Pretty ignorant about wine, but anyone ever tried Robert Mondavi Johannesberg reisling? it's my favorite
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Hey Johnny,

I'd recommend Greg Norman Shiraz. It's a really great Australian wine, you can find for under 15.00 - 20.00 and it's well worth it. I'm not a wine expert by any means, however, my friends who are will immediately back me up on this one. Give it a shot, if you like Shiraz, I'm sure you'll love it.
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My top pick for a new world shiraz is Torbreck Woodcutter Shiraz. Just under $20. I prefer French syrah, but I am an old world wine fan. You'll like the Woodcutter, no question about it, 100%.
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Sure, which varietal do you want to start with? Chardonnay would be good one. The style and quality is huge, and what people are drinking is equally as big. There's some cheaters for the price both from France and USA, with an occasional S. American mixed.

It would be best to start a new thread for the varietal you'd like to learn about. I would suggest to you, or anyone who plans to follow the thread and learn is to look up the varietal in Wikipedia to verse yourself. It's more concise and direct that anyone on this site could come with on their own.
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I've had this idea in my head- but I was going to wait until the New year to post about it, but why not start it now?

I would love to start a "tasting club" here. I think it would introduce people to new wines, help train palettes, most importantly get people thinking and learning about wine.

heres how it would work:

-Every week/ 2 weeks someone picks a varietal and/or region- this can be chosen out of a hat or have a list set up.

Example- Joe_Smith picks- California Syrah
Everyone goes out and buys a bottle off CA syrah and posts tasting notes- we can eventually modify this to CA Syrah under $20 or Dry Creek Valley Syrah, etc.

-We come up with standard tasting guidelines- notes for sight / nose / taste - etc

- You can taste as many wines as you want to during the alloted time period.

What do you guys think? We can add some guidelines along the way.
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I like the idea...
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moses, you're actually taking my idea a step further than I was talking about. Although I understand that there is much difference to each varietal and each is probably worth of its own thread, I was just looking for a basic listing of say red wine varietals and white wine varietals with decriptions as to what is what. For instance, the difference between Cab, Pinot, Merlot, etc. And I know, at least I think I do, that the main difference is the grape used. I'm asking about what should a Cab be versus a Pinot, etc. Does that make sense?

Great idea dukes, except again, way more advanced than what I was looking for.

About all I know when I drink a wine is if I like it or not. I have no idea how each varietal is supposed to taste, much less how different regions should and do taste.

Maybe I'm just barking up the wrong tree and should just stick with box wine or Boone's Farm.:-)
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Al's plan does not fit my buying habits. I find wines I like by tasting them, trying out ones that are recommended and finding regions/varietals that I like and expanding on them. I usually don't buy random bottles of wine. With money getting tighter I am looking at slashing my spending on wine. I have already cut my cigar spending.
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There is no real answer to how a grape tastes. Pinot Noir from CA differs from Pinot Noir in France and so on. Do they share some characteristics?- of course, but how the grape is grown,fermented,stored,etc changes everything.

I think this would be awesome for newbie drinkers- naming a producer and having someone tell you what is good- isnt the right way to drink wine- finding out what you enjoy is.

This wouldnt be buying random bottles of wine- this would work exactly the same way you find out about wine- by tasting, then finding regions or varietals that you enjoy.

This is will be as accessible as possible- so everyone can participate. Pick up whatever you can afford.
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We could start off with Chambertin, and then move to Borolo...
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:-) Moses, you read my mind

I would do this with you folks if we can go by varietal or possibly region.


~Vitis
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I like the idea, especially if we did it every few weeks. I'm up for trying and learning. There will always be obstacles ...
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...Ok folks, everyone buy a bottle of La Tache and we'll share tasting notes the next day. :-)
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If we did by varietal I could drink the DRC and you could drink a CastleRock Pinot and we could compare notes. Oh you mean I have to BUY the La Tache? Ok, you do drink the DRC, Ill drink the CastleRock. :-):-):-):-):-):-)
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Exactly!
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I didn't think I had to buy the La Tache... I thought one you were going to buy an OWC and mail out a bottle to each of us... Schucks...
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If I had the spare 15gs, I would gladly handle this for us. Untill then, lots of Morey St. Denis village level stuff for me instead. But who am I to complain.
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You are a generous man Vitis.
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Got the office today and there were a few wines open on the counter to try. Some quick thoughts:

1988 JJ Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling
Fat and easy with low acidity and tasty Honey flavors. I'm whore for Prum, well Riesling in general. In fact my favorite grape. This is good but not great for a Sonnenuhr.

1999 Georg Breuer Rudesheim Berg Rottland Riesling
Now this is fascinating wine. Nose is dominated by honey, but the mouth is laced with lime, mineral and mint notes. Delicious and interesting with a nice backbone.

1995 Castello Di Ama Chianti Classico Vigneto BellaVista
Dried fruit, cherry and raisins, medium bodied with drying tannins. Tasty and would go great with some meat. Im thinking a Bolonegese, Mmmmm.

1990 Philip Tongi Estate Cabernet
Love it. Tongi can be very green, but this has great fruit for a 18year old. Cassis with floral notes and silky tannins. What a great wine. I could drink this every day and be pretty happy.

2005 Domaine des Farges Quart du Chaume
Wet Wool and lanolin, seems very far advanced for such a young wine. Missing those fresh fruit notes I would like to see in a QdC at this age. not my cup o tea.

Rough day at the office eh?



~Vitis
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Vitis

Some interesting picks there. I too love Rieslings, but have very few in my collection. My girlfriend is a big fan of them, so I am leaving to her to start picking them out for auction buys.

I met Dr. Loosen a few years ago. Very interesting guy and we had some wines dating back to the 60's! Wow!
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