wine not whine

[Solly]

Sometimes it's a power white wine and have Smirnoff Ice with it

[Kidlicious]

Mad Dog 20/20

[Whaleboy]

I still have a couple of bottles of 1999 Casa Ema Chianti . It's probably the best wine I've ever tasted, although some of the Chilian Cabernet Sauvignon's are nice. Red .

[Solly]

I bet you couldn't tell the difference between that and the £2.99 bottle of red I've got waiting for me in Leeds.

[pchang]

Don't get me started. In my latest move, my bottle of 1949 Garrafeira got ruined. Due to a lack of funds, I have seen my collection of 10 cases or so dwindle down to a mere 3+ cases. Bordeaux from the 70s, California Cabs from the 80s, Burgundies from 69, late 80s, and 90....all drunk without replacement.

[Whaleboy]

Some of the cheap stuff is ok, especially some of Tesco's stuff... but mostly it tends to be wine you'd use in cooking... I wouldn't use my nice stuff in a Coq au Vin for instance. It doesn't take much drinking to be able to tell a marked difference between the wheat and the chaff.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Lazarus and the Gimp
Chegitz is wrong about Merlot- there are great ones out there, but they aren't from the US. Chile makes fantastic ones.

How can I be wrong about what I don't like? I know there are some good ones out there, but it's jst not worth the risk. Too many merlots are weak or slightly vinegary. Americans, at least, don't know how to make good merlot yet.

Lancer, a lot of quality vintners are switching to screw tops because there is a shortage of quality cork. Spoilage rates have increased dramatically in the last decade because of the use of inferior cork. In addition, screw tops also allow leftover wine to be stored longer.

In Oz, they have no problem putting good wine into boxes. In fact, this is an even better solution than screwtops, since the use of gravity and mylar means that no oxygen gets into the wine container. In the U.S., though, box wine has a bad rep, so vintners are afaird to switch. I think they should.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by Spiffor
Bordeaux is overrated overpriced export crap. We keep the good ones to ourselves

I don't classify wines with its kind of grape (Chardonnay, Sauvignon, Shiraz etc.), so I couldn't give you an interesting answer.

Save for Riesling and Gewürtzraminer, which are almost always good enought that they please the guests

There are quite a few very nice, not-so-overpriced Bordeaux amongst the pricy trendy crap. We figure that as a third world country, you just need the foreign currency earnings so that people can one day afford indoor plumbing and stop using the Seine for that purpose.

I just figured there's enough good stuff to choose from in Bordeaux that you'd be drunk for life before you even found your way to the Rhone or Loire, let alone as far as Burgundy or Alsace-Lorraine.

[boann]

i have not really tasted a box wine that i thought was any good yet... but i do like the concept.
fresh glass of wine every day without having to finish the bottle for fear it will not be as good ..
so i would buy one if i found one that tasted good to me.
but who wants to buy a big box just to find you don't like it .. and then be forced to drink it... ick..

[chequita guevara]

You're absolutely right, boann. To get good box wine, you have to go to Oz.

MtG, Spiffy is correct, the vast majority of Bordeux is crap. What he leaves unsaid is that the vast majority of French wine is crap. Most French wine is table wine, and not meant for the wine enthusiast. We don't buy French table wine.

[boann]

Originally posted by Kidicious
Mad Dog 20/20

[boann]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
You're absolutely right, boann. To get good box wine, you have to go to Oz.

MtG, Spiffy is correct, the vast majority of Bordeux is crap. What he leaves unsaid is that the vast majority of French wine is crap. Most French wine is table wine, and not meant for the wine enthusiast. We don't buy French table wine.

well what is this Oz.. is that a place or a store or
is it a joke ment to say its over the rainbow and impossible... lol..
i guess you're going to have to educate me on it

[chequita guevara]

Oz = Australia

Consider getting a subscription to Wine Spectator, btw.

[Solly]

@ boann, talk about ditzy

I hear Lidl's 3 bottles for £6 is quite good

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
Most French wine is table wine, and not meant for the wine enthusiast. We don't buy French table wine.

I wasn't thinking of table wines (actually, I know a few great table wines, but they're "table wines" in official name only, because of the legislation).

Wine prices have skyrocketed in the 1990's because of the explosion of the international market. Bordeaux wines have seen their price explode as well, and the Bordeaux region became full of people looking for a fat profit. The whole Bordelais became planted for wine, even terrains that sucked for that effect.

Since Bordeaux wines are mostly made for a rather unsophisticated customer base (foreigners and French new middle-classes), they benefited very much form their prestigious label. Moreover, the Bordeaux wines adapted the taste of their customers to what they produced: Bordeaux wines taste like wood because of the wooden barrels. This taste has become trendy, and now the Bordeaux wineries (like the Australian ones BTW) artificially add wood flavour to their wine.

Most of the French wine (appellation wine, at least) is of average quality, but overrated. The winers tend to know their job, but to mass-produce and to lack imagination. Fortunately, our culture of wine as a handicraft makes it possible that some winers do really love their art, and make great wines without even overcharging them