What did you drink?

Did you have Mt. Langhi Ghiran? d'Arenberg, Parker Station, Torbreck, 3 Rivers, Run Rig, E&E, Cimicky? And what were your impressions?

With Oz Shiraz, you need to pick and choose carefully. That same Mt. Langhi Ghiran needs at least 5-7 years to get going and is a very balanced wine once there. 1995-1997 d'Arenberg Dead Arm are legendary and pretty much killed any and all competition in all blind tastings I have done (WITH FOOD). Cimicky are still undervalued as they were 10-12 years ago (as is Mt. Langhi, IMO).

If you really want to try some small Oz labels there is a shop in SF I can hook you up with, the buyer there knows Oz and NZ wines like no one else in USA and has an incredible selection in the back room. That was my learning grounds years ago :-) Before I worked in wine retail and sold a number of these myself.

In general terms, I won't touch any Oz Shiraz these days that sells under $25 a bottle, sounds elitist, but that's reality if you want anything drinkable.
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I'm drinking a glass of Meridian Pinot Noir right now. It was at Nob Hill for only $5.55.
It is an Italian wine imported through Napa, CA. It tastes like it was made in an Italian style. It is lighter bodied than most of the pinots I'm used to but reminds me of other Italian wines I've had. A winemaker once told my that pinot is a light bodied grape anyway. This Meridian wine has no bad characteristics to me. I think it would be better slightly chilled, even, because it is refreshing already. For $5.55 it is a great deal. It would be better if it had a more concentrated fruit flavor, but I have plenty of wines like that, none that cost less than $15, much less $5.55!
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Ya it's a Rhone wine

had it recently, actually was disapointted. good upfront fruit, but hollow mid-palete and the finish disappeared quickly


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Magnificent Vineyards makes some pretty good affordable wines. Their house wine in delicious and their "steak house" wine (cab sauv) is good as well. Not only are they good, but they don't give me a headache like other cheap wines. (I say that because although my taste buds will accept most cheap wines, they always give me a headache the next day with only one glass).

They are out of washington.
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I just put four varietals of Xploradors on the shelf @ $9.99/bottle - Chardonnay, Carmenere, Cabernet Sauvignon, and "I will NOT drink any %^($in' " Merlot, all 2008 vintage. These Chilean Concha Y Toros should be quite a good buy, but I haven't had this vintage yet. Anybody here who can give me some input?

:-)
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I went to the wine shop with a list of wines from this thread. I found this one, and the Meridian Pinot (CA). (Also found the Steltzner Claret but it was $25, a little out of my price range.) We drank the Bogle Petite Sirah (07) last weekend and it was splendid. On sale for 8.99, no less. Fantastic recommendation!! :-)
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Dirty tricks afoot in the cheap wine trade: The Great Wine Cover-Up.
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As the article mentioned, it's not just the cheap wines. Not all the tricks are dirty.
These kinds of articles get published from time to time but I treat it like sausage making. Sometimes you don't need to know exactly how it was made. :-)
There have been similar articles and posts about the tricks cigar makers use, ie. maduro dyes.
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Nice article, although somewhat misguided as most wine reporters and critics seem to be. He should have done more research. For example, adding tannins is done to retard any bacteria that may have arrived to the winery on grape skins. Small doses of powdered tannin, all natural, of course, but (hopefully) enough to kill any spoilage and used as a precaution in 99% of the cases.

Adding oak chips to wine is not a substitute to aging wine in barrels (contrary to the implication in the article). Chips simply add oak flavor, as article says, but aging in oak barrels leads to micro oxygenation, which is wine AGING (similar to you and me aging wine in our homes for years after the purchase). And as is, chips and staves are simply a by-product of barrel making, anyway. Why throw away perfectly good planks when making barrels?

Chaptalization is legal in France, but illegal in California, the article makes it sound like it is. Besides, with all the "complaints" from experts that CA and Oz wines are too "big" to begin with, why add even more sugar?

Overall, a good look at how the likes of [yellowtail] achieve their target, flavor profile wise, they actually have huge chemical laboratories to gauge consumer wine preferences (sugar laden and oaky wines) and then use chemical additions to get there. Some additions are natural (oak chips, MegaPurple, sugar), some are not.

But in general, you simply cannot take a wine amde from 15 tons per acre crop and turn it into something that was made from a 3 tons (of less) per acre yield. The biggest issue, though, is that all of the wine writers and critics complain about these "additives" and tricks and yet, time and again, I have watchd them give these chemical experiments high scores in tastings, blind or not. On the one hand, they tell consumers about the "evils" of such wine making tricks, on the other they themselves do not have good palates to begin with.

I do not see any attraction in buying non-USA made wines when well made, clean wines are made here and available for same prices as imports. Why send money out of the country?
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I am not a wine guy (I do home brews) but I do like wine and of course taste is a personanl thing but...

Is there a classically good red wine?

To use an analogy.... Padron cigars (X000's series) in my experience almost always get a thumbs up and don't cost a fortune either.

Thanks!!
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I am really turned off by dyed maduro wrappers, mostly because I do not know what the process is for dying them. (Food coloring? What the hell is it?) I still wouldn't buy them because stained lips and fingers don't enhance the smoking experience for me, but I wouldn't view them with the same disdain if I knew the process was natural.

But it sounds like a lot of what they're doing with wine is tweaking it with natural wine byproducts. That doesn't sound so bad. Well, except for the silver nitrate and the methanol. Yikes.

Thanks for the info!
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Has any one else tried this one? http://themagnificentwine.com/house_wine.php

I've been impressed by both of their offerings I've tried.
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There are some great looking (well, at least really good looking) 2008 Bordeaux futures that are under $20 now. You won't get them until sometime in 2011, but by then they may (I hesitate to say probably) be selling for a higher price. I have seen some of my '03, '04, '05 Future purchases rise greatly in value (some have almost doubled). I did not buy them to sell for profit, but if I bought them today they would cost a lot more. :-)
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mcmanis cab 2007
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Im a fan of Blackstone Merlot
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Pretty much everything I drink falls into this category of $20. Penfolds Cab/Syrah blend and Root One Cab are a couple favorites. Banfi as well. Also, pretty much any $15 bottle of Zin is a winner in my book.
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Had a 2006 David Bruce Pinot Noir (Central Coast) last night (rest of the bottle tonight....hopefully with a cigar) from Costco that I believe was under $20. Anyway, nice-easy drinking Pinot, maybe a little thin but good fruit and no real flaws. I am not a huge Pinot fan or expert, but I would buy this again.
Any other good Pinots in this price range? I'm sure there are, any I should try?
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Siduri makes an incredible $20 Pinot (blend of various vineyards they use), although it sells rather quickly. Give them a call.
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a local store by me has a brand called Black Oak, I have had the Shiraz 2005 so far and it was very enjoyable especially because they are 2 for $12 mix 'n match, they also have a brand called Viu Manent, from that vineyard I have had the 2008 Malbec and it was quite tasty for $9
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I have seen that brand all over the place and have yet to try it, maybe I should pick up a bottle next time I re-stock the rack :-)
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