Bottoms Up 2

[jjbrr]

Bump.

 

Bought a bottle of cab, a bottle of merlot, and a bottle of pinot noir from the store yesterday. All of them ~$10, and I didn't really know what to look for, but that's not important. fwiw i avoided anything with a colorful label or the name of an animal in the brand, as per advice on a different forum. I think I was not unsuccessful in buying some stuff I'll enjoy, though I was hoping to find a chianti but didn't want to spend all night in the wine store, so I abandoned that goal.

 

I had planned to make fettucine alfredo with spicy italian sausage and brocolli for dinner, but didnt want to buy a white to go with it. I concluded the pinot would go best with this particular meal. The impression I've gotten from some research is that cabs go particularly well with meals with very strong flavors, and the merlot would go best with something a bit lighter but still heavier than pasta. I'm making a conscious effort to try to identify the various flavors and smells provided by the wine, but I wonder if I just don't know what to look for, or if I need more guidance in identifying different notes, or if my nose/palate just isn't refined enough yet.

 

Sorry the progress has been slow. I've been planning to do a sort of wine tasting/double blind taste test of a bunch of wines with friends. The idea is everyone brings a bottle of whatever they like <$20 and we taste and discuss and go through all of them before we pick our favorites and decide which one is the best value and so forth. I think this will be a great starting point for comparing/contrasting flavors and determining what our overall preferences are. It also sounds like a heckuva lot of fun.

 

Hopefully I can do this in the next couple of weekends since I'm finally starting to settle in. Stay tuned for updates.

 

(Off topic. Bought myself a crockpot. Looking for baller recipes for stuff I can make Sunday nights and keep dining on throughout the week. Preferably something that goes particularly well with a cab or merlot :) )

 

One final observation from a newb. As a very, very general statement, I've noticed 2001 and 2002 wines are some of the more expensive selections on wine lists. Were 2001 and 2002 particularly good years in general, or is that a good amount of aging for a wine to be consumed around now, or is it too complicated to nail it to just one or two factors, or am I just completely mistaken and '01/'02 were undeniably terrible years all around?

 

Edit: Reread some of the early posts in this thread. I have to give kenberg credit for the advice of avoiding animals in the label. I also read it somewhere else, but given those two sources it must be fairly reliable. Thanks, Ken. Appreciate all the advice from everyone else as well.

[blackshoe]

Sounds to me like you're on the right track. OTOH, I'm no wine expert either. :)

 

Crockpots are great. You might try a Beef Bourgonoine (I'm pretty sure I spelled that wrong). Last time I did it I put a couple pounds of decent sirloin (cubes) in the 'pot, poured in a bottle of cab, and let it cook for several hours. Then I tossed in some veggies and cooked for another hour or so. All the recipes I had said "several cups of water and half a glass of wine" or some such. Hell with that. :D Maybe it was wasteful, or not optimum, or whatever, but as I recall it tasted pretty good - over several days.

[Phil]

Sounds to me like you're on the right track. OTOH, I'm no wine expert either. :)

 

Crockpots are great. You might try a Beef Bourgonoine (I'm pretty sure I spelled that wrong). Last time I did it I put a couple pounds of decent sirloin (cubes) in the 'pot, poured in a bottle of cab, and let it cook for several hours. Then I tossed in some veggies and cooked for another hour or so. All the recipes I had said "several cups of water and half a glass of wine" or some such. Hell with that. :D Maybe it was wasteful, or not optimum, or whatever, but as I recall it tasted pretty good - over several days.

I've never had a problem with adding too much much wine to a meat dish. It just gives it more of a reduction and take a little longer to cook. Also remember that you shouldn't cook with rotgut although that doesn't mean you need a $50 bottle either to make sauce with.

 

Agree with Jeremy's comments about the pinot>cab>merlot for the spicy dish, but a Zin or a Shiraz would be even better. "Big" reds tend to do well with spicy dishes.

[jjbrr]

It wasn't spicy. It was like normal alfredo. It just happened to have some sausage in it. And the dairy in the sauce neutralized any remaining spice anyway. I think I did well tbh.

 

Two thumbs way up on the Beef Bourguignon suggestion. I had planned to christen the crockpot with Italian beef served with crusty french bread. I likely will make a Bourguignon after that.

 

Edit: Er? Be patient with me. Would alfredo be considered a "heavy cream sauce" which can handle a fuller-bodied wine like a cab or a shiraz? So perhaps I was completely backwards in what I was supposed to be looking for? Ie, from wiki, most fish dishes or something like salad would have many subtle flavors and are best suited to light wines, unless that fish is served with a heavy cream sauce in which case it can stand up to a heavier wine. So take spice out of the equation, and where would that leave me?

[Echognome]

Crockpot ideas

 

-Chili

 

-Stew (cheap to buy the meat at the store as well, just throw in some potatoes, carrots, and stock and add some flour later)

 

-Pork Shoulder (pull apart with a fork after then throw in a pan with some enchilada sauce and brown sugar)

[jjbrr]

Bump.

 

Decanting for dummies. Is there some sort of age/decanting time ratio? I understand it depends on my own personal tastes, but are there any rules of thumb for a newbie?

[Al_U_Card]

When I was making my own wine, I would decant before serving to make sure deposits in the bottom didn't make it into the glasses.

 

For breathing purposes, once the wine has had 10 minutes to remove any off-odors, the decanting has done it's job there.

[Phil]

Bump.

 

Decanting for dummies. Is there some sort of age/decanting time ratio? I understand it depends on my own personal tastes, but are there any rules of thumb for a newbie?

If you were locked up for five years, wouldn't you like a few minutes to get outside and breathe? :ph34r:

 

I've heard differing views on this. Old reds need time to oxidize and young reds (where the fruit is very 'tight') need air to open up.

 

I usually find a decanter opens a wine too fast. There's nothing like taking 20-30 minutes with a single glass and see how it changes as it gets swirled (swilled?)

 

But a cool decanter looks really nice on a table. Get one <_<

[jjbrr]

You guys are clutch.

 

I've been opening the bottle of wine and letting it sit on the counter while I cook dinner, so it gets to breathe for 15 minutes or so usually. I wasn't sure how much surface area/air circulation mattered.

 

I'll do a taste-test this weekend on a couple bottles of the same wine to pick up on the differences.

 

I've gained a fondness for pinots fwiw.

[Phil]

I've gained a fondness for pinots fwiw.

My Cambria Julia's Vineyard just got a 93 - w00t (sub $20!). Just got my shipment in from Lafond. Going to lock those up for a little bit.

[655321]

We want the finest wines available to humanity, we want them here, and we want them now!

[jjbrr]

I've gained a fondness for pinots fwiw.

My Cambria Julia's Vineyard just got a 93 - w00t (sub $20!). Just got my shipment in from Lafond. Going to lock those up for a little bit.

Any advice on ordering cases? Am I better off just stocking up from the local liquor store for now? Presumably economies of scale would apply, though is it worth it for the (relatively little) amount of money I'm willing to invest?

[Phil]

I've gained a fondness for pinots fwiw.

My Cambria Julia's Vineyard just got a 93 - w00t (sub $20!). Just got my shipment in from Lafond. Going to lock those up for a little bit.

Any advice on ordering cases? Am I better off just stocking up from the local liquor store for now? Presumably economies of scale would apply, though is it worth it for the (relatively little) amount of money I'm willing to invest?

None except investing in wine takes a back seat to other more important uses of your spare caish.

[jjbrr]

I'll talk to someone at the liquor store, tell him I plan to be a good customer, and see if we can work out a deal.

[Winstonm]

Couple of things might help: in the U.S., wines are labeled by the type of grape used to produce the wine, i.e., merlot describes the family of grape, so in theory all merlots should have a similar taste. Red wines are made from grapes using the skin; white wines are made from pealed grapes; blush wines developed from an accidental combination.

 

The best grape growing regions in the world are in the south of France and in Napa Valley, California, as these areas receive sunshine from the same angle.

 

The best way I know to differentiate wines is to compare - buy a fairly expensive bottle of Napa Valley wine and then buy the same type wine made elsewhere and compare.

 

And generally speaking, the really high quality wines will still be bottled with real cork, although that is not as pervasive of truth as it once was due to dwindling supplies of cork trees.

[jjbrr]

And generally speaking, the really high quality wines will still be bottled with real cork, although that is not as pervasive of truth as it once was due to dwindling supplies of cork trees.

I was assigned the task of picking out the wine to go with a steak dinner at a fancy-ish steakhouse in downtown Dallas over Thanksgiving weekend. I picked a Shiraz to go with the steak, potatoes, and sauteed mushrooms we ordered. I was very surprised to see a $70 bottle of Shiraz with a screw top lol. Even so, it was a perfect accompaniment to the food, and everyone was satisfied, so I guess I can't complain. I assume this isn't that surprising to people with more wine experience, but it was new to me.

[Winstonm]

At $70 screw seems an apt term.

[jjbrr]

Touche.

[blackshoe]

Heh. I was stationed at Pearl Harbor in the early '80s. One of the local restaurants used to run a PR ad every Monday, where they'd talk about all the "rich and famous" who ate there over the weekend. One weekend I particularly remember involved a Hollywood producer (whose name I can't remember) who flew himself, his wife, and another couple to Oahu on Saturday just so they could have dinner at this restaurant. The dinner bill was $3000 — and $2500 of that was one bottle of wine. :) :blink:

[PassedOut]

The dinner bill was $3000 — and $2500 of that was one bottle of wine. :) :blink:

I like the restaurants where mediocre wines are very expensive and good wines are a bargain.

[kfay]

And generally speaking, the really high quality wines will still be bottled with real cork, although that is not as pervasive of truth as it once was due to dwindling supplies of cork trees.

I was assigned the task of picking out the wine to go with a steak dinner at a fancy-ish steakhouse in downtown Dallas over Thanksgiving weekend. I picked a Shiraz to go with the steak, potatoes, and sauteed mushrooms we ordered. I was very surprised to see a $70 bottle of Shiraz with a screw top lol. Even so, it was a perfect accompaniment to the food, and everyone was satisfied, so I guess I can't complain. I assume this isn't that surprising to people with more wine experience, but it was new to me.

I was talking with my cousin over Thanksgiving. He worked at a vinyard in Oregon about 2 years ago and learned a lot there. From what he tells me, screwtops used to have a stigma placed on them because simply because cork was the old-fashioned way and people would be damned rather than look like a bunch of hillbillies unscrewing some homemade wine.

 

But actually screwtops are, I guess, really coming on lately. Benefits:

 

1) Don't generate the 'plastic flavor' some people complain of with artificial corks

2) Don't get corked! (In the bad way)

3) Really easy to take off!

 

It's safe and reliable and does everything a real cork does and doesn't do the things that are terrible that cork does... so wineries that say 'screw it (pun!) we just want to make good wine' are starting to use them more.

 

That being said, I still like to uncork my wine :huh:

 

They also say that you need real cork to age wine correctly, since a small amount of oxygen penetration is required, which you can't get with the other stopping methods. But for young wines, I think scientists would agree that screwtops are the best option.

[mike777]

Presentation matters. It does not always have to be what is the cheapest or easiest. :huh:

[Winstonm]

Can you imagine the waiter opening a $100 bottle of Cabernet and then handing you the screw top lid to inspect?

[jjbrr]

My waiter pulled out his corkscrew, felt the top of the bottle, sheepishly put it away, and said "they just don't make em like they used to."

[Mbodell]

Yeah, many of the wineries are shifting to screw tops for the premium wines. It is a better way to go and prevents the spoilage. I know for sure Domaine Chandon in Napa Valley have made that change where the good premium sparkling wine gets the screw tops.