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4/20 NEVER FORGET posted:I'm in Healdsburg on vacation. I'm more excited to go drink beer than go tasting at wineries. Did Bear Republic yesterday and going to hit Russian River Brewing today. Go to the Dry Creek General store, and eat dinner at Scopa. Those are my two favorite things in Healdsburg. If you want to eat at Cyrus you better do it this trip, they're closing up soon. Aleworks isn't far from Russian River. It's also not great, but neither is Bear Republic and you went there. If you want to taste in Dry Creek without getting buried in Zin go up West Dry Creek Road and hit up Quivira and Preston. Stitecin fucked around with this message at 02:32 on Aug 14, 2012 |
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Aug 14, 2012 02:30
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Stitecin posted:Aleworks isn't far from Russian River. It's also not great, but neither is Bear Republic and you went there.  4/20 NEVER FORGET posted:Lots of Zinfandel in dry creek, and I'm not really a fan to begin with. Remind me to open a bottle of Zin from Hillcrest in the Umpqua Valley sometime. It's 13% ABV and tastes kind of like Barbera. Weird.
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Aug 14, 2012 04:42
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I like Klinker Brick's zins too. Ridge's blends aren't too shabby either. Can some of you guys that have spent a lot of time in CA wine country tell me the best tourist wineries? I get asked the best places to go all the time, but I've only ever been on guided tours where my distributor takes me around. I know places that make great wine, but these are not always tourist friendly, and for all I know the experience at any particular winery might have sucked if I wasn't trade. Crimson fucked around with this message at 05:21 on Aug 14, 2012 |
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Aug 14, 2012 05:17
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Stitecin posted:Aleworks isn't far from Russian River. It's also not great, but neither is Bear Republic and you went there. I had a couple bad experiences there in 2007, I can't say how it is now. The beers vary from mediocre to good, the food and service are worse. Overall it's not great. 
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Aug 16, 2012 05:09
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I had a great time when I went there. Sat down, got their vegetarian sandwich with bacon on it and drank through a massive taster tray of every beer on tap. Their honey hefewiezen was awesome as was their sour beer at the end of the flight. Ended up sitting next to some cool locals at the bar, talked about cars, beer and wine for 3 hours straight. The bottled beer I have had from Bear Republic has always been quite good in my opinion as well.
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Aug 27, 2012 13:16
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Perfectly Cromulent posted:Remind me to open a bottle of Zin from Hillcrest in the Umpqua Valley sometime. It's 13% ABV and tastes kind of like Barbera. Weird. Word. Bring that poo poo to Karl's place on the 15th.
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Aug 27, 2012 13:17
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4/20 NEVER FORGET posted:Word. Bring that poo poo to Karl's place on the 15th. I drank it all. Won't be able to get more in time. 
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Aug 27, 2012 17:49
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Any of you guys in the East SF Bay should check out The Wine Mine's Saturday tastings. $1, six wines, right around 51st and Telegraph.
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Aug 27, 2012 21:21
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Perfectly Cromulent posted:I drank it all. Won't be able to get more in time. I guess you'll have to bring some Champagne to make up for it. 
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Aug 28, 2012 07:40
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4/20 NEVER FORGET posted:I guess you'll have to bring some Champagne to make up for it. Champagne and brisket, together at last. Fake edit: too bad I'll be in Seattle that weekend. 
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Aug 31, 2012 05:42
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You West Coast Winos have all the fun.
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Aug 31, 2012 14:13
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Overwined posted:You West Coast Winos have all the fun. Offer still stands, if anyone from this thread lands in Portland, OR and wants to go check out the Willamette valley, send me a PM and I'll see if I can line a day up to take you out tasting.
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Sep 3, 2012 13:02
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I'll be visiting the Napa Valley area on short notice this Thursday and Friday. I've tried to set a few reservations at popular places like Nickel and Nickel for tours and tastings, but everywhere has been booked. Does anyone have any recommendations for wineries that don't require reservations, or would not be booked up yet?
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Sep 10, 2012 19:04
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LASER BEAM DREAM posted:I'll be visiting the Napa Valley area on short notice this Thursday and Friday. I've tried to set a few reservations at popular places like Nickel and Nickel for tours and tastings, but everywhere has been booked. Does anyone have any recommendations for wineries that don't require reservations, or would not be booked up yet? Here are two posts about this topic: pork never goes bad posted:Alpha Omega would blow nickel and nickel out of the water. I often advise Sawyer, but they were recently bought by Foley Johnson so I don't know status. If they are open, the Sawyer wines are a brilliant expression of Rutherford terroir. Biale is a great experience if you like zins. I don't, but I'm still taken in. Goosecross is fun early in the day when less busy. August Briggs is smaller, very nice cabs and a great experience. try to get up Howell mtn for Outpost - some of napa's finest wine. 4/20 NEVER FORGET posted:Beaulieu Vineyards reserve room is worth a stop as well. They have two rooms, one for the tourists looking to get sauced and another room with more serious wines, including some library wines. I had a great experience when I was there. I also enjoyed Grgich Hills, Frank Family, and Provenance. There is a little accompanying discussion, but not much really. If you tell us some of what you've drunk and liked before, perhaps I can give some more recommendations.
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Sep 11, 2012 05:41
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Stitecin posted:First buy The Winemaker's Essential Phrasebook at least then you'll know winemaking vocabulary to go with your broken French (Portuguese, Italian, German, & Spanish). Thanks for the facebook group rec. Found some harvest work through there! Overwined posted:No, see, that's what I want to hear. I know how wine tastes, it's all I do every day. I want to hear about the men and women that work in the vineyard. Gimme some of that rustic pastoral poo poo. Well, made it to Burgundy and... drat! Never felt so drat out of place hahaha. So many rich American expats around here. Tables full of wine bottles older than I am, and cheese farther than the eye can see. Harvest hasn't started yet, but aside from eating/drinking I mainly have been cleaning out cement fermentation tanks. Spent a month in Germany volunteering at a winery and I mostly spent my time weeding and cleaning/labeling bottles. All work and no play in Germany. They definitely don't know how to live it up like the
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Sep 23, 2012 09:56
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Please post all about your experiences. I'm really considering working a harvest in Spain or France next year. Help speed up the language acquisition and get a little more hands on experience at the same time, I'm thinking.
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Sep 23, 2012 20:36
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I more or less have no idea what I'm doing and as I'm sure everyone can imagine, looking at the local stores' selections is a bit overwhelming due to the sheer number of things to take in. At the moment I would just end up taking something at random and maybe check on cellar tracker to make sure that it isn't really bad. Is that probably about all I can get away with for now or are there better ways that I could actually use to pick stuff out?
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Sep 24, 2012 21:11
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kirtar posted:At the moment I would just end up taking something at random and maybe check on cellar tracker to make sure that it isn't really bad. Is that probably about all I can get away with for now or are there better ways that I could actually use to pick stuff out? You know how to learn what kind(s) of wine you like? Drink lots of wine.
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Sep 25, 2012 00:30
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Murgos posted:You know how to learn what kind(s) of wine you like?
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Sep 25, 2012 02:15
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kirtar posted:I figured that was probably the answer I was going to get. Not that it's a bad thing to hear. It's the right answer, but most wine newbies don't know how to go about drinking a ton of wines beyond spending a bunch of money picking random bottles. Here are a couple of tips: 1) Unless you know exactly what you are looking for, grocery stores are generally bad places to shop for wine. There are exceptions to this rule, of course. I have friends who swear by certain wine buyers at specific grocery chain locations. But it's a good rule of thumb. Transportation and storage are spotty and you aren't likely to get much personal attention from the staff. 2) Wine shop tastings are your best bet for drinking lots of interesting wines. Find good wine shops in your area. Most of them will have a tasting or two every week. Usually, you will be able to try several high quality wines per session for $0 - $10 depending on the shop and what they are pouring. These are often themed, so you will get to taste several similar things side by side and learn a bit about the theme. 3) Develop relationships with wine people. When you go to those wine shops for tastings, ask questions. Get a recommendations on wines you might enjoy based on things you've liked in the past. Getting friends involved will make it more fun and allow you to drink more wine. A 750mL bottle is a lot of wine for one person to drink. If you get friends together, you can buy better wine (by spreading the cost out a bit), drink socially, and have a more manageable amount to drink.
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Sep 25, 2012 03:01
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Perfectly Cromulent posted:It's the right answer, but most wine newbies don't know how to go about drinking a ton of wines beyond spending a bunch of money picking random bottles. One thing that I'm considering for next year is taking the wine appreciation class at my university. It's apparently not a very easy class, but there's no way I will have another class conflict with it.
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Sep 25, 2012 04:02
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Yes, wine is often more academic than your average person expects. However, it's still wine and it's still fun to drink. So you have that to look forward to.
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Sep 25, 2012 04:06
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You can take this really seriously and go the deep academic route, or you can go for a more amateur appreciation. Both are valid, but it depends a lot on how much time you have to devote to the topic and your resources to purchase the materials. One simple step that can really help out in the early days is to always buy two similar (region/grape) bottles from different producers. Like two bottles of Aussie Shiraz or two Petite Sirahs from Paso Robles. Make notes about what you like and dislike about the two and why. This works for pretty much any region around the world, and it shouldn't be too hard or expensive to do these double sets. You're always going to like one more than the other for some reason, and thinking about that and jotting down the notes will help you form trends of your own palate and wine education. Don't rely too much on label info or other reviews, just explore why you like one more than the other.
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Sep 25, 2012 04:57
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Is it common or normal for red wine to cause your tongue to turn a fairly dark color? I don't know that I'd characterize it as black, but it's hard to tell what hue it actually is. From what I can find on google it seems to be that some things will while others won't, but is it the exception or is it typical, and is there any good way to guess if a wine will do so before trying it?
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Oct 2, 2012 23:37
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kirtar posted:Is it common or normal for red wine to cause your tongue to turn a fairly dark color? I don't know that I'd characterize it as black, but it's hard to tell what hue it actually is. From what I can find on google it seems to be that some things will while others won't, but is it the exception or is it typical, and is there any good way to guess if a wine will do so before trying it? You're drinking cheap wine aren't you? Mega-purple. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mega-purple Not that good quality, highly extracted, dark red wines won't do it as well - some will - but I'm guessing you been sipping on that purple drank.
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Oct 3, 2012 00:47
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kirtar posted:Is it common or normal for red wine to cause your tongue to turn a fairly dark color? I don't know that I'd characterize it as black, but it's hard to tell what hue it actually is. From what I can find on google it seems to be that some things will while others won't, but is it the exception or is it typical, and is there any good way to guess if a wine will do so before trying it? How important to you is it anyway? Does it bug you that much? Modern, super-high extracted wines will do this to you, especially as you drink a ton of them. Pack a toothbrush? It's not harmful to you. This seems purely like an image issue.
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Oct 3, 2012 00:53
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Overwined posted:How important to you is it anyway? Does it bug you that much? Modern, super-high extracted wines will do this to you, especially as you drink a ton of them. Pack a toothbrush? It's not harmful to you. This seems purely like an image issue.
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Oct 3, 2012 02:49
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My teeth stain really bad when I drink red wine. Less so if it's something light like Pinot Noir, but if am tasting a line-up of cabs or something, by the end of the tasting my teeth look horrible. I am usually able to wipe a good amount of it off with a wet paper towel. I agree though, it's annoying. My lips also stain easily. If I get really drunk on red wine my lip skin will stain so deeply it beds in like a tattoo. For the next day or two until that skin dies and goes away I have obvious red wine stains on my lips like I have been sipping wine all day. Kind of sucks when you have to go to work looking like that.
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Oct 3, 2012 03:03
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4/20 NEVER FORGET posted:My teeth stain really bad when I drink red wine. Less so if it's something light like Pinot Noir, but if am tasting a line-up of cabs or something, by the end of the tasting my teeth look horrible. I am usually able to wipe a good amount of it off with a wet paper towel. I agree though, it's annoying. Yeah I had my lips stain pretty badly too. I guess I'll try picking up a lighter red next time instead of a Cab. Then again I'm mostly buying pretty cheap wine so I don't know if that would really help. kirtar fucked around with this message at 04:34 on Oct 3, 2012 |
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Oct 3, 2012 04:13
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kirtar posted:Is it common or normal for red wine to cause your tongue to turn a fairly dark color? I don't know that I'd characterize it as black, but it's hard to tell what hue it actually is. From what I can find on google it seems to be that some things will while others won't, but is it the exception or is it typical, and is there any good way to guess if a wine will do so before trying it? Certain wine pigments become more purple at higher pH levels. When those pigments move from the low pH environment of the wine to the relatively high pH of your mouth, they can color your mouth purple. Someone correct me if I'm wrong here, but I believe these are anthocyanins. Generally speaking, big, tannic, highly-extracted wines will be more likely to stain your mouth. Is this really a problem for you? I'm kind of pleased at having a purple/black tongue after drinking wine.
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Oct 3, 2012 06:40
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Dear SA Wine Sophisticates, Last March, after four vintages in the cellar, I was promoted to Assistant Winemaker. I haven't mentioned it because A: I don't make Oregon Pinot so none of you care & B: Well, mostly A. -Stitecin kirtar posted:Is it common or normal for red wine to cause your tongue to turn a fairly dark color? It's normal. It's not everyday but it's also not infrequent that I have to power taste 75 barrels before the cellar crew can start their racking for the day. Tasting 75 Napa Cab barrel samples before 7:30 am will leave your tongue black all day unless you go brush and use a tongue scraper. Mine isn't ivory, but it works well. If you're going to have a lot of wine (or other low pH liquid) in your mouth you should look into MI Paste. My dentist sees a ton of wine industry folks and this stuff will help prevent winemaker mouth.
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Oct 4, 2012 13:26
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4/20 NEVER FORGET posted:My teeth stain really bad when I drink red wine. Less so if it's something light like Pinot Noir, but if am tasting a line-up of cabs or something, by the end of the tasting my teeth look horrible. I am usually able to wipe a good amount of it off with a wet paper towel. I agree though, it's annoying. A dilute solution of Oxiclean for the lips and some kind of peroxide based whitening toothpaste should clear that right up. I use oxiclean for my hands during harvest. They turn black otherwise.
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Oct 4, 2012 15:12
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Stitecin posted:Dear SA Wine Sophisticates, Congratulations! Where do you make wine? We care about more than Oregon Pinot. Riesling and Champagne are very important to us read: me too.
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Oct 4, 2012 18:52
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Perfectly Cromulent posted:Congratulations! Where do you make wine? I work at a fairly small privately owned winery in the Russian River Valley. Our production is roughly 50% Napa Cab, 25% RRV Pinot, 24% RRV Chard, 1% (1 fermenter) Bennett Valley Syrah. It's a good gig, and I get to play with fruit from some of the most famous vineyards in California.
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Oct 5, 2012 21:33
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That is awesome, congrats. I love RRV Pinot and Chardonnay, I can imagine that is a pretty sweet gig. I love that area as well, I was just down there on vacation a couple months ago. If you ever want to trade some wine, send me a PM. While I love RRV wine, I know very little about it. I can give you a link to my collection on cellartracker if you're interested.
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Oct 6, 2012 18:18
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Anybody here have connections in the northeast at wineries? I'm researching some business ideas and want to talk to some cats.
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Oct 6, 2012 18:42
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Just drank Pithon Paille "Grololo" Vin de Pays du Val de Loire last night, and it was absolutely incredible. This was definitely one of the best glou-glou wines I've had in a long time. The name and label are, well, interesting - Grololo is a play on "gros" for Groslot, the grape, but also meaning large, and "lolo," a child's slang term for breasts. Just a pity that the ATB didn't approve the French label, hah. Pithon Paille also make a really decent Bourgueil, and a sublime Savennieres. http://www.klwines.com/detail.asp?sku=1093502
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Oct 6, 2012 21:54
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gently caress the TTB now and forever. Amen.
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Oct 6, 2012 22:22
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Argh, mix BATF and TTB in my head, and you get ATB, apparently a German DJ.
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Oct 6, 2012 23:16
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moflika posted:Don't want to fill this thread up with too much of my crap, but I've been looking around and it looks like the Champagne and Beaujolais regions have a ban on mechanical harvesting. Since I'm looking to pick, anybody aware of any others? Tokaji must be hand picked, the sweet stuff does anyway. Tokaji Aszu takes hand harvesting to the extreme. I just got back from vintage in Cyprus and I'll put some photos up soon. No vintage journal this year because of the constant 18 hour shifts.
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Oct 16, 2012 20:16
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