Wine-savvy

[agxo3]

Uuuuuhhhhh!!!????   Could you run that by me, one more time.  I feel "lost baggage"  somehow!!!!

 

Here's a photo of the label.

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Oooops - typo alert!!!

 

Arriving Feb. 6, leaving for Baguio Feb. 8. Back to Manila Feb. 13, out to Cebu Feb. 14 , over to HK the 17th, back to SFO the 19th!!!! Busy enough for ya?    Busy the whole time, not a day free!!!    Next time I'll stay in Makati 4 whole days! THEN we can go food and wine tasting each night! 

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Yup, bounce, bounce, bounce the whole trip. You think I'd learn and give myself more time! But, it's a two week trip and I can't stay away longer than that!!!! So, gotta fit it all in! So, Ms. Lips, no cooking this trip!!!! But, I promise, next trip! Looking like maybe mid-year. Yeah, I know - the hottest timeof the year! Do I know how to plan or what?

 

Hey, Masi! Where's the photo of that label???

[masi]

Oooops - typo alert!!!

Yup, bounce, bounce, bounce the whole trip. You think I'd learn and give myself more time! But, it's a two week trip and I can't stay away longer than that!!!! So, gotta fit it all in! So, Ms. Lips, no cooking this trip!!!!    But, I promise, next trip! Looking like maybe mid-year. Yeah, I know - the hottest timeof the year! Do I know how to plan or what? 

 

Hey, Masi! Where's the photo of that label???

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Been having trouble uploading the photo since last night!!!! :grr: This message appears every time i try to upload, "The requested file upload failed because suitable permissions have not been enabled on the 'uploads' directory. Please contact the board administrator and inform them of this error."

 

 

Contacted an administrator already. Sorry for the inconvenience.

[floppydrive]

Hmmm. Something is really wrong with the thread. It doesn't want attachments. Does this reflect on the people here - 'don't like attachments'? hehehe

[agxo3]

I think it is us who miss so much by you not being here Mr. Agxo3!   Looks like we all had our share of LEMONS this season. 

 

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Yeah, but you have sooooo much fun with your EBs and all!

 

Lemons a plenty this year, but NO, repeat NO limoncello!!! What's THAT all about? After I raved about it all last year and made sure to say thanks, and give those guys a NICE bottle of wine, and all, they don't give me another bottle? Life is so unfiar!!! :boo: :boo:

[aiboman]

So when will our next EB be?

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Been a lurker here for a while. Would be keen to join your EBs and discuss more of Old World wines with you guys. Seems like everyone here is into Napa and Oz/Kiwi wines. Gotta look more to the birthplace of Great wine.

[G T]

i've read in one of our newspapers here that there are now wines in cans.wines are from australia (barokes yung name). meron na ba nito dyan sa pinas? one is chardonnay semillon while the other is cabarnet shiraz merlot. price is S$6.95/250ml can.

[Lipstick]

hmmm... ako din pwede pa volunteer? since i can't appreciate wine like you guys and gals do...i can definitely appreciate good food!  :boo:

 

wow madame lipstick..i am so thrilled by your wish and offer. will gain more guts to join you guys will keep myself posted in this thread..who knows..i might just pop in one of your ebs... thanks gain! mwah  :*

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Don't say MIGHT ... please just say YES, DEFINITELY WILL JOIN! I have an additional bonus for you .... the lowdown on the boys on this board! That's good incentive enugh isn't it? :*

 

So when will our next EB be?

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Set na natin! Let's have it at Cyrano? I'll sponsor the squid siomai, a bottle of 2002 Ventisquero Grey Camenere, and a deli-cheese platter! Ayan hah!

 

Yeah, but you have sooooo much fun with your EBs and all!

 

Lemons a plenty this year, but NO, repeat NO limoncello!!! What's THAT all about? After I raved about it all last year and made sure to say thanks, and give those guys a NICE bottle of wine, and all, they don't give me another bottle? Life is so unfiar!!!    :boo:  :boo:

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Well I won't argue with you on that, we do have sooooo much fun at the WEBs.

 

Hehe yes I remember you and the Limoncello. Err ever tried just begging for a bottle of it? Hayyy naalala ko na naman yung movie UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN.... beautful photography, enchanting really.

[Lipstick]

Been a lurker here for a while.  Would be keen to join your EBs and discuss more of Old World wines with you guys.  Seems like everyone here is into Napa and Oz/Kiwi wines.  Gotta look more to the birthplace of Great wine.

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Welcome to the thread aiboman! Do share with us which old world ones have your heart? When was your conversion moment?

 

I've no aversion to the "oldies" and have had my beautiful share of them ... like I mentioned before --- they are sooo dependable, so smooth, lush and just lovely (the brunello de montalcino from Cantina di Leonardo was a beaut as well as that bordeaux from Château Ducru-Beaucaillou Saint Julien and Château Beychevelle). But the wines I would drink all depend on my mood and of course companion/s. Almost like clothes, it's like a choice between a Coco Chanel or a Vera Wang --- quite different isn't it and yet both are beautiful creations.

 

Looking forward to seeing your tasting notes posted here aiboman. Cheers!

[Lipstick]

Checking out that Italian vinotek Galileo Enoteca tonight. Will have a WR for you guys later!

 

Cheers!

[chocolateandport]

Haha!!!! Call it releasing angst! 

When you're in Manila, I'll take you to Wine Depot for that Sparkling Shiraz, White Shiraz and Sparkling White Shiraz!

 

The Pinot Noir Chardonnay I have is from Australia.  Also, m brother brought home a bottle of bubbly from Burgundy (the name just escapes me now).  Wouldn't that be a pinot noit chardonnay, as well, considering that the Burgundy region produces both grapes in abundance?

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The appellation Cremant de Bourgogne- Burgundy's sparkling wine category- is made in the traditional champagne method where the secondary, fizz-creating fermentation happens in the bottle. But since the wine isn't made within the winegrowing zone of Champagne, it doesn't have the right to use such appellation.

 

A Cremant de Bourgogne Blanc de Blancs is usually made entirely from Chardonnay; a Rose can be made from a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Gamaydepending on the style that the winemaker is going for. By law, the appellation permits the use of all grapes, in varying proportions, grown in Burgundy for its production. Gamay, however, cannot make up more than 20% of the blend.

 

Where is Wine Depot? I'm heading to the Philippines for a two-week vacation and I'm very interested in checking out the wine scene back home for work purposes. While I'm at it, do you have any advise on wine bars? I am a Wine Director at a restaurant in NY and it will be valuable for me to see where the industry is at back in the Philippines.

[storm]

An old friend owns MAGNUM in GB2 but I haven't been there yet.

 

Hi Sis Lipstick. Just text us when (Cyrannos EB). How about next Friday? Or sooner? :cool:

[agxo3]

Been a lurker here for a while.  Would be keen to join your EBs and discuss more of Old World wines with you guys.  Seems like everyone here is into Napa and Oz/Kiwi wines.  Gotta look more to the birthplace of Great wine.

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Welcome!

 

The reason you see a lot about Aussie and Napa wines here is simple - some of us (myself, N2DB, Eagleyes) are all in the SF Bay Area, from which Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, Livermore, Lodi (Amador County), Gold Country, Monterey and Santa Cruz Mountain wine areas are no more than two hours away. Paso Robles is 3 hours away. So there's where the Napa connection is. Aussie wines are plentiful in your neck of the woods, and certainly more affordable than most Old World wines (French in particular).

 

I do have access to a LOT of French wines here, but with a few notable exceptions I've found that they are no more likely to be palatable, pleasing, or even exceptional, than a California wine. And in the lower price brackets, it's hard to beat the Aussie and Kiwi wines. French wines also tend to be more expensive here due to import duties - gotta protect that local wine industry, y'know!

 

Notable exceptiuons would be -

1) Sauternes - yes, there are other sweet wines, other dessert wines. Bonny Doon Vin de Glacier, Inniskillin Ice Wines and others both from CA and Australia. But NOTHING compares to a good Sauternes, and certainly nothing compares to a Chateau d'Yquem.

2) Vouvray - an off-dry petillant Vouvray is simply in a class by itself. Bright, slightly sweet, tangy and citrus-y, green apple and honeydew!

3) Champagne - California sparklers tend to be a bit sweeter than the real thing, and while there's a time and a place for that, overall Iprefer the French style. A CA bubbly that come pretty damn close (and is my personal - and N2DB's as well - favorite) is J sparkling wine. Winery is in Healdsburg in Sonoma County.

[agxo3]

Kitchen before pictures - Lips, Bods, Storm, Masi, N2DB, I found a few before shots, so here's a couple of 'em! Now you can see just why I wanted to re-do the place......

 

from the family room - the range took the spot of the ref, the ref moved to where the ovens are in this pic. See that huge, blocky countertop? Replaced by that granite. I like the new place sooooooo much better!

[agxo3]

And one final shot to close out the kitchen saga -

 

from the breakfast nook looking in. The cooktop is gone, of course. Microwave's moved over to the end and is a lot smaller. Porcelain-coated cast iron sink is gone, now a stainless steel sink. See that space in the corner just to the left of the white towel? that's where my old wine ref (there! no longer OT! ) went. Small, but holds up to 30 bottles. Vinotheque brand. Not bad at all! I still have it, of course, and need to find a new home for it. For now it's in the dining room corner. And - one of the biggest changes that made the space open right up - no more big, bulky raised ledge along the countertop. Man, that was ugly!! :sick:

[floppydrive]

And one final shot to close out the kitchen saga -

 

from the breakfast nook looking in. The cooktop is gone, of course. Microwave's moved over to the end and is a lot smaller. Porcelain-coated cast iron sink is gone, now a stainless steel sink. See that space in the corner just to the left of the white towel? that's where my old wine ref (there! no longer OT!   ) went. Small, but holds up to 30 bottles. Vinotheque brand. Not bad at all! I still have it, of course, and need to find a new home for it. For now it's in the dining room corner. And - one of the biggest changes that made the space open right up - no more big, bulky raised ledge along the countertop. Man, that was ugly!! :sick:

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I was awed by the new kitchen before you posted the old picture. Now I'm really impressed! Did you design the kitchen yourselves or did you get an interior designer to do it?

 

The lower granite table top sure gave the kitchen a roomier look compared to the previous high back design.

 

Congratulations again on your wonderful kitchen!

[bods1000]

Bods, Masi, Lips, Storm - I finally dug up some pics of the now-infamous kitchen remodel - and here they are!!! Taken just after we got the last applicances in but before we got everything back into the kitchen. You can still see the shipping and consumer notification tags. 48" Wolf range with 6 burners and the griddle. Drop-down warming racks on the backsplash and warming lights in the hood. 4 fans in the extra-deep hood pulling 1200 cfm to keep smoke out of the kitchen even when doing lots of frying. Sub-zero fridge (freezer below) keeps my white wine (there - no longer OT!!!) well chilled - so much so that I have to take it out a half hour before dinner to let it come up to 55 deg F. The granite is from Brazil and is called typhoon green - nothing boring about THAT stone! And it hides those wine spills really nice!

 

I took out the small wine fridge I had under the counter in the old configuration in favor of the big Transtherm I got a few months back. I still have it, though and am trying to figure out where I can put it now.

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wow!

I thought I was looking at some pages of Wine Spectator

 

way to go, pare! great set-up you got there....makes us drool lesser mortals out here

 

been away for so long - the pages have flew the way some elegant cab swiftly disappears from the bottle!

greetings to everyone!

[bods1000]

Simple:  The wine ref market is a very special niche.  They believe that people who would like to keep wines can afford to pay an arm and a leg for such an appliance.  Since there are only a few people who bring it in, it is a seller's market.

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well yes, pare, but in another sense, it's also one of the reasons why the wine industry and wine-drinking does not develop here...everything is expensive, and what's not expensive is mistakenly assumed as such.

After all, when did wine get to be associated with snobbery, wealth and all such nonsense? In rural Italy or Spain or France, vino is such a commonplace, everyday drink - stripped of all its pretentiousness....

Every year I wish that more people get over the hump and try wine for a change. After all it's such a simple drink from a simple berry which unfortunately got this way because a lot of people in the wine industry got it in their heads that wine is something for the elite and marketed it and priced it beyond the reach of everyday, common folks. Add to this the wine journalists who have seemingly concocted a new vocabulary alien to everyday people.

 

cheers everyone!

[bods1000]

I'll relate it to my dad! I'm sure he'll love to hear that.

 

Nope. It's a Hardys Nottage Hill Shiraz 2003. Avoid na lang this brand  :thumbsdownsmiley:

 

Hahahaha rin. I'm bursting with laughter while reading your post. Huwag na kamo siyang magmura. The resemblance is only skin deep. She has a lot more character and depth naman. 

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when you mentioned in a previous post that you'll be having that Hardy's for Christmas, I was thinking it would ruin your evening, and it sure did....sayang kung online lang ako nun I would have warned you. I tried that Nottage Hill before and hindi ko na binalikan The Francine Prieto look-alike and I'm sure smell-alike would have more ooooomph than that wine :evil:

[bods1000]

Just a little additional information regarding the difference between Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon:

 

Both wines are full-flavored, structured, and generally oak-aged. Flavor-wise, a Shiraz from Australia is typically expressive of darker fruit flavors (plums, prunes, blue and blackberries) with a a distinct black pepper spiciness. Grown in the Northern Rhone Valley of France, it has the added flavor profile reminiscent of leather and earth. Plus, the wine tends to be sutler in its fruit expression, higher in acidity, and tannic structure. All other Syrah/Shiraz variations owing to the different areas where the grape is grown will fall in between these two general flavor profiles.

 

Cabernet Sauvignon is typically identified by its tell-tale aromas and flavors of blackcurrant and/or cassis. The spiciness- more licorice and cedar than black pepper- is not an innate character, rather it is imparted by the oak aging.

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very nicely said!

welcome back, ms. chocolateandport!

[bods1000]

HAHAHA!!!! I cant imagine why people like their steaks well done unless they are testing the strength of their teeth and gums!!!! :boo:  Done steaks are tough, tasteless, juiceless.  :grr:  Oh well, different strokes for different folks, I guess!!!!

 

I once grilled a steak that was half-thawed and since it was in that state, I grilled it a bit longer and then transferred it to a baking pan and went to the oven.  When I ate it, it had a crusty, chewy surface, and pink, juicy center.  Just the way, it should be!

 

Pareng FD, I also noticed that freshly gound pepper (either by mortar or by pepper mill) tastes better than bottled coursely ground.  :thumbsupsmiley:

 

Try sparkling shiraz or sparkling white shiraz!  The latter, I have yet to try! 

Now can someone tell me if a Pinot Noir Chardonnay is a bubbly.  The bottle and  foil are like that of a sparkling  - long, crumpled and you can feel the wire under the foil!

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In Bourdain's book, he tells of how his kitchen crew would be overjoyed when some rube would order well-done steak because then, they can use those old cuts with ligaments stored at the back of their freezers

[bods1000]

I think it is us who miss so much by you not being here Mr. Agxo3!   Looks like we all had our share of LEMONS this season. 

Hello choc n' port!  Love your posts (yes the few early ones included), hoping to see you often in this thread

We must Cyrano!!  I've got another boite of that Ventisquero Grey and saving it for when we all get together again.

 

I spent the New Year with a bad allergy attack caused by a bee sting.  Was rushed to the ER and pumped with steroids and antihistamines.   Was swollen and sober throughout the NYE celeb.  I also had to stay away from my fave food --- SEAFOOD!!    Talk about feeling sooooo deprived :cry:

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ano ba yang bahay nyo? Is the bee colony still there?? seems like every year would not be complete for the critters without getting their stingers in you

 

anyway was also at St Luke's ER evening of January 1st as my kid had this nasty fever after our Quezon trip...hope you are well now...

[agxo3]

I was awed by the new kitchen before you posted the old picture.  Now I'm really impressed!  Did you design the kitchen yourselves or did you get an interior designer to do it?

 

The lower granite table top sure gave the kitchen a roomier look compared to the previous high back design.

 

Congratulations again on your wonderful kitchen!

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We pretty much knew what we wanted but we got a kitchen designer to work with us and do some "what-if"s. Tested out the island idea and found it cut too much into the breakfast nook. Found we could do a 48" range instead of a 36". Things like that.

 

Best change we made was to lose that ledge. Really opened things up and made the kitchen look lots bigger. Show syou just what a few small changes can do for you!

 

The net effect is more motivation to cook and inspiration to try new things in the kitchen. No, Lips, not that!!! :boo:

 

Thanks!

[new2dabeat]

well yes, pare, but in another sense, it's also one of the reasons why the wine industry and wine-drinking does not develop here...everything is expensive, and what's not expensive is mistakenly assumed as such.

After all, when did wine get to be associated with snobbery, wealth and all such nonsense? In rural Italy or Spain or France, vino is such a commonplace, everyday drink - stripped of all its pretentiousness....

Every year I wish that more people get over the hump and try wine for a change. After all it's such a simple drink from a simple berry which unfortunately got this way because a lot of people in the wine industry got it in their heads that wine is something for the elite and marketed it and priced it beyond the reach of everyday, common folks. Add to this the wine journalists who have seemingly concocted a new vocabulary alien to everyday people.

 

cheers everyone!

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Yup, it's one of the better reasons why I like living in California. Wine has pretty much become "European" consumption-wise here and there isn't any kind of froufrou pretentiousness associated with wine drinking. It's simply something good you have with a meal, or to sip and enjoy with friends.

[new2dabeat]

Welcome!

 

The reason you see a lot about Aussie and Napa wines here is simple - some of us (myself, N2DB, Eagleyes) are all in the SF Bay Area, from which Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, Livermore, Lodi (Amador County), Gold Country, Monterey and Santa Cruz Mountain wine areas are no more than two hours away. Paso Robles is 3 hours away. So there's where the Napa connection is. Aussie wines are plentiful in your neck of the woods, and certainly more affordable than most Old World wines (French in particular).

 

I do have access to a LOT of French wines here, but with a few notable exceptions I've found that they are no more likely to be palatable, pleasing, or even exceptional, than a California wine. And in the lower price brackets, it's hard to beat the Aussie and Kiwi wines. French wines also tend to be more expensive here due to import duties - gotta protect that local wine industry, y'know!

 

Notable exceptiuons would be -

1) Sauternes - yes, there are other sweet wines, other dessert wines. Bonny Doon Vin de Glacier, Inniskillin Ice Wines and others both from CA and Australia. But NOTHING compares to a good Sauternes, and certainly nothing compares to a Chateau d'Yquem.

2) Vouvray - an off-dry petillant Vouvray is simply in a class by itself. Bright, slightly sweet, tangy and citrus-y, green apple and honeydew!

3) Champagne - California sparklers tend to be a bit sweeter than the real thing, and while there's a time and a place for that, overall Iprefer the French style. A CA bubbly that come pretty damn close (and is my personal - and N2DB's as well - favorite) is J sparkling wine. Winery is in Healdsburg in Sonoma County.

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Quite true. As agxo notes, while we do have access to Old World (and very good ones at that), the easier-access to quite exceptional local produce trumps the choice almost every time.

 

I'm also in agreement with agxo's 'exceptions' list - although I'd probably add Gewurztraminer to the list (I find the local varieties rather tepid). I'd also throw in Argentinean Malbecs and some well-developed Medocs.

 

Cheers! :thumbsupsmiley:

[new2dabeat]

Kitchen before pictures - Lips, Bods, Storm, Masi, N2DB, I found a few before shots, so here's a couple of 'em! Now you can see just why I wanted to re-do the place......

 

from the family room - the range took the spot of the ref, the ref moved to where the ovens are in this pic. See that huge, blocky countertop? Replaced by that granite. I like the new place sooooooo much better!

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Whoa, really puts a perspective on the resulting conversion!

 

Definite props to you! :cool: