Wine - Discussion, Travel & More

[zippy2020]

I scanned through this discussion and did not see anyone mention this, so apologies if I missed an appropriate earlier posting:

If you enjoy wine bargains (and who doesn't, LOL?), then Costco is considered a great source. But another is found only by foodies - the free Hungry Onion discussion board.

HO replaced Chowhound, which sank under a new mgmt team that revamped the original interface, not realizing it made it harder to use. The specific thread that has developed into a food-and-wine bargain alert - mostly for NorCA and some of Washington state, is this one:

https://www.hungryonion.org/t/2023-grocery-outlet-california-oregon-washington-etc-etc/32962

Note: I only post to the NorCA board, so cannot say whether HO's other regional boards have a similar, active thread topic.

 

[marko]

Years ago in my early California days I spent a lot of time in Napa and was told by an oenologist that for a wine to be officially called a true "California" wine, that the original vine cuttings had to have come from France. Somehow there was a vine disease and cuttings were sent to California to save the vines. The French may have adopted the "California" lable to identify their original vines.

I've used that nugget in a few "often wrong but seldom in doubt" conversations, but now I'm wondering. Anyone?

 

[COcheesehead]

Years ago in my early California days I spent a lot of time in Napa and was told by an oenologist that for a wine to be officially called a true "California" wine, that the original vine cuttings had to have come from France. Somehow there was a vine disease and cuttings were sent to California to save the vines. The French may have adopted the "California" lable to identify their original vines.

I've used that nugget in a few "often wrong but seldom in doubt" conversations, but now I'm wondering. Anyone?

Some of the oldest vines in California are of Italian origin and some of the oldest vineyards are mixed varietals, not a single planting. They planted them that way so in a single harvest they would get the best aspects of each grape.
There is a winery in Sonoma called Bedrock that makes outstanding wines from some of these historic field blend vineyards. They call them Heritage wines.

 

[SunGuy]

Traditional French wines are an acquired taste for many who did not grow up with them. I am used to the fruit forward wines of California and Washington as well as the wines of Italy. French wines initially seemed much harsher to my taste buds. But, I did find they grow on you. And letting them breath for 30 minutes was also a big help.

IMO, the Siciilian Nero d'Avila wines are great with pizza.

Pinot Grigio and Riesling go great with pizza/Italian food, also Muscadine wine is a seldom heard of wine that more people need to try.

With inflation nowadays, it is really hard to justify alcohol and junk food. I never drank much, but now I only buy wine when out with friends/family.

So that is a glass or two every three weeks usually.

 

[Winemaker]

Years ago in my early California days I spent a lot of time in Napa and was told by an oenologist that for a wine to be officially called a true "California" wine, that the original vine cuttings had to have come from France. Somehow there was a vine disease and cuttings were sent to California to save the vines. The French may have adopted the "California" lable to identify their original vines.

I've used that nugget in a few "often wrong but seldom in doubt" conversations, but now I'm wondering. Anyone?

Except for South America and Australia, about all European and American grape vines are now grown on American rootstock. The wine grape was nearly wiped out due the Phylloxera louse. The louse hitched a ride back to Europe when they tried to grow American grapes in France, then started destroying European vines. The louse did not affect American rootstock. Original cuttings from Europe are still grown in South America and Australia, as the louse couldn't weather the journey.

I have never heard of a "California" label. There's a lot of things that the ATF demand on a wine label, that doesn't ring a bell.

 

[COcheesehead]

The French would never label a wine as California. LOL. Blasphemy!

Here is how to read a label.

https://blog.juicegrape.com/index.php/2021/11/how-to-read-a-wine-label-usa-french-and-italian/

 

[lajolla]

We love wine in our house and H and I have visited many wine regions here in California. Paso Robles is our favorite go to area for the past few years. On a good day it is a 5 hour drive from San Diego, but having to go through LA makes the trip much longer especially coming back after the weekend.

We love the J Dusi winery which has an amazing Zinfandel from vines that are almost 100 years old. The other place we love is Austin Hope which has a couple of great cabernets (Austin Hope and Treana). We can get these Austin Hope wines at our local Costco.

If you have never been to Paso Robles there are so many great wineries in the area. I highly recommend a visit. You can also visit Santa Barbara and Santa Maria if you have the time which also have some good wines.

 

[COcheesehead]

We love wine in our house and H and I have visited many wine regions here in California. Paso Robles is our favorite go to area for the past few years. On a good day it is a 5 hour drive from San Diego, but having to go through LA makes the trip much longer especially coming back after the weekend.

We love the J Dusi winery which has an amazing Zinfandel from vines that are almost 100 years old. The other place we love is Austin Hope which has a couple of great cabernets (Austin Hope and Treana). We can get these Austin Hope wines at our local Costco.

If you have never been to Paso Robles there are so many great wineries in the area. I highly recommend a visit. You can also visit Santa Barbara and Santa Maria if you have the time which also have some good wines.

We love Central Coast wines. We were just in Santa Barbara, San Luis Opispo and Paso.

 

[Winemaker]

DW and I love SB, have stopped at 2 Paso wineries and haven't been to SLO. DM was with us in Paso, and would have been bored with it all. So she watched some TV at the VRBO in San Miguel, and we visited 2 wineries one afternoon. DW and I had fun, but that's when we realized that DM was beginning her slide, kinda putting a damper on the trip.

Tomorrow, I pick up my drum of Chilean Sauvignon Grape juice and some 6 gallon buckets of same for the angels. This is the first time I'll be doing a barrel fermented SB, and for the most part, the barrel is neutral. It is an old Demptos barrel made of Frecn Oak from the Nevers forest. I am also going to age it on the lees (old dead yeast cells) that give some whites a creamier taste and mouth feel. The only way is to find out is to try.

On Monday, I get my Chilean Syrah and Pinot Noir grapes. It is the first time for me to use PN from Chile, there is a big demand for Californian PN and quality PN grapes are priced out of most grape distributors budgets. I have done well with the Syrah in the past, hoping to have great results with the PN. I'm even going to try a pink sparkling wine with a gallon or two.

 

[COcheesehead]

DW and I love SB, have stopped at 2 Paso wineries and haven't been to SLO. DM was with us in Paso, and would have been bored with it all. So she watched some TV at the VRBO in San Miguel, and we visited 2 wineries one afternoon. DW and I had fun, but that's when we realized that DM was beginning her slide, kinda putting a damper on the trip.

Tomorrow, I pick up my drum of Chilean Sauvignon Grape juice and some 6 gallon buckets of same for the angels. This is the first time I'll be doing a barrel fermented SB, and for the most part, the barrel is neutral. It is an old Demptos barrel made of Frecn Oak from the Nevers forest. I am also going to age it on the lees (old dead yeast cells) that give some whites a creamier taste and mouth feel. The only way is to find out is to try.

On Monday, I get my Chilean Syrah and Pinot Noir grapes. It is the first time for me to use PN from Chile, there is a big demand for Californian PN and quality PN grapes are priced out of most grape distributors budgets. I have done well with the Syrah in the past, hoping to have great results with the PN. I'm even going to try a pink sparkling wine with a gallon or two.

The winery I work at did an on lees Chenin Blanc. It was interesting. It added a caramel note to what would otherwise be lime, apple/pear.

 

[Winemaker]

The winery I work at did an on lees Chenin Blanc. It was interesting. It added a caramel note to what would otherwise be lime, apple/pear.

I tend to push buttons, taste wise. I like my wines to taste like the variety should, but like to add complexity, such a fermenting 2 batches of same grape with different yeasts and blending them AFTER they're dry. If you do it early, some yeasts are killers, and spend their remaining time killing the other yeast and fail to complete full fermentation.

Also, when aging on the lees, the lees metabolize, break down and absorb oxygen, keeping the wine fresher over time. A friend of mine a few years back made a Sauv Blanc, barrel fermented and on the lees, and it was delicious. I'm hoping mine turns out as well as his.

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

I tend to push buttons, taste wise. I like my wines to taste like the variety should, but like to add complexity, such a fermenting 2 batches of same grape with different yeasts and blending them AFTER they're dry. If you do it early, some yeasts are killers, and spend their remaining time killing the other yeast and fail to complete full fermentation.

Also, when aging on the lees, the lees metabolize, break down and absorb oxygen, keeping the wine fresher over time. A friend of mine a few years back made a Sauv Blanc, barrel fermented and on the lees, and it was delicious. I'm hoping mine turns out as well as his.

With wine making, are you able to reuse (e.g. wash, re-pitch) yeast? (When I was brewing a lot I did this and had a full mini-fridge of yeast mason jars.)
To further clarify, I am not asking in terms of mixing yeasts (which would be even more problematic to reuse given one strain might be more dominant than another).

 

[COcheesehead]

Seems like we need to resurrect this thread as Fall and the holidays are coming up.

We recently had what I think is the best “cheap” wine. Widely available. It’s a red blend of two grapes, 90% Carignane and 10% Syrah. $11 at my local wine shop. Old world balance with enough complexity to keep it interesting.

Mint, plum and licorice notes. Medium to light bodied.

Les Heretiques, from the Languedoc region in France.

 

[ronin]

Teroldego sourced from Lodi made by a couple of my favorite wineries in the Shenandoah Valley, quite nice. Lots of good wine in Lodi. Grape capital of the nation. Worth a look.

 

[COcheesehead]

Teroldego sourced from Lodi made by a couple of my favorite wineries in the Shenandoah Valley, quite nice. Lots of good wine in Lodi. Grape capital of the nation. Worth a look.

I have had some good Lodi Grenache and Zins.

 

[brett]

Our experience is varied.

I like reds...Malbecs, Merlots plus Douro's, Riogos. Chile, Argentina, Portugal, Spain.

Our experience is never bother with duty free. Wines that we buy in Canada were 3X the price at duty free in Santiago.

Ditto for our last trip to Portugal. A good Duoro that I was buying several times a week at the Pingo Doce grocery store was 3X at the Faro airport duty free.

We very seldom buy Canadian or US wine. Poor price point/value for us compared to other options that our local wine store brings in by the container load.

Right now we are working our way through a case of Argentinian UKO estate Malbec and a case of the Cab. Sav estate.

 

[DrRoy]

I have 2 reds that are my favorites (soft pinot noir). Anything else that I try is in comparison to them. In the last 2 years I have not found anything else that I like better.

 

[Winemaker]

On Saturday, I had a bottle of Tempranillo aged in cedar from a local winery. Tasted pretty good. Has anyone ever had a wine aged i cedar? I had some Italian wines aged in cherry or acacia barrels, but never cedar. Has anyone here had a cedar aged wine?

 

[Midpack]

Here’s our current list that may not match anyone else, Y we’d buy again, N we would not, tbd we haven’t tried yet. But wine is personal taste, and you can see we don’t drink whites often. We find $15 is the lower limit for “good” wine, but we stumble on exceptions from time to time. Unfortunately finding something we like is good for one year, the next vintage could be very different.

Our favorites are probably Beringer, Macchia, Failla and Presqu’ile.

We’ve had several expensive wines (Penfolds Grange, Chateau Haut Brion, Opus One, Caymus, Lafite Rothschild) and they were outstanding - but I guess our tastes are not sophisticated enough to justify paying more than $35-50 for any wine other than champagnes - e.g. Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame or Taittinger Le Reve.

As for travel, we did a 4 day bike trip through Napa Valley that we really enjoyed. We bought a total of two cases, fortunately the company sends a car at the end of each day to round up your purchases, and arranges delivery to your home after.

 

[audreyh1]

I have 2 reds that are my favorites (soft pinot noir). Anything else that I try is in comparison to them. In the last 2 years I have not found anything else that I like better.

Well, which are they? Thanks.

 

[COcheesehead]

On Saturday, I had a bottle of Tempranillo aged in cedar from a local winery. Tasted pretty good. Has anyone ever had a wine aged i cedar? I had some Italian wines aged in cherry or acacia barrels, but never cedar. Has anyone here had a cedar aged wine?

Not cedar, but redwood. There is a winery called Once and Future, founded by the guy behind Ravenswood and he uses redwood in fermentation. Could be just in my head, but I think it’s adds an interesting flavor note.

https://www.polanerselections.com/producers/once-future/

 

[Winemaker]

^ Yes, I have had wines fermented in old redwood vats; yes, interesting flavor. Very mild influence, but the Spanish cedar gave this a little stronger "resin" flavor than mild.

 

[brett]

We have been in several wine stores and small grocery stores in Italy where you bring your own bottle and they fill it up from the barrel.

More often than not the barrel in the grocery store or deli is from the vineyard of a relative.

More than once I have gone into a small store in Italy to buy a bottle or red. I overcome the language barrier by holding up two different reds. The clerk will point to one or come around the counter and point out something else. This method has not failed yet!

 

[COcheesehead]

We have been in several wine stores and small grocery stores in Italy where you bring your own bottle and they fill it up from the barrel.

More often than not the barrel in the grocery store or deli is from the vineyard of a relative.

More than once I have gone into a small store in Italy to buy a bottle or red. I overcome the language barrier by holding up two different reds. The clerk will point to one or come around the counter and point out something else. This method has not failed yet!

We’ve had been to Co-ops in both Italy and France where you bring your “jug”. Fun and usually pretty good.

 

[2017ish]

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.

This just about describes us as well. Started in grad school by pairing a young Spätlese with our monthly stir fry (the only good meal we made during those years)

Tasted more and more over the years. I built our first walk-in cellar around 2000, and another when we moved in 2005, which essentially "compelled" case purchasing. The day before retirement, we had nearly 4 years of wine stocked away, but our post-work travel schedule immediately converted that to 7+ years, so we've slowed down on our purchases. Truly enjoy being able to drink aged wines every night that we are home, although you occasionally realize that you've kept one too long....

Strongly recommend wine growing areas of Chile and Argentina for visits. Still not crowded, and top flight wines. (And Uruguay was a pleasant surprise.)

Our tastes today still include German whites (altbeit with a decent amount of cellar time), but we've branched out quite a bit. If DW had her way, we'd have pinot 5 days a week, along with a Châteauneuf, Malbec, or cabernet based bottle for steak night. (And I'll treat the grilling chef to a PX sherry, Sauternes, or a German TBA if I'm in a generous mood. )

Interesting to see everyone's contributions to this thread!