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'52 Borgogno  EDIT: I don't know why I'm focussing on Borgogno (probably because I love Borgogno) but those are all legendary wines. Overwined fucked around with this message at 23:50 on Feb 17, 2016 |
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Feb 17, 2016 23:48
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Ola posted:Speaking of aged wines, went to a great Barolo tasting the other day - from '89 back to '52. The oldest wine I had tasted before that was an '82 Barbera. Quoting this for the new page because holy poo poo I grabbed 3 bottles of that Meli Carignane, Overwined. At $9/bottle for email list members I thought, "why not?" Worst case I'm making lots of stew. Speaking of cooking with wine, small pro-tip - keep a couple gallon ziplocs in the freezer. When you nearly finish a bottle, but don't quite polish it off, pour the leftovers in the bag. Later, whenever you cook something appropriate you can throw a tablespoon of wine-ice-slush in there. I have a white bag and a red bag. The red bag fills much more quickly, and occasionally turns into stew. Both get turned into quick pan sauces regularly. Another pro-tip: make stock, reduce, freeze in ice cubes - a few cubes of concentrated stock and a few tablespoons of wine makes an amazing quick pan sauce) Actually, the more I think about it, probably half my freezer is dedicated to this sort of poo poo - saving veggie scraps and bones to make big batches of stock, ziploc bags of semi-frozen wine, bags of stock-cubes of various types.
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Feb 18, 2016 04:55
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Since we were discussing Chilean Carmenere the other day, and how awful most of it is, I thought I'd let everyone know I found one that isn't awful: Grey Glacier Single Block Carmenere. It's still very... herbal, I would call it, so it probably won't be to everyone's taste, but its got a decent QPR and the flavour profile makes for some interesting food pairing possibilities. It's definitely the best Carmenere I've had so far, although, as discussed, that's not saying a whole bunch on its own.
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Feb 18, 2016 18:44
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PT6A posted:Since we were discussing Chilean Carmenere the other day, and how awful most of it is, I thought I'd let everyone know I found one that isn't awful: Grey Glacier Single Block Carmenere. It's still very... herbal, I would call it, so it probably won't be to everyone's taste, but its got a decent QPR and the flavour profile makes for some interesting food pairing possibilities. It's definitely the best Carmenere I've had so far, although, as discussed, that's not saying a whole bunch on its own. Had a bottle of terrunyo a little while ago and I remember it being pretty good. Having had several carmenere I don't think I have had an awful bottle yet. Maybe my taste is bad?
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Feb 19, 2016 05:29
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Secret Spoon posted:Had a bottle of terrunyo a little while ago and I remember it being pretty good. Having had several carmenere I don't think I have had an awful bottle yet. Maybe my taste is bad? That's actually one of the first Carmeneres I remember drinking, and I didn't care for it at all. It's probably just a matter of personal taste -- I'm guessing I'm more sensitive to the specific flavours that cause some people to not enjoy Carmenere, since I've noticed the same elements I don't enjoy across a number of different examples.
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Feb 19, 2016 16:23
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Same thing with Cabernet for me. Young cabs or cabs from wetter years are all bell pepper to me for some damned reason.
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Feb 20, 2016 05:11
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Secret Spoon posted:Same thing with Cabernet for me. Young cabs or cabs from wetter years are all bell pepper to me for some damned reason. That's due to a class of chemicals called Pyrazines, which contribute a note which ranges from green bell pepper to eucalyptus to mint, certainly a green flavor, but with a variety of different expressions as it were. There's some great articles on the topic. http://www.sfchronicle.com/food/article/Napa-Valley-Cabernet-s-bell-pepper-controversy-6584908.php is pretty good. There's also a lot of technical info here: http://www.practicalwinery.com/marapr06p13.htm
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Feb 20, 2016 06:07
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So I just started my WSET Level 2 course. It's pretty awesome and reminded me that I need to drink more cool wines like Barolos and Alsace Grand Crus. Compared to "retail" wine tastings, it's nice because the focus is on the wine itself and not trying to convince you that you should buy the wine. Oh, and we tried a "very good" oaky-as-gently caress California chardonnay. Turns out, I'm just really not a fan of that style at all, so I guess I'm going to have to learn more about what makes wines in that style either good or bad without reference to my personal feelings about it. The class seemed split on whether it was better than the Chablis Grand Cru we tasted just before it, whereas I thought the Chablis Grand Cru was heads and shoulders above it.
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Feb 25, 2016 18:51
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Overwined posted:'52 Borgogno I just worked this:  Didn't get to try the '61 before guests crushed it, but the '67 and '78 were legitimately the best wines of the night. Even the wines from the '80s were still heading uphill. Goes to show that traditional > modern, you just have to be a liiittle patient. Truly an amazing producer, and the current releases are priced very well, so buy now if you hope to enjoy these wines in your lifetime. And not to pick on Borgogno for this - it's totally standard for all producers - but it also highlighted the tragedy of using cork: 4 bottles lost to TCA and 1 to oxidation, for a grand total of over 150 years of wine down the drain from one small event.
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Feb 25, 2016 19:12
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A now defunct Michelin-starred Oslo restaurant is auctioning off its cellar. It's pretty big, you can look at a list of all 1202 lots here: http://www.dn.no/smak/2016/02/23/1552/Vinauksjon/her-er-auksjonslisten-fra-bagatelles-vinkjeller A pretty extensive selection of types and names. Most are out of my price range but so far a few interesting lots haven't had any bids so I might give it a stab. I've never bought wines on an auction before, so why not now? Well, some of the fill levels seem suspect. Example: 2009s:   2006:  Doesn't that seem bad? I have no real experience in this and any observation is helpful, please feel free to chime in. Those bottles are not old, I can go buy some 2006 Burgs in the shop right now, let alone 09s, and they will have perfect fills. So why do these have low and uneven fills? The restaurant had a history of conflicts, hotheads and a bit of a showoff culture (in addition to all the positive things that got it stars of course) so I wouldn't be too surprised if optimal storage of every bottle wasn't at the top of everyone's list. Or maybe someone's been Coravining them?
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Mar 2, 2016 11:32
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Just had some wine from DeLille, and I brought two of the bottles onto my list. If you are looking for a quality American producer from Washington, these are the guys. I was actually really impressed with their chaleur estate blanc and D2 Bordeaux style blends. They are relatively price (30-50$) but I feel they are worth the price for sure and I'm actively looking to add them to my cellar.
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Mar 4, 2016 07:23
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Ola posted:A now defunct Michelin-starred Oslo restaurant is auctioning off its cellar. It's pretty big, you can look at a list of all 1202 lots here: http://www.dn.no/smak/2016/02/23/1552/Vinauksjon/her-er-auksjonslisten-fra-bagatelles-vinkjeller A pretty extensive selection of types and names. Most are out of my price range but so far a few interesting lots haven't had any bids so I might give it a stab. I've never bought wines on an auction before, so why not now? Well, some of the fill levels seem suspect. Example: Yep those indeed are unusually low and I would recommend avoiding them unless they come with a good return policy.
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Mar 4, 2016 10:30
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Kasumeat posted:Yep those indeed are unusually low and I would recommend avoiding them unless they come with a good return policy. Those fills seem a bit low to me too, but how could any leakage occur in a relatively young wine with a wax capsule?
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Mar 4, 2016 11:26
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After doing some research, it looks like those are actually typical of the producers. Bizarre. I guess there's a good chance they're sound. I stand corrected.
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Mar 4, 2016 20:01
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I didn't think they looked particularly low for the bottle shape &etc - perhaps on the low side of new bottles, but I have plenty of new releases with similar fills.
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Mar 4, 2016 20:34
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I thought dried out corks (poor storage) and evaporation is what leads to low fills. Perhaps they're all fine. Anyway, it seems the bids are starting to reach market prices anyway, so I don't think I'm going to bid on anything.
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Mar 7, 2016 09:22
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Even when properly stored, the cork will absorb some wine and allow it to be evaporated through it. This is perfectly natural and if it happens very slowly, no harm will come of the wine. Also, some areas/producers cling to hand filling. Burgundy is a place where you can still find significant numbers or hand fillers. There's also the remote possibility that the producer is just cheap and steals an ounce or two out of every bottle to stretch their production.
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Mar 7, 2016 14:41
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Secret Spoon posted:Just had some wine from DeLille, and I brought two of the bottles onto my list. If you are looking for a quality American producer from Washington, these are the guys. I was actually really impressed with their chaleur estate blanc and D2 Bordeaux style blends. They are relatively price (30-50$) but I feel they are worth the price for sure and I'm actively looking to add them to my cellar. Yeah DeLille makes great stuff, that Chaleur Blanc is consistently wonderful year to year and their mid range Cab (four flags) is off the chain. I think a lot of the hotter producers in Washington right now are making weird funky syrahs that might not be to everyone's taste but DeLille makes really traditional Bordeaux stuff very well. Their other label Doyenne makes Rhone style wines, and their GSM "Metier" is really good if that's your thing.
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Mar 8, 2016 00:44
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himajinga posted:Yeah DeLille makes great stuff, that Chaleur Blanc is consistently wonderful year to year and their mid range Cab (four flags) is off the chain. I think a lot of the hotter producers in Washington right now are making weird funky syrahs that might not be to everyone's taste but DeLille makes really traditional Bordeaux stuff very well. Their other label Doyenne makes Rhone style wines, and their GSM "Metier" is really good if that's your thing. Yeah I tasted their Syrah stuff as well. I would pull some of that on to my list, if my syrahs ever sold. I sometimes rue and lament living in the suburbs.
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Mar 8, 2016 01:00
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Thanks to whoever gave me that Vouvray Chenin Blanc rec, that was the best of few Loire Valley bottles I purchased. Really quite remarkable. Edit: Jon Bonné just did a writeup on it, maybe it's catching on more. http://punchdrink.com/articles/montlouis-sur-loire-vs-vouvray-wine-chenin-blanc-battleground/ http://punchdrink.com/articles/six-chenin-blanc-from-montlouis-sur-loire-and-vouvray/ Comb Your Beard fucked around with this message at 21:28 on Mar 11, 2016 |
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Mar 9, 2016 19:19
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Comb Your Beard posted:Thanks to whoever gave me that Vouvray Chenin Blanc rec, that was the best of few Loire Valley bottles I purchased. Really quite remarkable. I'm glad you enjoyed it! Now don't tell anyone or it will get expensive and hard to find 
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Mar 9, 2016 19:27
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Americans: How much of a thing is South African Chenin on your market? It's a staple here and definitely one of the better budget whites to be had, but I've been told it's not widely available in the US. C/d?
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Mar 12, 2016 03:03
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Kasumeat posted:Americans: How much of a thing is South African Chenin on your market? It's a staple here and definitely one of the better budget whites to be had, but I've been told it's not widely available in the US. C/d? I have never seen a South African Chenin Blanc in Portland, Oregon.
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Mar 12, 2016 10:44
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Kasumeat posted:Americans: How much of a thing is South African Chenin on your market? It's a staple here and definitely one of the better budget whites to be had, but I've been told it's not widely available in the US. C/d? Non-existent market in SF. I've had some, and it can be quite good, but there is zero demand and it's on almost zero wine lists.
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Mar 12, 2016 11:32
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Crimson posted:Non-existent market in SF. I've had some, and it can be quite good, but there is zero demand and it's on almost zero wine lists. How about at retail? I can't remember seeing it on a wine list in Calgary ever, but it's pretty widely available from stores. New question: is there a place where the sparkling wine section isn't being taken over by Prosecco? It's just so... not to my taste, and meanwhile the Cava selection is the same boring 3-5 low-quality items that have actually led to Raventos, among others, no longer putting "Cava" on their bottles... Don't even get me started on trying to find an Italian white that isn't Pinot Grigio. It's unbelievably important, apparently, that every liquor store has at least 20 SKUs all at the very bottom of the market, yet perhaps (if you're lucky) a single Soave Clasico, for example. Edit: Yeah, take three guesses which two types of wine I was attempting to track down with extremely limited success yesterday, and your first two guesses don't count.
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Mar 12, 2016 15:42
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For real? It's widely available on the East Coast. I'm not going to go so far as to call it popular, but just about every wine store you go into you'll find at least a few SA Chenin Blancs.
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Mar 12, 2016 16:20
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Overwined posted:For real? It's widely available on the East Coast. I'm not going to go so far as to call it popular, but just about every wine store you go into you'll find at least a few SA Chenin Blancs. This is true of retail in SF too (heck, whole foods has about 8), though I do agree with Crimson that you almost never see it on a list.
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Mar 12, 2016 19:47
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I have two wine questions, one probably harder than the other 1) I'm in an argument about storing wine. I say keep the bottle upright or tilted in a rack, but the wine isn't supposed to touch the cork. My idea here is if the cork gets too wet the seal will eventually degrade. They say the opposite, you want the wine on the cork so it never dies out. This is assuming these two bottles are stored in the same place for the same time frame. Who's right? 2) about ten years ago I had a really nice and expensive wine that somehow fell into my hands and I loved it. I don't remember the name though. I can tell you it was a really dark red, really distinctive and not like other wines I've had, and smelled... good? All I remember was loving it and how dark it was. I do remember the label had a dude on horseback and if I saw it again I think the whole thing would click. I'd there some kind of label gallery website where I could page thru and try and track it down? Ps I had that bottle a long time, and when I finally tasted it it was so good I drank it all right then. The next morning I felt great, birds were singing, all that happy crap (not really a morning person), but I was a real little bit thirsty. The exact split second even one drop of water hit my stomach I was absolutely crippled with pain and fell to the ground. Then when it was gone I was fine. Weird.
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Mar 13, 2016 03:21
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Wine should be stored in contact with the cork, ideally horizontally. The cork drying out and the seal failing is what you worry about.
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Mar 13, 2016 04:19
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Got it. I was basing my stance on half remembered news stories about cork rot and how they found like medieval wine in some shipwreck and some unbroken bottles were still good, the ones that landed vertically. Most people probably don't leave their wine on the bottom of the Caspian or whatever though.
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Mar 13, 2016 05:11
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Building on this, does it matter if wines with a screw-top are stored horizontally instead of vertically?
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Mar 13, 2016 19:18
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PT6A posted:Building on this, does it matter if wines with a screw-top are stored horizontally instead of vertically? Nope, store them however is most convenient.
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Mar 13, 2016 19:50
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SniperWoreConverse posted:I do remember the label had a dude on horseback and if I saw it again I think the whole thing would click. I'd there some kind of label gallery website where I could page thru and try and track it down? Don't know about a gallery, but is it any of these?  
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Mar 13, 2016 22:14
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A gallery of wine labels is actually a decent idea. Vivino has a huge number of specimens already linked to their pertinent details, so it seems like it would be trivial to add more searchable characteristics to each label and it would increase the utility of their database by quite a bit.
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Mar 13, 2016 22:58
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Ola posted:Don't know about a gallery, but is it any of these? neither, it was more renaissance era painting PT6A posted:A gallery of wine labels is actually a decent idea. Vivino has a huge number of specimens already linked to their pertinent details, so it seems like it would be trivial to add more searchable characteristics to each label and it would increase the utility of their database by quite a bit. see, that's what I was thinking, that some wine nerd would have this figured out already
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Mar 13, 2016 23:15
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SniperWoreConverse posted:neither, it was more renaissance era painting Probably Banfi. 
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Mar 14, 2016 01:15
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Secret Spoon posted:Probably Banfi. I'm like 80% sure this is it, but the only way to be certain is get some and pound it. Thanks
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Mar 14, 2016 01:29
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Grifone Chianti from Trader Joe's is going to ruin my loving life. It's so pleasant to drink.
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Mar 14, 2016 07:02
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skooma512 posted:Grifone Chianti from Trader Joe's is going to ruin my loving life. It's so pleasant to drink. Excellent with pepperoni pizza, btw.
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Mar 14, 2016 18:42
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Whoa I tasted some incredible Slovenian stuff today. The Duet Lux from (I think?) Edi Simici blew my mind
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Mar 14, 2016 22:12
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