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THE BROWNS BOARD

The Wine Bar...


Tour2ma

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Thought Steve wouldn't mind setting this up in a corner of his movie section...

Thought we could kick it off with a  listing of our top value wines... those that pallet dance way beyond their price point. I'll kick it off with...

Cabs: The one I mentioned over in a "football" thread was H3... a/k/a Horse Haven Hills. It's been in my top three value Cabs for a few years now, but this year it has separated itself from the pack.

FYI... "The pack" has consisted of H3, Root 1... a Rothchild stock Chilean... and 14 Hands, another horse themed wineyard. "14" has always been in third, but Root 1 has been my top spot holder for years. Combo of a slight fall this year by them and a surge by H3 changed my line up. All are in that $12-15 range.

 

Over in the football thread, h mentioned Columbia Crest. This was once a top dog with me, but it went and made Consumers Report's top value list and got "popualr". Nothing wrong with that, except that the price spiked. It's setled some since, in part due to expanded production, but it's not the same wine it once was.

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Coincidentally the editor of Wine Spectator was just on Squawk on the Street to unveil their #1 wine for 2017.

It was Duckhorn's 2014 Three Palms Vineyard Merlot. About $100/bottle...

http://top100.winespectator.com/

Top Ten is now in link. Full 100 is out this Monday, 20 Nov.

 

 

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5 hours ago, Westside Steve said:

Like I said not a problem. I drink a little Cabernet I like it okay just don't know much about it. Much more of a beer snob. The Gipper fancies himself a wine cunni sewer but I think he likes local Ohio wines. Of which the Wolf Creek Winery is one of the worst IMO.

WSS

No, I don't really consider myself a wine conniseur.  Its just that I like wine better than beer.

But Wolf Creek is the best of the few around here.  Red Horse is pretty much swill in comparison  (but my sister and Bob Golic like it.)

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19 hours ago, Tour2ma said:

lol... I remember some bad Ohio wine... years ago. Probably much better choices now... at least i know that's the case in TX.

I rarely drink wine but my wife is a big wine fan. She says ohio wine is too sweet for her tastes so that's basically all I know about it. I think it's limited by the grape's growing season which is brief here compared to California

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Well a lot of the popular Ohio wines are sweet. God chords and niagara's and catawba which grow pretty well around here.

Many of the ones that aren't sweet are just bad.

Actually a friend of mine from childhood has a winery near Atwood Lake and though his specially is fruit wines he does a very good job with them if you like that style. Al Bi.

WSS

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm mainly a Chianti and Merlot drinker but , I do like an occasional Chardonnay.. But I prefer much dryer wines like Cabs, Merlots and Chianti...

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51 minutes ago, DieHardBrownsFan said:

I know one thing, a wine hangover is the worst.

I tend to agree. If I get drunk on wine I will feel shittier the next day that if it's beer or hard liquor. And I usually disregard people's claims that different brands of beer or different brands of liquor affect them in different ways.

WSS

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 11/18/2017 at 7:16 AM, DieHardBrownsFan said:

I think Hoorta is the wine conniseur.  I drink a chardonnay occasionally.  Woodbridge is not bad, and relatively cheap.  

Ya, I do tend to drink plenty of wine- Steve reminded about this thread. (sorry I've been lax, I'll take a look in here more often) Actually help out in a wine appreciation class at the University of Dayton, though that's currently in limbo. One of the goobers in catering got all upset we were bringing wine for a wine and food dinner. But-but- we have a liquor license, you can't be bringing in outside booze!! (Though the guy who started the class RIP- had been doing that for 17 years.)  Tom's cellar was incredible- it was like being a kid in a candy store. When he passed on and we helped his son organize things- the guesstimate was there were around 6,000 bottles of wine laying around, not to mention if there's any bourbon connoisseurs reading this- multiple bottles of different age Pappy Van Winkle. Plenty of the wines were in that stratospheric price range too. 

Regarding that Martini cab, though I've never tasted it- should be OK. I've had plenty of their wines. 

Wines I like? Bordeaux. Sadly, the top classed wines for that region have become collectibles, and the prices of those wines have escalated far out of my budget range. Bordeaux that I could buy for $150 a case back in the '80s now are $300-400 per bottle. You can still find lesser everyday Bordeaux in the $10-15 range, they're OK, but don't have the elegance and depth of the top wines. Found a Le Chevalier cabernet from southern France $7 that's currently my everyday house swill. Cote du Rhones are usually a good value, Guigal's are reliable and decent. Not a champagne fan- too acidic. 

If you were following my discussion with Nero- like Spanish wines, Riojas in particular. I splurge every year for a six pack of Clio, only wine I'll spend more than $50 on. Yummy stuff- I usually open a bottle when we're discussing Spanish wine as an "after class" wine for our students, and it's always a big hit. Sherries are fine especially the ones from Lustau. Their Oloroso Don Nuño is one of my faves. Speaking of fortified wines I'm a fan of most types of port- the real stuff from Portugal, not the Australian and California imitations. 

In Europe the other country I'm fond of is Germany. Their QMP riesling wines are still relative bargains, and will age for decades, though they're pretty tasty young.  Not a fan of Italian wines, they're something you have to drink with food- AND the top Italian wines the Barbarescos, Barolos, and Brunellos are all pricey too- on the high side of $50, plenty of them can top $100. Nothing wrong with a bottle of chianti with pasta though.  Fortunately, I have a good friend with a much larger budget than I do, and it happens his wife likes Italian wines, so I get to drink plenty of them. 

Almost all Australian wines are pretty good value for the money- if you like that type of style. Lindeman and I've been seeing a lot of 19 Crimes on the retail shelf. 

California- yeah, like Cabernet, Merlot and Zinfandel. My go to producers Berenger and Kenwood, especially their Jack London Cabs and merlots. Recently found some Napa Cellars "5" Cabernet marked down from $70 to $25 and bought a bunch of it. Zinfandels? 7 Deadly Zins is reliable @ around $15. The top end ones- that are at or above my pain threshold- Ridge Lytton Springs, Elyse Morisoli, and the Michael-David "sin" offerings. same people that make 7 deadly Zins, so you have sloth, lust, gluttony, etc. And they cost around $60. 

Do like California chardonnays- with the proper amount of oak. I tell the guys, I like a little chardonnay in my oak. If you want to try that style, look for the Robert Mondavi Bourbon barrel chardonnay. The Kenwood Sonoma Chardonnay is similar. 

PS- If you're looking for closeout bargains, this is one place to look, though not everything they sell is great.... https://www.wtso.com/

Merry Christmas All, and Cheers! As we say in the Czech Republic, Nasdrovia!!

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On 11/30/2017 at 10:03 AM, Westside Steve said:

I tend to agree. If I get drunk on wine I will feel shittier the next day that if it's beer or hard liquor. And I usually disregard people's claims that different brands of beer or different brands of liquor affect them in different ways.

WSS

Crown Royal always seemed to me to give me little if any hangover.  I have a couple of bottles of the Black and Reserve (top of the line) which I have had for a few years and haven't even opened yet.  

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