Any Vinophiles?

[TinCow]

Recent comments in this thread made me wonder how many wine lovers we have around here. Wine has been a growing hobby of mine for the last 4-5 years, and I regularly attend wine tastings and classes to learn about different regions and varietals, etc. DC is a great place to live for this stuff, as this city is loaded with wine bars and good retailers.

I typically drink about 5 bottles per week (split with the wife), almost always with dinner. I do my best to pair the wine properly with the food. Since we eat a lot of different types of cuisine, this requires a lot of different kinds of wine. I'm currently maintaining a stock of about 60-70 bottles, but that's a transition point from my old stock of 50 to my current goal of 100. I found that 50 was enough to always have a nice selection of whatever I wanted for any particular meal, but it wasn't enough to allow me to lay bottles down. I figure 100 should allow me enough room to lay down some decent young wines until they properly mature. It's far more cost effective that way.

For personal favorites, I'm a huge fan of Bordeaux and Châteauneuf-du-Pape/Gigondas/Vaqueras, but I definitely drink more New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs than anything else. So, anyone else into wine, or am I just spouting gibberish?

[seireikhaan]

Well, I do rather like most wines.

However, there's a teeny little technicality about me actually possessing it.

[Hooahguy]

i actually like wine more than beer. since i go for more sophisticated women, wine attracts them more than beer.

[Csargo]

I've never tasted a wine that I've liked. Maybe one day.

[drone]

While I prefer beer, I have had my share of wine. For whites I prefer Pinot Grigios and Viogniers, for reds I like most types, including blends.

If you are really serious about getting a lot of wine, I would suggest taking a trip to Sonoma/Napa. Spend a week going to various wineries, doing taste tests, and experiencing the huge range in variety and quality available. Many of the wines sold there are not easily acquired in the DC area, and nothing beats being able to taste before buying. Find some that you like, and bring/ship them back. At wineries that have something you really like, you can buy futures (think a pre-order for a upcoming year vintage) in wines that you will probably never see on the east coast.

For a less expensive trip, you could drive on out to Virginia, and try some of the local stuff. Some won't be very good, but there are a few that have surprisingly decent wines. The VA wineries are catching up, now that the vines are maturing and the vineyard owners are getting more experience.

In advance, can the mods please send defibrillators to the Org's French contingent.

[TinCow]

If you are really serious about getting a lot of wine, I would suggest taking a trip to Sonoma/Napa. Spend a week going to various wineries, doing taste tests, and experiencing the huge range in variety and quality available. Many of the wines sold there are not easily acquired in the DC area, and nothing beats being able to taste before buying. Find some that you like, and bring/ship them back. At wineries that have something you really like, you can buy futures (think a pre-order for a upcoming year vintage) in wines that you will probably never see on the east coast.

I've not been to Napa, but my wife has and she enjoyed it. Two recent vacations were to Languedoc/Provence and Tuscany, respectively. Needless to say, there was plenty of wine touring involved. A trip to Bordeaux is also on the books eventually for the same reason.

For a less expensive trip, you could drive on out to Virginia, and try some of the local stuff. Some won't be very good, but there are a few that have surprisingly decent wines. The VA wineries are catching up, now that the vines are maturing and the vineyard owners are getting more experience.

I actually got married at the Williamsburg Winery. Beautiful place. Pretty awful wine; there was only one bottle I liked. I've been to a Virginia Wine tasting event before and was unimpressed. It's just too humid around here for great wines, I think. Williamsburg regularly hits 100% humidity in the summer! I do have friends who swear there are some decent wineries out around Charlottesville, but I haven't tried any of them. With prices so low on wines from Chile, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, there's a lot of competition for local budget bottles.

[Ser Clegane]

As you probably figured from the thread you referred to, you have me on board with the wine

Over the past years my wife and myself also became increasingly interested in trying all kind of different wines.

Usually it's 2-3 bottles per week as me mostly drink wine during the weekend for dinner (more of course if we hace guests) and currently there are 100+ bottles in the cellar - which is actually a bit too much as our cellar does not really provide the best conditions to store wine over a longer period of wine.
We's like to start properly storing wine, but a real wine fridge would be awfully expensive.

It's hard to point out favourites - personally I like Pinot Noir very much (especially from the Bourgogne but we also have some pretty decent Pinot Noirs here in Germany), but overall we prefer the variety and play around with food/wine combinations.
For white wine our "mainstay" is naturally Riesling - we have a very good winery in the area from which we buy some boxes each year - but again, variety is important.

Tasting (and buying) some wine was also an additional motivation for our vacation in France in September where be bought a couple of bottles from the Alsace, Bourgogne and Rhone - some of which we will try when we have some friends over for dinner this weekend

[TinCow]

For white wine our "mainstay" is naturally Riesling - we have a very good winery in the area from which we buy some boxes each year - but again, variety is important.

Ah, Riesling. We eat a lot of spicy food, particularly Indian and Asian dishes, so sweet whites go with a lot of our meals. Rieslings are ideal for that, but I find that we tend to drink at least half of the bottle after dinner is over with. Without the food to balance them, the sweetness tends to be a bit too much for me. As a result, we tend to drink Gewürztraminer and Grüner Veltliner instead of Riesling. They still have enough sweetness to match the spice, but I find them a bit easier to drink on their own after the meal is done. I usually have around 3-4 Grüners in the house at any one time, but only 1 Riesling.

[drone]

I've not been to Napa, but my wife has and she enjoyed it. Two recent vacations were to Languedoc/Provence and Tuscany, respectively. Needless to say, there was plenty of wine touring involved. A trip to Bordeaux is also on the books eventually for the same reason.

So you are well ahead of the game. I suggested Cali since it's easier to retrieve the wine yourself, not having to deal with importing it. I'm a fan of Italian style wines, I would love to go to Tuscany some day. you lucky .....

I actually got married at the Williamsburg Winery. Beautiful place. Pretty awful wine; there was only one bottle I liked. I've been to a Virginia Wine tasting event before and was unimpressed. It's just too humid around here for great wines, I think. Williamsburg regularly hits 100% humidity in the summer! I do have friends who swear there are some decent wineries out around Charlottesville, but I haven't tried any of them. With prices so low on wines from Chile, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, there's a lot of competition for local budget bottles.

Yeah, I wasn't impressed with the Williamsburg stuff either. The better stuff will be to the west in the hills, from Charlottesville up to Leesburg. It's hit or miss, but there are a few decent ones around. Three Fox Vineyards has some nice Italian varieties.

@Ser Clegane - Rieslings, also a good choice. Lightweight, great for summer. I prefer the drier style though.

[Ser Clegane]

The Gewürztraminer is indeed perfect for spicy Asian food (also one of the souvenirs from Alsace - really looking forward to opening that one).

I have to admit we are hardly drinking any sweet Riesling - mostly the dry ones (which are also more popular here).
Interestingly the sweet ones seem to be the ones that are more well-known outside of Germany, especially overseas.

This is by the way the winery where we buy the Riesling

[scotchedpommes]

Relatively cheap white. [Usually sweet.]

Dr. L Riesling. That's me. No fuss. It is absolutely delightful stuff.

[AlexanderSextus]

I'm a beer drinker at heart, but i do like my fair share of wine, especially since i got to drink a lot of good wine when I went to Italy. The Northern regions had very good red wine, i mean, EXCELLENT, and the Chianti was heavenly. I remember the guy from Long Island in my tour group said "Ey, dis da first time I drank Chianti and didn't gedda headache."

The southern regions had amazingly good white wine, and at the hotel we were staying in, a girl from Virginia bought a bottle of a sparkling white wine called Falanghina, which i highly recommend everyone here who drinks wine should try.

The beer in italy was good, but it was nothing special, which is why i drank more wine than beer while i was there. The beer there is really only good for a hot day. It's basically Lawnmower beer.

[Meneldil]

As a french, I only drink sparkling water and wine.

Can't say I'm an expert, as I don't really enjoy drinking red wine yet (been told it's the hardest wine to enjoy). I'm more into white wine from Alsace and Germany (Gerwurztraminer, Riesling), and into - real - Rosé wine from Languedoc.

Conveniently, I live in Languedoc, and thus have access to a whole lot of good Rosés for a few euros.

[caravel]

Red wine such as Syrah/Shiraz, Rioja etc. White wine not so often. I also throw the odd splash of wine into some of my cooking. I try not to keep more than a few bottles in the house as it's very likely that I'd drink the lot in a day. I can easily manage two bottles of wine to myself in one night without feeling much more than a bit tipsy. Mrs Asai can manage about a half a glass.

[Jolt]

i actually like wine more than beer. since i go for more sophisticated women, wine attracts them more than beer.

Wait, you can drink alcoholic beverages?

Recent comments in this thread made me wonder how many wine lovers we have around here. Wine has been a growing hobby of mine for the last 4-5 years, and I regularly attend wine tastings and classes to learn about different regions and varietals, etc. DC is a great place to live for this stuff, as this city is loaded with wine bars and good retailers.

I typically drink about 5 bottles per week (split with the wife), almost always with dinner. I do my best to pair the wine properly with the food. Since we eat a lot of different types of cuisine, this requires a lot of different kinds of wine. I'm currently maintaining a stock of about 60-70 bottles, but that's a transition point from my old stock of 50 to my current goal of 100. I found that 50 was enough to always have a nice selection of whatever I wanted for any particular meal, but it wasn't enough to allow me to lay bottles down. I figure 100 should allow me enough room to lay down some decent young wines until they properly mature. It's far more cost effective that way.

For personal favorites, I'm a huge fan of Bordeaux and Châteauneuf-du-Pape/Gigondas/Vaqueras, but I definitely drink more New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs than anything else. So, anyone else into wine, or am I just spouting gibberish?

How dare you say you don'tlike/haven't proved Port Wine? It is sacriledge! Once you tasted it, you will never go back to those overrated French wines!

[Hooahguy]

Wait, you can drink alcoholic beverages?

i love the "kids can for religious reasons" loophole.

[TinCow]

How dare you say you don'tlike/haven't proved Port Wine? It is sacriledge! Once you tasted it, you will never go back to those overrated French wines!

I most certainly never said that. I have 4 bottles of '77 Warre's Port sitting at home that prove otherwise. They're all that remains of a full case.

[Prince Cobra]

On the few occasions I drink any kind of alcohol (as a general rule I never drink in a disco), I prefer red wine but few weeks ago I tasted white wine with a delcious fish meal. The first night there was Greek white wine whilst in the second there was a Bulgarian one. Both of them seemed to be quite good, btw. But this is an exception. Most often than not I drink Cabernet Sovignon (red not-sweet wine). It also seems I like sweet wines but I've tasted them only once.

Anyway, I am an amateur there since I never drink more than 1 wine glass of wine and this only on special events like birthdays, anniversaries, etc. Basically, I am more inquisitive in the exact taste of the wine, though I don't really have any claims I am expert on wines.

[Vladimir]

I think it's more my stomach chemistry but I don't drink wine much because of the acidity. When I eventually retire to Belgium I hope to develop a similar knowledge of beer and food pairing. The lower alcohol content of beer means I can enjoy my food more.

[Hosakawa Tito]

I've developed a taste for cognac. Some of it's eye-popping expensive, but I've found some reasonably priced ones, E&J Distillers and Pineau Premiere White, that I really enjoy. An occasional evening glass with a Belgian chocolate or a *forbidden* cigar....yeah, man.

[Lemur]

I got into red wine when I was living in Spain. Unfortunately, I got the idea in my head that a fantastic table red should be about $5–$7, something that's hard to replicate in the USA. Eventually me and some friends would hold five dollar wine parties, where we would all bring a bottle. We'd try them all, go through twenty or thirty bottles or so, to find the one great underpriced wine.

Premiat, now there was a wine. About four bucks, and as good a table wine as you will find anywhere. Unfortunately it's long gone.

Don't have the time to keep up anymore. Still believe that with inflation adjustments, a good table red should be no more than $10. But that's just me and my prejudices.

[Ser Clegane]

a good table red should be no more than $10. But that's just me and my prejudices.

I think that's definitely realistic.

We are also always looking for some decent wines around 6-7 EUR that you can just drink away with a "normal" meal (or just for fun during the week).

Here are some of our current facourites in this class:

I would think the first one could well be available in the US as Miguel Torres is a rather large producer. I don't know about the other ones (the second one would also be likely)

"Sangre de Toro" from Miguel Torres


Ben Glaetzer's "Stickleback" red


Di Majo Norante's "Sangiovese"


Chateau St. Cosme's "Little James Basket Press Rouge" (label looks a bit cheesy but the wine is quite decent)

[Fragony]

It was only a matter of time before Ser Clegane would show up. A decent wine should cost 5 a 6 euro or so. There is a enourmous rise in quality passed the 4 euro, have to consider bottling and all that. Getting spectacular wines is a waste of money unless you have the right food to go with it.

[Weebeast]

I enjoy wine though not quite a connoisseur as I get whatever is cheap for a bottle. I'm not complaining much as long as the wine tastes like wine and not just water mixed with rubbing alcohol. I drink often at least thrice a week with meal only to subtitute it with tea once a while to give my liver a break. Not that tea is good for liver but it has no alcohol.

[Moros]

Bier her! Bier her!
Oder ich fall um!
Bier her! Bier her!
Oder ich fall um!
Soll das Bier im Keller liegen
Und ich hier die Ohnmacht kriegen?
Bier her! Bier her!
Oder ich fall um!