Ok...maybe this will die on the vine...maybe even I'll get bored of posting in it but I like that Beer thread and wine is at least equally deserving.



2010 Aguijón de Abeja Torrontés (Argentina, Mendoza)

Torrontés is a white wine varietal popular in Argentina. I first had this at a Peruvian 5 course tasting where it was paired with a Sea Bass Tiradito (ceviche in a spicy sauce with corn and sweet potato). It's a dry white with a strong floral bouquet, a crisp acidity and notes of white peach, pear, and pineapple on the palate. Ceviche is fish cooked by citrus acid rather than heat so the acidity and fruit notes of the wine paired well with the dish. I quite liked it and bought two bottles later that week.

I opened the first last night and had a glass along with a Bobo de Camarao (a Brazilian Shrimp Stew with Palm Oil, Coconut Milk and Yuca ). Again, the wine paired very well with the tropical seafood flavors. Highly recommended at $10.99 a bottle.

Burgenlander Rot



This is an Austrian Red blend of Blaufränkisch, Zweigelt, and Pinot Noir Austrian reds tend to be very fruit forward with some spice and acidity but very little in the way of tannins. The Burgenlander Rot is a good example of one at a nice price point ($10-15/bottle). It paired well with lamb, dates & honey sausages over the weekend.

Great idea. I'll be compiling the recommends.

Hell's yeah. I down with this. Torrentes is pretty awesome.

I've been pretty well relegated to whites these days. Red doesn't agree with the wife at all, and it's started to mess with me as well. Damn shame.

I like this idea too.

I drink a lot of different wines but I have to admit that I'm TERRIBLE at describing them, other than it was red/white/bubbly and it was great/good/average/terrible. Okay, not quite that simplistic, but not far off.

To start (and I'm not kidding, I opened this bottle when I walked in the door tonight before seeing billy's thread):



Blackbilly 2007 Shiraz (Australia)

If you're a fan of big reds, this is a steal at $15 (I've seen it priced as much as $19, which is still decent). A full bodied fruit bomb, not too tannic.

Me too.

Also, my only suggestion would be to add the country if possible. It will hopefully be a better guide for us to seek out the wines in our local boozer.

This was enjoyable enough for me to go back to the local joint and pick up a few more. It won't blow your mind, but it was a solidly enjoyable, a California blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, and Barbera. I picked it up for $12, but you US folks can probably get it for half that.

Enjoyed this article: Why you should be drinking cheap wine

Personally, I don't drink much wine, but my wife does so I'll be following along.

This was a lesson that I learned when I started getting into wines--there are so many great wines to be had in the $8-$20 range that you would never have to go above that price range. Plus, most people that buy wine don't have a developed palette--why spend money on something that someone says is "amazing".

The whole wine rating system is bunk anyway. You're basically banking on that the reviewer has the exact same palette/taste/habits as you have. While I respect Robert Parker, his whole aesthetic of reviewing wines has pretty much ruined wine culture. Glad that there are now some rogue reviewers out there in the blogsphere writing about wine.

BTW--if you guys haven't seen Blood Into Wine, I definitely recommend it. Also, Mondovino is pretty good.

rich, vibrant strawberry flavor with a just a hint of hill...

Interesting article. Although it's completely impossible to find a bottle of wine in Canada (and I can say that as I've lived all over this country) for less than $7 because of the sin taxes. I generally buy in the $10-15 range and probably am that guy who spends about 4 grand a year on wine. Fortunately, I've budgeted for it.

that's great. I'm mean that may be the case for all the people who really don't care what kind of alcoholic beverage they put into themselves but does that really tell that germans have a better understanding for wine?
if you go for german, austrian or italian wine here, 5 € is a good prize for a simple but good wine. french wine starts with the same quality around 8 €.
I'm going to contribute a couple of experience with german wine here in the next days. I wonder if it's possible to get it overseas.

I don't know much about wine, but I've drank a fair amount over the last few years, usually stay around 10 bucks a bottle. I have been to a few tastings where I've not known the prices until afterwards and I can't say there is no correlation between expensive and cheap wine for taste even to an unsophisticated palette, and I was all ready convinced this was not the case beforehand so I do question that article's conclusions a bit. I do agree it is all a matter of personal preference though and I've had some cheap bottles I've really liked.

Anyway, I have found you can get Malbec's that I tend to like pretty cheaply. One of my easy to find even at the grocery stoire bottles I like quite a bit as a go to would be the Don Miguel Gascón Malbec. It's easy to find everywhere and cheap but I like it fine. Big taste but easy to drink, which is pretty much where my preferences lean.


Another one I really like, probably even a bit more although it's not as readily available around here and thus requires a special trip for me is this called heavyweight red, a blend that is just what the name says, heavy and big taste but again pretty easy to drink:


Those are a couple I like and drink regularly off the top of my head. There's more and I'll definitely be watching this thread and will probably chime in from time to time despite my lack of knowledge.

Agreed. It should go without saying that you don't need to drink expensive wine everyday and that you should look for value at whatever price point you choose to buy. I can find bottles for $10-15 that I like more than some wines that cost $60-80 but the best wines at $60-80 are still going to blow away the best wines that cost $10-15 and those wines will be blown away by the best wines that cost $150 or more. Every year, I go to a few tastings that feature the big names from bordeaux or napa where the cheapest wine out of the 10 or 12 offered is usually in the $90-100 range. It ruins my palatte for a week where a lot of cheaper wines that I really like taste very mediocre by comparison

While it's true that the Robert Parkers of the world have too great an influence on the wine industry, they do serve a legitimate purpose. I don't let myself be a slave to the ratings but its another source of information that can be valuable if you haven't had a chance to try the wine yourself prior to purchase.

Also, it's a little misleading to say that Europeans drink cheaper wine because wine is much cheaper in Europe. They could be drinking the exact same wines and it would be true. I also disagree with the idea that $15 is all that much for an everyday wine. Prices vary greatly by varietal. While I can find a lot of whites I like in the $10-13 price range and a few reds from Spain and Argentina, there are very few Bordeauxs that I think are worth drinking that are much less than $20 a bottle. You are doing pretty well if you can find one you like in the $15-20 range. I've had some wines that are drinkable below $10 but none that I really liked enough that I'd ever repurchase them unless I'm just planning to use them as cooking wines.

i tend to buy in the 12-30 range at stores and at restaurants seem to order in the 25-40 range. around here you can usually find something good at those price points.

If you use it strictly from the point of what the varietal was, region, weather, soil, etc then yeah, they serve a purpose. If you use them as a determiner of whats good, I disagree. But that's me. Tons of people read Wine Advocate, so people get something from it. Like I said above, wine ratings (and somewhat food reviews) are so substantiated on what that person's palette and likes are, that for you or I to have similar is a longshot. Plus, with Parker, wine makers are honing in on the best of the best. What goes into a bottle might not even be remotely what the reviewer tasted. Heck, taste can vary from case to case.

But that's the beauty of wine.

I think Parker wrote that epic tome about the Bordeaux region, which people say is a must-read. I'm kinda curious. I've seen it used a few places. But, then the fact comes back to me that I probably wouldn't pursue most of the wines he raves about.

You could make that argument about any reviewer of any type of product. I wouldn't argue that anyone should be a slave to the ratings of Parker, WS, WE or any other reviewer. Know and trust your own palate. Drink things you like, not what others like. That said, before you've tasted a wine it's helpful to have opinions and I'd rather have more opinions than less. Of course, it's important to know how a reviewer's taste compares to your own. That's pretty basic. I'd rather have the recommendations of people who know me and my palate and I'm fortunate to have a great wine shop with a very knowledgeable staff that know me well. If I didn't have that, I'd be more inclined to lean on reviewers than trust the average liquor store employee.

Choosing wine blindly would be very difficult. I like having the benefits of the reviews. I just don't like the power that Parker and a few others have accumulated -- how their ratings drive the success of a wine and thus how their preferences influence winemakers.

Also, Parker's books are very useful though even if you want to mostly ignore his numerical ratings. There is a lot of information about vineyards, regions, vintages, production sizes, crop problems in particular years, etc.

And that's a big thing. I definitely can side with this. Get to know yr local wine shop's staff and let them know what you like. Probably one of the best decisions you can make.

Ramp wine. Anyone had it? I've tried it at a craft festival that we have here. Personally, I don't know how people could sit down and drink this by the glass. But they sell a ton of it.

I'll post here more than the cocktails thread. The problem with wine is that I'm always trying different ones, so I never keep track of which ones I love. This might help

cell phone pics of labels have saved me many times.

I use Cellartracker.com to keep a current inventory of what I have along with what I've bought and already consumed. Not sure it would be worth it if you are just trying to keep track of what you've had and liked as opposed to building an inventory list for a cellar but it could be used for that too. I do the cell pic thing too if it's just a random bottle ordered in a restaurant that I liked an I'm afraid I'll forget.

I mostly drink wine and hit anywhere in the 8 to 15$ range depending on quality, source and if it's a deal.
I usually drink Pinot Noir, or Sauvignon Blanc {mainly because they are lighter and I know I will be putting them down a bit} but I will stray to others if a meal calls for it.

I just bought St. Supery Sauv Balnc over the weekend for 15 when its usually 20. A definite quality wine for the price.

I have found that Bogle and Blackstone make a consisently decent inexpesive pinot noir usuallly around 8-12$.
Castle Rock Pinot Noir has been a recent market capture here and has been around 9-11$ Its a good day to day red.
Rodney Strong puts out a good Sauv Blanc and I have seen it wildly priced from 9-14$
Alamos' Malbec is good and about 9$
Domaine Houchart is a pleasant Provence Rosé, fruity, dry but not syrupy, 10$
Whispering Angel is a better lighter Rosé but priced in the 14-18$ range
Louis Latour's Valmoissenes Pinot Noir and their other Pinot low ends can all range from 12-18$ but usually up to good standard if you're up to planking down more $

Shot in the Dark Shiraz/Petite Syrah 2008, South Eastern Australia. I picked this up in an airport one time and was hugely impressed with this for a $12 price.

been drinking this lately - one of my favorite local pinot noirs. also pretty affordable..in the 20-25 range

I really enjoy Malbec. Recently discovered this, and it was really enjoyable, and under $12.00.



Winery: Bodega Colome
Region: Argentina, Salta
Varietal: Malbec