We know TiBbers love beer. We know they love liquor. But I am partial to the fruit of the vine. There are so many different kinds and they all taste subtly different. I am no kind of oenophile and can enjoy almost anything. I am partial to whites and sweeter/fruitier wines - rieslings and chardonnays. I love dessert wines - port, icewine, raspberry wine. Make fun if you like - it will change nothing. The best meal of my life was a seven-course deal, with wine pairings. The vintner was in attendance and brought plenty of everything. I can tell you from that experience that pairing is no bullshit. FOCUS: Wine. Love it? Hate it? Any tips for us on what brands/varietals are especially good? Or do you just pick the one with the cool bottle?
I'm a fan of some of the Durifs from the Rutherglen region of Northern Victoria, Australia. Particularly this winery. <a class="postlink" href="http://www.warrabillawines.com.au/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.warrabillawines.com.au/</a>
I really can't get into wines. White wine I can drink, but never enjoy the experience. Red wine I can't even stomach. It all tastes like a tree to me. I'd rather drink any whiskey, gin, or vodka straight than red wine. Not to mention nothing annoys me more than pretentious wine snobs. I have had a $75 bottle of red wine and it tasted no different from an $8 bottle to me. I suppose like many things it is an acquired taste and you pick up the subtleties after many experiences but I have to ask...is it worth it? Plus, nothing gives me a hangover quite like wine does. I'll stick with beer and liquor.
Both of my grandfathers made it. Something I'd like my hand at doing. Otherwise I have no clue about wines. I could not tell you the difference between two whites and two reds besides the sweetness or dryness. If the glasses didn't make you look so fruity I'd probably drink it more out at bars I generally just drink it with dinner every now and again. One of my first true black out nights was drinking a fucking barrel full of Sutter Home White Zinfandel. During one winter when my furnace went out the few nights we waited for my landlord to fix it I was drinking a bottle a night straight to keep warm. It is a great warm drunk. Yeah wine snobs are annoying and effeminate. Just as bad as whiskey snobs and their retard machismo (honestly most high end whiskeys taste just like a block of wood).
Despite the fact my parents have always loved wine, brew it, and have a basement loaded with it, I do not have a taste for wine. I just plain don't like it whether it's $20 a bottle or $200 a bottle, they all taste cheap to me, like I'm drinking "swish" or something. Don't get me wrong. I really do wish that I liked it, but I've tried again and again and I simply can't develop a liking for it. Red or white. What's worse, it has a Wrath-Of-God hangover that makes your spinal cord pick up sandlot ball games from Radio Havana when you wake up. Worst hangover on earth in my book. Oh well, different strokes.
Two weeks ago at a dinner party I told a fuckbag wine salesman and his cunt sommelier wife to kindly go have sex with themselves because I had heard the word "oaky", and "lavender" for the 47th fucking time in the span of an hour. Other than that the evening went swimmingly.
I don't know if this is exactly classy, but I love Red Cat. It's a dessert wine from upstate New York, and it's advertised as "hot tub wine" and goes good with hot wings and pizza.
My girlfriend also loves Red Cat. I love that she loves Red Cat. Ergo, I love Red Cat? Her family are big wine drinkers. To me white's are decent tasting. Red's are hit or miss to me. I'm up for trying out different wines, but I really don't see me ever being a big wine drinker. Beer is just fine. Liquor is delicious too, but I end up drinking it like beer and get fucked in a half in very little time. So I save liquor for the weekends.
Hate to jump on the bandwagon, but I can't really drink wine. The white stuff tastes like vermouth and the reds give me heartburn and a massive hangover - and I really don't like the taste of reds, either. I do think that you can be a "legitimate" connoisseur of wine without automatically being a pretentious snob, but for me it's whiskey, gin, scotch or beer any day.
A few years back, the father of a buddy of mine bought us and our friends 3 $400 bottles of Champagne for New Years Eve and ya know what? It tasted about as good (or as bad) as a $7 bottle of Cooks. Now as red wine goes, I'm not a snob or afficianado of any sort, but a decent bottle does taste better than a cheap one like Night Train. It's the same as a good microbrew tasting better than PBR or any other shitty beer. You dont have to be a snob or pretentious dick to know what tastes good and what doesn't. A nice (not necessarily expensive) red wine can be pretty enjoyable on it's own; just beware of the hangover that comes with it. I was curious about this, but am I the only one that doesn't like to drink during meals? Usually when I eat I'll have water or iced tea or something else that doesn't overpower the food. Unless Im eating at a bar, drinking and eating are mutually exclusive for me.
People who think expensive wine means good wine don't get it. People who think all wine tastes the same make me laugh. I also think that the "I hate red wine" stance has more to do with the contempt a lot of people are showing for "wine snobs" than anything else. So far more people are speaking out about how they hate those "wine snobs" and don't want to be associated with them. Too many people find some sort of validation in not liking good red wine much like some people are proud of the fact that they don't read. Kudos. Just means more wine for the rest of us, I guess.
I agree with Nett above. I like wine. I'd hesitate to call myself a "snob" because I don't turn down wine if it's not up to my standards, and I limit myself to calling the wine "okay" "good" or "great" in social situations where most other people aren't really into it. However, I appreciate good wines, know enough about wine producing regions to know what types are best from the area (at least, what types are probably going to be "best" for me), and have been to a lot of wine tastings including a 2-day tour of Napa and Sonoma on a trip to California last year. I'm a big fan of buying interesting looking bottles in a certain price range, though. You get to try a lot of wines that you might not otherwise buy. I try to limit myself to $10-20 for that kind of activity - any less than $10 and there's a higher chance of getting junk, and more than $20 pisses you off if it sucks. Not that you can't find gems for under $10 - I had an $8 bottle recently that was really excellent, as good as wines three or four times the price - but the chances of hitting a great bottle aren't as good. Also, if you haven't been to a local wine tasting, give it a try. You might be surprised. We have a couple shops around here that have virtually none of the snobby atmosphere you'd associate with wine tastings, are extremely friendly to new wine drinkers, and are often attended by attractive women with a little more going on than a lousy job and an interest in clubbing. It's no bad thing to know what kinds of wine you like and what to look for in good wines - it typically only takes a little knowledge to come off like a genius for picking a great bottle with dinner.
I'm also not a fan of wine. I've never liked red wine - except for this one kind, but I always forget which one it is when I happen across it - because it tastes way too heavy. I used to really love white or rosé, and either of these were often my drink of choice in college because it was cheap. But then I drank a couple of bottles of white at my best friend's birthday party and my dad happened to be visiting the next day. I was extremely hungover, but that annoying kind where no matter how much I wanted to puke, I couldn't. We went to a mall to buy a suitcase, and on the ride there I told him "Dad, I'm trying to pay attention, but I have to be completely honest, I'm trying really hard not to throw up all over your car." Then when we got there, a couple of hours were spent with me kneeling on the floor of the Macy's bathroom, begging to throw up, while my dad was waiting outside. It lasted all day...which was bad because he was visiting to celebrate my graduation, and that night we went to my aunt's house where my whole family was to have celebratory dinner. Being hungover in front of your family is the worst. Now I can't even smell white wine without getting nauseous.
I agree with Nett. Expensive doesn't mean good. I used to hate wine, which is funny because coming from an Italian family - that's all they ever have around the dinner table. I started drinking white wine, and now I won't use white for anything but cooking. My father always says, "You don't drink white wine unless you've run out of red." If you don't drink wine, but you'd like to start, I'd suggest a Merlot. It is an easy to drink middle of the pack red that is sometimes dry but is always fruity. It is also a versatile food pairing wine.
I love wine, but it's almost an acquired taste. I didn't drink it much until I was about 23. I prefer reds (specifically pinot or some kind of blend), but white is nice when it's hot outside. I don't really care what the label is, but I stay in the $8-$18 range. ($8 for everyday, $18 if there's a party or I have company). Some of the boxed wines are actually really good. One thing that's interesting to me is that I have a reaction to the sulfates in particular brands. I'll take a few sips and start to feel my face getting hot. It feels like my skin is on fire, and whoever I'm with always freaks out a little bit because my face turns cherry red in seconds.
You must really like your guests. I refuse to pay more than $12 for a bottle of wine for me or my guests. I will sometimes drop $20 if I'm feeling generous and bringing a bottle to someone who is hosting a party. Also, question - does anyone else have the "too much fucking white" thing going on because all guests seem to bring white wine? My wine rack has like 15 bottles of white wine that people have given me that I'll never drink but can't bring myself to re-gift. I'm convinced that white wines just makes their way from dinner party to dinner party before some poor soul opens it out of desperation.
I'm a good person; I don't discriminate like all ya'll. Give me a white wine, IN A BOX - and I'll enjoy it.
Does Maddog 2020 Banana Strawberry count? Wonderful vintage this year. I'm up on beers and liquor more. Wine is something you drink with pasta in my house. It used to be nothing but rot gut Chianti with a screwtop. Think Carlo Rossi. You get used to the bite and the blinding hangover. Then stuff like Yellow Tail and Coppola, occasionally a Montepulciano if they had it. Then this lovely place called Total Wine opened up. There's more to wine than highly tannic, heart burn inducing vinegar? AND I can afford it? The hell you say. Now I'm a big fan of Castilla Del Trebbio Chianti at $11 a bottle. Tried a Bordeaux and the game is completely changed. I forget the chateau, but it was $28. Mind blowing complexity and palate. Also, Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio is fucking awesome. I could drink that all day in a hammock. Big fan of Spanish Cava too. It's $8, it's clean tasting. Excellent. If any cocktail needs a sparkling wine to top it off, that's what I use. Aste Spumante is another sparkling I dig. Ridiculously sweet like apple juice. The only time I spent more than $30 on a bottle was buying a Pierre-Jouet. It honestly wasn't much better than the Cava. My palate might not be experienced enough to suck out every little hint and nuance, but whatever. Beer flavors hit you in the face, wine takes practice. I think people are scared of red. They think it's heavy or bitter. Most people don't know what to buy anyway when selection is small. Most stores carry some crap. Plus we've all had a morning where you wake up to your head collapsing under it's own weight and your lips are bright red, your teeth purple like you spent the night blowing a clown.