# A bottle of wine BUT not for drinking! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 18, 2006, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bottle-of-wine-but-not-for-drinking/345079 "2006-02-18T12:10:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bottle-of-wine-but-not-for-drinking/345079/41 "2006-02-18T23:58:24Z")
> [@MrJackboots](#): > > The grapes for an Eiswein are left out on the vines past the first frost. The frost crystalizes some of the water inside the grape but not the sugars, so when they are crushed (carefully so as not to break up the ice too much and therefore be counterproductive), the resulting juice is very concentrated. [Gerry Fleck]Well, I did not know that.[/Gerry Fleck] Stranger ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bottle-of-wine-but-not-for-drinking/345079/42 "2006-02-19T00:34:22Z")
/Son mode ON/ Now look here chaps! When our mothers give us a present, we should be duly grateful. When they spout some guff of uncertain reliability (‘don’t look at me like that - if the wind changes, your face will freeze’; ‘eat up - think of the children in Africa!’), we should humour them. (They put up with us long ago, right?) So although the suggestions on replacing the wine are ingenious, they are \*\*not appropriate \*\* for motherly gifts. Kindly drink the wine on some ‘occasion’ and tell your mother how special it was. /Son mode OFF/ ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bottle-of-wine-but-not-for-drinking/345079/43 "2006-02-19T00:45:07Z")
> [@saoirse](#): > > [nutpick]That’s oenophile. [/knitpick] Thanks. I knew I was treading on thin ice but it \*sounded \*good and I was too tired at the time to research it. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bottle-of-wine-but-not-for-drinking/345079/44 "2006-02-19T01:33:13Z")
Sounds like mum was saying it’s not just for getting drunk. So, savor it well, and then get drunk! Two bottles a week is hardly too much, **calm kiwi**. Sounds pretty moderate to me. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bottle-of-wine-but-not-for-drinking/345079/45 "2006-02-19T03:10:47Z")
> [@glee](#): > > \ > Kindly drink the wine on some ‘occasion’ and tell your mother how special it was. > \ I like this solution better than mine - mine was going to be just drink the damned thing and let your mother deal with it. (I have heard rumours that Canada is making some very fine ice wines from BC and Ontario - we certainly have the frost for it!) ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bottle-of-wine-but-not-for-drinking/345079/46 "2006-02-19T12:56:43Z")
I think you should thank her with a box of chocolates that aren’t for eating. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![velvetjones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5f9b8f/32.png) [@velvetjones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velvetjones)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bottle-of-wine-but-not-for-drinking/345079/47 "2006-02-19T13:15:56Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > Two bottles a week is hardly too much, **calm kiwi**. Sounds pretty moderate to me. So, two bottles a night would be too much then? Hmmm… I’m going to have to look into that. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bottle-of-wine-but-not-for-drinking/345079/48 "2006-02-19T16:11:39Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > It’s the middle of fucking SUMMER in New Zealand, it being on the other side of the equator and all. > > 😛 Wow, I whooshed two people in a row! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2006, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bottle-of-wine-but-not-for-drinking/345079/49 "2006-02-20T10:36:06Z")
I would like to announce that I opened it and the first two glasses were far to sweet (damn Reisling!). I opened it because I felt like it. I am a rebel without a cause but WITH Reising! It IS a screw top (thank you innovative Kiwi winemakers) when I empty it, I will buy a cheap reisiling pour it into the bottle and screw that bugger up tight and open it in her presence (during its drinkable months/weeks/days…ok so when I found out WHEN it should be opened I will replace it!) OR I will make sure to “open” it far from mum but thank her lavishly. Thank you to all in this thread especially SA and BB. Loads of brilliant ideas. I loved this, \*\*Bites When Provoked \*\* “I think you should thank her with a box of chocolates that aren’t for eating.” Mind you she is a skinny runt not readily tempted by choccys. **glee** I know we should love our mums and I do love mine. I just find the Special-Wine-Protection Services a bit much. She did give me my grandmothers bracelet for xmas though-…very very special. I just think a bottle of wine “to expensive to drink” is just daft. ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2006, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bottle-of-wine-but-not-for-drinking/345079/50 "2006-02-20T11:03:22Z")
> [@Banquet Bear](#): > > What vintage was on the bottle? What region was she touring and what was the Vineyard? That was the lame part! She went to Martinborough and bought back a “Coney 2004 Riesling”. If it cost more then 20 bucks I will eat my…Reisling! She’s a red wine drinker, she knows not the sweet shite she gave me 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sri\_Theo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Sri\_Theo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sri_Theo)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2006, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bottle-of-wine-but-not-for-drinking/345079/51 "2006-02-20T17:00:33Z")
Did no one else find it incredibly funny that one of **Banquet Bears** favourite posters is **Starving Artist**? ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2006, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bottle-of-wine-but-not-for-drinking/345079/52 "2006-02-20T19:43:15Z")
> [@calm kiwi](#): > > **glee** I know we should love our mums and I do love mine. I just find the Special-Wine-Protection Services a bit much. She did give me my grandmothers bracelet for xmas though-…very very special. I just think a bottle of wine “to expensive to drink” is just daft. Hey, clearly we’re both jolly nice people. 😃 As I’m sure you know, I’m advocating keeping things cheerful. Of course mothers can be overprotective, or say daft things. But we shouldn’t call them on it! ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2006, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bottle-of-wine-but-not-for-drinking/345079/53 "2006-02-20T20:39:38Z")
> [@calm kiwi](#): > > That was the lame part! She went to Martinborough and bought back a “Coney 2004 Riesling”. If it cost more then 20 bucks I will eat my…Reisling! > > She’s a red wine drinker, she knows not the sweet shite she gave me 😃 Ha! It actually looks like a very good winery, although I haven’t heard much about them. (Scroll down for the tasting notes on the 2004) [http://coneywines.co.nz/pag4.asp](http://coneywines.co.nz/pag4.asp) …and at Restaurant Prices, she sells for about $40.00, which, using the standard restaurant formula of doubling the retail price, means that yes, it cost more than 20 bucks!!! [http://64.233.179.104/search?q=cache:dfhhl-s9sgYJ:www.belgian-beer-cafe.co.nz/theponsonby/pdf/ponosnby\_wine.pdf+Coney+2004+Riesling&hl=en&gl=nz&ct=clnk&cd=9](http://64.233.179.104/search?q=cache:dfhhl-s9sgYJ:www.belgian-beer-cafe.co.nz/theponsonby/pdf/ponosnby_wine.pdf+Coney+2004+Riesling&hl=en&gl=nz&ct=clnk&cd=9) ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bottle-of-wine-but-not-for-drinking/345079/54 "2006-02-21T00:31:37Z")
> [@Sri Theo](#): > > Did no one else find it incredibly funny that one of **Banquet Bears** favourite posters is **Starving Artist**? An excellent example of how reasonable men of good cheer and good will can set aside their political differences to become friends. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2006, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bottle-of-wine-but-not-for-drinking/345079/55 "2006-02-22T03:47:20Z")
> [@Banquet Bear](#): > > Ha! It actually looks like a very good winery, although I haven’t heard much about them. (Scroll down for the tasting notes on the 2004) > [http://coneywines.co.nz/pag4.asp](http://coneywines.co.nz/pag4.asp) > > …and at Restaurant Prices, she sells for about $40.00, which, using the standard restaurant formula of doubling the retail price, means that yes, it cost more than 20 bucks!!! > [http://64.233.179.104/search?q=cache:dfhhl-s9sgYJ:www.belgian-beer-cafe.co.nz/theponsonby/pdf/ponosnby\_wine.pdf+Coney+2004+Riesling&hl=en&gl=nz&ct=clnk&cd=9](http://64.233.179.104/search?q=cache:dfhhl-s9sgYJ:www.belgian-beer-cafe.co.nz/theponsonby/pdf/ponosnby_wine.pdf+Coney+2004+Riesling&hl=en&gl=nz&ct=clnk&cd=9) … and [this article](http://www.captimes.co.nz/web/column/25/n/447/WairarapaSpringWineReport2005.boss) confirms the $20 assessment. ---
**Author:** ![Cemetery\_Savior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@Cemetery\_Savior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cemetery_Savior)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2006, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bottle-of-wine-but-not-for-drinking/345079/56 "2006-02-22T20:00:56Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > Unimportant climatological details aside, I don’t know how it is in NZ, but in my part of the world, winter is one of the best times to walk on the beach. Nobody’s there, it isn’t torn to shreds. It almost looks like a wilderness again (if you keep your back to the condominiums.) In _my_ part of the world (Chicago-area), you can often walk on the beach in winter. It’s also very easy to walk on the actual frozen water. “Best” time to do so…uh…no. -Cem ---
**Author:** ![psycat90](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2006, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bottle-of-wine-but-not-for-drinking/345079/57 "2006-02-22T23:17:59Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally Posted by Stranger On A Train > Rieslings aren’t collectable wines, though. The high sugar content and low initial tannins make them unsuited to long-term aging. This really isn’t true. Not all rieslings are sweet, some are bone dry, and though they have low tannins, they have high acidity. The high acidity acts as a preservative and balances the sugar in the wine, allowing some rieslings to be cellared for up to 10 or 15 years. A $20 bottle of riesling from NZ \*might \*be able to age up to 5-8 years, and could possibly become a much better wine. I wouldn’t hold anything under $20, I’d consider it everyday drinking wine, meant to be drunk immediately or within a year or so. I might be willing to hold a good German or Alsace riesling priced over $75 retail for a few years though. I’m kind of on the fence here. On the one hand, it was a gift, and you should be able to enjoy that gift as you see fit. On the other, it’s your MOM, and she just wanted you to save it for a special occasion, or let it get a little bottle age. I don’t think that’s such a terrible thing. I’ve been teaching my 18 year old son a lot about wine lately. I’d like to think that if I gave him a bottle and suggested he hold onto it, that he would. But I would only make the suggestion, with the disclaimer that he could of course do what he pleased with it. The phone call just to remind you not to drink it might have been much, but I guess she had a reason for that, considering it’s gone already. 😉 Also, I certainly hope 2 bottles of wine a week is not ‘far too much’, because I’m in a shitload of trouble if it is. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bottle-of-wine-but-not-for-drinking/345079/58 "2006-02-23T03:15:38Z")
> [@Starving Artist](#): > > An excellent example of how reasonable men of good cheer and good will can set aside their political differences to become friends. …bugger off!!! Just kidding! 😃 I doubt **Starving Artist** and I would have much in common in regards to our politics, but that doesn’t stop him from being one of the nicest guys around these parts. Of course, that shouldn’t stop us all from trying to convert him!!! :: pulls up a beer, and a glass of Ngatarawa [Chardonnay](http://www.ngatarawa.co.nz/index.php?pi_pageid=63&wineid=333343&range=) :: “Now about that GW fella…” ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bottle-of-wine-but-not-for-drinking/345079/59 "2006-02-23T07:45:22Z")
> [@Banquet Bear](#): > > …bugger off!!! > > Just kidding! 😃 I doubt **Starving Artist** and I would have much in common in regards to our politics, but that doesn’t stop him from being one of the nicest guys around these parts. Of course, that shouldn’t stop us all from trying to convert him!!! Nor I, you. 😉 But thanks very much for the compliment (and for what appears to be a most enjoyable chardonnay). You are clearly one of the good guys yourself. > [@Banquet Bear](#): > > :: pulls up a beer, and a glass of Ngatarawa [Chardonnay](http://www.ngatarawa.co.nz/index.php?pi_pageid=63&wineid=333343&range=) :: > > “Now about that GW fella…” Sure…pull up a chair and I’ll tell you all about…no, wait…why let politics get in the way of a good drinking opportunity? You gather up the darts while I grab another DB Export Dry for your quaffing pleasure and pour myself another glass of this superb chardonnay. Cheers, my friend. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bottle-of-wine-but-not-for-drinking/345079/60 "2006-02-23T10:56:00Z")
> [@Starving Artist](#): > > …no, wait…why let politics get in the way of a good drinking opportunity? …on that, I must agree! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bottle-of-wine-but-not-for-drinking/345079.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bottle-of-wine-but-not-for-drinking/345079.md?page=4)