The Bar Towel

Mead or Meade. either way its some of my favorite stuff. tonight i popped a bottle of Empire Royal Mead from Florida. here is my RB review:

750 ml bottle from 2008 summer secret santa. thanks to whichever florida ratebeerian sent that box. pours still clear amber. sticky legs coat my snifter. aroma of honey and baked apples. some alcohol along with floral and fruit notes. complex in the mouth. not the sweetest mead but far from dry. super slick and easy to drink but some alcohol does show on the palate. sips a treat on this cold canadian february eve. thanks again to the mystery sender.

Chateau Coutelin-Merville 2003, very nice Saint-Estéphe.

Such a Bordeaux. I should really have left this one for five more years to turn beautiful. An hour or more of air, the tannins become less astringent... the flavors and aromas are startling though. I awoke this morning with an almost empty glass nearby - this vanilla & deep dark fruit aroma... 'something smels really good!!' LOL

The St. Estephe sounds good, I might give that a whirl.


Like I've said before, my favourite reds come from Italy. I'm partial to Sangiovese and Corvina especially. Italy is most certainly my favourite in terms of "old world", but I have been getting back to French reds more often.

Well for current Italian stuff this 'lighter style' Barbaresco was very approachable yet still impressive enough to me.
http://lcbo.com/lcbo-ear/ProductResults ... BER=674044

The Coutelin-Merville, sadly is sold out (if you were wandering by I'd pour you one, LOL.) I forgot this was a $35 wine for aging, I just uncorked it for something to drink... don't you guys write a sticky note or jot the 'maturity date' somewhere on the label? "DONT DRINK TILL 2013-2018" - or something like that. I often do.

Anyway, this 'Cru Bourgeois' (for the curious) means literally 'middle class growth' as graded between 'ordinary' Bordeaux and the Top 5 "Cru Classes" - yet some Cru Bourgeois is said to be of quality that well overlaps certain of the "Cru Classe" Bordeaux that were so arranged way back in 1855.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cru_Bourgeois

We picked up a few wines today to try and pad out the wine rack (which is currently full of pumking. Unfortunately, one of our selections isn't to my liking: Cave Spring Riesling 2007. Its a dry white, which I like, but I just find the citrus and acidity overpowering. It was, however, a million times better than the shitty red snapper I roasted tonight.

La Stoppa Gutturino from northern Italy, easily the least pleasant wine name ever:

http://lcbo.com/lcbo-ear/ProductResults ... BER=102822

Odd-duck wine that pleasantly surprises - if you like a Barbera blend & Ital wines with a funky style, it's worth a try.

Early to bed, with this cold!

Can I pick your collective minds for a moment?
If I wanted a good, inexpensive, Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon what would you fine upstanding citizens recommend? I've wanted to dabble in wine, but I don't want to buy the bud or miller of reds. I've never been a fan of white wine whenever I've sampled them and the one time I had the chance to drink Icewine I almost spat it out because it was so sweet. So I place my introduction to wine in your hands.
Thanks in advance you wonderful bartowelers.

dutchcanuck wrote:Can I pick your collective minds for a moment?
If I wanted a good, inexpensive, Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon what would you fine upstanding citizens recommend? I've wanted to dabble in wine, but I don't want to buy the bud or miller of reds. I've never been a fan of white wine whenever I've sampled them and the one time I had the chance to drink Icewine I almost spat it out because it was so sweet. So I place my introduction to wine in your hands.
Thanks in advance you wonderful bartowelers.

Hey.


I'll put a caveat here and say that Merlot and Cabernet are totally different. You'll often find them in blends, especially in Ontario where the varietal will be listed on the label, and they are often blended together. You'll see them blended together in many other places, especially in France, Bordeaux is a main contender here. Anyway, before I get too carried away here, my suggestions are as follows:

Choose what you want first.

Merlots will be a bit fruitier in general, and can be quite plesant and food friendly. Low in tanin, quite soft, with general flavours of blackberry, milk chocolate, some plum, toast and oak if it is aged in wood, which it usually is.

Cabernet Sauvignon is higher in tannin, with a fuller body. You'll usually find cedar, cigars, pine, currant, dark chocolate just to name a few tings. Overall, a lot bigger than the merlot. But then we can get into region, which can really make or break a varietal. For example, if you are going red, I'd avoid Ontario alltogether. We really aren't quite there yet. Our whites are world class, but I've returned more bottles of Ontario red wine than I ever expected to.

So I guess my question is, what are you looking for in a red wine? Post your answer here, and I'll provide a half dozen or so suggestions from each grape.

Steelback,
From your post I would think that I am after a Cabernet then. The descriptors that you used peeked my interest, remember i know nothing of wine, and I am not looking towards food pairings. I want something that I can sit down with over the course of an evening and just enjoy. My only caveat is that I do not like sweet wines.
So any recommendation you would have I'd be more than happy to try.

dutchcanuck wrote:Steelback,
From your post I would think that I am after a Cabernet then. The descriptors that you used peeked my interest, remember i know nothing of wine, and I am not looking towards food pairings. I want something that I can sit down with over the course of an evening and just enjoy. My only caveat is that I do not like sweet wines.
So any recommendation you would have I'd be more than happy to try.

There are so many wines to talk about I will lose my mind. But here are a couple cabs you should try just to see if you like it.

In terms of value for dollar and complexity, try this wine:


Perez Cruz Cabernet Sauvignon, Vintages Essentials #694206, $14.95.

This Chilean Cab is huge with the woody cedar and cigar box nose, lots of dark chocolate, lots of burnt oak. Quite big a bold with massive currant fruit. Probably the best I've had in terms of $ for overall value in a cab from $10-$30. It's a must try really.


if that is out of the price range, let me know.

Steelback,
I'll give this a try tomorrow and I will message you with my uneducated thoughts.
I greatly appreciate your time and effort, thank you.

Shiraz AKA Syrah

wow i love this grape, the new world stuff is splendid as long as you dont buy the vanilla candied aussies

it actually makes me crave some abt/quad beers but at the price of some of these new world reds the wine might be the bigger bargain

getting into pinot noir

this is my next challenge

point me in the right direction please

matt7215 wrote:getting into pinot noir

this is my next challenge

point me in the right direction please

If you can find it, Kim Crawford Pinot Noir, it's a 2007, 626390...vintages. Was released about 3 months ago. Now $19.95. It's fantastic, and used to be $25. Still showing in some stores. It's new world....New Zealand. Pretty good stuff. I like the spice in this one, lots of rose petal and soft fruit, witha bit of leather.

With P. Noir, you're going to pay for what you get, so please buy a good one, in the area of $17-$35

I know I've said not to buy Ontario reds many times in the past, but I will correct myself by adding that anyone trying to get into pinot noir, should try to get their hands on Tawse Winery Pinot Noir, 20062007./ It's $32.20. I got one from the winery and it is without a doubt one of the most complex Pinot Noirs I have had.

matt7215 wrote:getting into pinot noir

this is my next challenge

point me in the right direction please

Pierre Sparr from the Alsace region of France!

I think you want a fairly pure Pinot, one that shows layers and lots of interest going on. It's a difficult grape for vintners. A lot of the sub-20 dollar Burgundy reds are kind of useless (some are OK) so be prepared to deal with a very frustrating grape if you are on a budget and want pretty amazing wine.

Cabernet Savignon - Concha Y Toro Casillero del Diablo is pretty decent, and was on sale.
Bodega Norton wines from Argentina are also great value.
For around 20 bucks I enjoyed the Torres from Spain recently. VERY high quality.]

Merlot gets a bad rap, try the Christian Moueix Bordeaux for a very French expression of this noble varietal, around 14 bucks.