Red Wine Suggestions?

M

masquerade

#1
#1
I admittedly know nothing about wine. That said, I know a good one when I taste it, and I can't for the life of me seem to find a great one that I really love. I always find myself really enjoying a good bottle at a friend's place or at a restaurant and forgetting to jot down the name.

I know that everyone has varying tastes when it comes to stuff like this... but does anyone have a good recommendation for a really amazing, knock your socks off, crowd pleasing selection? I need help.

(btw - I'm looking for someone that's less than 100. a bottle)
 
S

Sambucca

#4
#4
Try some Italian Barolos. Top quality wines at less than $50 a bottle.
For an excellent bang for your buck- try the Long Island wines- Osprey's Dominion & Pelligrini. For super value- Portuguese Reds- esspecially a top
quality Douro- most are no more than $10 ( that's TEN ) a bottle. Another hidden gem is Malbec. When most people think of French & Cali Reds it's
Merlot, Cabernet; maybe Zinfandel or Pinot Noir ( Burgundy ).Malbec is often overlooked. I'm not a big fan of Argentinian wines; I think Chilean is better BUT I've found a couple good Argie Malbecs and haven't found any from Chile,
yet.
 
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J

justlooking

#5
#5
Wait a minute. You can't get a top quality Barolo for less than $50 a bottle. Also, people who aren't into wine are going to find Barolo a bit weird. Also, Barolos shouldn't be drunk too young.

Burgundies, too: no way you're going to get a really good one for much less than $100.

Also, I'd say that top-quality LI wines actually are very expensive for what they are. So they're good, but overpriced.

You can't answer this question based on the limited info available. What will the wine be served with? Most red wines don't taste that great by themselves: they need food to set them off. But different ones go best with different foods.
 
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S

Sambucca

#6
#6
Top quality Barolo ? - NO. Good Barolo ? YES - at a DISCOUNT wine store.

Btw-define "good". Are we talking about a real connoisseur type wine experience ? Then, yes, by and large we're talking about $100 a bottle,
AT LEAST ! But there are a number of excellent quality wines ( rated 90 or above ) available for LESS than $100 a bottle.

You're right about L.I. wines. They are a bit overpriced. So is 95 % of the stuff from France.

FRENCH Burgundy will require you to spend at least $100 a bottle for a top-grade vintage. Not all great wine comes from France. The French hate to hear that but it's true. They like everyone to forget that they were taught
wine-making ( and how to cook ) by the ITALIANS.
 
S

Sambucca

#7
#7
For a very good Barolo at LESS than $50 a bottle try Famiglia Anselma- about
$45 a bottle.

A little self-correction. The better Douros are currently around $12 a bottle.
 
J

justlooking

#8
#8
I agree with everything you just said. I was just critiquing some of the recommendations in your preceding post. (I don't want to be hyper-anal, but the only kind of "Burgundy" is French Burgundy; outside France it's just Pinot Noir. And I'd even go so far as to say -- I'll bet you'll agree, Sambucca -- that most unseasoned wine drinkers would probably enjoy a West Coast Pinot Noir more than a Burgundy. But the point still remains that you can't really recommend a red wine in a vacuum.)

(That said, think of one of the upper-level bottlings of Au Bon Climat Pinot Noirs from Santa Barbara, California. The 2002 vintage was spectacular, if you can still find any.)
 
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J

justlooking

#11
#11
But she's not looking for a "very good cab" at "under $10 a bottle". She's looking for a "knock your socks off" red for under $100. I'm not saying you have to spend $100 to get a very good wine. Just that a cab for under $10 isn't likely to be knocking off any socks.
 
S

Sambucca

#13
#13
Justlooking- You are right. Burgundy comes from Burgundy just like Bordeaux
comes from Bordeaux and Champagne from Champagne. Btw, that's one thing about which French snobbery IS justified. They make the best Champagne.

As you say, at present, a number of grape varietals are growing better and being turned into better wine in countries other than France. Partly, it's the result of some sort fungal rot on French vines or somesuch ( I have a "brown" thumb and am far from a horticultural expert ) so that Pinot Noir
is doing better in California than in France and Malbec is flourishing in Argentina while recent French vintages have been mediocre at best.

Talking to the wine store clerk.... hmmmm. I've had mixed results by doing that. Some less than scrupulous types will take advantage and try to unload
slower selling and/or overpriced stock while others can be VERY helpful indeed. Experience has taught me to chat them up and try to see where they're coming from. Do they drink wine ? How much EXPERIENCE do they have ? Do they go to tastings ? to AUCTIONS ? Do they collect ?

I've been buying my wine from the same place for over 20 years so they know me and what I like ; what I'm willing to spend etc. I'm a member of their
"Inner Circle Wine Club" so I get first crack and get invited to all their tastings
To gain just a rudimentary understanding of wine you HAVE to do some reading and know what to look for- basic varieties, regions, proper storage, basic pairings with food etc. (In my salad days I read Wine Spectator and
Wine Enthusiast. ) And I'm far from an expert.FAR from it BUT I do know a couple of guys who are and picked up a few things from them. Some of it's just trial and error and there's a lot of personal taste and preference. Australian and S.African wine eludes me but others swear by them just to cite one example.
 
J

justlooking

#14
#14
Actually, the fungal epidemic in France took place in 1898 or so. They've had some time to bounce back. I had a Cahors with dinner a couple of nights ago, and while Argentinian Malbecs can be wonderful, France has nothing to be ashamed of, Malbec-wise.
 
S

Sambucca

#15
#15
Some concrete suggestions:All are widely rated well over 90 = Excellent.

Malbecs- California- EDGEWOOD Reserve 1998- less than $100
Argentina- TRAPICHE Vina Victorio Coletto- Mendoza - a
personal favorite and quite affordable at $50 a bottle
Chile- Viu Manent -1999 - Colchagua Valley- around $40 a bottle.
I'd forgotten about this one.

Cabernets- All Californian
Beringer 2001 Bancroft Ranch- about $90 a bottle
Robert Mondavi 2001 M-Bar Ranch- about $100
Sullivan 2002 Estate Reserve- a personal favorite and the most
affordable- high $80's.
The best Douro I've had recently is the 2001 Quinta da Carvalhosa- Campo
Ardosa- Parker gave it a 93 if memory serves and you can get it for around
$30 a bottle.

These are merely SUGGESTIONS. As has been pointed out, without knowing
more about what food is being served etc. nobody can be more concrete.
Real connoisseurs will no doubt jump in with a dissertation on Bordeaux
being the last word in "great wine" but you'd have to START at $150 a bottle
from the top estates and that would be for a lesser vintage.
 
S

Sambucca

#16
#16
Don't forget the one REAL difference between French and Argentinian Malbec-
The PRICE !
My understanding , and I could be mistaken, is that the French root stock WAS permanently affected and that, ON BALANCE, the overall Malbec from
Argentina TODAY is superior.
 
J

justlooking

#18
#18
Sambucca said:
Real connoisseurs will no doubt jump in with a dissertation on Bordeaux
being the last word in "great wine" but you'd have to START at $150 a bottle
from the top estates and that would be for a lesser vintage.
Click to expand...
And of course, except maybe for some Pomerols, Bordeaux aren't gonna "knock" anybody's "socks off." They tend to be more subtle and elegant than that.
 
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