Wine Recommendations?

[mrtr33]

So, my wife has long been into wine, whereas I come from a more dark liquor and beer school. I enjoy wine as well, definitely have some favorites from years past, but wanted to know what the wine drinkers of CS have had lately. Could be anything, really. Cheap wines, expensive wines, wines you've liked, wines you didn't, or what pairs well with a cigar. I've always heard that summer time brings out more white and rose wine drinkers, probably because those are usually served chilled.

We attended a tasting last night of:
2007 Alexander Valley Vineyards Dry Rose of Sangiovese
2006 Retour Old Vine Pinot Noir
Domaine Ste Michelle Frizzante
and left with a bottle of the Sangiovese. If we had the money, though, we would have left with the Pinot. That's an amazing wine, but the price is a little steep for us right now.

Just wondering. I've seen a few other members talk about wine in the past, and just wanted some more ideas.

[DeeDubya]

There are so many wines available now. Winery's are popping up all over Texas, not that Texas wines would be ones to choose, some are pretty good. You might want to set some paramaters like by type, vintage, price, region, etc. You can get a real good cab or merlot under $12 these days. Some chards too. IMO good Pinot's $12 and up. We've found some really good Chilean and Australian wines too. IE, Jacobs, cab, merlot, shiraz, and chard all around $7 are hard to beat at the lower end. Casa Diablo produces some good cabs. The sky's the limit with more expensive wines. Have fun.
As far as wines to drink with a cigar. IMO they are going to need to be sweet like a port. I've gone from the dinner table out onto the deck with a glass of cabernet and ruined an otherwise good cigar. It doesn't work.

[mrtr33]

Thanks for the tips.

I guess I was looking more for specific wine brands, sorry I didn't specify.

We were in Marshall about a month or so ago, and went into a little shop that sold Texas wines. She explained that there were several cropping up. Are they usually all Cabs and Merlots? If I had to choose one bottle from a winery, I would go with the Cab. But lately Merlot's have been impressing me. So have Malbec's. We generally try to stay in the $8-$12 range in terms of wines. Nothing snobby about it, we just find those suit our needs a bit better. I'll try to keep posting what we've drank recently.

I've even updated my profile, but I enjoy red wines from Alexander Valley, CA, and Hungary the best. I enjoy whites from Italy and Sonoma, CA. I haven't drank enough rose to know any better. My favorite Boone's Farm Vintage is 2007, Strawberry Hill.

[DeeDubya]

You're going to be hard pressed to find many good whites from Texas. Our climate is going to be a little too harsh for white grapes, while we have the wild red muskodine grapes growing all over the place. I have some in my back yard.

Unless you were born with a silver spoon and a Partagas 150 in your mouth you probably wouldn't be drinking $50 wine all the time. Normal consumption would be special wines for "special" occasions. I got Diane a bottle of Dom for her birthday and she got $150 worth of pleasure out of it. One flute for me and I was back to drinking Miller Lite. But then I was born with a toothpick and a Henry Clay in my Mouth. Sad isn't it?

[mrtr33]

Any good Texas-based reds you could suggest? Have you been to a winery in Texas?

We normally don't do the sparkling. And I think we only have like 2 bottles of wine that are over $50 in our whole wine rack. Like I said, most of the wines we buy are in the $8 - $12 range. Sometimes a little bit over, but not often.

I gotta get me some Henry Clays.

[DeeDubya]

That's easy. Llano Cabernet. IMO Texas' best.

http://www.llanowine.com/

[MasterCylinder]

I'm a Chianti man myself - always my go-to wine for special occasions (except the currant lady-fan doesn't like red... at all...). There's also a Cabernet Sauvignon from Moldova that I like, called 'Firebird Legend.' No idea if it's available in the States, but it only runs about £5-6 here. I've never been brave enough to try wine with a cigar - always kept to whisky or rum.

[JFellows]

I was born with a toothpick

That's unfortunate.

[BigMacFU]

You'll rarely if ever be disappointed with either Pichetti Wines (Santa Ynez Valley, Ca) or Del Dotto (Napa). Also, explore Israeli and Greek wines of all brands, they've been making wine longer than just about everybody else in the world and because they're not as popular, they're cheap!

[cinda]

Layer Cake Primitivo aka Zinfandel Puglia IGT 2006 (Italy)
Try this and tell me how it is..:)

[ggiese]

One of my absolute favorites if the T-Vine Zinfandel (Napa Valley). It's a bit pricier than you were looking for (~$30/btl), but it is an INCREDIBLE wine. Their Petit Syrah is also very nice...

[logan37]

My favorite wines come from Hunter Valley in Australia. Although they are not the only wines I like. And, out of the Hunter Valley My favorite vineyard is Brokenwood.

It's a little tough finding Brokenwood bottles local so I order them from www.oldbridgecellars.com. They don't mark their prices up much from what they cost at the vineyard(I visited there on my honeymoon). Only a few bucks per bottle. Right now they have a 4 pack of different vintage Brokenwood Semillon for $95. Which is about $30 less then if you bought each individual bottle. Also their Cricket Pitch Red is a nice cabernet blend. And if you want to drop $125, the Graveyard Shiraz is probably one of the best bottles of wine I have ever had. Definitely a special occasion bottle.

Old Bridge Cellars has other Australian wines that are not Oz, Yellow Tail or Rosemount(which you can get almost anywhere in the U.S.).

Link to 4 pack deal.

Some other wines I drink regularly are Rancho Zobaco Zinfandel (~$17), Peachy Canyon Zinfandel (~$10-12), Blackstone Merlot(~$8-10), Greg Norman Pinot Noir(~$15), and if you can find it, 2004 or 2005 Coppola Claret(~$17-20).

[DeeDubya]

Very nice Logan37. We'll check these out. I hate YellowTail but fortunately sometimes marketing like theirs will bring about interest in a new region.

[derivation]

It's sometimes hard to recommend specific labels/vintages because of availability. In general, I find it's easier to go with the varietal and region. Find a combination you like and explore from there.

My Go to Red & White
Malbec or Malbec/Cab/anything blends from Argentina (specifically Mendoza)
Sauvignon Blanc from Marlboro, New Zealand

As they probably told you at the tasting, Pinot Noir is one of the hardest varietals to find cheap and still be good. If you want to try looking for a good cheap pinot, I'd recommend starting with the Russian River Valley in California. There are still some good finds in the $15-$25 range. I've also had some great value Pinots from Chile, but it's hit or miss there.

Another region to consider are blends from Spain based on Tempranillo and Monastrell. If you like 'softer' wines you'll want ones with a higher percentage of Grenache.

[FactoredReality]

I'm a beer guy personally, but the gf is a wino (sp?). I know we have landed some good deals from wine.woot.com but they don't ship to every state because of blue laws.

[mrtr33]

You'll rarely if ever be disappointed with either Pichetti Wines (Santa Ynez Valley, Ca) or Del Dotto (Napa). Also, explore Israeli and Greek wines

Noted. Will look for those.

Layer Cake Primitivo aka Zinfandel Puglia IGT 2006 (Italy)
Try this and tell me how it is..:)

I can tell you first hand that it's fabulous. I've had the Zin and the Cab Sauv. Both are worth their price. Haven't been able to find them easily, especially since moving to the south, but I highly recommend at least those two wines. Zinfandels are some of my favorites. I used to work at Trader Joe's in southern California. A regular customer (and fellow Zin lover) told me that a general rule of thumb he uses when blindly trying a new Zinfandel is to see how high the alcohol content is. Generally, the higher the alcohol content, the better the Zinfandel. Whether that's true or not, I don't know for sure, but it's something to consider. I have, and have not been disappointed, most of the time.

One of my absolute favorites if the T-Vine Zinfandel (Napa Valley). It's a bit pricier than you were looking for (~$30/btl), but it is an INCREDIBLE wine. Their Petit Syrah is also very nice...

Will try. At that price range, we only buy one maybe two of those bottles a month. I'll look. It's hard to find a Napa that isn't overpriced. I appreciate your input. My palate has been a bit more refined to be able to appreciate the Petit Syrah's better.

My favorite wines come from Hunter Valley in Australia. Although they are not the only wines I like. And, out of the Hunter Valley My favorite vineyard is Brokenwood.

Some other wines I drink regularly are Rancho Zobaco Zinfandel (~$17), Peachy Canyon Zinfandel (~$10-12), Blackstone Merlot(~$8-10), Greg Norman Pinot Noir(~$15), and if you can find it, 2004 or 2005 Coppola Claret(~$17-20).

I generally have a hard time getting into Austrailian wines. I don't know why. It's definitely me. And it's not that I only like domestic wines, I just can't get into the Australian ones. But I digress; I have not had any from Brokenwood. Thanks for the recommendation.
I really like the Peachy Canyon Zinfandel, the Blackstone Merlot is decent, and I've never had the Rancho Zobaco. Looking forward to looking for that one. In general, the Coppola wines have disappointed me. I don't know if I have higher expectations because of the price point, or what. They aren't bad, but there are other wines I prefer over the Coppola line. Thanks, though. I might check out that Brokenwood 4-bottle offer.

It's sometimes hard to recommend specific labels/vintages because of availability. In general, I find it's easier to go with the varietal and region. Find a combination you like and explore from there.

As they probably told you at the tasting, Pinot Noir is one of the hardest varietals to find cheap and still be good. If you want to try looking for a good cheap pinot, I'd recommend starting with the Russian River Valley in California. There are still some good finds in the $15-$25 range. I've also had some great value Pinots from Chile, but it's hit or miss there.

Another region to consider are blends from Spain based on Tempranillo and Monastrell. If you like 'softer' wines you'll want ones with a higher percentage of Grenache.

You're telling me. Louisiana has some of the craziest tax import laws in existence. The politics are insane down here. There is supposed to be an alcohol warehouse not too far from where we are, that's supposed to be like the size of several super Wal-Marts. We are planning a trip down there soon to avoid just this.

We used to live in central Oregon, where, in my opinion, the very best Pinot Noir's exist. Some prices are a bit inflated due to being in the region, but there were so many available, that you could seriously take your time exploring. My preference for Pinot Noir's are from the Willamette Valley. We just tried a Retour Old Vine Pinot Noir - 2006 vintage last week at the tasting. Absolutely amazing. Another Willamette Valley production. Couldn't swing the price just then.

I'm a beer guy personally, but the gf is a wino (sp?). I know we have landed some good deals from wine.woot.com but they don't ship to every state because of blue laws.

Those crazy, crazy blue laws. Been haunting me since middle school.