Mmmm...Wine

[tete]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Stang

While we're talking wine... I'm going to be in Europe this spring and would love to bring a few bottles back. What I know:
- You can bring two 750ml bottle into Canada duty free
- You cannot bring it in your carry-on

What I'm unsure about is how you would ensure that it doesn't get obliterated in your checked luggage. I like reds, so it would also ruin all of my clothes. I could imagine that you can get cylinders to put the wine into so that it won't get crushed. Are they readily available at merchants in Europe, should I wait until I get to the airport and pick it up there? I would like to find some obscure vineyard in Slovenia though and bring some of that back because Italian wines are quite plentiful in Canada, albeit much more expensive than when you're in Europe.

Any suggestions? Take my own tubes with me?

My husband and I were in France and Switzerland over Christmas. We brought back 7 bottles of wine - 4 champagne, 2 Alsace and 1 Chateauneuf du Pape that we picked up in the duty free in the Frankfurt airport. We picked up WineSkins - basically bubble wrapping and solid plastic bottle coverings with a solid seal. Put all of the bottles into these, put into our checked luggage and came back with all bottles intact. The great thing about these skins is that even if one breaks, it's pretty unlikely that you'd get any leakage.

Just a warning - 7 bottles of wine are not light. We declared it all at Customs and did not have to pay duty or GST, though we were more than willing to do so. If you choose to ship your wine ahead of you, you will pretty much for sure get hit with duty and GST.

[troutman]

BTW, I think "wine snobbery" is a bit of a con. Go for what you like. You don't have to spend more than $20 for very good wine.

I posted a study before that showed top wine tasters could not distinguish expensive wines from cheap wines, or even red wines from white wines, when blind-folded.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wine_tasting

Scientific research has long demonstrated the power of suggestion in perception as well as the strong effects of expectancies. For example, people expect more expensive wine to have more desirable characteristics than less expensive wine. When given wine that they are falsely told is expensive they virtually always report it as tasting better than the very same wine when they are told that it is inexpensive. French researcher Frédéric Brochet "submitted a mid-range Bordeaux in two different bottles, one labeled as a cheap table wine, the other bearing a grand cru etiquette" and obtained predictable results. Tasters described the supposed grand cru as "woody, complex, and round" and the supposed cheap wine as "short, light, and faulty."[4] Blind tastings have repeatedly demonstrated that price is not highly correlated with the evaluations made by most people who taste wine.

Similarly, people have expectations about wines because of their geographic origin, producer, vintage, color, and many other factors. For example, when Brochet served a white wine he received all the usual descriptions: "fresh, dry, honeyed, lively." Later he served the same wine dyed red and received the usual red terms: "intense, spicy, supple, deep." [5]

The world of wine has numerous myths and exaggerations that are only now being disproven scientifically, yet they influence perceptions and expectancies. Not even professional tasters are immune to the strong effects of expectancies. Therefore, the need for blind tasting continues.

The Wine Snob Scandal:

http://www.seattleweekly.com/2002-02...ob-scandal.php

[cheevers]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Stang

While we're talking wine... I'm going to be in Europe this spring and would love to bring a few bottles back. What I know:
- You can bring two 750ml bottle into Canada duty free
- You cannot bring it in your carry-on

What I'm unsure about is how you would ensure that it doesn't get obliterated in your checked luggage. I like reds, so it would also ruin all of my clothes. I could imagine that you can get cylinders to put the wine into so that it won't get crushed. Are they readily available at merchants in Europe, should I wait until I get to the airport and pick it up there? I would like to find some obscure vineyard in Slovenia though and bring some of that back because Italian wines are quite plentiful in Canada, albeit much more expensive than when you're in Europe.

Any suggestions? Take my own tubes with me?

Personally I have gotten away with bringing 3 bottles back, customs didn't really care. I only had a traveller's back pack so I just wrapped them in my clothes, just make sure the stem is the most protected.

As for Slovenia, they have amazing wine, I do not remember any of the red wines, but I do have a couple white wine suggestions, there is Verus Pinot Gris, which is really fruity, goes down really good, probably my favorite wine. The other one is Movia Sauvignon, which was actually Tito's favorite wine, and the only brand not collectivized.

Also if your near there, check out some Croatian wines, pretty good as well. Have fun, and the best advice I can give you is just do your own personal wine tasting, its pretty cheap so you can just go place to place and order what you want.

[Kev]

Lindeman's Merlot Bin 40 is my favorite. I like trying new wines, but everytime I come back to it without fail. Sells for $10-$12.

Price doesn't always dictate quality.

[flylock shox]

For quality red wines, you really can't beat Argentinian malbec - which is usually between $12-$16 a bottle. Just make sure you look for something at least 2 years old - or age anything you buy that's younger than that.

As far as cheap whites go, there are more options. The best bang for your buck in Canadian whites is probably Calona Vineyards' Sovereign Opal, which is usually $13-$14.

But if you really want to stock up well, you're best served heading out to the Okanagan in the summer, doing a wine tour, and buying what you like. It's a fun process, and your collection will be a personal one - full of wines you know you like.

[Icon]

Friend of mine got married at the See Ya Later ranch & we sampled a variety of their wines there. All were good, though it got hazy later into the evening :P

Their sparkling white is very good as well, especially for the pricetag. Willow Park has it (as well as the rest of their wines), haven't seen it anywhere else.

[V]

I make wine for about 3 bucks a bottle and I love it. I can't imagine spending 20 bucks a bottle.

[GreenLantern]

Originally Posted by troutman

Wine Snob Explanation

I agree fully, I typically like to spend under $20 for my bottles of wine. The odd time I will splurge on a brand i have heard good things about, or have tried myself before at a restaurant or a friends house.

But typically $10-$20 is my range, and there are a LOT of good wines in that area. I love me a good Malbec.


As far as beer goes though, there is a huge difference, and I will continue to be a beer snob :P

[Loob]

Cork Dorks!

[sa226]

As for Red, The Stump Jump Australian wine by D'arenberg is my favorite.

Anybody ever try Mead? aka Honey Wine. There is a Meadery that opened up by Water Valley. They offer tours on the weekend with sampling and such. Its pretty good stuff.

[Mad Mel]

Originally Posted by icarus

Did you know that Canada imports more Yellow Tail from Australia than all wines from France combined?

The best wine mentioned in this thread IMO is Mad Mel's suggestion of D'Arenberg Footbolt shiraz -- great wine! However I think you'd really be hard pressed to find it in Canada.

Good thing Canada imports Yellowtail, because nobody drinks it here.

Apparently you can get D'Arenberg The Footbolt in Calgary at Centre Street North. $25 for the 2008. As I mentioned earlier, it's great value if you like the full-on taste of an Australian shiraz. sa226, if you like The Stump Jump, there's a good chance that you'll love The Footbolt.

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by flylock shox

For quality red wines, you really can't beat Argentinian malbec - which is usually between $12-$16 a bottle. Just make sure you look for something at least 2 years old - or age anything you buy that's younger than that.

As far as cheap whites go, there are more options. The best bang for your buck in Canadian whites is probably Calona Vineyards' Sovereign Opal, which is usually $13-$14.

But if you really want to stock up well, you're best served heading out to the Okanagan in the summer, doing a wine tour, and buying what you like. It's a fun process, and your collection will be a personal one - full of wines you know you like.

Seconded re Malbec and re Okanagan tours. We came back with 2 crates of wine from our last visit.

[Jimmy Stang]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

Seconded re Malbec and re Okanagan tours. We came back with 2 crates of wine from our last visit.

How much cheaper are the wines at the wineries compared to retail? The next time I drive through the Okanagan, even if I don't go on a tour, I should consider picking up a crate.

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Stang

How much cheaper are the wines at the wineries compared to retail? The next time I drive through the Okanagan, even if I don't go on a tour, I should consider picking up a crate.

I would say $2-4/bottle for the ~$20 stuff, and usually a further discount if you take 6 or 12.

[jtfrogger]

For great cheap wines, I'm a member of Opimian. It is a wine buying Co-op. Most of the wines I have tried are $10-20 per bottle and are great. They even have a variety pack program where you get 6 bottles for $83 8 times a year. Another cool thing, is that you get a discount from Highlander as part of the membership that ends up being 15-20% off. I tend to buy most non-wine alcohol there (and a fair amount of wine too) because of the discount.

As a side note, if you are actually interested in joining, let me know. I get a referral bonus, and I will share it.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

I would say $2-4/bottle for the ~$20 stuff, and usually a further discount if you take 6 or 12.

Also, most Okanagan wines sell-out locally, and can't be purchased in Calgary.

[Two Fivenagame]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Stang

How much cheaper are the wines at the wineries compared to retail? The next time I drive through the Okanagan, even if I don't go on a tour, I should consider picking up a crate.

i did a wine tour through the Okanagan a few years ago and i remember the prices at the winery were very similar to the prices at a local liquor store.

I think the real advantage in touring local wineries is the education and the experience of tasting different product from obscure wineries.

Still think the Canadian wines are over priced...

[Winsor_Pilates]

Tinhorn Creek - Cabernet Franc
My favorite red that can be had for under $20

Honorable mentions:
Quails Gate - Old Vines Foch; best of their reds IMO, between $20-$25
Cannonball-Cab Sav: Good cheep Cali wine

[Frank MetaMusil]

My favorite wine is Oculus. Expensive but worth it.

[prarieboy]

Tinhorn Creek is my favorite BC Winery. They make excellent Merlots if your into that. As mentioned the Cabernet Franc is outstanding.