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Crimson posted:Barolo and blue cheese is one of my favorite pairings ever. They combine to create this super rustic mish mash of earthly flavors, and the tannins keep the blue cheese from destroying your palate. Probably not for everyone, but man I think it's delicious. I actually find sweet wine with cheese to be fairly boring in general. Although they never clash, I generally get nothing new from either the cheese or the wine. I do really like to use higher acid sweets when called for though, like Hungarian Tokaji. Barolo and blue cheese is definitely one of the stranger pairings I've heard in a while. What kind of blue cheese are you eating with it? I can kind of see that working with something a little more fruit forward like a langhe Nebbiolo, but Barolo (unless we're talking 20-30 years of age) seems far too tannic to work. All I can see it doing is bringing out the ammonia in blue cheese. My personal favorite cheese pairing is white Rioja, especially something with some age on it. Lopez de heridia vina gravonia is also a really interesting wine that can be had for less than thirty bucks, and the current release already has ten years of age.
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Nov 13, 2013 22:51
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Loud Mouse posted:So, if thee are so many different styles, what is it that makes a Vouvray a Vouvray? Are there other wines out there that have completely different styles? Vouvray is wine made (almost always) from Chenin blanc that's grown in a specific area (vouvray) in France. There are different levels based on the amount of residual sugar left in the wine. You can have vouvray that's virtually bone dry sec all the way up to liquoreux vouvray that's syrupy and sweet. Germany has a similar system called pradikat, that's based on sugar level at harvest. So a kabinett reisling from the mosel won't have very much residual sugar, whereas a trockenbeerenauslese is going to be pretty much delicious reisling syrup. Champagne has a similar classification system, although champagne in anything but a dry style has fallen out of fashion, so it's getting harder to find champagne in anything other than a dry style any more.
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May 2, 2014 17:36
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Jerome Louis posted:So we're getting in the swing of things for our sensory panel, one of the things I've been needing to focus on is experiencing a wide range of different sensories in wines. I'm very familiar with the beer world and the sensories there but in wine it's a new thing for me, and since I'll be leading the panel, I really need to learn my poo poo ASAP. Part of that effort in learning is to sample as many different wines as possible encompassing the entire range of sensories, and if possible find reference standards for those sensories that we can use for the panel itself. I've found that the best wines for floral/white flowers are viogniers. Domaine Gramenon la vie on y est is a great wine for this, and shouldn't break the bank like a condrieu might. You can kill a couple birds with one stone if you pick up a reisling like the contours from pewsey vale. It has a ton of citrus/lime zest, loads of minerality, and smells like rubber and petrol. It's also got a ton of acidity, so you'll have a reference for what that feels like too. Green pepper/cat piss/jalepeno is easiest to find in New Zealand Sauvignon blanc. Just pick up a bottle of Kim Crawford or cloudy bay or any number of New Zealand producers and you'll be able to pick it up right away. You'll also be able to find it in wines from Cabernet franc. Olga raffault chinon is a good example too. For black spice, go pick up some Syrah from the Rhone. St. Joseph is a great appellation to look to for something a little less pricy than the cote rotie. Wood shavings are going to be pretty evident in a lot of Napa valley cab. Just look for something that's been aged in 100% new oak, and you should be able to find it pretty easily. There's really nothing better for butter/popcorn/diacetyl than Marsanne/Rousanne blends from the northern Rhone. You really can't go wrong with Celeste from Chave selections. For mouthfeel extremes, Alsatian Pinot Gris is great for learning to identify oily/rich wines. Cuvee St. Catherine Pinot Gris is a great example, and if you taste it side by side with some cheap Pinot Grigio from Veneto, you'll get a really good contrast. If you can get your hands on some super young Barolo, you'll get to experience face melting tannins. It'll feel like you're chewing on sandpaper. The better the producer, the more tannin you'll probably find. Also, young high quality Bordeaux will give you the same effect. Some other things that are super helpful to identify are the overripe fruit/smokey honey that come along with noble rot. Any Sauternes should have tons of that character. Another good thing to be able to identify is oxidative/reductive character. Pick up a bottle of Lopez de heridia vina gravonia white, and a bottle of Austrian gruner veltliner, and taste them side by side. The Lopez should have a bruised fruit and sherried kind of note, and you're pretty likely to find canned peaches and that sort of thing in the gruner. As far as everything else goes, I recommend sticking to classic wines from old world wine regions, because you're a lot less likely to find an oddball wine that's confusing and doesn't demonstrate what you're looking for.
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Oct 27, 2014 17:09
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Yeah, as mentioned before, northern Rhône wines tend to have a ton of that smoky aroma you’re looking for. If you don’t want to shell out for Cote rotie, saint joseph and cornas can be a little more affordable. Pegau Chateauneuf du Pape also has a ton of that character in it if you’re looking for it. You’ll also found a decent amount of it in Chinon and Bourgueil too.
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Sep 18, 2019 17:45
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got off on a technicality posted:Haha that is spectacular! Now I want to taste a declining Barolo Kinda curious if the decline looks the same way for all Nebbiolo. I’ve got a bottle of Lessona from the 60’s right now that I’m waiting for the right moment to crack…
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Sep 20, 2019 16:47
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Kasumeat posted:I'm gonna be visiting Norcal soon. Can anyone recommend a wine shop that's roughly between SFO and Napa? And perhaps some smaller producers to look out for. For reference, a few my favourite CA producers are Littorai, Cobb, Wind Gap, and Birichino. For cool Cali producers, I’m a big bedrock fan. If you can make it out to Sonoma, I strongly recommend a trip to their tasting room. https://www.bedrockwineco.com They make really cool wines from old vines, and their field blends are awesome.
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Nov 10, 2019 17:44
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I’m also going to throw Laherte Frères Les Beaudiers and Marguet Shaman as some good rose choices. If you can get your hands on a bottle of Selosse though, it’s a strong recommendation. Trying cuvée substance for the first time was a holy poo poo moment for me.
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Apr 11, 2020 17:11
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Anyone have any opinions on Bordeaux futures this year? The prices I’m seeing are super low compared to both current retail and historical futures pricing. Thinking about picking up a few bottles, Palmer in particular is looking like it’s priced pretty attractively.
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Jun 12, 2020 19:19
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Ola posted:
Ok, having to travel to pick it up sounds like it definitely wouldn’t be worth it. Yeah, the shop that’s about half a mile from me is offering Cos for $153 USD, so like €135. Palmer is $200-ish. I ended up picking up a few bottles of Palmer and Lynch-Bages this year.
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Jun 13, 2020 21:18
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complications.
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obi_ant posted:I was recently gifted a bottle of 2009 Lopez de Heredia Viña Tondonia Gran Reserva Rosado. The gift giver said that some of my other wine nerd friends will appreciate it. I was planning to save it and open it with them when this Coivd thing is over, but I don't have a cool place to store any wine and it's getting pretty hot where I live. So... I'm going to drink this fairly soon. Any suggestions on a food pairing with this wine in particular? Yes, charcuterie all the way here! You could also do something along the lines of grilled mackerel. Your friend gave you a very very nice gift. You can find the rose in NYC but at ridiculous markups. The shop down the street from me has bottles at like $100 for the rose… I scored a single bottle of the rosado for like $50 and a bottle of the gran reserva red from one of the shops I regularly buy from by asking the GM directly, and the allocations never even made it to their regular mailing lists. Unfortunately Lopez De Heredia is getting harder and harder to get now.
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Jun 20, 2020 16:23
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Anyone know of any other good internet communities for wine? Future on this forum seems… iffy. Once coronavirus blows over I’m hoping to find a good tasting group locally here in NYC too. I left the industry a couple years ago, and I’m really missing the frequent tastings and discussions. Anyone have any good resources?
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Jun 26, 2020 15:24
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I’m curious what city/restaurant this is and what the wine was? I’d be pretty pissed if a server/somm/manager didn’t take back a flawed bottle. Also, if you’re drinking good wines at a nice place even if it’s a gray market or auction bottle that they can’t get credit from the distributor for, they can still sell it by the glass if they think it’s not flawed and at least recoup the cost of the bottle (unless you’re drinking DRC or something). I’ve also worked a shitload of close/open back-to-back doubles before, and that’s really not the customer’s problem… unless every other aspect of your experience was flawless the way they handled that bottle would be a deal-breaker for me ever going back.
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May 28, 2021 23:58
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