calling all winos #2

[emilycat]

Well, I decided to take Natasha up on her suggestion to maybe make another post for this ludicrously popular topic.
I also have another economical, yet delightful wine to share. Hogue's Chenin Blanc...I thought it was incredible; it had much more character than I would have expected for 8 dollars.


[This message has been edited by emilycat (edited 11-13-2000).]

[kwormann]

I have to say Chateau Ste. Michelle Reisling...only around $7.00..its one of hte best Ive had. It is from WA state, which is supposed to have the same latitude and climate as Germany, which is why they can make good "German" wines! Try it!!

Kim http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[LGBurns]

I agree with Emilycat that the Chateau St. Michelle Riesling is very good. We just had it last night with the Sunday Roast Chicken from October's issue and it was a perfect combination. Personally, I'm not a big fan of Chardonnays which I find overrated and not good with most foods. I really enjoy a good Riesling, Chenin Blanc, or if I want something a little grassier and dryer I'd go for a Sauvignon Blanc. My biggest struggle is that I'm originally from the Sonoma County in California and I now live in Chicago. It's really hard to get all the great small winery wines I used to be able to get (like Hop Kiln Zinfandel, for example, which is my favorite!). Sorry, I guess I rambled a bit. This definitely is a topic close to my heart http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif

[emilycat]

Well, I haven't actually had the St. Michelle Riesling, but I'll definitely try it, since I seem to have thought it was good! (Just teasing http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/tongue.gif )
Just a little tidbit, but one of the reasons Pinot Noirs do so well in the Pacific Northwest is because those grapes are very finicky, and the climate there is pretty ideal. Another one of my favorite varietals http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

[This message has been edited by emilycat (edited 11-13-2000).]

[Gail]

Hi,

Looks like while I was away my thread gave birth! Thanks for keeping the topic alive and all the great input over the past months.

If Peggy and Leanne happen to be around, I wanted to let them know that on their recommendations we stopped at Hakusan Sake Gardens and Matanzas Creek Winery this past week. Although it was raining when we arrived and Matanzas, we weren't able to appreciate the full scope of the grounds, we found the tasting room setting lovely and the wines earned a definite thumbs up (I favored the sauvignon blanc but we found all varieties excellent.) The sake gardens were a pleasant change from the norm and the tasting and learning experience unique. Needless to say, we came home with a couple of new varieties of sake!
Thanks to both of you for the special suggestions. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[venus]

I'm so glad you did this Em! The other one was getting so big that I was afraid to post on it. I noticed you mentioned the Mitnach(spelling?)-Klack Grand Cru Gewurtz. Very delicious, and definitely worth the price for special occasions. If I'm going to drink a less expensive gewurtztraminer I like the Fetzer gewurztraminer. I also like Chateau St. Michelle--they have a decent chardonnay, even though I don't like chardonnays in general. They seem to be overproduced right now. I really like sauvignon blanc and pinot grigio. And don't let me forget the often maligned white burgundy. A good one can taste like velvet!

I used to live in the fingerlakes wine country, so I drank many many wines that I can no longer find. It's a little sad. I would love to find a site that sold them. I'm also looking for red wine reccomendations. I've found I like shiraz, syrah and pinot noir in small amounts, and I'm trying to learn to like them more. Does anyone have any reccomendations--preferrably in the $10 range.

[LGBurns]

For those of you looking for wines that are hard to get in your area, I just discovered wine.com -- it looks like a great site. Venus, I checked and they have some Finger Lakes wines (go to "origin" and choose "New York"). I don't know anything about that area's wines so I don't know how good the wineries they offer are but I do know that I was pretty impressed with the California wines available on the site that aren't available in my area.

[This message has been edited by LGBurns (edited 11-14-2000).]

[Gina O]

Emily- Enjoyed your posts about Ports on another thread and could not resist going into the pantry and counting how many were there. Was suprised to only find 3 (but found several other interesting things including the pancake syrup I had been looking for). My favorite is the Cockburn's 10 y/o Tawny.

Other wines that I like are too numerous to mention, over the summer I was in a bit of a champagne phase, but with the cooler weather I imagine it will slow down a bit and I will go back to reds and ports. My all time favorite crowd pleaser is Beringer's North Coast White Zinfindel. I always have it around because everyone likes it.

My personal but pricey favorites are anything by the Frog's Leap vineyard in California. I am also a big fan of Chateau Ste. Michele.

[hhcowgirl]

PMMahan--a similar merlot is Frog's Leap (??); very god if you can't find yours.

[ChrisF]

Seemed like this was a good place to post the best of our holiday bottles! We loved two Shiraz bottles: Rosemount Estates from Costco @ 7.99, and a Black Opal Shiraz from Trader Joe's that was a gift. Both were terrific. We also loved a Guigal (think that's the right spelling) Cote-du-Rhone - also a 7.99 Costco find. If you like Merlot, these will most likely be very pleasing!
Chris

[JLS]

pmmahan... I have heard of Rabbit Ridge... but not Rabbit Hill... what state is it produced in?

Rabbit Ridge wines are great...btw.

[pmmahan]

JLS- yes, it is Rabbit Ridge :confused !

[Peggy]

I must have missed this thread when it was posted!

Gail - So glad you tried out the Sake Gardens. It really is a nice change from the usual winery experiences.

I see there are Merlot lovers on this board. We had a blind Merlot wine tasting at my New Year's Eve party. The winners of the evening were Whitehall Lane 1997, Markham 1998 and Rutherford Hill 1998. We had one Merlot from Italy that tasted more like a Sangiovese! Sometimes international wines have a different style than we are used to, I think.

At another wine tasting we went to recently we had a Hess Select Merlot that was very good and quite reasonably priced. I can't remember the year.

Over Christmas we went wine tasting in the Livermore Valley (San Francisco Bay Area) and we discovered some wonderful ports. I'm not sure if these wineries sell nationally, but I will list the ones we bought just in case: Rio-Lovell 1997 Reserve Port, Fenestra 1998 Sweet Pinot Gris Port and 1996 Zinfandel Port, and Cedar Mountain 2000 Viognier Port. This was my first Viognier port and it was yummy! It had intense pear, peach and apricot flavors. Very unique.

Gail - Have you ever gone wine tasting in the Livermore Valley? They have some terrific wines!

Peggy

[Leanne]

Gail - I was just doing a search & saw that you went to Matanzas Creek. So glad you liked it. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif Too bad it was raining though b/c the grounds are lovely.

[pmmahan]

for all you merlot lovers... Rabbit Hill Merlot is really good and reasonably priced. Full berry flavors. Yum! Few wines actually make it to my buy it again list, but this is a good one.

[shoyski]

Venus, following are some that I've tried recently: Rosemount Estate (Shiraz blend) Deakin Estate is a good Shiraz for $12, Buckley's Shiraz 1999 $10, Pepperwood Grove 1997 Cabernet Franc, and for about $15, try Enate, a 1999 Cab/Merlot blend.

[Gail]

Originally posted by Peggy:
I must have missed this thread when it was posted!

Gail - So glad you tried out the Sake Gardens. It really is a nice change from the usual winery experiences.

I see there are Merlot lovers on this board. We had a blind Merlot wine tasting at my New Year's Eve party. The winners of the evening were Whitehall Lane 1997, Markham 1998 and Rutherford Hill 1998. We had one Merlot from Italy that tasted more like a Sangiovese! Sometimes international wines have a different style than we are used to, I think.

At another wine tasting we went to recently we had a Hess Select Merlot that was very good and quite reasonably priced. I can't remember the year.

Over Christmas we went wine tasting in the Livermore Valley (San Francisco Bay Area) and we discovered some wonderful ports. I'm not sure if these wineries sell nationally, but I will list the ones we bought just in case: Rio-Lovell 1997 Reserve Port, Fenestra 1998 Sweet Pinot Gris Port and 1996 Zinfandel Port, and Cedar Mountain 2000 Viognier Port. This was my first Viognier port and it was yummy! It had intense pear, peach and apricot flavors. Very unique.

Gail - Have you ever gone wine tasting in the Livermore Valley? They have some terrific wines!

Peggy

I came in here to post a few suggestions for foreign wines and saw your message, Peggy. Sorry I didn't see it sooner. Had the flu during the holidays and you know how fast threads sink on the board.

No, I haven't visited the Livermore wineries, although every time we drive past Livermore proper I think of Concannon and think, "Gee... we should check out wineries some time..." Some day, maybe... http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

In the meantime, I waned to mention a few really good wines I recently found if anyone is either interested or able to find these imports:

[list=1]
* Cantino Terlano Alto Adige Pinot Grigio(1997/Italy) a medium-dry, floral Pinot Grigio-- the best I think I've had to date

*Villiera Merlot (1998/South Africa) I'm growing increasingly fonder of South African wines and am actively seeking them out whenever I can. This one, I thought, was quite pleasant.

*Capezzana Conti Contini Sangiovese (1996/Italy) A steal at $7.99 if you can find it (The Wine House, where I picked it up, also has a web site.) Fruity and light; a favorite of the employees there. [/list=a]



[This message has been edited by Gail (edited 01-22-2001).]

[Gail]

Whoa.

Senile.

[This message has been edited by Gail (edited 01-22-2001).]