Wine-savvy

[caloy76]

you guys should have checked out the Grand Wine Experience held at the Mandarin Oriental yesterday at least whats available in the Philippine market. It featured over 400 wines and Montes was there to grace ther event.

[marvin_8]

merlot

asti spumante

[agxo3]

merlot

asti spumante

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Yeah but which ones? Not all merlots are created equal, nor asti spumantes. With both, the great majority of what's out there barely qualifies as drinkable, but those that are good can range from extremely pleasant to outstanding.

 

Merlot has become the "chardonnay" of the red wine world. It's an easy wine to make and it's easy to hide its flaws. While I have a case or so of the '98 Noah's merlot left, I've let it sit there in favor of possing open cabs, syrahs, petit sirahs (not the same as, nor even related to, syrah), mourvedre, pinot noir, charbono, zins and just about anything else that's red - I think I've turned into a member of the ABM club! (ABM = anything but merlot, just as ABC = anything but chardonnay)

 

Asti spumante in most incarnations tends to be an overly sweet, low acidty rather bland bubbly overall, but I've had a couple that reminded me why bubblies are so well loved the world over. That Ballatore stuff is atrocious! If you like asti spumantes, then go looking for a Vouvray (a French wine from the Loire Valley) - look for the petillant demi-sec. A bit bubbly, a touch of sweeteness. Bracing acidity to counter the sweetness. Or a good prosecco (another Italian bubbly). Or, if you get Spanish wines there, look for Freixenet Cordon Negro. Great value!

[bods1000]

Interesting how many well-respected labels are owned by comglomerates, eh? You're right - Constellation does have a good repurtation for being pretty hands off and giving the labels leeway to manage themselves. Given the internal feud between the low-end and high-end parts of the business, however, how they strike the balance will signal the fate of the different labels.

 

Interesting also that Constellation now owns the Inglenook brand. The old Inglenook winery was bought by Heublein in the 70's after which it degenerated from being a premium wine outfit to a schlock, mass-produced, low quality, box-wine label. They've got quite a mix ranging from high-end "good" wines to mass market supermarket labels.

 

Francis Ford Coppola (of Apocalypse Now and Godfather fame) bought the old estate and vineyards back in the 80s. He's slowly bought up the properties around the estate, re-assembling just about all, if not all, of the original vineyards as established by Swedish sea captain Gustav Neibaum, who established the winery that came to be known as Inglenook. Hence the name Neibaum-Coppola.

 

Which reminds me - I have a couple of '95 Mondavi zins (and at least one '92 and '93!) hiding under the house somewhere. The '95 vintage is considered the best of the '90s for Napa Valley zins. Time to open and savor them! Those and the '95 BV zin I bought on the same wine tasting trip.Well, the holidays are here and what better way to celebrate and engender good cheer than to open and share a good bottle of wine?

 

Thanksgiving is coming, and we're having dinner at my brother's place - so let's see what we're bringing to the table....... for the turkey - Champalou Vouvray (an off-dry petillant would have been good, but I couldn't find one so the off-dry still wine will have to do) for the white drinkers, J Nicole's Vineyard pinot noir for the red winos. A bottle of J bubbly to start (with appetizers). A full syrah (Fenestra '98? Neibaum-Coppola '99?) after dinner (with cigars). A nice Passito de Pantelleria (which one? choices, choices!) with the cheese or the pumpkin pie........my wife will be driving me home!!!  Zins don't go too well with turkey. Too bad.

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I saw some Inglenook Dry Reds at some grocery shelves here selling for less than P300...I didn't wanna try them

 

Well happy Thanksgiving there, and happy imbibing! As you know, there's no Thanksgiving here...siguro we'll have a Thanksgiving only if the Philippine situation improves after decades of stagnation The next big holiday here is the Xmas season pa and I guess I have to open another 2001 Shiraz....

[bods1000]

you guys should have checked out the Grand Wine Experience held at the Mandarin Oriental yesterday at least whats available in the Philippine market. It featured over 400 wines and Montes was there to grace ther event.

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pucha I forgot that! The newspaper clipping of that event is still somewhere inside my wallet....how was it? by invitation lang yata yun eh.....

[bods1000]

Yeah but which ones? Not all merlots are created equal, nor asti spumantes. With both, the great majority of what's out there barely qualifies as drinkable, but those that are good can range from extremely pleasant to outstanding.

 

Merlot has become the "chardonnay" of the red wine world. It's an easy wine to make and it's easy to hide its flaws. While I have a case or so of the '98 Noah's merlot left, I've let it sit there in favor of possing open cabs, syrahs, petit sirahs (not the same as, nor even related to, syrah), mourvedre, pinot noir, charbono, zins and just about anything else that's red - I think I've turned into a member of the ABM club! (ABM = anything but merlot, just as ABC = anything but chardonnay)

 

Asti spumante in most incarnations tends to be an overly sweet, low acidty rather bland bubbly overall, but I've had a couple that reminded me why bubblies are so well loved the world over. That Ballatore stuff is atrocious! If you like asti spumantes, then go looking for a Vouvray (a French wine from the Loire Valley) - look for the petillant demi-sec. A bit bubbly, a touch of sweeteness. Bracing acidity to counter the sweetness. Or a good prosecco (another Italian bubbly). Or, if you get Spanish wines there, look for Freixenet Cordon Negro. Great value!

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....which reminds me - I was buying a Banrock Station Shiraz yesterday and by mistake I plucked out a Banrock Station Merlot from the shelf. Only when the counter girl has punched out the sale did I notice my mistake. I tried to have the Merlot changed with the Shiraz because same price naman pero madaming hassle pa sa pagpalit so I got stuck with the Merlot

 

I think some labels should differentiate their wine varietals by a different label design or color kasi sa shelf magkakatabi lang sila and it's easy to make a mistake when you're in a hurry....

[caloy76]

pucha I forgot that! The newspaper clipping of that event is still somewhere inside my wallet....how was it? by invitation lang yata yun eh.....

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It went well....i was not really by invitation but the tickets would cost about 3000 pesos.

[agxo3]

We were walking around Pier 39 yesterday and came across the California Wine Experience - it's a wine store for the tourists who don't get the chance to go out to Napa or Sonoma, I guess.

 

Saw a bunch of those Marilyn Merlot, Elvis, Dead Red and other wines you buy for the name and the label. Seems some of them are "alcohol reduced" meaning the alcohol content is 0.5% or less! Wonder what they taste like. Someone else TOFTT. I'm afraid to!

 

But - also saw a bunch of V. Sattui wines. Remember how I said they were only available at the winery? Wrong! This store had them! Cab, merlot, sangiovese, syrah.....so if you're passing through SF and don't have the time to go to Napa, stop by this store at least for the V. Sattui wines.

 

They also had some Rombauer chardonnays, and a Rombauer late harvest chardonnay dessert wine. The only chard I've bought over the past 2 years was a Rombauer Reserve chardonnay - it's that good.

 

Also a bunch of other wineries represented, including some Paso Robles wines. Pretty rare to find those this far up north.

[Raintribe]

not yet, but planning to....but somebody whom I trust said it tastes of cough syrup....

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Halu! Yes, I have tasted Chinese red wine (Madam and Great Wall). It's rather sweetish and I would venture to say would be extremely popular with Pinoys. Personally, I prefer something dry and red.

[masi]

I was at Anthony's last Saturday to buy wines in prep for Christmas giveaways. They had wine sampling.. They had 4 wines but only got to taste 2 - Trillo premium red wine (Argentina) and a Rostchild Mouton Cadet.

 

The Trillo is a house brand... just your typical table red wine.. dry with some tannins. nothing significant but worth the buy for less than P200 a bottle. I could survive with this bottle if only for a drinking wine at home or with friends.

 

The Mouton Cadet was something else...I had the pleasure of opening the bottle and letting it breathe for a few minutes. At first taste, I knew it was special. I did this without changing glass or eating anything to break the taste of the first wine. I asked how much and was told it was sold at P990 per bottle. This is really worth the buy. What was more pleasant about the wine was that i drank it for free.

 

My basic intention was to buy a moderately priced wine which i will give to friends and relatives.

 

After drinking several glass of the Mouton, I ended up buying 2 cases of Dourthe rose which i will give out. I also bought a few bottles Dourthe red, i forget if it was a burgundy or a bordeaux and some casillero y diablo cabs and merlot for my personal consumption.

 

The wine tasting will continue upto the end of the month so for those planning to buy wines go to Anthony's...

 

Btw, i am not being paid by Anthony's to do this. You will get that same discounts that I got.

[Raintribe]

Hi! I know of a group that sells fine French wines. A bit pricier really but got a few to give out to select clients. Actually, am no expert and wanted something a bit sure. So, I just asked for a moderately priced selection from this group. They carry Colombelle 2003 which was chosen Best Buy by Wine Spectator (but if you are the snooty sort who is a "cork" guy, you probably won't like it because it's sealed with a twist cap). However, they also have Cuvee Privilege 2002, a gold medalist at the CGA Paris and a Silver medalist at Macon 04. Guess what, it's not even more than P1,000!!!! Practically everything they carry has been validated by gourmet groups and wine masters. Ask your friends who this group is...don't want to advertise.

[agxo3]

The Mouton Cadet was something else...I had the pleasure of opening the bottle and letting it breathe for a few minutes.  At first taste, I knew it was special.  I did this without changing glass or eating anything to break the taste of the first wine.  I asked how much and was told it was sold at P990 per bottle.  This is really worth the buy.  What was more pleasant about the wine was that i drank it for free.

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What vintage was this Mouton Cadet? Gotta go try it. Over here you can get it at BevMo and at Costco for about $8. Earlier vintages were not so good so I gave up on it, but if it's getting better I certainly want to tryi it again!

 

Just for kicks, and to see what's available here, and at what prices, here's a link to a higher-end wine store. I've gotten to know one of the proprietors - guy by the name of Joe - who supplies me with my passito de pantelleria (that's a dessert wine) and my splits (half bottles) of bodeaux.

 

http://www.vintagewinemerchants.com/

[agxo3]

Hi! I know of a group that sells fine French wines. A bit pricier really but got a few to give out to select clients. Actually, am no expert and wanted something a bit sure. So, I just asked for a moderately priced selection from this group. They carry Colombelle 2003 which was chosen Best Buy by Wine Spectator (but if you are the snooty sort who is a "cork" guy, you probably won't like it because it's sealed with a twist cap). However, they also have Cuvee Privilege 2002, a gold medalist at the CGA Paris and a Silver medalist at Macon 04. Guess what, it's not even more than P1,000!!!!  Practically everything they carry has been validated by gourmet groups and wine masters. Ask your friends who this group is...don't want to advertise.

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You're seeing some wines there that I don't see here - that Colombelle is one example. I'd really like to give it a try, but I haven't found a distributor here yet!

[masi]

Last night, I finally got to open a bottle of Gran Trillo (p190), a house brand of Anthony's. The label simply said premium red wine so I surmiced it must taste like your regular less than P200 vin de table if not your typical vin de pays.

 

To my surprise, this wine has body, flavor and mild tannins. My experience with this was pleasurable.

 

I recommend this to anyone who is familiar with wines or to those who are starting. Try it.... it's money well spent.

[masi]

What vintage was this Mouton Cadet? Gotta go try it. Over here you can get it at BevMo and at Costco for about $8. Earlier vintages were not so good so I gave up on it, but if it's getting better I certainly want to tryi it again!

 

Just for kicks, and to see what's available here, and at what prices, here's a link to a higher-end wine store. I've gotten to know one of the proprietors - guy by the name of Joe - who supplies me with my passito de pantelleria (that's a dessert wine) and my splits (half bottles) of bodeaux.

 

http://www.vintagewinemerchants.com/

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I dont remember the vintage as I was busy looking for the wine to giveaway. But could be between a 2000 to 2002.

 

As for top end, of course there is Petrus which I bought (and my office paid for it) at P54k per bottle in 1999 which we gave a present to a former president. The Lafite sell for about P10k to P12k here.

 

Wines and other liquor are heavily taxed here. I would think the taxes and duties levied on wine sold here would easily double the wholesale price you get there, especially if you can get them at Costco. I really wonder how retail wine shops in the U.S. could compete with Costco?