Wine Thread

[chaumeh]

Do we have any wine enthusiasts on here?

I like to enjoy a nice red with a good meal. Also have some special bottles which I am aging

[Apu]

Depends on how you define wine enthusiast

I do enjoy my wine and don't consider myself a wine snob - I went through the "storing wine" phase and had close to 200 bottles in my cellar. Now I just go out and buy a nice bottle for special occassions and the cellar is just to store wine for convenience...if it makes it to the cellar, haha!

I'm really generalising here but I find most bottles (reds) about $20 are good daily drinking and that most bottles about $40 are excellent drinking...I've had a couple of Granges and, well, as nice as they are I struggle to justify $900.

That said...if it's got alcohol and it's not vinegar, I'll drink it!

[chaumeh]

Depends on how you define wine enthusiast

Any appreciation or interest in wine

I do enjoy my wine and don't consider myself a wine snob - I went through the "storing wine" phase and had close to 200 bottles in my cellar. Now I just go out and buy a nice bottle for special occassions and the cellar is just to store wine for convenience...if it makes it to the cellar, haha!

200 bottles! that's quite a collection. What did you have in it?

I'm really generalising here but I find most bottles (reds) about $20 are good daily drinking and that most bottles about $40 are excellent drinking...I've had a couple of Granges and, well, as nice as they are I struggle to justify $900.

Completely agree. I find you can get really nice tasting wine for $40. I can appreciate the difference between a $10, $20, $40 and $80 bottle of wine. Anything $80+ and the law of diminishing return kicks in very strongly (well at least for me lol). In saying that, I love the history and back stories for cult wines (Grange, Hill of Grace, etc). I'm still yet to try Grange

Here in Adelaide at the National Wine Center, there is a tasting dispenser with lots of different varieties. You can get a 30 ml sample of the current vintage Grange for $30 lol.

That said...if it's got alcohol and it's not vinegar, I'll drink it!

I think I've found my new best friend haha.

[gunpoons]

I like beer[emoji481]…a lot[emoji482][emoji482]


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[eskimo_firefighter]

I've only recently started drinking wine and still a novice, and I mostly only drink it depending on the food I have. Any particular recommendations on good value for money wine? Otherwise I'll go off Apu's suggestion and try Wine between the $20-$40 range and see how I go, haha.

Otherwise I like beer a lot too.

[chaumeh]

I like beer[emoji481]…a lot[emoji482][emoji482]


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Me too! You should get a Beer Thread going

I've only recently started drinking wine and still a novice, and I mostly only drink it depending on the food I have. Any particular recommendations on good value for money wine? Otherwise I'll go off Apu's suggestion and try Wine between the $20-$40 range and see how I go, haha.

Otherwise I like beer a lot too.

Which types of wine do you like? red, white? I recommend try everything first and try all the different grape varieties (shiraz, cabernet sauvignon, piont noir, tempranillo, etc) to establish a baseline of what you enjoy. From there, try different wine from the same grape varieties. Makes you appreciate the differences in the wine making processes between all the different wineries using the same grape. I find if you stick to a reputable brand e.g. Penfolds, Wolfblass, d'Arenberg, Rockford, Peter Lehmann, etc and get a $20 or $40 bottle, you'll be fairly safe

I've had a 1999 d'Arenberg Footbolt (shiraz, Mclaren Vale, SA) in my collection for a while and decided to bring it out to dinner tonight with friends. It was slightly corked but still managed to successfully serve it to everyone. I bought this one as an experiment as not all wines are made to age (some are made to drink within the first few years of bottling). The goal was to evaluate if a wine not made to aged (that was purposely aged) actually tasted any good. It ended up tasting pretty average (we decanted it in our glasses for about 10 minutes, didn't want to risk it dying too early). So lesson learnt! don't buy age wine for the sake of it (research before you buy) nor do not age wine for the sake of it (if it wasn't made to age-it'll probably be bad or just turn into vinegar sooner than expected lol).

[eskimo_firefighter]

Red wine is my preference. Yep that's basically what I am doing, trying all different grape varieties first. Thanks for the tips!

[Apu]

I drink to the seasons - more red in winter (mostly shiraz) then I swing to whites in summer.

The reds I've enjoyed but found very expensive - Wendouree, Grange...struggle to justify buying them. Greenock Creek makes some excellent reds that I would say are well priced for the quality. I recently had a Moss Wood 2013 Amy's...that was really easy drinking.

I'll go through a brief period of Pinot Noir before I seing into whites...not sure what I'll get into this summer.

I tend to go with reviews and recommendations, and there is an element of you get what you pay for. Again, $20-40 buys some really good wines. When you get into $60, it's diminishing returns - you really, really need to know your stuff and have refined senses...something I don't!

Chaumeh - since you mentioned Hill of Grace, I'll name drop a bit...I went to school with one of the Henschke descendants years (OK, decades) ago. Back then...well I should have bought a lot of them, even when I was in uni...they weren't that expensive!

[Apu]

I'm preparing dinner so went to grab a bottle of red and thought I'd share this...

There's a little vineyard in the Hunter - Nulkaba to be precise - called Ernest Hill. I got to know Ross and Jason more than 10 years ago when they were tiny and had just started up. They were doing mostly whites at the time, but a couple of years later started their first reds. I bought some of their first batch Shareholders Shiraz - they are about $15-18 at the time and left them in my cellar...well, they're all gone after sitting there for about 5 years. They turned out really well. It's little gems like these I like to find.

Give them a visit if you are in the Hunter - very hospitable!

[chaumeh]

I haven't acquired the palate for white yet (hope to one day!).

That's a pretty cool story Bryan. Spewing you didn't get some bottles of Hill of Grace. Would've made for a good investment lol. Henschke opened up a restaurant here in Adelaide last year at the newly developed Adelaide oval called (you guessed it), Hill of Grace. Still have not tried it yet

Thanks for the heads up regarding Ernest Hill shiraz! I'll make sure to grab a bottle

[Apu]

Since you are in Adelaide, go to Greenock Creek! It's fantastic drinking for the money. I'm down to my last bottle now, so that will be a bottle to savour.

My nephew opened a bottle of '97 Hill of Grace and he compared it to the '97 Grange...the Henschke was much better drinking.

You're in the land of the reds! I spent my Yr 9-12 in Adelaide ('84-'87...yes, I'm old) and back then, there were no restrictions on serving alcohol to minors. As you can imagine...I learnt my limits early in life.

In terms of whites...I do like them on the fruitier side though as I find it more refreshing. Ah...who I am I kidding...I drink whatever's available as long as it's cold not vinegary.

The beauty of wine drinking today is that there are so many good winemakers out there, you'd be hard pressed to find a bad wine. 2-3 decades ago, it really could be hit and miss for novices, and we had to rely on Brown Brothers and Wolf Blass to be safe. Tyrells / Seppelts as a bit of "Enter the Flagon".

[chaumeh]

Greenock Creek! Must give it a try sometime. One of the pro's of living in South Australia is the ease of access to get to these cellar doors. Barossa Valley is only a 45 minute drive for me taking the Northern Expressway and McLaren Vale is only a 45 minute drive taking the Southern Expressway lol.

Wow, you have some baller cousins Bryan! Just out of curiosity, did you know if he decanted the Hill of Grace of Grange?

Ex-Adeladian! Unfortunately, that's a common trend here to move away after school/uni. The job opportunities just aren't as great.

Another gem I can recommend is Noon Wineries. They open their cellar door only one day out of the year and that is the only time and place you can buy their wine's (retail). Pretty cheap when purchasing at cellar doors (about $25 for their "Reserve" shiraz) but amazing quality taste. I know it doesn't help you Bryan but if you see some at an auction or what not, be sure to check them out

[felixR]

I did a tasting not too long ago with Bimbadgen Wines. They've been winning awards lately. I can definitely appreciate it but then I go red.. you don't go red Bryan? So lucky haha

[PG_DC5]

I have virtually no idea most of the time, and mostly get Shiraz or Merlot bottles (prefer french merlot's from dan murphys), and Shiraz from Barossa valley. Just aim around $15-20 and mostly tastes the same to me haha. A few of my bosses have wine brokers and it's always kind of hilarious when they get called and order a few cases of wine on a whim in-between cases.

[Apu]

Chaumeh - don't believe he decanted the Hill of Grace, but he would have let it breath well.

Thanks for the heads up on Noon Wineries...unfortunately one day a year makes it a bit hard to get to!

Felix - Bimbadgen is good! I still have a few bottles of reds and whites from them...which reminds me, time to finish them off! I haven't been there for a while but they have / had a good restaurant too!

As for going red...yes, I do! And I react to it as well - I get blocked up and can't breathe through my nose if I drink too much. I understand this has to do with when the sulphites are added in the process - no such reaction to French wines!

On a broader note - it's widely known Chile makes some really good reds. I've yet to taste one I didn't like...I assume the good stuff gets exported!