I’m currently drinking a glass of Walnut Crest Pinot Grigio with some delicious left-over Chicken Cacciatore from a favorite local Italian restaurant. Walnut Crest seems to have become my default table wine for Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio.
And I’m glad to see positive comment on Yellow Tail Shiraz as I’ve been toying with giving it a try.
I stand corrected. Now that I’m home I dug through the bottle crate (er…I’m not an alkie, I just haven’t taken it out for a while, and had to dig under all of those whiskey bottles…never mind) and it’s Joseph Faiveley 2002. I think I picked it up at Whole [del]Paycheck[/del]Foods, where it sat appealingly next to the olive cart. Disappointing, even for a “Manager’s Pick” wine (I think their managers mostly drink Wild Irish Rose); it was clearly something they had a surplus of and needed to reduce inventories.
I’ve had some good French wines, but always at the upper end of my price range (~US$50); for more reasonable daily wine (~US$10-25) I’ve yet to find a claret or burgundy that’s worth the space it takes to store it. I’ll take a North Coast Pinot or a Chilean Merlot any day for the price.
Starving Artist, I tried the Yellow Tail Shiraz at Thanksgiving last year. I’d previously lumped it in with Gallo, Turning Leaf, et al, given the price range (US$5-7) but the zinfandel I brought died a solider’s death and it was the next thing in the rack. After fumbling with the rabbit (damn those things) for a couple of minutes I finally got the screw to go in straight, uncorked it, and poured a skim in a fresh glass. I was immediately impressed with the nose, and the flavor, though more sweet than I generally care for, was quite rich. Not a complex wine, but a very easy drinking one; a good red to start your white zinfindel-drinking friends on, and yet palatable for a seasoned wine drinker. And for the price it’s hard to beat–surely worth the extra few dollars over “Two Buck Chuck”. I’ve a YT Chardonnay in the fridge that I’ve yet to open; I’ll report back when I do.
Stranger
Thanks for the info, Stranger. Looks like I’ll be giving it a try soon. (And I’ll be looking forward to hearing your take on the chardonnay as it’s a favorite, too.)
Last night’s wine was a Nenin Pomerol. It was very nice but I drank it too early and it wasn’t quite to temperature.
'twas California.
Pinotage is a cross between pinot noir and cinsault and is absolutely delicious. Fairview, another South African winery, makes a very affordable (if sometimes hard to find) and delicious pinotage.
Enlighten me about Pinotage. I had one once, a Wine of the Month Club selection I believe, and I wasn’t impressed at all. Yet I keep reading wonderful things about them. What do they go with, how long to age, etc. Be general, of course. Thanks.
I’ve only tasted a couple of examples of pinotage myself. I can only remember the name of one, Spice Route, and I don’t remember the vintages.
Many believe it’s the best varietal coming out of South Africa now. I tasted a couple a few years ago, but my wine knowledge/palate was not really ready enough to make any clear and concise observations, and I never took notes back then. The one trait I remember mostly about the wine was the smoke/tar smell and flavor. I didn’t hate it, didn’t exactly love it, but it certainly was unique enough to leave that lasting impression on me. I’ve spent the last couple of years tasting mostly California wines, I’ve only recently begun exploring other New World growing regions. And I’m on the fast track with that task, as i’ve got a sommelier course and exam to pass in less than 2 months. (I’m so not ready.) I know I’ll be able to taste some pinotage as well as other South African wines this week. I’ll be sure to take notes.
I’m sure someone else can give more details about the varietal.
And there’s also a lot of info about pinotage here.
Well, given the impetus I opened the bottle and tried a glass; it’s okay–though, like the shiraz, a bit sweet for my taste–but I’m not overwhelmed by it. Not much complexity, and frankly, I’m not a big bean on white wines anyway;I mostly stock them to go with foods that just can’t bear even a light Pinot, so take that as you will. Anyway, decent–certainly not as syruppy as Turning Leaf–but it’s not going to grace my table on odd-numbered days or anything.
Stranger
Try some reds from the Languedoc-Roussillon region which are primarily syrah and grenache (though some have mourvedre). *Mas Bressade * or *Mas Guiot * have been very good over the last several years and range from $8 to $13 a bottle.
And in the Loire we have the wines of the Anjou-Saumur district and Anjou AOC. They produce some pretty heady reds all based on Cabernet Franc but they are more noted for their Chenin Blanc based whites including the awesome Quarts de Chaume sweet wines.
There are excellent value Cotes-du-Rhones (and CdR-Village) wines with the best of the bunch easily being *Domaine Clos du Caillou * and Domaine Aphillanthes. Both of these producers make multiple bottlings but the prices have been going up the last several years as their reputations have grown. Guigal makes a very good CdR (actually both white - rousanne/marsanne based - and red) that retails in the $11 to $13 range. The reds of CdR can have as many as thirteen grape varities (as those in neighbooring Chateauneuf-du-Pape but the CdP wines are much more expensive.
Anyway, I hope this helps.
good evening friends,
while i have no great knowledge of wines, i know what i like to drink. lately i have been drinking spanish reds. i have a glass of marques de caceres rioja (2000) at my elbow as i type.
That’s some good red, that Caceres. Another Spanish red I like is Ramirez de la Piscina. It’s served at a tapas bar I like near here.
psycat90, thank you for that great website on Pinotage. Funny, people are only slowly getting wise to South Africa, and here comes a grape that is entirely South African and over 60 years old.
You are quite welcome.
I drank mostly beer this weekend, with a shot of vodka and whiskey thrown in for good measure.
Tonight I wanted something light and tasty before bed. Light I got. Tasty, not so much.
Tonight I opened a 375 ml bottle of Armida’s ‘Antidote’ - 2004 Pinot Gris. I’m a big fan of Armida’s zins and pinot noirs, and a big fan of the winery itself, great view, great location, great staff. Not such a big fan of their pinot gris after this tasting.
It’s not *that *bad, I’ve had worse, but I expected better from them I guess. It’s just flat, almost watery, with a somewhat too tart, bitter taste, and no real outstanding aromas. The package is nice, a cobalt blue flute 375 bottle, with a skull on a psychadelic looking label that reads ‘Antidote’, and a yellow foil. I only bought it because I’m a big fan of their Reserve Poizin and figured if I had the Poizin on the rack, I might as well have the Antidote as well.
Ehh, I’ll stick with the Poizin.
I have a bottle of that in the cabinet, methinks. Hmmmm…what to make for dinner tomorrow night that would go well with this bottle? Roasted chicken?
Thanks, Stranger; I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy it more. I think I’ll go ahead and give it a shot, but thanks to your input I’ll have a better idea what to expect.
Ah, the ex-Irish Girl introduced me to rioja reds after a trip to Majorcia and I’ve been fond of them ever sense, especially the Antano Tempranillo and Marques de Caceres Rioja Reserva, and all seem quite reasonably priced. There’s much to be said for Southern Europe with regard to good table wine.
Well, as I said, I’m not a big fan of whites, so don’t place too much emphasis on my perception; besides, wine should be about what you like, rather than what someone else says is good.
Stranger
My favorite wine is a nice tawny port with a bit of dark chocolate.
Mmmm…port!
Friday night wine thread sounds great. My last bottle (tonight, with dinner) was a 2002 Napa Valley Ravenswood Zin (old vines). I think you can get it at Safeway for about $12. Be sure it says “old vines”. Wonderful little wine, that one.
I don’t mean to hijack the thread, but I couldn’t let this slip by.
The cost of goods for a wine packaged in a screw cap tends to be either the same or just slightly less than one packaged in either a natural cork (depending on the grade/type) or a synthetic. At start up it can actually be more expensive for a winery.
The actual screw cap might be less expensive than a cork and capsule/wax, but the glass can sometimes be a bit more expensive than standard glass, and the cost of purchasing and installing the special equipment needed to run the package is quite high.
Screw caps do an excellent job of preserving wine, with less chance of taint than natural cork and less chance of oxidation than synthetics (particularly for reds, which is why you might notice them less in reds, especially reds meant to age, and more often in whites.) And they’re just plain convenient. Several high-end, boutique wineries in this area, as well as quite a few larger ones, are making or have made the switch to screw caps specifically for those reasons, not for any exceptional savings on packaging.
I can understand enjoying the ritual of wine, but I think anyone that automatically removes screw cap packaging from their selections will end up missing out on some very good wines, especially in the future. Just my $.02 
And while I have a decent collection of wine keys, I couldn’t live without my Rabbit, because really, while screw caps and other alternative packages are getting more popular, natural cork isn’t going away anytime soon.