Million Post Quest - Had a good wine lately?

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Had several new wines over the last 10 days or so and most were worth recommending (tho a few were quite forgettable).
The first was a white from the Salice Salentino region from way down the boot of Italy. It’s much more known for reds than whites, but I discovered a white worth recommending. The label did not list a grape variety, but my best guess is it’s Chardonnay. This one was very smooth and did not exhibit signs of being overoaked as opposed to American ones, which tend to be often be. (For those unfamiliar, aging Chardonnay in oak casks gives it vanilla flavors; the newer the oak and the longer the aging = more vanilla. My personal theory is vanilla is catnip for humans, but much as I love vanilla ice cream, I hate too much vanilla flavor in wine.) In any event, it was a nice white too accompany pasta in any kind of white sauce or with anti-pasto. I bought it at Total Wine, so it should be easy to find. Here’s the label:
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Next up is a Rhône blend from the Costieres de Nimes in SE France. Very smooth and good value. A good wine for any dish you’d pair with a red wine. My best guess is mostly Syrah and Grenache. Probably not a good match for pasta, but any grilled meats for sure.
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Another great cab from Chile, this one is also a great value and might be worth laying down few bottles. It’s pretty smooth now, but I could see it improving with a few years of cellaring. This was another find at Total Wine, so should be widely available.
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This one might be the best of South American wines I’ve had lately, but was also more tannic and in need of a few years. I found it in a small wine shop in Atlanta, so no telling if it’s widely available. Both of this one and the one above remind me of California cabs one used to be able to find once upon that were good and fairly priced- a hard thing to find any more. Here’s the label:
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The last recommendation is a long time go to Zin from Sonoma. The producer, Seghesio, makes a bunch of single vineyard Zins that go $25 and up, but their standard Sonoma bottling is excellent and can be often found for under $20. This wine is very consistent from vintage to vintage. The single vineyard Zins, like those from Seghesio and Ridge, and, at the higher price point, those from Turley and Martinelli, are better for sure, but for the price this one is excellent and very versatile. Was great with grilled steaks.
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YLGator

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Hey all, first time trying to upload an image. Clearly messed it up. Nothing happening in the Sports forum so I just found this thread. We went old school Napa tonight. Started with a Duckhorn Chardonnay and then went to a Stag Leap blend. Hadn’t had either before and both were really good. Been drinking a lot of Paso wines this year, will post some of those now that I found this thread.
 

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Hey all, first time trying to upload an image. Clearly messed it up. Nothing happening in the Sports forum so I just found this thread. We went old school Napa tonight. Started with a Duckhorn Chardonnay and then went to a Stag Leap blend. Hadn’t had either before and both were really good. Been drinking a lot of Paso wines this year, will post some of those now that I found this thread.
Paso Robles is especially nice for the consistency.
 

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Had a very nice wine last night with grilled rib-eye and a salsa verde, with sauteed mushrooms on the side. The wine was a 2016 Rosso di Montalcino from Caparzo. For those not familiar, Montalcino is a region in Tuscany that utilizes the Sangiovese grape. The finest wines in the region come from Brunello di Montalcino and go from $40 up into the hundreds. The Rosso's, while definitely Brunello's little brother, can be excellent in a good vintage from a good producer. Caparzo tends to be pretty consistent and their Brunellos are usually excellent and reasonably priced (for Brunello) at around $40-45. Their Riservas will be $20-25 more. I purchased the Rosso at B-21 in Tarpon Springs (they ship for free all over Florida) and it was around $17. Really good value. Very smooth with a little tannin at the end - which I suspect will fade with a bit more bottle age. Was great with the steak and mushrooms. For those who find wine labels mind-boggling, Caparzo keeps it simple: The Rosso has a red label; the regular Brunello a green; and the Riserva a black.
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Had a couple of nice wines tonight for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. As Turkey goes nicely with both red and white, I served one of each. Both stood up nicely to the bird and all the sides. The red was a Siduri Pinot Noir and the white was an Elk Cove Pinot Gris, both from Oregon. The PN is usually around $30-35 and the PG is around $14-18. Here’s the labels:
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New discovery for me; a wine from Portugal that I was totally unfamiliar with. It’s a blend of Syrah and a bunch of Portuguese grapes I’ve never heard of and wouldn’t dare to try to pronounce. It reminded me of a very smooth Cote De Rhône. Very light tannins and went really well with a lamb and potato stew Mrs G threw together. The bottle pictured is the 2015 and best of all retailed for $12. I may go back and pick up a case!

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I always associated Portugal with nothing but port wine (which I do not like). Only recently did I realize that Portugal, like Spain, has some very good wines and they're generally priced very reasonably.
 

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Had a really nice Italian white tonight with a mushroom and leek in cream sauce pasta. The sauce had 2/3 of a cup of the wine in it, so naturally the wine went great with the meal. For those not familiar, Falanghina is a smooth lower acid white that is a little like Chardonnay ( though not too much like Chardonnay!). Would go with just about any seafood dish. Here’s the label:
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A nice Rosso di Montepulciano from Poliziano that should be widely available and under $20. Definitely some tannins present so either give it a few years or have with a full flavored dish.
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Had a nice Cotes du Rhône from Domaine St Cosme that I thought I’d share. The wines of St. Cosme are very consistent (white and red) and of high quality. They run the gamut from inexpensive CDR’s to more expensive single vineyard wines. Interestingly the winery has been in the same family since before Columbus set sail for the new world. The CDRs from St Cosme are always good, but the current vintage on the shelves, 2019, is their best in the last decade or so that I’ve been enjoying them. The label does not specify, but my guess is the wine is 100% (or close to it) Syrah. Very versatile food wine and best of all in the $13-15 range.

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For you Cabernet lovers who also love a bargain. 2017 Cousino-Macul Antiguas Reserve from Chile. Very nice, very smooth Cab with great flavor and a slight bit of tannin at the end. Not a wine to lay down for a bunch of years, but at this price point ($15 +/-) and quality who cares? If I owned a restaurant, I’d buy a bunch of cases and sell it by the glass and clean up. Highly recommended.

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Really good Cotes du Rhône from the Perrin family of Chateau Beaucastel fame. This CDR is a blend of Rhône grapes (Syrah, Grenache, etc) much like a Chateaunuf-du-Pape. Expect to pay $18-22, but to my taste is good value for the money. It did need some air and time to open up a bit. Would probably be good for several years if not longer. This was the 2018 vintage.

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soflagator

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Really good Cotes du Rhône from the Perrin family of Chateau Beaucastel fame. This CDR is a blend of Rhône grapes (Syrah, Grenache, etc) much like a Chateaunuf-du-Pape. Expect to pay $18-22, but to my taste is good value for the money. It did need some air and time to open up a bit. Would probably be good for several years if not longer. This was the 2018 vintage.

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Ironically, I just had a Perrin family CDR on Sunday myself. Was a gift from a month or so ago, and I decided to give it a shot. It was a less expensive 2017 reserve($10-12 I think when I looked it up), but was surprisingly excellent. I don’t drink French wine nearly as much as I should, but I’m always impressed at how good many of their wines still are at that price point. Incredibly drinkable. My wife loved it as well.
 

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Ironically, I just had a Perrin family CDR on Sunday myself. Was a gift from a month or so ago, and I decided to give it a shot. It was a less expensive 2017 reserve($10-12 I think when I looked it up), but was surprisingly excellent. I don’t drink French wine nearly as much as I should, but I’m always impressed at how good many of their wines still are at that price point. Incredibly drinkable. My wife loved it as well.
I’ve always enjoyed Rhône wines and there are a lot of bargains. Guigal makes wine all over the region and their CDR is consistently good too. If you ever want a high quality Rhône wine without the excessive mark up; look for bottles from Gigondas by Brusset, St. Cosme, or Amadieu. Should be in the $35-45 range and to my taste the equal of more expensive wines from Hermitage and Chateaunuf-du-Pape. If you’re interested, all three of those producers are available at Total Wine. (And during their “winery direct” sales you can get 15% off on any six or more “winery direct”wines!)
 

soflagator

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I’ve always enjoyed Rhône wines and there are a lot of bargains. Guigal makes wine all over the region and their CDR is consistently good too. If you ever want a high quality Rhône wine without the excessive mark up; look for bottles from Gigondas by Brusset, St. Cosme, or Amadieu. Should be in the $35-45 range and to my taste the equal of more expensive wines from Hermitage and Chateaunuf-du-Pape. If you’re interested, all three of those producers are available at Total Wine. (And during their “winery direct” sales you can get 15% off on any six or more “winery direct”wines!)

I’ve done the winery direct things a few times. It’s a great bargain. I’ll give those a shot. Thanks.

On a related note, I’ve been meaning to ask you. Have you had any experience with sites like Wine Insiders or others like it? AmEx is always offering different vouchers and discounts with them and the price points seem about right when I’ve cross checked. So to get me out of my routine, I’m considering doing it. Thought maybe you had some insight.
 

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I’ve done the winery direct things a few times. It’s a great bargain. I’ll give those a shot. Thanks.

On a related note, I’ve been meaning to ask you. Have you had any experience with sites like Wine Insiders or others like it? AmEx is always offering different vouchers and discounts with them and the price points seem about right when I’ve cross checked. So to get me out of my routine, I’m considering doing it. Thought maybe you had some insight.
I have never actually tried those, but considered it a bunch. The Wall Street Journal has offers periodically that look intriguing, and yet....
For the most part, I’ve always been able to find something new in the store to try. I also recommend talking to the associate on the bigger stores like Total Wine. They usually don’t want to steer you wrong. The key is finding someone who has tastes like yours. For years I read various periodicals (mostly Wine Advocate and Wine Spectator) and figured over time whose tastes matched my own. I drank a lot of stuff over the years I didn’t like, so I’m not sure this is a path you’d want to follow!
 

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Tried a new wine tonight that despite the odd name and ugly label was pretty tasty. It’s a 50-50 ish Cali blend of Petite Sirah and Zinfandel. Definitely and up front in your face red that was great with grilled pork tenderloin. Would be equally good with burgers, steak, and dark meat chicken. Best of all it’s in the $11-15 range. Bon appetite!

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gatorev12

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I always associated Portugal with nothing but port wine (which I do not like). Only recently did I realize that Portugal, like Spain, has some very good wines and they're generally priced very reasonably.

Portugal is one of Europe's best-kept secrets.
Highly recommend taking a wine tour through the Douro River valley in Portugal. The views and the wines are second to none.
 

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