So..I'm uncultured white trash (wine content)

[Stinsok]

I am 46 and still cannot appreciate "fine" wines. I am not knocking those who do! I am happy drinking an Arbor Mist or Yellow Tail, or whatever (I like Merlot's too.) I don't drink wine to get buzzed, I enjoy them with a meal (although, I have been known to drink it out of a jelly jar over ice.) Not long ago, I was in a group of people celebrating promotions. We were taken to dinner and our host ordered a $500.00 bottle of Merlot. It didn't taste any better than the $10.00 stuff I buy.

Those of you that do enjoy more expensive wines, please tell me what you like, what makes a good wine, and the differences you notice between those and the lesser expensive stuff. I'm off to chug the spit bucket.

[tom once dead]

The only fine wine I need is Fruity Lexia. $13 for 4 litres...

[FL Knifemaker]

Back in the 80's I took a VERY expensive, 10 week wine class. I learned a lot as to how they are made, where they come from, the history, etc. I also found that in every BLIND tasting the only people that preferred the expensive wines had tasted them before and where familiar with their flavor. Of all the champagnes we had in that tasting, I picked the Freixenet Cordon Negro (acutally a sparlking wine), HANDS DOWN about an $8 bottle at the time. That was among $100 bottles and other lesser expensvie ones. Dom tastes like sulfer farts........not that I've ever actually tasted one How anyone can say that is a quality champagne is beyond me.

These days I hardly EVER drink wine. I have a pretty good inventory but it's been created by and consumed by friends that bring it over

[XtreO]

Sweet fruity white or sparking wines to get buzzed as they go down so well and are cheap in large quantities, though I 98% of the time stick with beer. Whenever a good wine is required to a good meal, I let my sister pick what's right as she works at Vinmonopolet ("The Wine Monopoly", the only place to get something stronger than about 5% legally in Norway).

I doubt I'll ever be much of a wine guy though.

[RWP]

Wine is for girly-men.

[Stinsok]

What wine goes with bacon?

[TheDarkReaver]

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m.../ai_n10023878/

Wine for bacon, they had a seminar and everything.

[RWP]

Originally Posted by Stinsok

What wine goes with bacon?

Why, Fat Bastard wine of course!

[hover]

I used to dig on some Bartles and James wine coolers back in the day. I chose them because they always "thanked me for my support". And I was 15. And didn't know any better.

[Sonicfrog]

I won't spend any more than $15 on a bottle of red. Usually I go for $8 if it looks interesting. Ravenswood and Rex Goliath are two reasonably priced wine brands that have been consistently good throughout the product line.

And one bit if interesting wine news. Word on the street is that, due to the smoke from many fires here in CA, some of the 2008 wines are turning out to have an ashy, dirty flavor.

OK. Now for the fun story. Many years ago, a friend of mine got married, and when she and the new hubby got to their honeymoon destination, there was a bottle of complimentary champagne waiting for them. Both hubby and wife were much for drinking; they never-the-less gave the bubbley a go. It tasted horrible to both, so they poured it down the drain. Yes, the fizzy was a bottle of Dom, a gift from the bride's Dad.

Not being drinkers, they had no idea the bottle was as costly as it was. Being the jovial sort, Andrea's Dad had a good laugh over it anyway.

[Sonicfrog]

Oh, and then there is this bit of wine awesomeness...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnLpX...eature=related

[TheDarkReaver]

Those crazy French people.

[RWP]

Back in the day this worked for me.

[bmc]

I love wine. We have 1-3 bottles per week. I am fortunate to love very close to wine regions renown for their quality. I have been very fortunate to have enjoyed very expensive wines from Bordeaux and Burgundy.

What I've learned is that there are great wines in the $20-30 range. Good to extent that Wine Spectator or Parkers give them high ratings comparable to wines costing much much more.

I look for the following features in a wine:

1. How does it smell? Fruity, open, closed, complex, earthy, etc.
2. How does it taste? That balance of tannins, acid and fruit. Complexity. Does it taste like grapes or is it more interesting.
3. Finish. Some wines have a flavour that ends when you swallow it. Others last for a few minutes.

Wine is not about price. It's about quality and there is a fuzzy correlation between the two. No one has convinced me that a $500 wine tastes 10 times better that a $50 wine. That being said, I was very fortunate to have tasted the 2005 Chateau Margaux on site at Chateau Margaux. This wine sells for $1,830 a bottle. I would never pay that for a bottle of wine. However, drinking that wine made me "get" the wine thing. A perfect blend of everything you look for in a wine.

I'll close with a very poignant story. Ed Bradley, host of 60 Minutes, once interviewed Baron Philippe de Rothschild. He asked him what the best wine was that he ever had. Expecting him to say something like a 1961 Petrus, or a 1945 La Tour, his answer was so appropriate and meaningful. He replied that the best bottle of wine he had was when he was 23 years old sitting on a mountain top in Spain watching the sunset with a beautiful Spanish girl. They shared a bottle of wine. That, he said, was the best bottle of wine.

That is to say, that the finer moments in life reduce to being with good friends, family, good food, good cigars and good wine.

Wine education is a journey, not a destination. A life pursuit for some of us. I admit to being a total cork dork.

[MakiSupaStar]

I have an allergy to grape juice. Whine either gives me horrible stomach cramps or a pantleg full of runny poo.

[hover]

Originally Posted by MakiSupaStar

I have an allergy to grape juice. Whine either gives me horrible stomach cramps or an pantleg full of runny poo.

your typo is hilarious in this capacity.

[smperry]

Originally Posted by Stinsok

Those of you that do enjoy more expensive wines, please tell me what you like, what makes a good wine, and the differences you notice between those and the lesser expensive stuff.

I don't have the budget to buy bottles that are more than $100, but I've done a lot of wine tasting and appreciate good wine (which can be had for ~$25, though I've spent more). I don't have bmc's knowledge though.

things I think about (quick notes because I'm watching my 1yo):

complexity (depends on context (see below) but it should have more going on than grape juice!)

balance (wines can be sweet, tannic, fruity, buttery, woody, herby, floral, etc. I don't want something to dominate)

cohesiveness - scents/tastes/look/body(viscosity)/etc.

entry/finish (attack/decay in musical terms) How the wine changes over time in your mouth

What I consider to be good, depends partly on context. What I'm eating or if I'm eating at all, if it's summer versus winter, my mood, who else is drinking, etc..)

Much of what I drink is from small CA wineries. The best thing to do is just read up on different wines and try a few inexpensive bottles to learn your tastes. Columbia Crest is a good winemaker that's widely available. Their "Grand Estates" line is pretty darn good for what you're paying for. Australia tends to have good values too, just as you learn what you like. Wine Spectator is a great resource.

[gkbass13]

I've been fortunate enough to have some amazing wine experiences through the restaurant i work for (Pangaea in southern vermont...dirona and wine spectator recognized).

For wine, if you are going to develop a taste for it, I think it really takes a specific "it" moment for it to happen. Mine was when i tried a 2005 Chateau Dauzac bordeaux that had been breathign for about 2 hours. It floored me. The bold fruity nose, smooth balance on the pallette, perfect level of tannins, it was stellar. After that I really started to get into wine more, and had another night where i was really spoiled. I got to have a glass of 6 different HUGE french reds, with the most impressive being a 1971 Matoun Rothschild First growth bordeaux, with the custom Chigal labels.....insane! It was and probably always will be the definition of a perfect wine, or drink, to me.
That night I was also fortunate enough to have an '86 Dom and a '96 Krug for champagnes. Some might prefer sweeter sparkling wines, and that is fine. but to me, nothing touches a vintage Dom. There is something so perfect about the bubbles, the only comparison I can make to come close to adequately describing it is like drinking a bottle of Voss sparking water and then sipping some warm seltzer. The Krug earned a 100 in wine spectator, and other more readily available champagnes like Veuve clicquot are fantastic, but Dom something completely different, IMO and IME.

As far as readily available wines, I generally shop in the 12-40 dollar range. at the lower end of that, Malbecs and chilean reds are big right now and really, really good bottles can be found for 10-15 bucks. at the top end of that range, Perin Y Fils makes some awesome Rhone Valley French reds and Owen Roe fro Oregon seems to do everything well, IME.

It really is a fun thing to get into and although I'm only 24, I have learned a lot about the vino in the past 2-3 years and am definitely glad I have.

[Auzzie-Phoenix]

It's not expensive by far, but when I actually do buy a bottle of wine, I like to pick up Black Opal cabernet sauvignon. Black Opal is an australian winery. Pretty decent for as little as it costs. Their shiraz has a defined buttery flavor, and is fairly decent as well.

[ratdog73]

Originally Posted by tom once dead

The only fine wine I need is Fruity Lexia. $13 for 4 litres...

ah the memories....

Anyone for goon of fortune?

The fun never ends with a goon sack and a Hills hoist.