Wine - Discussion, Travel & More

[Winemaker]

I buy my CA grapes from Suisun Valley the valley east of Napa and occasionally from Lodi. I've been told that Suisun now is what Napa was like in the '60's although Caymus recently built a luxurious tasting room there.

+2 on the Shenandoah Valley +2 on the wineries near Murphy's. Pleasant family wineries that make other varieties other than Cab Sauv and Chardonnay. I do also like Santa Barbara and the Saint Ynezarea as well. I spent an hour or two in Paso, so I can't give a good review.

The Finger Lakes offer great Rieslings and Gewurztraminers, but also offer a lot of sweet wines and French hybrids, which I am not a fan.

I don't care for Virginia wines, they're mostly sweet. It's very rare to find a great Cab Franc there, their growing season is still too short and doesn't get as ripe as California grapes. But I still vist and search. Life's too short to drink crappy wine!

 

[Gumby]

The young wife and I started drinking wine after we got married 39 years ago. We have gradually learned more and more about wine, visited many wineries throughout this country and tried the local wines in our travels around the world. We split a bottle every night with our dinner.

 

[COcheesehead]

Interesting red wine boldness chart.

 

[COcheesehead]

7 wine weekend getaways

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articl...waPazwyp7XmqMRPU3Vf-kLBEvYmuGAQxfHX3l5nX8gXpk

 

[Chuckanut]

I am under the impression that most CA wine grapes are grown in the Central Valley around Bakersfield and Fresno.

 

[COcheesehead]

I am under the impression that most CA wine grapes are grown in the Central Valley around Bakersfield and Fresno.

They grown all over the state.

 

[pjm-7]

Thanks COcheesehead for starting the thread. I live in the same valley as you. I also enjoy some of the ciders that are available here. Curious, what winery is your j*b?

 

[COcheesehead]

Thanks COcheesehead for starting the thread. I live in the same valley as you. I also enjoy some of the ciders that are available here. Curious, what winery is your j*b?

I’ll PM you.

 

[yakers]

France also produces boxed wines.

Boxed wines are popular at home in France because apparently they stay fresh longer once opened. 3L instead of 750ml so there must be some cost savings.

Boxed? I remember just refilling bottles from barrels, OK wine-dirt cheap prices.
Oh, I was a sudent then so maybe refilling from casks is gone?

 

[yakers]

The CA Paso Robles area specializes in zins and espically Rhone type wine. Just visited a winery yeaterday in the Pismo Beach area. Soooo much wine in CA.

As to where to buy wine Costco, Total Wine and hunsting through Grocery Outlet if you know what you are looking for there are remarkable deals.

 

[COcheesehead]

Boxed? I remember just refilling bottles from barrels, OK wine-dirt cheap prices.
Oh, I was a sudent then so maybe refilling from casks is gone?

I remember going to small grocers, bring your own liter bottle and refilling from a giant cask. $3 euros. Not great, not bad.

 

[audreyh1]

Boxed? I remember just refilling bottles from barrels, OK wine-dirt cheap prices.
Oh, I was a sudent then so maybe refilling from casks is gone?

Oh I’m sure they still do that too.

 

[DrRoy]

I am not a huge vinophile, but dry, light bodied red is my preferred tipple. Over the years, I went from merlot to pinot noir. Total Wine is the best place I have found to shop. I particularly like the Caliveda, which is only available there.

DW and I have done a couple wine tasting trips - along Canandaigua Lake in the NY Finger Lakes, the Mt. Hood OR area, and near Traverse City MI, the Leelanau and Old Mission Peninsulas.

 

[audreyh1]

I finally visited the new Total Wine in our area. I think we only browsed through 20% of the store before wearing ourselves out. Yes, lots of options. Hasn’t beat out Costco for us yet though with all of their great Kirkland wine deals. Maybe when we’ve whittled down more of our stash we’ll be looking more.

I do occasionally search for a specific wine and Total Wine did have it in some other stores but not locally and couldn’t ship to the local store.

I recently had a glass of the NV Poema Cava and it was outstanding and should retail around $10 a bottle, but can’t get it locally.

A resource for folks who buy a lot of wine at Costco - unaffiliated Costco Wine blog https://costcowineblog.com/ .

The Reverse Wine Snob is another good one and often features Costco bargains. https://www.reversewinesnob.com/

 

[Winemaker]

I'm in the "wine is food" category. I may drink the wine that is from that country's food. Say Sangiovese with pizza or spaghetti. Grenache with grilled octopus. Tempranillo with roast lamb (if paprika is in rub). If it grows together, it goes together.

 

[marko]

Back in the day, my company didn't entertain clients with golf or resort trips. Instead, our sole approach was drinks and very elaborate and expensive dinners. I HAD to learn wine and food.

I was fortunate that a fellow who worked for me had been an oenologist for over 20 years at a California vineyard and another was "very" French, who knew more about wine than he did his real job. Learned so much.

We lived in France for many years and found that regular generic table wine at a restaurant, served in a pitcher was so good, it would likely sell for $30 in the US. You just said "we'll have a pitcher of red" and it was really good juice.

I like the real big wines, but DW doesn't so we lean toward Italian Sangioveses and Temperanillos.

 

[COcheesehead]

We were in a tiny town of Pontone just outside Ravello Italy along the Amalfi Coast.
We had lunch at the only restaurant in town. We were there with a group so we ordered a house red and a house white. The waiter brought two bottles and opened them in front of us, but neither had a label on it. I asked the origin of the grapes. He simply pointed to the hillsides. The wines were awesome and I think about 3 euros each.

 

[marko]

We were in a tiny town of Pontone just outside Ravello Italy along the Amalfi Coast.
We had lunch at the only restaurant in town. We were there with a group so we ordered a house red and a house white. The waiter brought two bottles and opened them in front of us, but neither had a label on it. I asked the origin of the grapes. He simply pointed to the hillsides. The wines were awesome and I think about 3 euros each.

Yeah! Isn't that the best?! We ate at one little place on the Adriatic where the more you ate the cheaper the meal got

There were no menus, they just kept bringing different kinds of plates to the table. Seven or eight different servings.

 

[Phroig]

If you like sweet/dessert wines, you might appreciate the ice wines from the Niagara region in Canada, just over the border from Buffalo. We aren’t much into sweet wines, but we’ve frequently enjoyed driving around there.
Speaking of box wines, Bota Box, and even Kirkland and Aldi are fine for an everyday glass. We’ll drink the occasional nice bottle (still <$30), but we’ve gotten to be fans of cheap wines since a visit to Spain a few years ago.

 

[Scuba]

DH and I enjoy wine, and have tasted a lot of wines in CA, Italy, Greece, and Australia. At one time, a significant part of our social life revolved around wine and food tastings and drinking a fair bit of wine with friends. We have massively reduced our consumption, however, in an effort to control our weight and improve our health.

We still enjoy the occasional glass of wine with a special meal, but no longer split a bottle several times a week. In addition to helping us control our weight, we have also found that cutting back to the point where we rarely drink has improved our energy levels and mental clarity.

Cheers to all of you who can enjoy wine with impunity! I wish we could as we really like wine.

 

[simple girl]

Any recommendations for reasonably priced good wines at Total Wine? My friend is looking to purchase wines for a party she is hosting. She is interested in red wines and Rosés.

 

[OldShooter]

Any recommendations for reasonably priced good wines at Total Wine? My friend is looking to purchase wines for a party she is hosting. She is interested in red wines and Rosés.

No recommendations on roses, but Marietta Old Vine Red has been pretty reliable over the years. For a little more tanin and body, Bogle Cabernet. For more yet, Bogle Petite Sirah. You shouldn't have to pay more than $10 for any of them.

Please support your local specialty wine shops, though. You will get reliable recommendations from knowledgeable people there and, sometimes, lower prices than TW. At TW there is no way that sales people can know all the wines. You can identify an overpriced TW private label wine easily as it will be the one they push.

 

[Winemaker]

Any recommendations for reasonably priced good wines at Total Wine? My friend is looking to purchase wines for a party she is hosting. She is interested in red wines and Rosés.

Any wine recommendations are subjective and unique. Everyone's taste buds are different due to ability to smell, and aromas in your environment. While they are not here in PA, Total Wine does have a tasting bar located inside and it fun to taste their samples and make choices. She could take a friend or two as well as a designated driver, a week or so before the party.

My wine choices, again, are always food related, so I pair with what I am serving and the weather. I wouldn't serve a big bold Cab or Tannat if it's 90 degrees in the afternoon, but I would if it was 70 and in the evening.

 

[audreyh1]

The only rosés I’m familiar with are from the Côte d’Azure region of France and they are quite good. Our Costco carries a bunch including a Kirkland brand. It’s really impossible to blanket suggest wines overall.

I’m sure the Total Wine folks will have plenty of suggestions when they have a chance to discuss details with your friend.

 

[COcheesehead]

I agree with Winemaker. Pair it with the food and the temperature of the space.
Reds and rose’ come in so many styles, dry, off dry, sweet, bold, light, etc to make a recommendation is a shot in the dark.
If we knew the menu, that would be helpful.