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pork never goes bad posted:I get the impression that the concern is cooking a decent bottle of local bubbly designed to drink in the next few years when you store it for 9 months in a hot house. The advice so far is good if you're storing wine for years (I use off-site storage in the east bay for longer term aging, and love it for what it is - I add and pick up wine about two or three times per year and otherwise buy for immediate consumption or store under a year in my closet and try to let nothing go more than two months in the July-September period). If you mostly buy wine for consumption within twelve months of purchase or in that ballpark, then I'd look at Wirecutter reviews and go with their suggestion. Yeah that is definitely more my use case for sure. Thanks for the wirecutter suggestion.
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Jul 8, 2018 19:25
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IMO wine can vary greatly in terms of sensitivity to storage conditions. Champagne, which you mention is 40% of your drinking, is the most sensitive. I am ultra ocd about storing champagne for that reason, but will have no qualms about leaving a Napa cab at 70F for a week or two. I even won't buy champagne from stores that keep them unrefrigerated Anyway you might find that a little locker (10-15 cases at ~$30/month) coupled with 3-6 bottles kept in the regular fridge could work for your use case. If you still end up getting a wine fridge I suggest picking one with a proper compressor, not a thermoelectric model
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Jul 9, 2018 23:08
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Heat wave refreshment for sweaty wine goons: Gazpacho and sauvignon blanc. Just had it, what a surprisingly great match. It even counts as raw vegan, if that matters (and if no eggs are used in the wine). I can post gazpacho recipe if desired, but it doesn't matter that much. Tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, onion and some more stuff, google it, use one of the thousands of similar recipes. Use high end olive oil. The one I had was Joseph Mellot Sancerre Le Montarlet 2017, it's very fresh with yellow apple, nettles, some herbs and a lemony acid. No Anyway, I didn't think raw vegetables would work that well with wine. It turned the malic acid into sweet, yellow ripe apples. This will be my go-to starter for summery meals until there are no vegetables or sauv blanc left (which might be next year).
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Jul 24, 2018 17:56
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Re: Wine fridge chat, I bought one of the cheapest options on Amazon and it's been working just fine for a couple years now. If I wanted more space at this point I would probably just buy a second one at this point. Looks like the brand I bought is no longer available online, however.
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Jul 26, 2018 00:28
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A bit of an odd question - I've been homebrewing wine with my fiancee, and we're planning to (maybe) produce the wine for our wedding next year. My question is this: what would people here consider the "canon" styles? For example, so far we've produced a Gewurztraminer and Merlot, and I'm planning a Chardonnay next. What else should I include on list? What style would you expect at a wedding? This may be a better question for the homebrew thread, but it seemed like a better question for wine tasters than wine makers.
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Jul 26, 2018 20:47
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Tibalt posted:A bit of an odd question - I've been homebrewing wine with my fiancee, and we're planning to (maybe) produce the wine for our wedding next year. I don't know much about home winemaking, but I'd say a key issue is the lack of availability to age the wine in oak (or maybe that's not a problem? I don't know, I've never done it), so I'd focus on wine styles that are typically unoaked, but it's all up to your taste. For red, I might try a GSM blend -- typically a crowdpleaser, and rarely aged in oak. For white, you could certainly do Chardonnay, but without oak it's not going to closely resemble Chardonnays that are oaked, which may or may not throw some people off. I think sauvignon blanc and riesling could also be good choices for white, but I suppose it matters what you can source and what sort of wines you like.
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Jul 27, 2018 17:32
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Thanks for the reply. The kit I'm using gets around the lack of oak barrel aging by adding oak chips while the juice is fermenting. I'm not sure how authentic it tastes, but I'll find out in three months. The merlot used wood chips to add oak flavor, and seems to have good reviews. Thanks for the help!
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Jul 28, 2018 03:40
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Finding a wine fridge with non-terrible reviews in Canada is proving to be a pain. My place is air conditioned so I don’t get huge temperature swings, but I’m starting to pile up a modest collection and I’d like to keep it safe.
Lazyhound fucked around with this message at 04:26 on Aug 1, 2018 |
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Aug 1, 2018 04:23
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Tibalt posted:A bit of an odd question - I've been homebrewing wine with my fiancee, and we're planning to (maybe) produce the wine for our wedding next year. Before I got deep into winemaking as a profession I worked in a home brewing/wine making store in Fargo. If you are using the kits that come with a little can of concentrate my advice would be to forget about making something that will impress wine snobs and think about making something the bridesmaids are going to smash way too much of. No matter how well you manage sanitation, fermentation, oaking, bottling, aging, etc. you can’t complete with even a mediocre fine wine winery. But you should still do it. Who gives a poo poo about impressing a douche bag uncle that takes himself too seriously, (we are all that uncle) your goal should to provide your party with ethanol that people will want to put in their bellies. If you like the Zinfandel with the chocolate syrup make two batches.
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Aug 1, 2018 04:59
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My yearly contribution to see the hell that is the master sommelier exam. Here are some sample questions I remember if you guys are interested. I recently sat for the verbal theory portion of the master exam and unfortunately didn't quite get it. I actually ran out of time before completing all the questions, which really sucked because I think I was doing fairly well. Some example questions: Which sub-region of Rioja is most influenced by the Mediterranean? Name the two worst vintages of Rioja from 2010-2015. What is the elevation for grape growing in Taurasi? Name a DOCG in Basilicata that produces the same grape as Taurasi. What is the compound that gives grapes their red and blue hues? What is the predominant soil type in the Dao? Name 4 VQA zones in British Columbia. What wind influences the Paraje Altamira subregion? In sake, what does Miyamizu refer to? At what point in beer production should you add hops if you're hoping to get the most bitterness from the hops? What is the aging requirement for Puerto Rican rum? How long must Bandol rouge be aged in oak? What is the earliest date that Muscadet-Sevre-et-Maine Clisson may be released? In what commune does Clos de Tart reside? What are two reasons that Santorini growers plant their vines in dug out holes? What region in France with Grand Cru appellations has the most varied soil types? 2nd part - in Alsace, name 3 producers of the Schlossberg vineyard. Where is Waiheke Island? Name a producer there. What is the name of the boats port shippers use to ship their wines to the port? In what century did Port producers switch to making primarily fortified wines? Give 2 reasons why Cornas is the warmest Northern Rhone AOP. What 3 things did the KWV control in South Africa? In what decade did they transition to a private company? In what region are the vineyards Steinsetz and Lamm located? Name the grand cru villages of the Valle de la Marne. What rivers influence the Cote des Bar? Name 3 appellations south of Oakville that might be influenced by fog. Name two monopole white wine AOPs in France. Some are certainly easier than others. This is just a sampling of some things I remembered. What makes it tougher is the rapid verbal format, jumping from topic to topic. You obviously can not go back if you remember an answer, or want to change an answer. I got most of the above correct (at least I think so, still awaiting feedback). But I got cut off before making it to the last 10 or questions. Pretty frustrating but I'm confident I'll crush it next time. Need to manage my time better.
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Aug 1, 2018 05:17
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I'd get approximately one percent of these but Waiheke Island is super pretty, has nice wines and you should go there if you are ever in Auckland. Are cork pullers the best approach for crumbly corks? I ended having to use the tea strainer with a bottle last night after I murdered a older cork.
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Aug 1, 2018 05:37
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Trimson Grondag 3 posted:I'd get approximately one percent of these but Waiheke Island is super pretty, has nice wines and you should go there if you are ever in Auckland. The Durand is by far the best tool for opening old bottles.
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Aug 1, 2018 05:56
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Kasumeat posted:The Durand is by far the best tool for opening old bottles. 
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Aug 1, 2018 15:07
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Kasumeat posted:The Durand is by far the best tool for opening old bottles. Is it $110 better than a regular ah so for amateurs?
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Aug 1, 2018 23:19
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sivad posted:Is it $110 better than a regular ah so for amateurs? It has worked 100% of the time for me. Do you, as an amateur, open enough old wine to need a tool that does this? For most, no. But that's your call.
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Aug 2, 2018 03:34
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I've never had trouble with bottles from the '70s and '80s with my regular ah so so I've never felt the need to buy a Durand 
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Aug 2, 2018 04:50
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Yeah i had a 2007 Prum Spatlese (all my stories are about Prum) that just fell to pieces. I probably only open half dozen 10+ year old bottles a year, was just feeling particularly stupid sitting there with my tea strainer.
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Aug 2, 2018 05:42
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got off on a technicality posted:I've never had trouble with bottles from the '70s and '80s with my regular ah so so I've never felt the need to buy a Durand Same. Except it's called a butler's friend!
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Aug 2, 2018 07:37
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sivad posted:Is it $110 better than a regular ah so for amateurs? You can practice sinking a regular wine key into a cork and then using an ah so around it. I've worked with people who swear by it, over a durand.
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Aug 6, 2018 17:11
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Normally I don't mind greenness in wine, because I've only ever noticed it in wines that sort of pull it off, like Bordeaux or red Loire. But yesterday I had a Chablis with it and it was really off-putting. A bit like way underripe apple or broccoli stem. Clashed badly with the Chablis style. Also noticed it in an Australia tasting last weekend, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Not as much vegetable taste but a bit, and with bracing, unbalanced acidity. We figured they are trying to avoid the flabby fruit bomb reputation at all costs. Are they simply picked too early?
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Aug 31, 2018 20:15
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Ola posted:Normally I don't mind greenness in wine, because I've only ever noticed it in wines that sort of pull it off, like Bordeaux or red Loire. But yesterday I had a Chablis with it and it was really off-putting. A bit like way underripe apple or broccoli stem. Clashed badly with the Chablis style. For the Chablis, what was the vintage? 2015-2017 have all been ultra-ripe in Chablis, so it's possible you'd get some greenness from a producer who picked early to try to avoid the flabbiness that's plagued those vintages. 2014 and 2016 also saw some significant hail, which generally leads to greater ripeness in the surviving fruit due to lower yields, but will also cause some fruit to not develop properly, so it could be the culprit there as well. Literally 80%+ of Australian wines are acidified, some heavily. That's probably the culprit there. Edit: Apparently I really like culprits Kasumeat fucked around with this message at 19:15 on Sep 1, 2018 |
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Sep 1, 2018 19:00
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It was a 2016, I forgot the producer. It was price like ok quality, but could just be a crap one. Also, I figured acidified wines would have plum and other ripe flavors behind the acid, but perhaps they did both. We had a quite Parker-friendly Shiraz to finish, Peter Lehmann Stonewell Shiraz 2012. Deep dark purple, lacking a tiny bit in acid and structure, but we thought that this was really what they do well.
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Sep 1, 2018 20:27
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Chablis classically has a slight green bean, vegetal note underneath the fresh, salty green apple and oyster shell. If it was so green as to be distracting, it was likely just picked too early. Other green contributors to wine include naturally occurring compounds in certain grape varieties (Cab family has pyrazines that give bell pepper, for example), stem inclusion during fermentation, or even ladybug infestations, as was widespread in 2004 in Burgundy.
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Sep 2, 2018 11:18
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Crimson posted:or even ladybug infestations, as was widespread in 2004 in Burgundy. Oh that's fascinating. Had a Amiot-Servelle Les Amoreuses 2004 at a tasting a while back, it was really vegetal, like cooked beetroot.
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Sep 2, 2018 12:50
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I still often think about claret
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Sep 28, 2018 18:13
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Ola posted:Oh that's fascinating. Had a Amiot-Servelle Les Amoreuses 2004 at a tasting a while back, it was really vegetal, like cooked beetroot. Yeah it appears to be a widespread thing; I was blinded, a few months ago, on an astonishingly green & unpleasant wine that turned out to be a '04 Pousse d'Or Corton Clos Du Roi. There's a theory that Leroy declassified their entire 2004 into villages + bourgogne because of the ladybugs
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Sep 29, 2018 20:00
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My partner and I found out some more good news and would like another bottle of bubbly! Our options are a bit limited this time of year, but what are your thoughts on: Veuve Clicquot Rose Veuve Clicquot Yellow Veuve Clicquot Vintage Reserve (looks like 2004) All are roughly the same price, give or take $10-$20
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Oct 9, 2018 20:01
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Professor Shark posted:Veuve Clicquot Yellow This is the only one I've had, and it's nothing mindblowing, but it never disappoints either. Always a solid choice, in my opinion.
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Oct 10, 2018 00:53
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Veuve is fairly overpriced, so I would recommend avoiding it if possible, but if it's truly your only option, the Vintage is worth the $20 more than the Yellow Label. The Rose is quite fruity and has noticeable sweetness, which is a not a style I'm a fan for more than, say, $20, but it's a crowd-pleaser.
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Oct 10, 2018 05:31
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Also if you can indeed get 2004 it’s a pretty good year, and old enough that it might show some mature character
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Oct 10, 2018 06:18
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Kasumeat posted:Veuve is fairly overpriced, so I would recommend avoiding it if possible
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Oct 10, 2018 06:22
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Kasumeat posted:Veuve is fairly overpriced, so I would recommend avoiding it if possible On the other hand, it goes on sale pretty frequently around here, so you can get it for a pretty fair price. Ain't nobody offering 20% off on grower champagnes. But I suppose that depends where you live and how they handle wine sales.
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Oct 10, 2018 14:36
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Feel like 2018 is shaping up to be a killer CA harvest - long, mellow season with tons of hangtime if you wanted it, mostly cooler weather that made pick calls easy. It sounds like there’s lots of fruit on the market, too, so prices shouldn’t be too crazy. It sounds like there might be some areas with smoke taint issues, but that’s California I guess...
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Oct 13, 2018 05:00
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https://twitter.com/CrimeADay/status/580830706424766464
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Nov 1, 2018 03:37
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I think one of the Canadian provincial liquor boards had a freakout about the skull vodka or skull tequila or some nonsensical poo poo because it "glamourized drinking" or was "insensitive to family members of those who died due to alcohol" or some other such piffle.
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Nov 1, 2018 16:49
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"Many unfortunate addicts have become a skull due to vodka". *sales quadruple*
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Nov 1, 2018 17:31
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PT6A posted:I think one of the Canadian provincial liquor boards had a freakout about the skull vodka or skull tequila or some nonsensical poo poo because it "glamourized drinking" or was "insensitive to family members of those who died due to alcohol" or some other such piffle. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/ontario-bans-dan-aykroyds-skull-shaped-vodka/article4319571/ They didn't have an issue with Veuve Cliquot, afaict.
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Nov 1, 2018 19:04
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I drank Vodka from a skull and now I have a skull  Edit: Crystal Skull vodka is once again available in Ontario, the skullhavers are once again free to corrupt our children
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Nov 1, 2018 19:38
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PT6A posted:I think one of the Canadian provincial liquor boards had a freakout about the skull vodka or skull tequila or some nonsensical poo poo because it "glamourized drinking" or was "insensitive to family members of those who died due to alcohol" or some other such piffle. They also had issues with some beer names. They didn't like "Atomic Bomb" so now it's "Smashbomb Atomic IPA", they didn't like "Aphrodisiaque" and so now it's "Aphrodite". Our liquor laws are completely ridiculous in Ontario. Beer and wine are getting better, but cider and spirits are completely ridiculous. For example, cider is taxed at the same rate as wine because no one knows, and so the base cost of cider is significantly higher than the base cost of beer. If you want to sell your cider, then you have to have a minimum of 5 acres of apple trees. Wine is generally fine, but the Ontario VQA is exceedingly stringent and so fun orange and natural wines can't be sold in the LCBO (the only place to legally buy alcohol in Ontario other than the winery/cidery). But hey, at least we can drink crystal skull vodka again.
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Nov 1, 2018 21:53
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ReaperUnreal posted:They also had issues with some beer names. They didn't like "Atomic Bomb" so now it's "Smashbomb Atomic IPA", they didn't like "Aphrodisiaque" and so now it's "Aphrodite". Our liquor laws are completely ridiculous in Ontario. Beer and wine are getting better, but cider and spirits are completely ridiculous. For example, cider is taxed at the same rate as wine because no one knows, and so the base cost of cider is significantly higher than the base cost of beer. If you want to sell your cider, then you have to have a minimum of 5 acres of apple trees. They're releasing an orange wine in the LCBO for the first time this release. This is crazy though, because consumers aren't familiar with them so they wouldn't sell. One might question how consumers are supposed to become familiar with them when they're not sold at the only store allowed to sell a bottle of wine, but I'm pretty sure that asking that question is illegal. We should definitely not offer any products that don't have a proven track record. You wouldn't vote for a politician who isn't the incumbent, would you?? Spirits, problematic? Nonsense! Being a proud supporter of the Ontario beverage industry, the LCBO makes it easy for Ontario craft distillers to thrive. As an Ontario craft distiller, you take home a massive [i]22% of the price of your product sold.[i] One might say that's a little steep, but we remind you, consumers need us to protect them. And finally, can sell non-VQA Ontario wines in the LCBO! As a producer you simply pay merely three times the standard commission to the LCBO, a pittance! You should find it no problem at all to make 10% profit on your wine instead of 40%, that's a mere fourfold difference. :ontario:
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Nov 2, 2018 06:05
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