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help with wines....

TangoJuliet

TangoJuliet

Diamond Member
me and my wife picked up a wine cabinet this weekend mainly for decor in our living room. we tend to drink wine from time to time but we are not connoisseurs. i am a fan of our local wines - rieslings and shirazs and my wife is a big fan for more fruity wines. the cabinet holds about 10 bottles of wine which will be used for decor but I suppose when we have guests we can pull a bottle and use it.

my question....is there a guide out there that rates the wines on different price levels and by variety? i had went to a really nice restaurant in chicago and the people there were raving about the opus one (2002/2003) wines but they were on the expensive side.

are there any connoisseurs here and what would you recommend?
 
You could try any of the big names: wine spectator, wine enthusiast, wine advocate, etc. However, this will cost you money. If you want free, try out cellartracker.com to look up wines and user ratings, or try the forums at WLTV forums. They have a great list of user compiled values under $12.
 
sweet. thanks!

lord are u a big wine drinker? if so, is there a big difference between a value wine and something mid range (say $30-40)?
 
Originally posted by: Gobadgrs
Anyone who knows anything about wine, knows that the finest wine comes from a box 😉
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wine in a box?? i thought it was "dick in a box"?

i used to drink wine in a box in college....but it wasnt for taste...it was to get DRUNK! those days are long gone
 
If you like shiraz and your wife likes fruity, check out Shotfire Ridge Shiraz. Goes great with grilled meats.

Another all-rounder good wine is Prosecco. This is a sparkling white wine on the sweet side of champagne, but nowhere near as sweet as Asti. A great prosecco, IMO, is Zardetto, but Il is also enjoyable.

Shotfire Ridge should be obtainable for $15-$18
Zardetto Prosecco $10-$14
Il Prosecco $9-$12

I tend to stay below $20 and there are plenty of options for great wine.
 
Originally posted by: MonkeyK
If you like shiraz and your wife likes fruity, check out Shotfire Ridge Shiraz. Goes great with grilled meats.

Another all-rounder good wine is Prosecco. This is a sparkling white wine on the sweet side of champagne, but nowhere near as sweet as Asti. A great prosecco, IMO, is Zardetto, but Il is also enjoyable.

Shotfire Ridge should be obtainable for $15-$18
Zardetto Prosecco $10-$14
Il Prosecco $9-$12

I tend to stay below $20 and there are plenty of options for great wine.
Click to expand...

wow, excellent - thanks for the recommendations! i'll definately check em out and let you know. what would u suggest with pasta? a nice merlot?
 
Originally posted by: MonkeyK
If you like shiraz and your wife likes fruity, check out Shotfire Ridge Shiraz. Goes great with grilled meats.

Another all-rounder good wine is Prosecco. This is a sparkling white wine on the sweet side of champagne, but nowhere near as sweet as Asti. A great prosecco, IMO, is Zardetto, but Il is also enjoyable.

Shotfire Ridge should be obtainable for $15-$18
Zardetto Prosecco $10-$14
Il Prosecco $9-$12

I tend to stay below $20 and there are plenty of options for great wine.
Click to expand...

I think what he is referring to is the Thorn-Clarke Shotfire Ridge Shiraz. The 2005 vintage is what should be on store shelves right now, though the 2003 and 2004 were about equally good. It should be anywhere from $15-$20 and it is a great value.

Another thing you might try is ordering wine online. Try that website that hosts the forums- wine library. They have a great selection and great prices, but due to their popularity, they tend to sell out of good values such as the shotfire ridge very quickly. The store is located in NJ so it might not be too far of a drive for you if your profile is accurate.

To answer your other question about value v. $30-$40: it depends. It depends on a number of factors such as your personal tastes, the specific wine, the vintage, and many other factors. There are a lot of overpriced $40 bottles, though there are a lot of overpriced $10 bottles as well. That being said, you can find some great values such as the 2005 Pillar Box red (if you like new world, over the top, fruit-driven wines) that can be had for $10. You might find you like more refined, old world style wines such as those of Bordeaux. In that case, look to spend $30 or $40 or as much as hundreds of dollars per bottle.

In the end, drink what you like, not what the wine critics with their 100 point scales tell you to drink.



 
Originally posted by: alkohoLiK
Originally posted by: MonkeyK
If you like shiraz and your wife likes fruity, check out Shotfire Ridge Shiraz. Goes great with grilled meats.

Another all-rounder good wine is Prosecco. This is a sparkling white wine on the sweet side of champagne, but nowhere near as sweet as Asti. A great prosecco, IMO, is Zardetto, but Il is also enjoyable.

Shotfire Ridge should be obtainable for $15-$18
Zardetto Prosecco $10-$14
Il Prosecco $9-$12

I tend to stay below $20 and there are plenty of options for great wine.
Click to expand...


wow, excellent - thanks for the recommendations! i'll definately check em out and let you know. what would u suggest with pasta? a nice merlot?
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For pasta, I have not yet found a replacement for my 2002 Sebastiani Cabernet. Fortunately, I am still sitting on about 6 bottles.
I do seem to recall enjoying the Casillero del Diablo Merlot a long time ago. It is widely available and under $10

Based on my doctors recommendation to drink more wine, I am starting to explore boxed wines as a low budget option. So far, despite the hype, I cannot recommend Black Box Sonoma Merlot.
 
I have not had it yet, but according to cellartracker, the 2004 Sebastiani Cab is quite good and can be had locally (in Virginia) for as little as ~$11.

Speaking of Concha y Toro, the 2005 Casillero del Diablo Carmenere is an incredible value. At the same time, their Cabernet and Merlot are good values as well. All are available locally (for me in Virginia) for ~$8.

Over time, the more you learn about wine and what you personally like, you will probably begin to rely on tasting notes more than scores.

With regards to boxed wines: they have definitely come a long way from Franzia, but they still have a long way to go to gain acceptance to the mainstream wine drinker in terms of quality appreciation.
 
Originally posted by: LordNoob
I have not had it yet, but according to cellartracker, the 2004 Sebastiani Cab is quite good and can be had locally (in Virginia) for as little as ~$11.

Speaking of Concha y Toro, the 2005 Casillero del Diablo Carmenere is an incredible value. At the same time, their Cabernet and Merlot are good values as well. All are available locally (for me in Virginia) for ~$8.

Over time, the more you learn about wine and what you personally like, you will probably begin to rely on tasting notes more than scores.

With regards to boxed wines: they have definitely come a long way from Franzia, but they still have a long way to go to gain acceptance to the mainstream wine drinker in terms of quality appreciation.
Click to expand...

Concha y Toro's next line up, Marques de Casa Concha has a terrific Cabernet at around $15, but the trick with it is that it really needs to sit for a few years (or if decanted, do so for a couple of days). This is not really a wine for wine newbies though. The first time I drank it, my mouth was completely overwhelmed.
 
Originally posted by: MonkeyK
Originally posted by: LordNoob
I have not had it yet, but according to cellartracker, the 2004 Sebastiani Cab is quite good and can be had locally (in Virginia) for as little as ~$11.

Speaking of Concha y Toro, the 2005 Casillero del Diablo Carmenere is an incredible value. At the same time, their Cabernet and Merlot are good values as well. All are available locally (for me in Virginia) for ~$8.

Over time, the more you learn about wine and what you personally like, you will probably begin to rely on tasting notes more than scores.

With regards to boxed wines: they have definitely come a long way from Franzia, but they still have a long way to go to gain acceptance to the mainstream wine drinker in terms of quality appreciation.
Click to expand...

Concha y Toro's next line up, Marques de Casa Concha has a terrific Cabernet at around $15, but the trick with it is that it really needs to sit for a few years (or if decanted, do so for a couple of days). This is not really a wine for wine newbies though. The first time I drank it, my mouth was completely overwhelmed.
Click to expand...

Agreed- probably not the best for a "n00b". Also, their Don Melchor Cabernet is a fantastic value (~$40-$45, so the word value in this case is relative). I've had the 2001, I have but have not had the 2002, and can't seem to get my hands on the 2003. According to wine spectator, the 2001 rated 95 points, the 2002 was 92 points, and the 2003 was a whopping 96 points. Then again, this is wine spectator. Trust your own palate.
 
Originally posted by: LordNoob
I have not had it yet, but according to cellartracker, the 2004 Sebastiani Cab is quite good and can be had locally (in Virginia) for as little as ~$11.

Speaking of Concha y Toro, the 2005 Casillero del Diablo Carmenere is an incredible value. At the same time, their Cabernet and Merlot are good values as well. All are available locally (for me in Virginia) for ~$8.

Over time, the more you learn about wine and what you personally like, you will probably begin to rely on tasting notes more than scores.

With regards to boxed wines: they have definitely come a long way from Franzia, but they still have a long way to go to gain acceptance to the mainstream wine drinker in terms of quality appreciation.
Click to expand...


And nice call on cellartracker. Anyone who is starting to get into wine would do well to check that site out.
For those that don't know, cellartracker is a social networking site for wine. People enter their cellar contents into the database, and track their consumption and drinking notes. You can compare your drinking notes to those of other people. If you agree with them, you might want to check out what else they like.
 
Also, try pretty much anything by Casa Lapostolle- also from Chile, like Concha y Toro. Their entry level wines can be had for around $10-$12 and their next nicest offering, the cuvee alexander label (in many varietals) should not disappoint.
 
thanks guys....ill check em out.

i live in NY on long island and we have a bunch of local vinyards. ive been to some and really like a local riesling
 
Originally posted by: LordNoob
Agreed- probably not the best for a "n00b". Also, their Don Melchor Cabernet is a fantastic value (~$40-$45, so the word value in this case is relative). I've had the 2001, I have but have not had the 2002, and can't seem to get my hands on the 2003. According to wine spectator, the 2001 rated 95 points, the 2002 was 92 points, and the 2003 was a whopping 96 points. Then again, this is wine spectator. Trust your own palate.
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I've had the 2001, and am sitting on three bottles of the 2003. The 2001 is a solid excellent in my book. I am afraid to jump on the 2003 too quick because $40 is outside of my "value" range.

 
Originally posted by: alkohoLiK
me and my wife picked up a wine cabinet this weekend mainly for decor in our living room. we tend to drink wine from time to time but we are not connoisseurs. i am a fan of our local wines - rieslings and shirazs and my wife is a big fan for more fruity wines. the cabinet holds about 10 bottles of wine which will be used for decor but I suppose when we have guests we can pull a bottle and use it.

my question....is there a guide out there that rates the wines on different price levels and by variety? i had went to a really nice restaurant in chicago and the people there were raving about the opus one (2002/2003) wines but they were on the expensive side.

are there any connoisseurs here and what would you recommend?
Click to expand...


Most people can't tell the difference between a $10 bottle of wine and a $200 bottle. I have a friend who claimed he could, but when I challenged him to do a taste test, he admitted that it would be hard to tell.

Drink what you think tastes good.
 
Originally posted by: alkohoLiK
thanks guys....ill check em out.

i live in NY on long island and we have a bunch of local vinyards. ive been to some and really like a local riesling
Click to expand...

NY wines have been making headway in recent years, particularly with riesling.

However, if you want good riesling and you want good value, try to look for German rieslings from the 2005 vintage. You might look specifically for wines from the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer or Pfalz regions. Pretty much any 2005 vintage from producers such as Dr. Loosen, St. Urbans Hof, or Joh Jos Prum will be great.

Also a riesling, and widely available is the 2005 Saint M Riesling. Imported by Ch. Ste. Michelle of Washington State, this riesling is made by Ernst Loosen from his Villa Wolf property in the Pfalz region of Germany. It is available at grocery stores where I live for as low as $10.
 
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