........mine would fit a monster truck

[dave]

After two glasses,  I get a headache.  Hangover "while" drinking?   I like the taste but...

[quanjig]

On June 8, 2017 at 9:48 PM, dave said:

After two glasses,  I get a headache.  Hangover "while" drinking?   I like the taste but...

 

Sulfites in wine will do that to you, some more than others!!

 

Virginia has some really nice offerings, wife and I are members of a couple wineries, we peruse the pet friendly wineries, nice way to spend a Saturday with my wife and dog and people watching is always a bonus in the summer!!  Paradise Springs in Clifton Va and Otium in Purcellville are fun! Purcellville also has Cotoctin Creek distillery which has come good stuff!!