Wine! All things wine

[DFO]

As the holidays are coming up I've been sorting out what wines I want for various dinners. I've got a couple good ones picked so far - 3L of Gran Reserva goodness & a decent 17yr Bordeaux blend.

Spoiler!

Who else has bottles picked out for the holidays?

[Tinordi]

@JohnnyB

Yes I was generalizing in that I was talking about typical everyman wine from these regions.

If you buy a 10 Euro bottle of Macon villages or a 15 dollar bottle of Canadian/American Chardonnay then my general description absolutely holds. New world Chardonnays have a lot of malolactic characteristics (yes I know what that is), very strong oak notes, are less dry, lack mineral character, and are very round. That's not too say that they aren't good wines. They're fine, I drink then all the time. However, the French versions at the same price are just that much better IMO.

And that's to say nothing of the premium wines. I've had the pleasure of having bottles of Montrachet and they are simply amazing wines. I haven't drank anything that comes close to those from Canada, Australia, US.

[Tinordi]

And there's real physical reasons why French wine is so good. Sure some of it may just be marketing or mystique but you can't irrigate in a recognized appellation. That matters a lot. You can't fertilize your vineyard either, again that matters.

There are also down sides to the French market. It's quite hide bound. Innovation in styles is severely limited in an AOC. But you get a very high base level of quality from that system.

And further, innovation and creativity still happens there. France produces significant amounts of Vin nature (natural wine) which has spontaneous fermentation characteristics and oxygenated flavors that can be very unique and delicious.

This type of wine is really taking off with the "Bobo" hipster Parisiens. I've yet to see much natural wine make inroads among Canadian producers.

[JohnnyB]

Originally Posted by Tinordi

@JohnnyB

Yes I was generalizing in that I was talking about typical everyman wine from these regions.

If you buy a 10 Euro bottle of Macon villages or a 15 dollar bottle of Canadian/American Chardonnay then my general description absolutely holds. New world Chardonnays have a lot of malolactic characteristics (yes I know what that is), very strong oak notes, are less dry, lack mineral character, and are very round. That's not too say that they aren't good wines. They're fine, I drink then all the time. However, the French versions at the same price are just that much better IMO.

And that's to say nothing of the premium wines. I've had the pleasure of having bottles of Montrachet and they are simply amazing wines. I haven't drank anything that comes close to those from Canada, Australia, US.

What are you getting for $15CDN with ML and loads of oak? And how is $15CDN characteristic of a Canadian wine? Anyways, that's more of a steel tank fermentation price range. The only way that's getting oaked is with chips, cause it's not seeing a new barrel at that price. But at the point of oak chips it's not even worth having a conversation and any talk of the environment or fertilization is out the window already, especially for a varietal like Chard...

[OMG!WTF!]

Yeah whatever. This summer I rented a house in the Okanagan and 6 of us drank 44 bottles of wine in 7 days. Anybody top that?

[Fuzz]

A bottle per person per day? That's just a warm up round!

[username]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

All Locations?

I think so yes. I subscribe to their weekly email so I would assume all locations. They will be sending out an email on Friday with all the big sales.

[OMG!WTF!]

I brought two bottles over to my friends' house last night, a nice couple. I hadn't noticed but one bottle was from Little Straw winery in Kelowna. The other a blend from Summerland call Nice Rack Red. His and hers as it were. Pretty funny unintended juxtaposition.

[TheIronMaiden]

Maybe some body here can help me.

For Christmas I am going to buy my SO amung other things a nice bottle of wine. I was hoping for some suggestions.

What she likes, is a Cabernet Sauvignon which is not terribly acidic. She usually drinks Californien, or Chilean wines, but I am not picky about where it's from. Normally my SO swears by cheaper bottles, but I would like to treat her to a more expensive bottle. I am flexible on this too, However, I would be shy about bottles which are north of 100$.

I have an idea or two, but I am curious what you all think.

[troutman]

Little Straw makes our favorite ice wine.

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

Maybe some body here can help me.

For Christmas I am going to buy my SO amung other things a nice bottle of wine. I was hoping for some suggestions.

What she likes, is a Cabernet Sauvignon which is not terribly acidic. She usually drinks Californien, or Chilean wines, but I am not picky about where it's from. Normally my SO swears by cheaper bottles, but I would like to treat her to a more expensive bottle. I am flexible on this too, However, I would be shy about bottles which are north of 100$.

I have an idea or two, but I am curious what you all think.

Well... do you want to get her something different or a higher end version of what she already likes? If she likes Cali wines then you shouldn't have a problem finding a more premium Cab from Napa (I think it's hard to go wrong with Stag's Leap personally... I've seen a few of the 2012's still on the shelves). Now if you want to try something a bit different I'd get her Gigglepot. Australian, cute name, cute label, good reviews, and you can have fun with the Mollydooker Shake.

[JohnnyB]

If she likes non-acidic cab sauv then it makes sense that she prefers less expensive bottles, as it's a pretty acidic varietal and expensive bottles would be expected to all be high acid wines. Could be that she's just not familiar with really well-balanced high acid wines, or could be she just really likes low acidity, but at a high price point you're going to have a hard time avoiding acid.

Parallex makes good suggestions. Margaret River in Australia is another region to consider. Very distinctive if you want something full of flavour. Going to be high acid though.

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

Maybe some body here can help me.

For Christmas I am going to buy my SO amung other things a nice bottle of wine. I was hoping for some suggestions.

What she likes, is a Cabernet Sauvignon which is not terribly acidic. She usually drinks Californien, or Chilean wines, but I am not picky about where it's from. Normally my SO swears by cheaper bottles, but I would like to treat her to a more expensive bottle. I am flexible on this too, However, I would be shy about bottles which are north of 100$.

I have an idea or two, but I am curious what you all think.

Beringer Private Reserve Cab Sauv 2013 at Costco for $99.99; Coop, as I mentioned, had the 2010 on sale for the same price - not sure if they still have the sale on.
For Chilean, Don Melchor - I believe Costco still had the cab for $79.99. Coop also had it on sale for the same price I believe.
Had several bottles of each - both are excellent.

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by Parallex

Well... do you want to get her something different or a higher end version of what she already likes? If she likes Cali wines then you shouldn't have a problem finding a more premium Cab from Napa (I think it's hard to go wrong with Stag's Leap personally... I've seen a few of the 2012's still on the shelves). Now if you want to try something a bit different I'd get her Gigglepot. Australian, cute name, cute label, good reviews, and you can have fun with the Mollydooker Shake.

Yes, Stag's Leap is also very good and when Costco has it, I believe it's around $40. Mollydooker Boxer is great - have a couple of bottles.
Also, if you want to go cheaper, the Beringer Knights Valley cab is very good at about $37 I believe.

P.S. Can't believe I forgot this one, since it's by go-to at Caesars, Hess Alomi Cab is an excellent, moderately priced (around 30-35 - I honestly can't recall) California cab that might work for you. If Costco has it (and they sometimes do), grab it there.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by username

Highlander is having their customer appreciation event next Saturday. All wine is at least 15% off with some up to 50 off.

All beer and liquor will be 10% off.

Well that was insane. Last year wasn't as busy.

[14]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

Yes, Stag's Leap is also very good and when Costco has it, I believe it's around $40. Mollydooker Boxer is great - have a couple of bottles.
Also, if you want to go cheaper, the Beringer Knights Valley cab is very good at about $37 I believe.

P.S. Can't believe I forgot this one, since it's by go-to at Caesars, Hess Alomi Cab is an excellent, moderately priced (around 30-35 - I honestly can't recall) California cab that might work for you. If Costco has it (and they sometimes do), grab it there.

Thanks for this info. Just back from Costco in Calgary. Grabbed Beringer Knights Valley 2014 - $29, Stag' Leap Cab Sauv 2014 - $45, and 19 Crimes Shiraz Durif - $13.50. No Hess there unfortunately.

Looking forward to trying the first two for the first time over the holidays.

Thanks.

[VladtheImpaler]

Glad you found some stuff. One thing to keep in mind about Stag's Leap and Knights Valley - Co-op has them on sale about once a year for great prices, and they significantly beat Costco's price, so keep an eye out and grab a few.
A recommendation - had the 2014 Reserve Pinot Gris from Blue Mountain (BC) - what a terrific wine. Great just to sip, and went really, really well with a pork chop.

[OMG!WTF!]

Thurn is another amazing BC pinot gris. They're fairly new in the market but have been around for a long time. They play screeching bird of prey recordings at their vineyard all summer. Adds a great deal to the ambiance.

[northcrunk]

I've always gotten heartburn from wine (red is the worst) so I've been drinking mead. There are not many producers though of it so I've got a couple batches fermenting right now.

[username]

Did anyone take advantage of Highlander's sale on Saturday? I was able to get a few bottles of Saffredi for 90 bucks each which is incredible.....50 dollars off and I don't think I've ever seen it on sale before.