Booze The wine thread

I really like the Willamette Valley Pinots from Oregon.

A couple really good ones I've had recently:

- Benton Lane (I think it was an '04)
- Domaine Serene 2004 Evenstad Reserve

I missed the whole Malbec discussion. Went to Argentina in September 2005 and spent a few days in Mendoza. We hired a driver to take us around to a few wineries. The exchange rate was about $2.9:1 so it was pretty affordable. Pretty good wines and nice tours.
 
It was several years back. Salty clued us in to the Nortons, and it was Malbecfest from then on for a while.
 
Meridian Santa Barbara County Merlot $6 from Costco. 3x better than 2 buck upChuck. My favorite cheap wine.

Zinfandel from Sonoma County.

Why buy from outside CA when we have some of the best growing wine regions in our backyard?
 
I'm not a drinker at all...but I use one wine strictly for cooking purposes...Shao Hsing... Now to find a place close to me that sells it so I don't have to buy three bottles every year to make my signature dish 10 times a year...
 
Would Thunderbird be an appropriate wine choice with a bean burrito???
 
go said:
Meridian Santa Barbara County Merlot $6 from Costco. 3x better than 2 buck upChuck. My favorite cheap wine.
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He said he was going all Sideways with this. That means no ****ing Merlot!
 
Here is some tasting info for those in the Long Beach area -

http://www.thewinecountry.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=Z1_1calendar&Store_Code=TWC

One Zin selection that may find some favor is the one from EOS. It's fruit-forward with soft tannins and has been good over a number of vintages.
It's generally priced between $10.00 and $15.00, depending on whether or not it can be found on sale. This is one of our standbys for grilling.
 
Salty Dog said:
Carmenere maybe? B ut the sequel ISN'T pinotage! Ugghhh, that stuff is awful.
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Las Colinas (Chile) makes a really nice Carmenere for around 7 bucks if you can find it. Great little peppery note on the finish. The Santa Rita Carm. on the other hand... ehhhhh, not so special IMO. Their "120" Cab is much better for the same price.


go said:
Why buy from outside CA when we have some of the best growing wine regions in our backyard?
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It's human nature that what's of our land and locale will taste good to us. It is us, and we are of it. Born and raised SoCals we learned on and love Cali wines. But the "old world" or earth-forward style appealed to me more and more over the years and now I'm hooked. Open something from a far-away land and it's almost as if a part of you travels there: you're tasting their fruit, their earth, their water and their history. It's unfamiliar.... and intriguing. Maybe even a tad romantic? ;)

But the bottom line is that we should try it all. Just too much good stuff out there!!
 
We should set up an LGK invades Temecula wine tasting trip....just sayin!
 
*BLoTTo* said:
Las Colinas (Chile) makes a really nice Carmenere for around 7 bucks if you can find it. Great little peppery note on the finish. The Santa Rita Carm. on the other hand... ehhhhh, not so special IMO. Their "120" Cab is much better for the same price.





It's human nature that what's of our land and locale will taste good to us. It is us, and we are of it. Born and raised SoCals we learned on and love Cali wines. But the "old world" or earth-forward style appealed to me more and more over the years and now I'm hooked. Open something from a far-away land and it's almost as if a part of you travels there: you're tasting their fruit, their earth, their water and their history. It's unfamiliar.... and intriguing. Maybe even a tad romantic? ;)

But the bottom line is that we should try it all. Just too much good stuff out there!!
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California wines are loved everywhere in the world.

I think since we are such a young state filled with immigrants there is a little lack of pride from being from California.

Zinfandel is a California wine through and through. When it is good it is recognized as being one of the best wines in the world.

In reality I am not much of a wine connoisseur but I believe in local products. That is why I go to the farmer's market every weekend and drink CA wines!
 
go said:
California wines are loved everywhere in the world.

I think since we are such a young state filled with immigrants there is a little lack of pride from being from California.

Zinfandel is a California wine through and through. When it is good it is recognized as being one of the best wines in the world.

In reality I am not much of a wine connoisseur but I believe in local products. That is why I go to the farmer's market every weekend and drink CA wines!
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additionally, i was eating at one of the finest restaurants in Las Vegas once and had the (VERY French) sommelier choose my wine for me and my dish... and what did he give me? a California Pinot.
 
go said:
I think since we are such a young state filled with immigrants there is a little lack of pride from being from California.
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Pride? That is the gayest thing I've heard that didn't come from Deeker. I didn't grow the grapes or ferment the wine. All I did was buy it, where's the pride in that? Should I be proud of Del Taco too since it's from California? Besides, nobody is saying California has bad wines, just that there is equally good wine out there from outside of California for people to try, and a lot of it is cheaper because they didn't tack $5-$10 onto the price because of where it is from.
 
Salty Dog said:
Pride? That is the gayest thing I've heard that didn't come from Deeker. I didn't grow the grapes or ferment the wine. All I did was buy it, where's the pride in that? Should I be proud of Del Taco too since it's from California? Besides, nobody is saying California has bad wines, just that there is equally good wine out there from outside of California for people to try, and a lot of it is cheaper because they didn't tack $5-$10 onto the price because of where it is from.
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Napa is notorious for that but besides Napa Valley wine most CA wineries don't jack of the price.

There are some good cheap CA wines out there.
 
go said:
California wines are loved everywhere in the world.

I think since we are such a young state filled with immigrants there is a little lack of pride from being from California.

Zinfandel is a California wine through and through. When it is good it is recognized as being one of the best wines in the world.

In reality I am not much of a wine connoisseur but I believe in local products. That is why I go to the farmer's market every weekend and drink CA wines!
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I'll echo your sentiment on the farmers market. There's nothing better!!

Wine aside, I'm extremely proud of my Californa heritage. I think it's a very unique place in the world. And as such, we produce wines equally interesting and diverse.

Good Sonoma Zins and Pinot's (esp. the russian river valley) are maybe my favorites in the world. But when you drink as much as I do there's plenty of time to enjoy ours--and everyone else's too. Don't worry, go. We all love deeply our cali wines. It's just fun to try different stuff, and anyway what I'm eating will always determine what is uncorked. The harmonious pairing of tastes is the goal, and it stretches beyond geographical inclinations.
 
I usually don't pair up when I drink wine. I drink it sans food mostly. That is why I like merlot. I am not really against buying foreign wines but for the price I pay mainly California wines are good enough.
 
go said:
California wines are loved everywhere in the world.

I think since we are such a young state filled with immigrants there is a little lack of pride from being from California.

Zinfandel is a California wine through and through. When it is good it is recognized as being one of the best wines in the world.

In reality I am not much of a wine connoisseur but I believe in local products. That is why I go to the farmer's market every weekend and drink CA wines!
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go, although I really like the Oregon Pinots, I'd say about eight or nine of every 10 bottles of wine I drink is from CA. California absolutely has world class wines. And I definitely like the idea of supporting local products. The only problem I have with CA wines is that I don't want to see too much more good agricultural land converted to vineyards. They're not the best land use from an environmental perspective.
 
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