Wine-savvy

[Thomas_Durnst]

wine collector an avid fan here, know any wine bars near the qc area?

[agxo3]

The same article says that pinot noir is now the focus of "a collective concentration of interest" in the valley. They believe pinot noir is the future of the valley as vineyards expand up the slopes - as long as they're properly trellised. They agree that higher elevations will produce elegant, light-bodied and deep-flavored pinots, though if will take ten years to know.  As of now I think Anderson Valley is noted for their gewurtztraminers....

 

Now why is it that pinot noirs are quite expensive?

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Well, shows you how much _I_ know about growing grapes!!!

 

There IS some northern exposure slope in the valley, and I guess higher up would be better. But without that morning marine layer of fog, I wonder just how the grapes will turn out. We'll find out in a few years.

 

Gewurtztraminer should grow there since it would be kinda like the Rhein valley in weather (except for the milder winters) - although I really wouldn't know since I'm not really into whites. I do like a good, crisp reisling and a good un-oaked, citrusy chablis (which is really chardonnay from the town and environs of Chablis in France!).

 

Pinot noir is a notoriously fickle grape. Hard to make into a good wine, easy to go wrong. When not done well (and sometimes, even when all seems to go right!), there's the characteristic "barnyard" aroma that creeps in. Kinda like standing in the mud, having a wet sheep taking a dump at your feet. If you didn't know better you'd swear it was one heck of a case of corking, although it is a decidedly different. Corking smells to me like well-used sweat socks that have started to ferment. With pinots it's really a barnyard smell.

 

Oregon seems to be good for pinots and a couple of Burgundian domaines have set up shop there - Drouhin, for one. The wines are pretty good!

[bods1000]

wine collector an avid fan here, know any wine bars  near the qc area?

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welcome to our little wine bar, Mr. Durnst

I'm not sure if there are any wine bars per se in the QC area. If you read a few pages back, there's mention of a certain wine store near the Timog Rotonda that offers customers free sips of the wine they sell plus some amenities which a regular wine store does not offer - like couches or something.

Some restos in the area have good wines on stock. Katre has some Los Boldos before - good value wines for dinner. I don't know what they have now. Restaurante Uno I know also offers some good wines because the owner is very particular about the wines they have on stock. Aresi had a good selection but the resto has closed down....

[bods1000]

Well, shows you how much _I_ know about growing grapes!!! 

 

There IS some northern exposure slope in the valley, and I guess higher up would be better. But without that morning marine layer of fog, I wonder just how the grapes will turn out. We'll find out in a few years.

 

Gewurtztraminer should grow there since it would be kinda like the Rhein valley in weather (except for the milder winters) - although I really wouldn't know since I'm not really into whites. I do like a good, crisp reisling and a good un-oaked, citrusy chablis (which is really chardonnay from the town and environs of Chablis in France!).

 

Pinot noir is a notoriously fickle grape. Hard to make into a good wine, easy to go wrong. When not done well (and sometimes, even when all seems to go right!), there's the characteristic "barnyard" aroma that creeps in. Kinda like standing in the mud, having a wet sheep taking a dump at your feet. If you didn't know better you'd swear it was one heck of a case of corking, although it is a decidedly different. Corking smells to me like well-used sweat socks that have started to ferment. With pinots it's really a barnyard smell.

 

Oregon seems to be good for pinots and a couple of Burgundian domaines have set up shop there - Drouhin, for one. The wines are pretty good!

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yup pare it says that fog rolls in only during summer nights and evaporates under the warm midday sun. There's no fog in winter and no snow but plenty of rain.

Gewurtztraminer thrives in the valley because of its cool summer nights. The founder of Anderson Valley's Lazy Creek Vineyards was forced to plant traminers because as a waiter before, he had a hard time convincing patrons to order whites because they said it was too sour. G-traminers, with their low acidity and strong flavors, was the perfect answer..

I'm not familiar with pinot noirs so I learned a lot about your post - about their distinctive taste. Yup Oregon is the place for pinot noirs but they're mighty expensive and none is available here...

[agxo3]

Went to a holiday party last Saturday. It being the drunken photogrpahers group, there was lots of wine!

 

Memorable wines -

 

2002 Fenestra Semonnay (blend of semillon and chardonnay) was a hit! I humbly claim credit for that - it was one of 4 I brought to the festivities. Clean, crisp wit hhints of green apple and honeydew melon. Nice acitidity. I should have saved this one - it will get better for another couple of years.

 

1992 (yes! 1992!) Rosenblum Zin - wow. Still enough tannins for structure, and the fruit was still fresh. A great example of wht you can do with zins. Plums, rpunes on the nose, berries of all sorts on the front palate and a nice plum finish to the back end.

 

2000 Summers Charbono - not as ponderous as a syrah, not as light as a zin. A hint of that pepper finish but nice jammy fruit. Enough tannins to make it stand up. Not a flabby, fleshy wine, but rather one that excites and tickles. (I'll take credit for this one as well. This was the second to the last of my case that I bought earlier this year. Time to go buy another case!)

 

I also met Dana Bruce, son of David Bruce of Santa Cruz winery fame. He's getting back into the wine business after 15 years of "trying to find himself" as we used to say in the hippie days.

 

And as an added bonus, two of the photographers I respect most at the gathering told me my prints (I only brought 2) were the best of the night. If the wine didn't get me drunk, that would have!

 

All in all, a good wine drinking weekend!

[hotchic_primrose]

i love wines...especially red wines, but lately im inlove with franzia (is this the right spelling?) nweiz it's good...

[bods1000]

i love wines...especially red wines, but lately im inlove with franzia (is this the right spelling?) nweiz it's good...

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hello there!

yup, you got it right...

Reds they say is good for the health...we hope you go on to savor the other reds out there - cabernets, shiraz, merlot....Aussies, Chileans, Californians, South Africans....the selections are limitless.

cheers!

[agxo3]

hello there!

yup, you got it right...

Reds they say is good for the health...we hope you go on to savor the other reds out there - cabernets, shiraz, merlot....Aussies, Chileans, Californians, South Africans....the selections are limitless.

cheers!

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There's what's called the French paradox. The French eat lots of bad stuff loaded with fat and sugar - dessserts of all sorts loaded with cream, lots of cheese, foie gras, beef, snails drowned in butter.........yet they have a lower rate of heart disease than the US and many other countries. Why? It's now commonly believed that it's due in (large) part to their prodigious comsumption of wine, with RED wine being the greatest contributor.

 

So - I have my healthy meals - beef, lots of butter, shrimp, crab, lobster, etc., AND a glass or two of red wine. After all, it's worked for the french for centuries, why can't it work for me?

[bods1000]

There's what's called the French paradox. The French eat lots of bad stuff loaded with fat and sugar - dessserts of all sorts loaded with cream, lots of cheese, foie gras, beef, snails drowned in butter.........yet they have a lower rate of heart disease than the US and many other countries. Why? It's now commonly believed that it's due in (large) part to their prodigious comsumption of wine, with RED wine being the greatest contributor.

 

So - I have my healthy meals - beef, lots of butter, shrimp, crab, lobster, etc., AND a glass or two of red wine.  After all, it's worked for the french for centuries, why can't it work for me?

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Not just in France, pare. There's this what they call a Mediterranean diet which consists, among others, consumption of red wine. People in France, Italy, Crete, Portugal, Spain - Mediterranean countries generally enjoy lower rates of heart disease.

People there also tend to live longer. In fact, a 101-year old wine-swigging grandpa in Crete was recently accused of sexual harrasment

[bods1000]

hey guys!

Am going to WineDepot on Friday (may free tasting daw pag Friday :evil: )

anybody care to meet up for an impromptu get-to-know thingie?

I'd be there around 5 or 6pm....

[agxo3]

Not just in France, pare. There's this what they call a Mediterranean diet which consists, among others, consumption of red wine. People in France, Italy, Crete, Portugal, Spain - Mediterranean countries generally enjoy lower rates of heart disease.

People there also tend to live longer. In fact, a 101-year old wine-swigging grandpa in Crete was recently accused of sexual harrasment    

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Cool! When I'm 101 I hope I'm still capable of being charged with sexual harassment!!!

[bods1000]

Cool! When I'm 101 I hope I'm still capable of being charged with sexual harassment!!!

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Oh to outlive our women and be able to flirt at 90!

Red wine is a great aphrodisiac. Nothing beats the heat of reds coursing through your veins

 

Nothing beats being with a woman with only a bottle of cabernet between the two of you :evil:

Edited December 15, 2004 by bods1000

[bods1000]

SIDEWAYS, that film about the absurdist world of the wine-obsessive, has, would you believe, been chosen as one of the best films of 2004 by the American Film Institute.

 

I wonder where I can get a copy of this - is this out on video na? The chances of Manila theaters showing this film here is as slim as finding a Petrus in my cellar

[bods1000]

pareng agxo, there are 3 types of Ravenswood zins at WineDepot - the Vintner's Blend, the County Series Napa Valley and the County Series Sonoma County. Which is the best ba? thanks....

[agxo3]

pareng agxo, there are 3 types of Ravenswood zins at WineDepot - the Vintner's Blend, the County Series Napa Valley and the County Series Sonoma County. Which is the best ba? thanks....

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What vintage? On the whole, I'd go with the Vintner's Blend. And for zins, with the exception of '95, Sonoma zins have been generally better than Napa Valley zins, although there's at least one zin vineyard in Napa that's very highly rgarded.

 

Vintner's Blend - 1999 and 200 were steller years. 2001 a bit less so, 2002 is a bit young with no more than 12 months in the bottle. I think they barrel their zins 12 months in second year oak.

[agxo3]

SIDEWAYS, that film about the absurdist world of the wine-obsessive, has, would you believe, been chosen as one of the best films of 2004 by the American Film Institute.

 

I wonder where I can get a copy of this -  is this out on video na? The chances of Manila theaters showing this film here is as slim as finding a Petrus in my cellar

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AFAIK not yet out on video. Maybe in 3 months.

 

I just picked up a book about the history of the Santa Barbara wine industry and will start into it on my flight to Anaheim tonight. Slim book, may be done by Saturday (2 nights of reading?). Look for a review when I'm done with it.

[bods1000]

What vintage? On the whole, I'd go with the Vintner's Blend. And for zins, with the exception of '95, Sonoma zins have been generally better than Napa Valley zins, although there's at least one zin vineyard in Napa that's very highly rgarded.

 

Vintner's Blend - 1999 and 200 were steller years. 2001 a bit less so, 2002 is a bit young with no more than 12 months in the bottle. I think they barrel their zins 12 months in second year oak.

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thanks a lot!

well that's good because the Vintner's Blend is cheaper than the other two

I do hope it's the 2000 they got....

[bods1000]

darn! didn't make it to WineDepot...nandun pa naman si mamaLips

naunahan pa nya kong bumili ng Ravenswood....

[bods1000]

It turns out that SIDEWAYS has been chosen as Film of the Year by the critics' circle of New York, Boston, LA, San Francisco. It has also been nominated for 7 Golden Globes....

wow to think that it is just a small ($16M budget) film about an otherwise uninteresting subject hehehe...

gotta have to score a copy of that film quick!

[shyguycanada]

Give me a Shiraz and I'm good to go!

[bods1000]

finally got my Ravenswood zins :boo:

 

coincidentally, I also went to MCS and was able to score this LP called GREAT GUITARS AT THE WINERY - good ole swing jazz featuring Herb Ellis, Barney Kessel and Charlie Byrd...great listening with a glass of zin hehehe...

 

cheers and a Merry Christmas, folks!

[HighVoltageLover]

I love Red Wine specially Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon. White wine tastes kinda sour. :headsetsmiley:

[agxo3]

I love Red Wine specially Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon. White wine tastes kinda sour.  :headsetsmiley:

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Then I would say you haven't had a good white wine. A bit unusual - whites are generally friendlier wines than reds. But hey! Our taste buds are all different - that's what makes wines so exciting.

 

Speaking of whites - I had the most unusual white wine after Christmas dinner. One of my wife's co-workers comes from an Italian family. Seems they make this wine called limoncito, and they gave her a bottle. Made from (among oher things) lemon rinds. Sweet - what they call a digestivi, or after dinner drink. Sweet, but what a burst of lemon! (Duh - it's made with lemon rinds!!!) On their advice, kept it in the freezer and when I poured it out, it was thick like syrup. Great wine. Now - how do I get more?

 

Earlier in the afternoon, we had some friends over so I opened up a 1998 Diamo Grazie from Camelia Cellars in Geyserville. A blend of cab (70%), sangiovese (25%) and merlot (5%). Nice. smooth. A great sipping wine, and it went well with the light snacks we had. Cuchinta (yup!!), ham with ensaymada. [A bit of explanation here - I live in California!] So everyting was a bit sweet. A stern, tannic cab would have just killed everything. But this blend was soft and smooth. left a sensation of sweetnes, but it was bone dry.

 

I started the evening with a 1992 Retzlaff cabernet suavignon. Grapes from Livermore. All I can say is wow! Took a few minutes to open up - but when it did - loads of black cherry, leather and spice (nutmeg???). Plums and raisins, yum! Layer after layer of flavors. We had some different cheeses to go with it - Mahon from Spain, a smooth and creamy goat cheese from the loire Valley in France, and a creamy brie also from France. All went weel with it - nothing sharp or strong to compete with the wine.

 

Then for dinner, a 1998 Sebastiani Sonoma Valley cabernet sauvignon. Berries, smoke. leather and a hint of pepper (??) on the finish. Another great wine - and a great accompaniment to prime rib.

 

In between, a forgettable viognier.

 

I hope your holiday dinners were as adventursome as ours! And the wines as delicious!

 

I can't wait for New Years Eve!!! Happy holidays to all!

[Lipstick]

Finally opened that bottle of Ravenswood Zins Vitners Blend 2000 Christmas eve and what can I say? I am in love! Wow. It's fantastic and I love that whole warm glow melting in the mouth sensation it delivers soon as it embraces the palate. Kinda reminds me of that real nice drop of St. Hugo I had many months ago in Syd. Thanks for the reco! I think I'll stop drinking anything else for a bit and stick to this drop for the meantime.

 

agxo3, I haven't tasted limoncito but something similar to that called limoncello was featured as a Vretreria home-made drink in the movie "Under the Tuscan Sun." What they do (daw since I can't verify just how real this recipe is) is to take the skin off the lemon, put the peeled lemon in a bottle with 3/4 of alcohol and 1/4 sugar. Afterwhich the skin of the lemon is placed back in the mixture until the drink achieves the right color. Of course this was all explained as the character Marcello was trying to charm the pants off Frances. It looked quite delectable on screen --- so did Marcello!

Edited December 27, 2004 by Lipstick

[Diamondback]

I have been consistently drinking wine in moderation for ten years now. Here are the rules I follow after all that trial and error:

 

1. Don't let a snobbish sommelier or a pretender tell you what's appropriate or not, what is in or not.

2. Just don't drink wine with ice or while warm. You can chill reds if you wish.

3. Red doesn't necessarily go with dark meats and whites with fish and fowl. Tandoori chicken doesn't go with a Sauvignon Blanc, does it?

 

I have developed a fondness for sherries like La Ina as a starter, crisp Sauvignon Blancs or a fragrant old standard like Chardonnay to follow, a good red Rioja to go with roasts, Harvey's Bristol Cream after dinner, and on rare occasions where cigars are available, a nice mild torpedo with Port will do just fine. But that's just me.