Wine vine?

[Ahh!]

What kind of wine do you enjoy?
Does anyone else vint their own wines and if so, what kinds?

Recently, it seems I have run into a spate of photogs who are into Rielsings...

[LonestarMan]

Well, I am no wine connoisseur. In fact I only really started enjoying wine in the last year or so. Being new and inexperienced and a proud Texan, I tend to stick with Texas wines. I don't know, maybe the "cheer for the home team" approach. Being from Lubbock, I mostly stay with Llano Estacado and Caprock. I really like Llano's Riesling, and so does my wife. It's pretty versatile too. We drink Caprock Royal Blush and lately have tried the Ste. Genevieve (Ft. Stockton) chardonnay. For the fast and cheap side of me, I always have a box or two of Franzia or Almaden in the fridge.

I would really like to explore, taste and study more, but I have to make time for that, and it seems we are always just to busy or have to many things going on.

I really should expand my horizons.

[Duffy Pratt]

I like Beaujolais, as a good cheap dry wine with some fruit. For Reislings, if I can find them, I like wines from the New York finger lakes region, notably Dr. Constantin Frank's wine. I also have a fondness for rose wine. Best I have had are from Provence. But I also like a couple of the Rioja roses I've found. These are all basically cheap, good wines.

I love richer Merlot and Pinot Noir, too. But for me they are too expensive for every day.

Duffy

[h00kemh0rns]

Love wine as it goes with my love of cooking. What I'm always looking for is that 10-15 dollar bottle of wine that knocks my socks off. It's always easy to find those 50+ dollar bottle of wines that are outstanding.

Amazingly, there are some very nice young Texas wines out there that have good body and tanins. Namely Becker vineyards for their Cabernet Syrah. Doc Becker has mimicked what the vineyards in France were doing from the Ph balance/nutients in the soil, growing lavender next to the vines, to the barrels being imported from France. By far the best Cab for $15.

The next cab I would go towards is the Llano Cabernet Shiraz. Not as oaky as the Becker but has alot of notes from chocolate, coffee and blackberry. Excellent for the under $10 category.

Now for whites I go for Chardonnay's. Haven't found any in state the blow my skirt up but there are quite a few west coast varieties which do. Number one is the La Crema. It has notes of butter and a toasty finish. This is good in the $15 dollar range.

The other is a toss up between either the Washington wine (Columbia Crest) or California (Robert Mondavi Private Reserve) Chardonnay's. Both have very similar qualities and are excellent values in the $10 range.

Now if you'e into an everyday drinking red which is inexpensive but is great for any meal I would suggest Il Bastardo from Italy. Light and very subtle in the fruit notes. Goes for about $10.

I could go on and on about wine but this is my quick 2cents.

[ttusa]

A nice Merlot wine...ahhhhh...

[TXFZ1]

"And I ain't drinking no F%^$ing Merlot!"



Funny story in Perth. We went to a very nice/pricy Italian restaurant and ordered a bottle of local area wine (Maragret River area). The sommelier brought the bottle to the table and then twisted the cap kinda funky, like he was trying to be melodramatic. I started seeing red but didn't say anything. The couple with me were laughing as they could see I wasn't happy with what I thought was sarchasm. They quit using corks in Australia as there is a shortage, most all wine now comes in twist-off caps. The sommelier was just trying to add a little flair to the mundane task whick I took as an insult on our wine choice.

I'm a red wine drinker, Pinot Noir, Syrah or Cotes du Rhones and a good steak.

John Cleese has an awesome and funny video "Wine for the Confused."

David

[Murph]

I like wine, I try and drink Texas Wines as much as possible. I poured out my last two bottles of French stuff, and no will not buy anything french. I like some of the California Pinot Noirs, as well as the Bell Mountain 2001 Pinot Noir, which has a nice flavor, and also their Cabernet Souvignon, especially the 1998 vintage.

[darktiger]

My wife likes Rielsings and Muscats. They are pretty good...

[bondarnes]

I will usually drink whatever is offered, but I prefer reds and some of the blushes. I usually order Merlot, but also like a nice Shiraz or Cabernet. Honestly, my sense of smell is not what it used to be and I have a hard time telling one from another. For a white I like a nice Pinot Grigio and some of the German wines.

[Teddington]

Truthfully, I'm more of a beer drinker but I do enjoy a good Shiraz or Red Zin (Ravenswood has a killer Red Zin) with spicy pasta or peppercorn steak. When I drink whites, I go for pinot grigio or something very light - more like a grown up soda pop. Having lived in both Washington State and California, I drink a lot of those but lately I've been experimenting with Australian wines (and beers!) and some South American stuff.

[iCe]

What? Nobody listed Boones Farm or Ripple? Heathens!

[HFMarshburnJR]

"The time for the White is when all the Red is gone..."

Which hopefully never occurs. I am a big Red Wine lover, so I tend to favor hearty Cabernet Sauvignons, Cabernet Franc , Zinfandels or Pinot Noirs. I have had the good fortune of encountering some very good wines from Texas, California, Oregon and Washington State. Particular favorites are :

Anything from the V.Sattui, Freemark Abbey or Robert Sinskey Vineyards (California)
Anything from the Leonetti Cellars Vineyard (Washington State)
A few Boutique wines I have spent time with lately - White Rock Cellars (California), Madigan (California).

There is a lot of very good stuff out there. Enjoy.

HFM

[h00kemh0rns]

Originally Posted by iCe

What? Nobody listed Boones Farm or Ripple? Heathens!

Been there, done that....along with some Mad Dog 20/20 chasers...

[raevyncent]

Nice bunch of wine aficionados! Bravo!

Well, apart from the normal stuff most of you have already mentioned, I have become a wine explorer. I will try anything I haven't heard of or tried before.

My current favorite sipping wine is Gewurtzmeiner (there are not many out there, so I get what I can find). Another interesting set of wines you will have to search for are Reds from Bulgaria. I forgot the actual name, but a friend introduced me to them some years ago, and I haven't found them since. They are richly fruity, without alot of aftertaste.... and strangely, the younger the better! Just beware the next morning, Bulgarian hangover is worse than a vampire's bite!

Australian wines are typically good, but not always. I particularly look for Shiraz from Queensland wineries.

I have also discovered a few good Chilean wines, and am currently pursuing that avenue of pleasure.

However, when in need of an old standby, nothing beats Beaujolais Villages by Georges DeBeouf for an inexpensive, versatile serving wine.

P.S. For dessert, you MUST try Lambrusco!

[jerrykr]

TXFZ1 --

Sheryl and I die laughing at that line in "Sideways".

We know and care little about wines, but her folks live on the Central Coast, and when we go out there, we enjoy a trip thru the Foxen Valley, Solvang and all the other places in the movie. The wine tasting rooms are not as famous as Napa, but just as good. Many signs proclaim "as seen in Sideways".