Wine Connoisseur's?

Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon...

What does that mean; your "everyday sipping wine", special occasion wine"? Most bottles are $100+ in restaurants and $50 and up in the store. Just curious.
 
I too enjoy good vino! Car detailing and good vino do go together....

My fav lately is Cappola cab .... Also love Chocolate Block from South Africa ...

So many good wines I can add some good ones after I finish this fine Aussie Cab. :))))
 
Thunderbird and Mad Dog 20/20, any vintage. Seriously though, we like the Rieslings in the Pilot household. I think I have literally tried em all. I have some Canadian ice wine in the fridge but its like drinking liquid sugar that also makes you disrobe for no apparent reason in public and makes the next morning full of regrets.

It's been 45 years, but when I did drink wine, I bought them the same way I used to buy most of my car care products...OTC.

Along with Thunderbird and MD 20/20, I relished all five flavors of Annie Green Springs. Blue Nun was almost irresistible; and David's Wine (no, not Mogan David, but still a fine wine, indeed :D) could be had for $1.05 a fifth at most 7-11's.

I remember after a long night of drinking these "good" wines, how a cold glass of ice water the next morning could "bring up" so many memories, not so very fond memories...
 
Oh, yeah, I'm a wine bozo. I have a 300 bottle cellar and a 100 bottle wine fridge. I drink wine every day. Wine and food are meant to be taken together.

Some favorite everyday wines are Columbia Crest H3 Cab, Merlot and Chardonnay. Columbia Crest Grand Estate wines are also nice and a couple bucks cheaper. Year after year they produce great wines and value. I also love wine from Chateau St Jean for quality and value.

I guess my favorite varietal is Cabernet but I like variety, especially in red wine so I drink Pinot Noir, Cab, Merlot, Shiraz, Syrah, Malbec, Petite Syrah and Barbara to name a few. For whites I favor Chardonnay and Riesling mostly. Not much of a fan of Gerwurtztraminer or Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, etc.

I enjoy port wines too. Usually vintage ports from Croft or Warres but I am fond of Whiskers Blake Tawny Port which is not bad for a NV. Yalumba also makes an excellent port-like desert wine. Museum Show Reserve Muscat which I believe comes from the Rutherglen region.

So many wines, so little time.
 
What does that mean; your "everyday sipping wine", special occasion wine"? Most bottles are $100+ in restaurants and $50 and up in the store. Just curious.

I think someone else posted everyday sipping wine..

For me, Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon is a special occasion wine as it is rather pricy but the difference is akin to watching 2D then 3D if you know what I mean.
 
I am going to have to try some of these... great input guys! Some of the little more expensive bottles will definitely take more convincing. I have taken advise on a few bottles and would have almost preferred a $3 bottle of white zin from sutter homes over some of the stuff I had.

One thing that is fortunate for me is I like reds, whites, never really found a blush that really wow'ed me but I am sure there is one out there. The only thing I cannot do are really sweet wines or when they get crazy and its like a peach wine, something like that. Way too fruity, might as well go with sangria at that point.

I used to collect wine as I really never liked to drink it after a day or so because it started tasting funny to me (might have been in my head) so unless I had someone to drink with they never were drank, yet I still bought them as it was a little hobby of mine.

The worst thing about wine is the hangover, boy does that hit you and hit you hard. I do not think I have ever had a worse hangover from any other type of alcoholic drink then from some wine!
 
I think someone else posted everyday sipping wine..

For me, Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon is a special occasion wine as it is rather pricy but the difference is akin to watching 2D then 3D if you know what I mean.

It really is a great special occasion wine, however, for some odd reason, I pictured you as a single malt man, puffing a on 50 Ring (thick) Cohiba Cigar with a nice long glowing white ash at the tip.

As for me, as best I tried, I cannot acquire a taste for whiskeys, cognac’s and the like.
 
I had an Ironstone merlot at morton's once while having a cajun ribeye

I don't know if it was the steak or the wine but the combo was fabulous. Ever since I've grabbed a bottle of Ironstone whenever I see it at the LCBO.

Kilikanoon Blocks Road 2006 Cab is one of my favs
 
Big fan of Michael & David wines from Lodi, CA. Here's some good ones from them in the 15-25 range....
Earthquake anything although their Zin is the best, the Petit Syrah and Cab are good too
6th Sense Syrah
7 Heavenly Chards
7 Deadly Zins

Another good Zin is Murphy-Goode's Liar's Dice Zin.
 
I had an Ironstone merlot at morton's once while having a cajun ribeye

I don't know if it was the steak or the wine but the combo was fabulous. Ever since I've grabbed a bottle of Ironstone whenever I see it at the LCBO.

Kilikanoon Blocks Road 2006 Cab is one of my favs

Ahh Mortons! Mortons has ruined me for any other restaurant thus far. You have stumbled upon another of my once great little pleasures I used to indulge in, fine dining. You are VERY brave ordering wine there too! lol!
 
I like cheap wine lol. I like the Menage A Trois Red Wine by Folie A Deux Winery in California

menage20a20trois20red20table20wine.jpg
 
^^ Bobby, I am right there with you. I can appreciate the cheaper bottles and more of them for that matter. I am a little more confident buying them as worst case scenario I wasted 10 or 15 bucks and now know that I do not like that wine. Good example is there is a brand called fat ####### (oops didnt realize that was a swear word... think of someone who does not have a father and insert that word there). I thought the name was funny and if I remember there is a picture of a bull or something on the label. The wine was not very good, also another example there was one called [blank] foot. I cannot remember the first part of the name but "foot" was the second part. Again funny name and a picture of the foot on the bottle. It tasted like they used dirty feet when stomping the grapes. The wine to me was bitter and almost had a sour taste to it. YUCK!
 
Ahh Mortons! Mortons has ruined me for any other restaurant thus far. You have stumbled upon another of my once great little pleasures I used to indulge in, fine dining. You are VERY brave ordering wine there too! lol!


I've only been once for my birthday. If I go anywhere now it's more for the company and to celebrate something.

As I get older, I often find myself thinking, I could make that myself at home. This is especially the case for steaks.

Get a $20 piece of organic prime and slap it on the grill. Just saved yourself at least $30 bucks...

yeah I'm getting cheaper with age...
 
No no I totally agree with you about making at home. I too prefer to make steaks at home now, along with burgers. I am still learning but right now my seasoning (albeit pretty basic) is very flavorful and adds exactly what I like. My biggest problem for some unknown reason is I cannot cook certain types of steak. I can cook a pretty mean ribeye (which is great cause thats my favorite) but if I do not want to spend the extra $$ I am pretty much wasting my time because it will turn out tough . I like to be able to cut my steak with a butter knife and I love my steaks nice and rare (which I know is a cooking no no for ribeyes), to me thats the only way to eat a steak. Also, if you have to put steak sauce on one of my steaks... thats a punch in the gut for me lol
 
Bully Hill Vineyards check out this winery from where i grew up as a kid in upstate NY....If you like sweet desert wines, The "SWEET WALTER" is to die for..if you prefer a dryer wine they have some great ones too. "Felicity" is my favorite blushes ive ever tried...Enjoy
 
Bully Hill Vineyards check out this winery from where i grew up as a kid in upstate NY....If you like sweet desert wines, The "SWEET WALTER" is to die for..if you prefer a dryer wine they have some great ones too. "Felicity" is my favorite blushes ive ever tried...Enjoy

Being as you posted the link, you made it too easy for me to want to try. Unfortunately, they do not ship to my state! Rubbish! Dang!
 
Don't forget about: Beaujolais Nouveau just released!

French Wine lovers got their first taste of the much-talked about 2011 harvest on 11/17 as the "Beaujolais Nouveau" hits the bars and shelves of France; its now available world-wide.

As you may know this wine comes out only once a year, and is only made during a 2 week period in France. It really needs to be enjoyed immediately; its not one you put away and save. Its usually less than $10 a bottle.

I tired to insert a picture of the most famous brand, but it came out kind of small. If you have a chance, pick up a few bottles and enjoy them this weekend!
 
It tasted like they used dirty feet when stomping the grapes. The wine to me was bitter and almost had a sour taste to it. YUCK!

Smell the cork (AND the wine, sometimes the cork is not an indicator). If it smells like feet, moldy newspaper, gym socks, etc. or the wine itself has almost no smell at all..........or if the cork itself looks like it leaked (a streak of wine/dampness that goes all the way to the top of the cork) then the bottle is probably bad. Also, if you pour the wine and it fizzes, a lot, and is not champagne/sparkling wine, it's bad. If it's a $10 wine from say 1996, chances are it may not be bad, but it probably isn't going to be very good either anymore.

EDIT: Adding in "ways wine can be/go bad"
Corked - usually the musty smell (synthetic corks and screwcaps are of course immune)

bottle taint - leftover cleaning solution, tends to cause the fizzy thing

cooked - wine got left in a hot car, shipping truck, etc. Tends to have no smell and/or just tastes way different than the last time you had it. Tastes flat/dead

leaky cork - oxidizes the wine. This is like leaving it uncorked for a few days and trying to drink it. Usually changes the wine color. Whites will tend to start going amber/brownish instead of the light/straw/gold color they should be (just like when apples turn brown)
 
Smell the cork (AND the wine, sometimes the cork is not an indicator). If it smells like feet, moldy newspaper, gym socks, etc. or the wine itself has almost no smell at all..........or if the cork itself looks like it leaked (a streak of wine/dampness that goes all the way to the top of the cork) then the bottle is probably bad. Also, if you pour the wine and it fizzes, a lot, and is not champagne/sparkling wine, it's bad. If it's a $10 wine from say 1996, chances are it may not be bad, but it probably isn't going to be very good either anymore.

Ahh... thank you for the tip! From time to time I had actually been looking for the oldest bottles that were in the affordable range. Here I thought all wine was good aged.
 
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