The Official Wine Thread

[Manton]

Slightly premoxed white Bord. Damnit.

 

[Slewfoot]

Originally Posted by Manton

Slightly premoxed white Bord. Damnit.

Eeek. Which wine and vintage?

 

[gomestar]

Originally Posted by Slewfoot

The combination of acidity and tannin I've found to be the winning combination for allowing wines to age gracefully for decades. However, the key is balance, balance, balance. No aspect - be it the alcohol, acidity, tannins - should be too overpowering or nearly non-existent.

+1, this is what I've always understood.

 

[coolpapa]

Originally Posted by Slewfoot

The combination of acidity and tannin I've found to be the winning combination for allowing wines to age gracefully for decades. However, the key is balance, balance, balance. No aspect - be it the alcohol, acidity, tannins - should be too overpowering or nearly non-existent.

+ infinity. It's all about balance. If a wine is out of balance young, it's going to be out of balance when it matures. Big alcohol is fine if it's matched with big tannin and big acid. The few wines I have had that meet this standard are semi-manufactured, and that is difficult to do successfully (Penfolds probably does this better than anyone else with Grange). I find most new world wines to be too high in alcohol, and too low in everything else. I don't like them now, and I think they're only going to get worse as the fruit level drops, but the alcohol remains. I think there are freak wines that defy this, but they are rare and virtually impossible to identify beforehand.

 

[tattersall]

Originally Posted by Piobaire

2009 Les Vins Jean Claude Debeaune Fleurie Clos des Quatre Vents. Should I try it now, given all the Beaujolais love going on here?

Go for it - should be nice.

 

[gomestar]

I'll poast pics later, but tonight to start the evening it's Billecart-Salmon Brut Rose. Lovely.

 

[Manton]

Originally Posted by Slewfoot

Eeek. Which wine and vintage?

'06, not famous or expensive but still, should be OK after five years you'd think.

 

[Slewfoot]

Originally Posted by Manton

'06, not famous or expensive but still, should be OK after five years you'd think.

For sure. Hopefully just an off bottle and not something that becomes a regular thing for White Bordeaux these days.

 

[ac21686]

Hey all, I'm a lurker but I thought I'd try to enlist the help of all of you because I'm a complete philistine when it comes to wine. My dad has always made wine since he was 13 or 14 growing up in Italy. I can't imagine it's anything great (I've had it and while I know nothing about wine, I know that to me it doesn't taste very good but I have no frame of reference for how wine is "supposed" to taste

), but he likes it, it has always been source of pride to produce his own wine, most of the produce he eats, etc. However, for fathers day I was considering purchasing one or two (maybe more?) really nice bottles of wine for him, partially as a way to expand his horizons a bit (I would guess that somewhere around at least 3/4 of the wine he drinks is his own, the rest purchased at a restaurant or given by a friend) and to have something around for nice dinners/occasions. From what I can gather, he uses sangiovese or cabernet sauvignon grapes most often. Most of his meat eating revolves around lamb and beef, and he loves cherries, plums, pomegranates, figs..."lush" fruits I guess? I've noticed that a lot of highly regarded wine on K&L Wines (at least from the Italian wines I've looked at) will not be mature for another five, 10 years. I'd prefer it would be something he can drink now or within the next year since well, my dad is used to drinking wine whenever he wants and not waiting

(but I will be open on this) I was looking to spend up to ~$150 for two or three bottles. Country of origin does not matter. I know this is quite daunting considering how many bottles of wine are out there, but I was hoping that perhaps someone has recently had a bottle they loved that fits a good deal of the criteria mentioned above. This is the nearest and largest wine shop in the area (we don't have much it seems): http://www.greatcorks.com/ and there's also http://www.stewswinesny.com/index, but otherwise it seems K&L is a great online store (right?). Any thoughts on the matter would greatly be appreciated!

 

[guster]

Originally Posted by Slewfoot

The combination of acidity and tannin I've found to be the winning combination for allowing wines to age gracefully for decades. However, the key is balance, balance, balance. No aspect - be it the alcohol, acidity, tannins - should be too overpowering or nearly non-existent.

+1. The reason 1 poster may have posted that about dessert wines is that they often are able to achieve higher acid levels with the much higher Brix.

Also, for the orginal question...That is why it can change quite a bit year to year and vinter to vinter. You can have grpaes from the same vineyard and even the same lot within the vineyard that will age differently based on when the grapes were cropped, picked and made into wine.

Now, with all that said, some 98+% of wine sold in the world should be consumed within the first few years of release. Now, many of the wines in this forum topic would fall into the "aging" category. but for how long? You will get a spirited debate on that topic from wine lovers.

I think the comon mistake for most people that start holding onto wine and building a collection is to hold for too long. wines go bad, or don't get better or your tastes change...etc. If you bought multiple bottles of 1 wine, try a bottle every year or 6 months and see how it evolves and if your palate likes that evolution.

 

[guster]

Originally Posted by ac21686

Hey all, I'm a lurker but I thought I'd try to enlist the help of all of you because I'm a complete philistine when it comes to wine. My dad has always made wine since he was 13 or 14 growing up in Italy. I can't imagine it's anything great (I've had it and while I know nothing about wine, I know that to me it doesn't taste very good but I have no frame of reference for how wine is "supposed" to taste

), but he likes it, it has always been source of pride to produce his own wine, most of the produce he eats, etc. However, for fathers day I was considering purchasing one or two (maybe more?) really nice bottles of wine for him, partially as a way to expand his horizons a bit (I would guess that somewhere around at least 3/4 of the wine he drinks is his own, the rest purchased at a restaurant or given by a friend) and to have something around for nice dinners/occasions.

From what I can gather, he uses sangiovese or cabernet sauvignon grapes most often. Most of his meat eating revolves around lamb and beef, and he loves cherries, plums, pomegranates, figs..."lush" fruits I guess? I've noticed that a lot of highly regarded wine on K&L Wines (at least from the Italian wines I've looked at) will not be mature for another five, 10 years. I'd prefer it would be something he can drink now or within the next year since well, my dad is used to drinking wine whenever he wants and not waiting

(but I will be open on this) I was looking to spend up to ~$150 for two or three bottles. Country of origin does not matter. I know this is quite daunting considering how many bottles of wine are out there, but I was hoping that perhaps someone has recently had a bottle they loved that fits a good deal of the criteria mentioned above. This is the nearest and largest wine shop in the area (we don't have much it seems): http://www.greatcorks.com/ and there's also http://www.stewswinesny.com/index, but otherwise it seems K&L is a great online store (right?). Any thoughts on the matter would greatly be appreciated!

There is an almost endless list of stores that could help you with this question. Even within the realm of sangiovese and cab, there is a large variance in tastes. So who knows what will be pleasing to your Dad's palate. Given the background you just gave on your Dada and for early drinking, I would not think that you would have to drop $150 for 2-3 bottles.

I would get him a lower end Brunello from a recent vintage like '06 or '07. That might cost you 40-50. Then I would try a number of bottles from various areas around Italy (Does it have to be Italian wine?). With the right help, you probably could get a number of $20-30 wines he would enjoy.

That is just one opinion. Of course you could go into a store and tell them to find you 2-3 bottles for early consumption for $150. You could get lucky and find the right person at the right store but it is a bigger crapshoot. Too many people think price is the biggest determiner of quality. Very often, it is not. Who knows what kind of style wine your Dad makes. But if he is drinking it up, he is probably not making a high tannin/high acid wine. So I would not pay a high price for a wine like that when he wants to enjoy it sooner rather than later. If you want early drinking, your options open up and the price point often comes down.

 

[gomestar]

Austran riesling is quickly rising on my list of great wine.

 

[Piobaire]

Originally Posted by guster

+1. The reason 1 poster may have posted that about dessert wines is that they often are able to achieve higher acid levels with the much higher Brix.

Also, for the orginal question...That is why it can change quite a bit year to year and vinter to vinter. You can have grpaes from the same vineyard and even the same lot within the vineyard that will age differently based on when the grapes were cropped, picked and made into wine.

Now, with all that said, some 98+% of wine sold in the world should be consumed within the first few years of release. Now, many of the wines in this forum topic would fall into the "aging" category. but for how long? You will get a spirited debate on that topic from wine lovers.

I think the comon mistake for most people that start holding onto wine and building a collection is to hold for too long. wines go bad, or don't get better or your tastes change...etc. If you bought multiple bottles of 1 wine, try a bottle every year or 6 months and see how it evolves and if your palate likes that evolution.

I've found that Vidal ice wines, while great young drinkers, do not age. Super high sugar content, high alcohol, but the grape just doesn't seem to have what it takes to age well. 3-6 years and it's done based on my (greater than average) experience with that.

 

[usctrojans31]

Originally Posted by gomestar

Austran riesling is quickly rising on my list of great wine.

Both Austrian Riesling and Gruner Veltliner are tremendously underappreciated and undervalued. The advantage of this is that it allows them to be priced very cheaply. The disadvantage is that they have the potential to get quickly overvalued.

 

[audiophilia]

A fun week with my writers. Nice to see a Bouchon Bakery. Morell's in Rockefeller Plaza was great for lunch. Dafni hit all the Greek notes beautifully. The Pierre's chocky cake was divine and I still enjoy Nespresso Boutique on Madison. A chilled corn soup to die for.