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I need to buy a bottle of wine for tomorrow night. My fiancee's favorite white is the Bricco Riella moscato d'asti. She likes sweeter wines, doesn't like much in the way of tannins. Is there anything that would be a good upgrade from that? I'm willing to spend up to $30.
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Feb 14, 2015 05:27
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| # ? May 12, 2024 17:28 |
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22 Eargesplitten posted:I need to buy a bottle of wine for tomorrow night. My fiancee's favorite white is the Bricco Riella moscato d'asti. She likes sweeter wines, doesn't like much in the way of tannins. Is there anything that would be a good upgrade from that? I'm willing to spend up to $30. You can find a decent prosecco in that pricerange. Still bubbly and a touch sweet but more balanced and has a bit of champagne charm with the bottles and corks. Other goons could better suggest a specific one. Also, a nice vinho verde (tend toward cheap, citrusy, and delicious) or gewürztraminer would be worth considering. Moscato is a fun if simple and cloying little inexspens ive wine no sin in asking around for a spiffierone or even just getting a bottle of the fiance's favorite.
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Feb 14, 2015 16:11
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Ended up getting a La Spinetta Bricco Quaglio Moscato D'Asti. It was apparently the only one they had from one vinyard, which I guess means more consistent grapes or something? It was really good, a lot of pear, crisp, a little citrus. Still not going to buy $20 bottles of wine on a regular basis, but it was nice for a special occasion.
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Feb 15, 2015 02:59
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Sorry I'm late but you should have gotten her a Brachetto d'Acqui. Sweet, red sparkling wine from the same area as the Moscato d'Asti. Stuff is straight up ambrosia. We used to call it the LPD at my old restaurant - Liquid Panty Dropper. Maybe next time.
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Feb 15, 2015 11:46
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Had a white wine from Burgundy at a restaurant last night. It had a pretty disgusting smell of cooked cabbage. So, I am thinking mercaptans or DMS, a wine fault. I had them taste it, and they insisted it was just the oak and no fault at all. The other person at the table found it disgusting as well. They ended up giving me a glass of something totally one-dimensional and safe instead, and I did not have to actually pay for the other glass, but still. Left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth as the threshold of complaining in restaurants is so high in Norway. Of course, I'm no wine expert, nor do I have any experience with white wine from that region. Are sulfur and cooked cabbage typical aromas for that kind of wine, or were they just being dicks/ignorant (the servers were not educated in any way, and were in fact there as part of their internship)?
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Feb 15, 2015 16:03
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Crimson posted:Sorry I'm late but you should have gotten her a Brachetto d'Acqui. Sweet, red sparkling wine from the same area as the Moscato d'Asti. Stuff is straight up ambrosia. We used to call it the LPD at my old restaurant - Liquid Panty Dropper. Maybe next time. I'll keep that in mind the next time I'm looking for a red. Her favorite red is the roscato rosso dolce, so that sounds right up her alley.
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Feb 15, 2015 17:25
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Biomute posted:Are sulfur and cooked cabbage typical aromas for that kind of wine, or were they just being dicks/ignorant (the servers were not educated in any way, and were in fact there as part of their internship)? Sulfur, or struck match stick as it's often called, is a really common aroma for white Burgundy. It's from volatile sulfur compounds produced by the yeasts. It's impossible for me to know if your wine was faulty or not, but if it really smelled like straight up cabbage then yeah, it was faulty, and no, oak will not ever make a wine smell like cabbage.
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Feb 15, 2015 22:57
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So goony wine peeps. I'm in love with Mollydooker blue eyed boy. Since I order it from the distributor it's pretty cheap (approx 25 a bottle). I'm sitting on a case at my house right now! Anyway aside from the upper tier mollydookers like enchanted path and carnival of love I have been drinking some Leonettis at my buddies restaurant and holy poo poo balls amazing. But I really can't drop 80 bucks a bottle right now on the Leonetti works of art. Is there anything comparable to these wonderful things that I can try out? Preferably something 50-75 retail since I can get it wholesale. Thanks wine goons.
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Feb 22, 2015 08:57
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Such a wide range, but if you wanted to stick in Washington you could try Delille Cellars. Their D2 is only around $30 wholesale and is pretty good. Their upper tier Cabs are delicious too, and are in your range.
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Feb 22, 2015 09:44
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Crimson posted:Such a wide range, but if you wanted to stick in Washington you could try Delille Cellars. Their D2 is only around $30 wholesale and is pretty good. Their upper tier Cabs are delicious too, and are in your range. Thanks I will check it out! I know it's a decent gulf between a Leonetti Cab and a Molly Shiraz but they are both fantastic wines. I lean towards the Molly on a daily drinking basis (I stock cases of the boxer and two left feet at my house for table wine, but my "special occasion" stuff is blue eyed boy) because Leonettis are just so drat expensive and even working through my restaurant a pain in the rear end to get from the distributor. I will ask my rep on Monday if they carry Delille. If not my buddy can order it. His place stocks a few hundred wines so he has contacts for every drat brand it seems. Speaking of which I need to find out of he can get Steven Kent Chardonnays. I haven't had one since the 2002 vintage and I used to love it, it's just hard to find in Texas.
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Feb 22, 2015 10:01
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Out of curiosity what country do you live in that you order directly from the distributor?
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Feb 23, 2015 15:17
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Overwined posted:Out of curiosity what country do you live in that you order directly from the distributor? Errant Gin Monks posted:it's just hard to find in Texas.
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Feb 23, 2015 16:18
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I don't want to be "that guy" and honestly I don't care how people get their wine. It is a violation of Federal Law and while I know it happens all the time (I may have even done it myself) you may not want to talk about it so openly here.
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Feb 23, 2015 17:12
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Overwined posted:I don't want to be "that guy" and honestly I don't care how people get their wine. It is a violation of Federal Law and while I know it happens all the time (I may have even done it myself) you may not want to talk about it so openly here. I own a restaurant, I have accounts with distributors. I am legally allowed to buy from them. But I appreciate your concern.
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Feb 23, 2015 18:56
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I finally drank that Joguet Chinon, it was very unique, one of my friends really loved it. It tasted very strongly of smoke and the fruit was very muted, is this a result of carbonic maceration or just some quirk of the terroir? Is that what people mean when they mention that Chinon isn't for everybody? I liked it well enough, it kind of had a bit of what I like from funky Pinot, but maybe less fruit to balance it out than I prefer.
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Feb 23, 2015 20:44
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himajinga posted:I finally drank that Joguet Chinon, it was very unique, one of my friends really loved it. It tasted very strongly of smoke and the fruit was very muted, is this a result of carbonic maceration or just some quirk of the terroir? Is that what people mean when they mention that Chinon isn't for everybody? I liked it well enough, it kind of had a bit of what I like from funky Pinot, but maybe less fruit to balance it out than I prefer. Sounds like you had a faulted bottle. That bottling is a clean, fruity, typical example of Chinon, with no new oak to give it smokiness. Cab Franc can often have an aroma of green tobacco, but it shouldn't be smoky. Edit: What puts a lot of people off Chinon is the extreme herbaceous aroma, which you didn't mention at all.
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Feb 24, 2015 01:52
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Kasumeat posted:Sounds like you had a faulted bottle. That bottling is a clean, fruity, typical example of Chinon, with no new oak to give it smokiness. Cab Franc can often have an aroma of green tobacco, but it shouldn't be smoky. Haha whoops, well I guess that's what I get for expecting "not for everybody" and not knowing what kind of "not for everybody" to expect 
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Feb 24, 2015 05:19
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I just tried a riesling (Pacific Rim 2011), but it had none of the riesling characteristics I'd expect. The aroma had a leathery and earthy quality, and the fruity notes of apple, pear, and apricot I was looking for weren't present at all. It wasn't like, offensively bad or anything. But it was certainly disappointing. Any idea what could've happened? Would it be possible to return the bottle?
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Mar 9, 2015 10:23
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Earthy? Maybe okay. Leathery? Probably cooked.
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Mar 9, 2015 14:35
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ShadowCatboy posted:I just tried a riesling (Pacific Rim 2011), but it had none of the riesling characteristics I'd expect. The aroma had a leathery and earthy quality, and the fruity notes of apple, pear, and apricot I was looking for weren't present at all. It wasn't like, offensively bad or anything. But it was certainly disappointing. Any idea what could've happened? Would it be possible to return the bottle? I don't know your level of wine knowledge, so apologies if this is stating the obvious. Pacific Rim releases various styles from sweet to dry. The grape has a lot of expressions and not all Riesling is fruity and sweet. I tend to prefer it when it's more mineral, on the dry side. Which one did you buy? http://rieslingrules.com/wines/
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Mar 9, 2015 20:49
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ShadowCatboy posted:Would it be possible to return the bottle? Depends on the retailer, but generally yes. I'd recommend going in with the bottle and telling them what you just told us, they should offer you a refund. And better yet, to taste the bottle so you know whether it was just a stylistic thing you didn't like or a fault.
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Mar 9, 2015 21:35
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Hey guys, if anyone is curious I took my first attempt at the master sommelier theory exam. Didn't pass, but it went pretty well and I look forward to crushing it next time. For those unfamiliar, it's all verbal, with two masters just peppering you with 100+ questions on anything ranging from sake, spirits, cocktails, beer, and of course mostly wine. A small sample of some questions I could recall immediately after the exam: Order these from coolest to warmest: Hemel-en-Aarde, Simonsberg, Helderberg. What state is Hastings River in? What state are the AVAs Red Mountain, Snipes Mountain and Rattlesnake Hills? Name 2 geographical influences on Gimblett Gravels. Put these north to south: Austral, Valle Central, Sur, Aconcagua, Atacama Name 2 sub-regions of the Maipu in Argentina. What is the altitude for wine growing in Fiano di Avellino? What is the sugar range in gram per liter for brut nature and extra brut? Name 3 other terms used for brut nature. What does it mean if a Vouvray label has the word “tendre” on it? What is deficit irrigation? At what stage of the growing season is it employed? List these Champagne villages North to South: Cramant, Verzenay, Ambonnay, Ricey. Which of those Champagne villages is not a Grand Cru? Define the following two beer terms: Lagering, Krausening. In sake, what are the following terms: Nihonshudo, tokkuri. What growth and commune is Chateau Beychevelle? What grape is Montila-Moriles known for? How long must colheita Madeira be aged? Other than the 3 La La vineyards, name 3 vineyards within Cote-Rotie. What is unicum? Pretty brutal but doable. The real difficulty stems from the verbal format, and not being able to return to already answered or passed questions.
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Mar 10, 2015 07:32
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Jesus Christ.
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Mar 10, 2015 07:46
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Crimson posted:Hey guys, if anyone is curious I took my first attempt at the master sommelier theory exam. Didn't pass, but it went pretty well and I look forward to crushing it next time. For those unfamiliar, it's all verbal, with two masters just peppering you with 100+ questions on anything ranging from sake, spirits, cocktails, beer, and of course mostly wine. A small sample of some questions I could recall immediately after the exam: Awesome, thanks for posting that. Those questions seem very fair, which I hear is a departure from the past. But yeah they're all difficult enough that I would struggle to answer them orally in a reasonable amount of time. gently caress that Fiano question though, I would probably struggle to answer that with a day's research. Did you pick up any modules?
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Mar 10, 2015 08:18
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I didn't know you can't purchase directly from a distributor. That explains why I didn't find any such info, and throws a wrench in my plan: So I'm a couple of years out from banking enough cash to let the wife take over for a few years while I go to grad school. One of our larger monthly expenses is booze, and I want to surprise her the day I quit working with no less than 300 bottles of wine. I'd keep these in a basement that based on what I've read here sounds like it'd be fine for longer-term storage. But as far as acquisition, are there any wholesale wine retailers that I could get discounts for bulk purchases on? I mean I could just slowly accrue bottles that go on sale locally but a more direct route would be better. We drink between $10-$20 bottles, so that range but cheaper in volume, if that's a thing.
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Mar 12, 2015 06:41
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Kasumeat posted:Awesome, thanks for posting that. Those questions seem very fair, which I hear is a departure from the past. But yeah they're all difficult enough that I would struggle to answer them orally in a reasonable amount of time. gently caress that Fiano question though, I would probably struggle to answer that with a day's research. They separated it so you have to pass theory in order to get invited to take the tasting and service at a later date, so no I didn't get anything. I actually had fun and found it really enjoyable to test myself. I didn't study too hard after passing the advanced exam last year, so I didn't expect to pass. I started hitting the books again in earnest when I received the invite for the master exam, about 3 months out from the exam date. I accepted as motivation to get off my rear end and crack a book open again. I'll get it eventually for sure. I loled that you picked out the Fiano question. I thought that was ridiculous as hell too, I couldn't find a good answer after checking numerous resources.
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Mar 12, 2015 08:09
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swansong posted:I didn't know you can't purchase directly from a distributor. That explains why I didn't find any such info, and throws a wrench in my plan: Go to a winery, tell them you are interested in 30 cases can they cut you a deal.
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Mar 12, 2015 15:12
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swansong posted:One of our larger monthly expenses is booze, and I want to surprise her the day I quit working with no less than 300 bottles of wine. I'd keep these in a basement that based on what I've read here sounds like it'd be fine for longer-term storage. How long were you planning on keeping them? There's plenty of great bargains out there in the $10-20 range but they're meant to be consumed on release. That's a pretty big investment with a big risk of oxidation (or just becoming flat and boring) over time in less-than-perfect conditions. You can kind of test this by buying five bottles of the kind of thing you like, stick them in the basement for a few years until you're ready to quit the job. Try them out and see if you like how they've survived in that environment. Or hunt around for those kind of bottles that you see in the bargain bin--bottles that were $15 on release but five years later have a sticker on them for $5. If you like that style, you're in luck!
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Mar 12, 2015 22:03
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benito posted:I don't know your level of wine knowledge, so apologies if this is stating the obvious. Pacific Rim releases various styles from sweet to dry. The grape has a lot of expressions and not all Riesling is fruity and sweet. I tend to prefer it when it's more mineral, on the dry side. Which one did you buy? It was definitely the 2011 vintage with the pheonix on the label (I try to go for drier wines). I've definitely detected a mineral finish with rieslings before, but in this particular bottle as I mentioned the aroma was definitely leathery. Sadly I'm suffering from a head cold right now so my nose is totally out of whack and I can't confirm right now. 
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Mar 13, 2015 02:26
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benito posted:How long were you planning on keeping them? There's plenty of great bargains out there in the $10-20 range but they're meant to be consumed on release. That's a pretty big investment with a big risk of oxidation (or just becoming flat and boring) over time in less-than-perfect conditions. You can kind of test this by buying five bottles of the kind of thing you like, stick them in the basement for a few years until you're ready to quit the job. Try them out and see if you like how they've survived in that environment. Or hunt around for those kind of bottles that you see in the bargain bin--bottles that were $15 on release but five years later have a sticker on them for $5. If you like that style, you're in luck! So are you telling me that if I just start accruing like 10 marked down bottles/month and stick them in a cool basement area that stays a reasonably consistent cool temperature to keep for 1-3 years, that's a bad idea? Does horizontal vs. vertical storage affect the possibility of oxidation/flatness/whatever?
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Mar 17, 2015 14:03
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swansong posted:So are you telling me that if I just start accruing like 10 marked down bottles/month and stick them in a cool basement area that stays a reasonably consistent cool temperature to keep for 1-3 years, that's a bad idea? Does horizontal vs. vertical storage affect the possibility of oxidation/flatness/whatever? It's more that most inexpensive New World wines don't have a very long lifespan, even in perfect storage conditions. Most will be best in their year of release and quickly decline from there.
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Mar 17, 2015 14:25
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Kasumeat posted:It's more that most inexpensive New World wines don't have a very long lifespan, even in perfect storage conditions. Most will be best in their year of release and quickly decline from there. Alright, well I'm glad I asked before I hosed that all up, thanks very much for the heads up.
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Mar 17, 2015 14:30
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swansong posted:Alright, well I'm glad I asked before I hosed that all up, thanks very much for the heads up. You really didn't stand a risk of "loving it up", really. The wines would still be strictly drinkable, just not as good as at release as Kasumeat posted. Wine collection is really for the somewhat informed. It's not so much how you do it, but why and with which wines. By that I mean putting bottles away that you have no experience with doesn't make a lot of sense. It's for the things that you taste young or maybe you know the producer or the region and you say to yourself "I bet this is going to taste great in X years." Moreover, I bet that if you were to blind taste people that weren't familiar with how aged wines taste and you were to taste them on the same wine at three different stages in their lives, people would choose one of the younger two. The older wines tend to present a totally different experience and with some notable exceptions (like Bordeaux) the wines are fruitier and livelier upon release or after a handful of years. Now I'm not trying to be elitist here. I'm just trying to say you should know more about what you're putting away. The great thing is that the "curriculum" is already at hand for you. Buy as much and as many varied wines as you can. Buy them young and relatively cheap and drink the poo poo out of the  One day you'll finish off a bottle and say, "drat, I want to know more about this producer and region."
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Mar 17, 2015 14:44
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Overwined posted:One day you'll finish off a bottle and say, "drat, I want to know more about this producer and region." And pray it's not Burgundy.
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Mar 19, 2015 01:06
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pork never goes bad posted:And pray it's not Burgundy. poo poo, these days it could be worse. Besides, when you drink that first lifechanging Burg you don't say anything. You just start tallying your bank accounts and possessions and even children (if your local laws allow) and defining those numbers in terms of Grand Crus.
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Mar 19, 2015 04:49
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Wine friends, is this the place to ask about sherry?
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Mar 20, 2015 22:47
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CrotchDropJeans posted:Wine friends, is this the place to ask about sherry? Yes
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Mar 20, 2015 22:51
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Excellent. Thought it might be, but didn't want to post a question and get a bunch of "uh the sherry thread is over THERE" responses I used to live in Spain, and every once in awhile my boyfriend and I would treat ourselves to a glass or bottle of a particular sherry. Now that we're back in the states for the forseeable future, we want to buy a bottle of it, but are having the worst time. I've spent hours looking over bodega sites/wine sites/etc only to find that they either don't carry the one we're looking for, or they do carry it but don't ship outside of Spain. "Please do my shopping for me" posts are a pet peeve of mine, but I'm at my wits end here so if anyone knows a site/distributor/store/whatever where I can either buy this sherry in the United States or have it shipped to me, I'd really appreciate it. The sherry: Amontillado Fino Imperial V.O.R.S. 30, Jerez Right now our only realistic option is to get someone we know in Spain to buy it for us there and pay them to ship it, but we'd rather just order it directly ourselves. Any leads? Edit: I read Spanish, Portuguese, and French, so sites in those languages are fine if you know of any CrotchDropJeans fucked around with this message at 23:03 on Mar 20, 2015 |
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Mar 20, 2015 23:00
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CrotchDropJeans posted:Excellent. Thought it might be, but didn't want to post a question and get a bunch of "uh the sherry thread is over THERE" responses My suggestion would be to email/phone the producer if you can speak Spanish and find out if they have a U.S. distributor, then if they do speak to them and see where locally either lists it or works with that distributor and can therefore probably order it in! It's not a wine I'm familiar with - Is this the one? http://jerez-xeres-sherry.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/amontillado-vors-fino-imperial-18-diez.html
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Mar 20, 2015 23:11
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^ That is it, actually! It's very good. Generally I dislike sherry but that one is superb. I've actually already spoken to Paternina Jerez, and they said that they do not directly sell or ship that particular sherry outside of Spain because the foreign market for high-end sherry is so limited. However, they said that they do sell to other Spanish businesses that in turn export wines into the US, but they have no way of tracking exactly which ones ship when and where once they sell them. No idea if that's true or not, but that's what I was told. I should have bought a few bottles when we left :/ WAIT! There's a comment on that article that says if you email them directly they might ship direct to you--I'll see if they'll do it to the US.
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Mar 20, 2015 23:16
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