The Final Gear Wine Society

Shit wine is about the only thing that works with a curry but then you run into the problem of finding a chick that likes Indian food, it's a catch 22.
 
Shit wine is about the only thing that works with a curry but then you run into the problem of finding a chick that likes Indian food, it's a catch 22.

Hippy chicks love indian food, and good wine works well with good Indian food, not crappy takeout. Rieslings, Gewurtztraminers are classic, but you can get better pairings the more esoteric you go. Sylvaner and Pinot Gris work great, some dry Champagne's are excellent, but you want to be careful of acidity since many dishes already contain that flavor note.
 
I had never had wine till 2008 or so when I moved to the San Francisco Bay Area. I went to Napa to tour wineries to try wine. Domaine Chandon was the first, although looking back, that was champagne. And not good champagne. I since have made it a goal to learn about wine. The Oz series helped a lot. So far I am a white wine fan. Chardonnays being my favorite. Good oakey ones. Savignon Blanc being another favorite. I've still got a long way to go in my quest.
 
Dunno how I missed this thread too.

Cakebread is my favorite Napa winery. I met David Bruce when I visited his winery a little while ago, he's a nice guy, likes to chat with his customers.

Unfortunately all the drinkers I know either drink only beer, or are not very adventurous and end up drinking only pinot (damn that movie), cab, or chardonnay.
 
I met David Bruce when I visited his winery a little while ago, he's a nice guy, likes to chat with his customers.

I met Francis Ford Coppola when I visited Napa Valley a few years ago. That guy was pretty cool. Also its quite nice of him to leave his 1948 Tucker Torpedo on display at his winery. He's the one I must thank for my obsession with the car.
 
I really enjoy meeting the people behind the wine. I've luckily had a chance to meet a lot of local winemakers and it really is great getting to hear their ideas on wine and wine making. Chris Figgins and Chris Upchurch come to mind as guys who produce world class wines but are extremely accessible and almost eager to talk wine with someone young and new to wine. Always great to have the winemaker interested in your tasting of their wine despite being, by all appearances, a complete newb.
 
So I've been thinking of buying a bottle or two of wine for my parents for Christmas. Recently re-watched Oz and Jamies in California and thought maybe it would be a good idea to find a Californian wine since they usually only drink Italian and Spanish reds.

I went for a 2007 Ravenswood Napa Valley Zinfandel. Good choice?

Really wanted to get a Sean Thackrey Orion but it's nosebleedingly expensive, especially over here.
 
I have just bought six of the Rioja Reserva from Tesco, who are practically giving it away at half price for ?4.99, plus a further 5% off for buying six.

Yum, yum!
:D
 
So I've been thinking of buying a bottle or two of wine for my parents for Christmas. Recently re-watched Oz and Jamies in California and thought maybe it would be a good idea to find a Californian wine since they usually only drink Italian and Spanish reds.

I went for a 2007 Ravenswood Napa Valley Zinfandel. Good choice?

Really wanted to get a Sean Thackrey Orion but it's nosebleedingly expensive, especially over here.
I've had some other Ravenswood and it ranged from okay to good. It's not great, but it's a 'very drinkable wine' to steal one from James.

Had a '05 L'Ecole Syrah last night; omg. Was very worth laying it down for a while.
 
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Truely great wine usually costs a bit more anyway, doesn't it. The bottle I bought is rougly twice the price of any bottle my dad would buy.
 
The other night I had an Andretti Pinot Grigio with dinner (2006). It was quite nice, with strong citrus flavors of grapefruit and lemon.
 
The in-laws have a relatively generous wine budget which means I have gotten to taste some very nice Barolo and Barbaresco wines.

I must have a wine and food trip to Italy within the next few years!
 
Truely great wine usually costs a bit more anyway, doesn't it. The bottle I bought is rougly twice the price of any bottle my dad would buy.

I make it a point to never pay more than $25 for a bottle. It takes some hunting and a little experimentation, but you can find really great stuff that tastes like much more expensive wine.
 
There are definitely some great wines under $30. That said, my favorite wines all exceed that :( Some by very little, others by quite a bit. Conversely I've had some terrible wines in the $150+ range.
 
Anyone have suggestions for wine to go with ham?

I'm planning on getting a semi-dry Zinfandel as my primary wine, with 1 dry and 2 sweeter wines for different people's tastes.

Anyway, suggestions? I'm looking at around $9-$12 a bottle at a relatively inexpensive liquor store (Binny's Beverage Depot)
 
No but we do have this...

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In other news I was looking at wine earlier and Barefoot has a, "Barefoot Bubbly - Moscato Spumante, Champagne, Sparkling Wine," They managed to use three languages and four words to describe their sparkling wine as sparkling wine. I'll fix it, "Barefoot - Muscat Sparkling Wine."
 
Drunk on Chard atm. Not a chard drinker but it was nicely subdued rather than the typically overwhelming sweetness of most chard's. Overaged is my guess, it was an '03 I found in the cellar.

Enjoyed two tastings recently, Sparkman and Covington Cellars.

Sparkman was a great paired dinner and got to sit with one of the managers of the winery throughout dinner. Very bright guy and reflected very well on the winery. Got to take a bottle of theirs home as a prize at the end of the night to boot. Was very impressed by some of their wines, but not nearly as impressed as some of my table mates.

Covington was a great group with a very gracious winemaker/host. Toured their whole west-side facility (grape growing is east-side) with the winemaker and got to enjoy a great glass of Syrah with him watching the end of the Seahawks v Saints in his tasting room. Is it pompous to enjoy a really nice glass of Syrah in a tasting room while watching football? It felt it :> Had a great set of small bites paired with his wines, most of which were enjoyable but I wouldn't put on par with their present ratings. Was surprisingly disappointed with his merlot :( The blend, by numbers, should have hit all the right notes with me but fell flat. And their Viognier ('09) is far too young.
 
The in-laws have a relatively generous wine budget which means I have gotten to taste some very nice Barolo and Barbaresco wines.

I must have a wine and food trip to Italy within the next few years!

I've really started to appreciate Barolo's lately, aside from Sangioveses and Chianti (which I never really drink, just laugh when i think of the 'Hannibal Lecter' reference) I don't know much about Italian reds vs...reds everywhere else (france, chile, californian)

Anyone here have much experience with S African wine varietals?
 
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