The Official Wine Thread

i dont think i've ever had a good merlot

i feel like people like it because it's easy to pronounce and it sounds sophisticated

^not ripping on you

I don't like 100% CA Merlot. But many, probably most, Pomerols are 100% Merlot and they are fabulous.

Originally Posted by Manton

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I don't like 100% CA Merlot. But many, probably most, Pomerols are 100% Merlot and they are fabulous.

If you aren't married to 100% Merlots and are willing to go with a Merlot dominated blend, just about any right bank bordeaux will work as well.

I've had some 2005 Chateau Pipeau (St. Emilion) that I liked a lot. Haven't been able to find the 2005 lately, but picked up a couple of bottles of the 2006 recently. Picked them up here for about $23 each or so. Well within the budget. The 2006 is 90% Merlot, 5% Cab Sauv and 5% Cab Franc.

Originally Posted by BrianVarick

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Does anyone have a recommendation for a good Merlot for under $30?

for this one, honestly, I'd go with a $25 bottle that says Bordeaux on it. Odds are it's going to be mostly Merlot.

I have a hard time with sub-$30 US wines, many of them are meh.

Originally Posted by Manton

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Prices on '07 Bord are insulting.

I picked up a *&$@load of cheap white burg today.

Gome, braised beef Italian style tonight with two EYE-TIE wines you would have loved. Cost nothing too.

Matt, they don't all suck.

Interesting. Was just scanning over the new Wine Spectator top 100 listing. Unless I'm mistaken there isn't a single wine from Bordeaux on the list this year. No reds. No whites. No Sauternes. None.

Is this an intentional snub by WS? They don't claim to list the "best" wines. They take value, etc. into account. Not saying I disagree, but is it possible in this day and age to put out a best 100 wines in a given year and have nothing from the premier wine region in the world? Perhaps it's a shot across the bow to the region that they're letting things get out of hand.


EDIT: Sorry, I was mistaken. There is one $30 Medoc (2008) at #96 on the list. Ha. This can't be an accident.

Originally Posted by Mark from Plano

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If you aren't married to 100% Merlots and are willing to go with a Merlot dominated blend, just about any right bank bordeaux will work as well.

I've had some 2005 Chateau Pipeau (St. Emilion) that I liked a lot. Haven't been able to find the 2005 lately, but picked up a couple of bottles of the 2006 recently. Picked them up here for about $23 each or so. Well within the budget. The 2006 is 90% Merlot, 5% Cab Sauv and 5% Cab Franc.

When I was working at the wine store we got a whole bunch of lovely 2006 St. Emilions, which ran anywhere from $20 to $60 that I absolutely loved and I'm not a big Bordeaux fan. The one I particularly liked was the Château Les Grandes Murailles...very smooth and silky!

Had a Pride Mountain Merlot that was wonderful. Other than that, I've been underwhelmed.

Originally Posted by Petrus1

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I've had these but I think BN is ridiculous.In the past these wines weren't even bottled and just sold by the glass from the barrel in Dijon or Paris. They're dead in a few months. But top notch Beaujolais for the same price.

This really needs to be shouted from the rooftops: please, folks, don't spend your hard-earned dollar on nouveau-beau when for a few scant dollars more you can purchase cru. I have pre-release orders in on several crus, including 3 bottlings of Burgaud, the most expensive of which (the Cote du Py) is only $13.50, and the others only $10-12. I also have a JP Brun/Terres Dorees Morgon on the way for $15/btl and some Chermette Cuvee Traditionnelle VV for $13.

*All 2009 vintage, of course (the latest "vintage of the century!"), and indeed quite good from what I've tasted thusfar.

True, something like the Lapierre Morgon will cost you $20 or more - a steal for juice this good - but there are so many $10-15 bargains in cru Beaujolais that it's quite simply among the very best wine deals going. That's especially true if you get in on the pre-arrival deals that are, ahem, pouring forth even as I write this!

To sum up: the nouveau stuff is almost as expensive as the cru stuff, which makes it one of the biggest ripoffs in the wine world. The cru stuff, on the other hand, will give you a touch of that Burgundian funk, finesse, and crunchy red berry in a seriously food-enhancing wine at an amazingly low price point. Buy in bulk!

The people who I know (including me) that purchase BN are not looking for "a touch of that Burgundian funk and finesse". They're looking for that one day a year fun wine, and they're going to drink a ton of it solely for the purpose of getting tipsy and having a party with friends. Lets distinguish between a "seriously food-enhancing wine" and something to gulp for fun because it is fun. I certainly don't take the wine seriously, but it is a great time when surrounded by good people.

Originally Posted by gomestar

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The people who I know (including me) that purchase BN are not looking for "a touch of that Burgundian funk and finesse". They're looking for that one day a year fun wine, and they're going to drink a ton of it solely for the purpose of getting tipsy and having a party with friends. Lets distinguish between a "seriously food-enhancing wine" and something to gulp for fun because it is fun. I certainly don't take the wine seriously, but it is a great time when surrounded by good people.

CHUCH!!!

wine people are super cereal!

Originally Posted by Ricardo Malocchio

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This really needs to be shouted from the rooftops: please, folks, don't spend your hard-earned dollar on nouveau-beau when for a few scant dollars more you can purchase cru. I have pre-release orders in on several crus, including 3 bottlings of Burgaud, the most expensive of which (the Cote du Py) is only $13.50, and the others only $10-12. I also have a JP Brun/Terres Dorees Morgon on the way for $15/btl and some Chermette Cuvee Traditionnelle VV for $13.

*All 2009 vintage, of course (the latest "vintage of the century!"), and indeed quite good from what I've tasted thusfar.

True, something like the Lapierre Morgon will cost you $20 or more - a steal for juice this good - but there are so many $10-15 bargains in cru Beaujolais that it's quite simply among the very best wine deals going. That's especially true if you get in on the pre-arrival deals that are, ahem, pouring forth even as I write this!

To sum up: the nouveau stuff is almost as expensive as the cru stuff, which makes it one of the biggest ripoffs in the wine world. The cru stuff, on the other hand, will give you a touch of that Burgundian funk, finesse, and crunchy red berry in a seriously food-enhancing wine at an amazingly low price point. Buy in bulk!
You can get the 2008's and 2009's now so forget the overprice BN. And aside from the actual appellation you should go by the shipper's reputation. Same with other Burgundies. You could probably get the 2009 Ch de la Chaise, a single vinyard beaujolais for $10.

Originally Posted by Manton

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I don't like 100% CA Merlot. But many, probably most, Pomerols are 100% Merlot and they are fabulous.
There are no Pomerols that are 100% merlot. In fact, in France the location and soil are more important than the grape although there are now laws about which grapes are permitted in order to use the appellation.In the past even top estates like Lafite had white grape varieties growing and in the blend.
The reason that you're all fixated on grape varities is because in the 60's the wine writer Frank Schoonmaker convinced the top California growers to start labelling their wines with the grape name (you don't see this on French wines) The reason for this was to distinguish the top wines from the bulk that would be labelled " chablis, sauternes, burgundy, chianti etc" which were made with any sort of grape, even grapes that were not Vitis vinifera and sold under fake names.

And btw, I've had Pomerols that were made almost entirely from merlot and these wines can be as tough and long lived as any made from cabernet.

Originally Posted by Piobaire

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Tonight had an 05 Betts & Scholl Grenache Chronique with a nice roasted leg of lamb.

I think I want to make an actual serious statement about Robert Parker as I grow tired of dicking around with Petrus.

Like wine merchants or negrociants, if you know his point of view, his rankings are very useful...particularly if you agree with his PoV. Yes, some people "chase points" and get caught up in this. The same could be said of people "chasing names," when in fact a certain vintage or bottling is sub-par but has the famous name a novice might fall for. While I agree folks might not put things in perspective, to say wine rankings do not have some merit/use is to miscast the situation through over simplification.

Also, there can be little doubt a great RP score can drive the market on a bottle of wine. It's nice to score some bottles cheap to find them triple in price. Then you can decide whether or not to flip a few bottles and fund other purchases.

Flip bottles? It's not legal to sell wine in the US unless you're licensed by the BATF. You'd have to give it to an auction house to sell for you. And besides, do you think that wine buyers are going to buy your wine not knowing how it was stored or its condition? When you see these old wines sold at auction they come from people who had large wine cellars or from the actual chateau's cellar and we know where the wine has been for the past 30 years. They still taste some sample bottles(although wine can vary from bottle to bottle even from the same case)

Originally Posted by gomestar

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The people who I know (including me) that purchase BN are not looking for "a touch of that Burgundian funk and finesse". They're looking for that one day a year fun wine, and they're going to drink a ton of it solely for the purpose of getting tipsy and having a party with friends. Lets distinguish between a "seriously food-enhancing wine" and something to gulp for fun because it is fun. I certainly don't take the wine seriously, but it is a great time when surrounded by good people.

So drinking cheap barely finished wine is your idea of fun. You can do that any time of year. Just buy some cheap wine and invite your friends over