Wine Discussion - Share your thoughts here!

On win not with aviation in mind ....... I forget the exact name but it is an Oregon Pino Noir with Howard Hughes "Spruce Goose" on the label ......... his massive plane that only flew once.

I had to buy a bottle of it when I saw it

I wish I could remember the name

the days of those overpowering oaky Chards are pretty much gone. There's some good Chardonnay coming out of California

Germany has a number of really great wines. The country has some good wine regions the produce excellent wines. Obviously the most famous and well acclaimed is the Riesling. more and more of the "trocken" rieslings are finding their way to the USA. Dr. Loosen is a good wine. My single issue with many Rieslings how sweet they are. the super sweet ones cause me to cringe. I think German wines are a bargien and you can get more bang for your buck.

I am fan of the German wines. One of my personal favorites is the Silvaner "franken" which is produced in the region of franconia. A great dry white what goes well with many different foods and is also good on its own. So it is a good one to try if you can find . If there is a wegmans near you they usually have a couple in stock

Also while we are on the topic of German wines i wanted to recommend is the Spätburgunder if you have the chance to try it anyone. It is an up and coming Red. It is essentially the Pino Noir grape. Though if you want to try probably will have to be in europe since these rarely make it to the USA

Germany land of Beer and Wine and Lufthansa

some decent chards are also coming out of south america these days. A great buy that is always highly rated and extremly solid is the Catena Chardonnay. Just wanted to provide that as an alternative to in case one gets bored with wines from California. price range of this range is 12-19 dollars depending on location. it is always rated in the high 80s and low 90s

Agreed, Catena came up earlier and I mentioned how much I like it (I'm mostly familiar with their Malbecs). Will have to try their Chardonnay. My better half's a white wine fan and we've been stocking up on Callia Alta Pinot Grigio (Argentina) as our house white, and their Malbec-Shiraz blend as our house red, both of which I get for just under $11/bottle

I am not a huge fan of the Shiraz but I really like the Greg Norman Shiraz. In addition all the Greg Norman Blends are pretty good wines

Another golfer in the wine business is Ernie Els

Another common confusion is related to the aromatics of a wine. When a wine has a very floral nose, it will usually cause the taster to percieve higher than actual levels of sugar in the wine.

Catena´s Chardonnays are solid...

Randy, what do you think of the Austrian Gruener Vetliners...??? Im a big fan.... its so sad I cant get them here in Argentina....

Knoll makes some of my favorite GV's... but there are also others. FX Pichler..... I need to remember the others.....

Some of my favorite whites are Gruner Veltliners. Both of the makers you mention are on my list as well as Brundlmayer (sorry about the missing accent), Loimer, Hertzberger and Prager. there are several otehr very good ones, but there are ones I have liked well enough to make notes to myself. One of the reasons I like them is there stainless, which keeps them crisper and less woody that many whites (I cannot stand the old-style California Oak Chardonnay for example).

Some of the people who prefer sweeter and/or fruitier wines also like the various late-harvest GV's. I know nothing about them personally, not being a fan of alcoholic things fruity/sweet.

I'm late to this thread. But, as some say, better late than never. I'm cooking today for my family, which generally means an assortment of enjoyable wines. Most of these match our normal drinking profile:

Anything sparkling: We love it all. We've been on a quest to find the cheapest bottle of really good sparkling we can find. We're drinking one of those today in the Charles de Fere Blanc de Blancs. We knocked off a Domaine Carneros by Taittinger as well. We have a Segura Viudas Heredad in the fridge, but I'm not sure if we'll go there next. We have a few bottles of Mumm DVX 2000 that really need to be drunk now. There's probably either a Perrier Jouet Fleur or Kreug in our future as well.

Red Zin: St. Francis Pagani is our favorite. We have a 2002, 2003 and 2005 that will most likely not see the light of day tomorrow.

Well constructed reds: None of these on the list for tonight. Cing Cepages. Paraduxx. Silver Oak. Opus. A lot of different super tuscans, especially Poliziano.

I guess some of the reds could be on the list tonight.

Did I mention there's only two of us drinking tonight?

Well, actually 7. But we should still do some decent damage today.

doh everything I posted here yesterday is gone I forget what I said about the Gruner Veltiner

Last night I had a nice Lange Twins Chardonnay - stainless steel - fruit from Clarksburg.

Yes, the German Rieslings are perhaps the best in my view.. many folks here in the US are seemingly missing out as they are kinda' off the radar.. VERY nice choice, Randy

Enjoyed a fine '86 Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon the other night with the family along with a salad with olive oil & balsamic vinegar, Shrimp & Crab meat Spring roll, Tom Yum Koong with shrimp & mushrooms, Sauteed ...Wild Boar tenderloin with Shitake mushrooms & bok choy, expresso & creme brulee.. great wine, a personal fav of mine .. & a super evening .. happy holidays everyone!

Agreed US ones are way too sweet in my book

Wish I still had some of those old Silver Oaks. I had some magnums of 85 and 86 that were a gift from a friend who passed away a few years ago. I always think of him fondly when I think about drinking the 85 on my wedding day in 2002.

Wow.. FWIW, Pizzaman, we also had a nice Silver Oak at our wedding eve dinner.. LOL.. immensely enjoyed an '84 Bonny's Vineyard, Silver Oak Cabernet .. Soooo darn good, with a perfectly done veal chop!

Me too ... concerning having more.. down to just two bottles of the '86 .. & your magnums are a better choice for collecting & cellaring, as you probably know, because they keep longer & better.. The '86 has clearly peaked & now on the downside.. so I'll really need to drink the last of 'em quickly!

Happy holiday to all the MilePoint folks

We had a bunch of people at our wedding who really enjoyed fine wines. One gentleman was a mentor to me, and he and his wife were enjoying a glass of local VA wine later in the evening. He knew we had a special box of wines, and knew the '85 magnum was amongst them.

When I asked if he was ready for a glass, he immediately threw his wine glass over his shoulder to dump out what he was drinking (without looking, mind you) and nodded his head. Thank god there was nobody standing behind him.

I tried it at a wine shop earlier this year. I thought it was a huge, over-the-top wine. I didn't like it, but I'm not a fan of that style.

With that name it should be huge and over-the-top should it not? Such things are to look at but not drink. The view is better than the reality, or so I'm told.

Dessert time

Yay for unoaked Chards! Made a batch at a wine shop this year, and it actually turned out really well! Good everyday wine...

Very interesting thread to read, and I definitely picked up a lot of wine terms... But I have to admit that the level of wine expertise here definitely intimidates me...

To me, wine is more than just about the drink itself... Wine is highly associated with and conjures images of fine living, great times with good friends, and not forgetting, yummy food!

I am the kind of gal who can drink my Moet and Cliquot, sitting on the floor of a beautiful bathroom in Marina Bay Sands Hotel, chatting, giggling and just being silly with 3 of my best girlfriends, while my infant son lies asleep in the room.

Ahhh... yes... good wine and great friends... Life should be like that everyday!

Hoping to learn from all you wine experts in this thread!

Trust everyone had a wonderful Christmas season, and here is my prost to a New Year filled with lots of fine wine, but even more finer life experiences!