Thread Drift

[snapdragen]

I went to dinner at a local restaurant, they were having a "special pour" of one of their wines. This means you can buy it buy the glass instead of getting a whole bottle. I tasted it, YUM. It was a Barolo, and quite good. I had two glasses. Then I got the bill.....$15 a glass Yup - it was real good.......

[maillotpois]

No, fishdr, zinfandel is a red grape, sometimes used to make _white_ zinfandel, which is pink, which gets its color from the grape skins. You can also find white merlot, which is redder than white zin. After you like real wine, though, it's hard to get back into white zin.

At Ravenswood Winery locally here, their motto is "Nullum vinum flaccidum" translated to "No Wimply Wines." They make mostly zins, and you should have seen the look on the guy's face when someone came in and asked for a white zin. He just pointed to the sign with their motto.

Nanci - Thanks for listing your favs. We have 2 basic categories of wine: "Tuesday night wines" which are drunk pretty much every night of the week and can be justified as weekday wines. Usually under $15. Then there are the nicer wines.

Our current Tuesday favorite is Magito, a local place that makes a great little zin and a sauv blanc. Screw top, which I am starting to love. Bonny Doon's "Big House" wines are great - at least the big house white and pink. I love a good French or other DRY rose in the summer. I used to never drink whites, and now I really like them. You can get by for a lot less $ on a drinkable sauv blanc than, say a zin or a pinot noir. Bogle's a good low cost red also as you mentioned.

On the higher end, we are big Rafanelli and Ridge fans. We like the big reds. Abacela (Oregon) makes a great temperanillo and cab franc.

Midrange: ZaZin! - an inky dark berry-y wonderful zin (maybe $15 - 20).

I love a prosecco!

Lillet (blanc) is great in the summer (nice over ice with absolut orange). I odn't like Lillet rouge as much.

Lillet, rose, prosecco - I guess I am ready for summer!! I am really wanting more lighter wines these days.

I have to say I am also a fan of Ricard pastis and water... it's particularly nice when enjoyed at the side of a road in the Massif Central waiting for the riders to come by during the Tour!

[Nanci]

Those were my $10 and under favs! Although I pretty much stick to under $15. Except for dessert wines, where I'm ok up to $25/half. I tried a $17 chardonnay last night, (Frei Brothers Reserve) and was not impressed. I have three or four in the $8-$12 range that I like way better! But I am a brand-new chardonnay-liker, so what do I know. I carry my Wine Enthusiast software to the store with me, though, and only buy 85 or better. I love to find 90's that are cheap.

I love Bonny Doon so much I could marry it. Favs are, or course, the Viognier Doux, the Muscat Vin de Galciere, the Big House Red, the Vin Gris de Cigare rose, and the Framboise. I didn't like Big House White. Can't remember Big House Pink, don't know if I ever tasted it. The Malvesia Bianca was good, the Le Posseur Syrah was good, but I have pretty weird tasting notes on it, and I have an unopened bottle of a French Syrah, Domaine de Blaguers which I haven't tasted yet. I also like the Pacific Rim Reisling. There are _so_ many to try.

I love it when I find a winery that I pretty much like everything, like Chateau Ste. Michelle, or Beringer, or Beaulieu Vineyards, or Covey Run, or even Sutter Home.

[Nanci]

I used to really like Ravenswood, when I was in my Zin phase.

Knotted- see comments from Snap. You picked a good one ;-) to fall in love with...($15/glass!!)

Well, figure 300% markup in a restaurant, so that's like, $25/bottle retail, so not so bad if you really love it.

[maillotpois]

Those were my $10 and under favs! Although I pretty much stick to under $15. Except for dessert wines, where I'm ok up to $25/half. I tried a $17 chardonnay last night, (Frei Brothers Reserve) and was not impressed. I have three or four in the $8-$12 range that I like way better! But I am a brand-new chardonnay-liker, so what do I know. I carry my Wine Enthusiast software to the store with me, though, and only buy 85 or better. I love to find 90's that are cheap.

I love Bonny Doon so much I could marry it. .

Right - I realized they were the 10 and unders when I went back and looked after I posted. I'm over chardonnay I think. That software sounds great.

Get this - I did a super tough Death Ride team training ride last year that went RIGHT BY Bonny Doon winery!! I hadn't even really registered that they were a south Bay Area winery til I saw them, and was totally unfamiliar with the area. We had to climb a nasty hill to get up there - and then we had to go down a super fun descent that the fed onto a naty, potholey road, etc.... Great ride. Too bad I could not stop at the winery!

[Nanci]

Wine and cycling do not mix! Trust me!!

My first Crape Myrtle bloomed yesterday.

My AC passed it's checkup today. I was pretty worried.

[Nanci]

Sarah,

I'm not over Chardonnay, because I didn't drink/like it in its hayday. (Heyday?) Then I tried a bottle of Cambria, and was intrigued by the caramel corn nose, but put off by the oakiness, and have had to find a few not-so-oaky to get to like it. Now my oak tolerance has built up enough that I can drink it. Probably my favorite white right now, though is Pinot Gris.

[Lise]

You guys crack me up with the wine posts.

Take my word for it, when I drank, it was not for the taste.

Glad some people can enjoy wine the way it's meant to be!

(We now return Lise to the regularly scheduled 12 steps)

[bikerz]

On the higher end, we are big Rafanelli and Ridge fans. We like the big reds. Abacela (Oregon) makes a great temperanillo and cab franc.

Oooohhhh Rafanelli - I am hoarding a half a case of zin, and a few merlots and cabs - it is so hard to get their stuff with the 2-bottle limit, cash only, appointment only. It's like going on a quest... I coerce everyone I'm with into buying the limit, whether they want them or not, and we settle up later!

And Ridge - yum - I love their Syrahs too!

For "Tuesday night" wine, I found a great Argentine wine called Andaluna - $9.99 at the local wine store - it's very tasty!

[snapdragen]

Yeah, $25 retail is probably about right. I think a bottle at the restaurant was $50.

I used to really like Ravenswood, when I was in my Zin phase.

Knotted- see comments from Snap. You picked a good one ;-) to fall in love with...($15/glass!!)

Well, figure 300% markup in a restaurant, so that's like, $25/bottle retail, so not so bad if you really love it.

[snapdragen]

I understand completely Lise! A friend of mine is in AA. She had dinner at some mutual friends house. The next day we talked, she was just amazed "they had one glass of wine, then put the bottle away! Is that how normal people drink?"

You guys crack me up with the wine posts.

Take my word for it, when I drank, it was not for the taste.

Glad some people can enjoy wine the way it's meant to be!

(We now return Lise to the regularly scheduled 12 steps)

[maillotpois]

Oooohhhh Rafanelli - I am hoarding a half a case of zin, and a few merlots and cabs - it is so hard to get their stuff with the 2-bottle limit, cash only, appointment only. It's like going on a quest... I coerce everyone I'm with into buying the limit, whether they want them or not, and we settle up later!

We're on their list. We can never justify/afford to get everything we can from their annual mailing - we usually are "allowed to" get about 2 - 3 cases total (varied stuff) - and just can't afford it all. I will try to remember next year to run some of them by you and see if you want any. Have you ever had their Terrace Select?? IN-sanely good.

[bikerz]

We're on their list. We can never justify/afford to get everything we can from their annual mailing - we usually are "allowed to" get about 2 - 3 cases total (varied stuff) - and just can't afford it all. I will try to remember next year to run some of them by you and see if you want any. Have you ever had their Terrace Select?? IN-sanely good.

Oh Sarah - I will be your best friend for life! No I have not tried the Terrace Select. Who knows if I will be able to justify buying any then but I would love to have the chance to agonize over it! I was going to join years ago, but they said it would be 3-5 years before I got on the list (I guess you have to wait for people to die!) and I thought "that's crazy!" And now I kick myself for not doing it because that was about 10 years ago! I could have been impovershing myself all this time!

[SadieKate]

"they had one glass of wine, then put the bottle away! Is that how normal people drink?"

Heck, I can't even do that! Someone is coming for dinner tonight and asked what he could bring. He really pushed to bring some locally brewed beer or wine and I finally told him that was the one thing that would make me upset. I can't keep up with what we already have in the house. We're on the pre-release list for Navarro, we buy pinots every time we go to Oregon, we buy on whim at times when we shouldn't, we get gifts . . . and I just can't drink much these days. Maybe I'll have a glass tonight and let the boys finish the bottle. That'll put a dent in the stash.

[maillotpois]

Oh Sarah - I will be your best friend for life! No I have not tried the Terrace Select. Who knows if I will be able to justify buying any then but I would love to have the chance to agonize over it! I was going to join years ago, but they said it would be 3-5 years before I got on the list (I guess you have to wait for people to die!) and I thought "that's crazy!" And now I kick myself for not doing it because that was about 10 years ago! I could have been impovershing myself all this time!

They do everything they can to prevent their wines from being sold.

We need to go pick ours up Sunday after our Skaggs ride. I think we made the order in Jan or Feb, so that's when it will be next year. I'll see if we have any "extra" this year....