Official Red Wine Review and Discussion Thread

[LordEggForgotHisPassword]

After wandering the wine desert for sometime, i am circling around for fall, winter, spring looking for great recommendations on well priced red wines. I would love to hear what you guys are drinking, what you think of it, price points, good years with promising futures, etc.

I am a fan of Bourdeaux wines, naturally. There seem to be modest deals out there at various stores. It always seems like a hit or miss when i pick one up though. I like to buy on prospect (which i know is risky) but often turns out well if ive read before hand. Thoughts on these that have promise currently? Stores? Prices?

Love the Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines, and rarely have had one that wasn't rewarding at a base level at minimum. Pretty wide range on prices on these.

Pomerols are great too.

For consistency you can't beat Silver Oak (Napa). Though they are kind of pricey. (As are all of them that are consistently good).

There use to be an off label called Claudius that was out of this world. Sonoma Cab. Turned out it was essentially what weller is to pappy. Would buy it by the case in the early 2000s at Wines on Vine. No longer around (that i can locate)

What are you folks enjoying?

 

[WildcatfaninOhio]

First of all, I am far from being a wine expert. I simply enjoy it and I know what I like. After trying dozens of different brands and nearly every varietal, I’ve settled on mainly drinking red blends. I’m not a fan of overly tannic wines or overly dry wines. I can enjoy a Cabernet or a Merlot. A Malbec is ok too, especially with a good steak dinner.

But this is my favorite. Gentleman’s Collection red blend. It’s a blend of Cabernet, Syrah and Grenache. A nicely balanced wine, I think. $12.99 at Kroger and 10% discount when buying 6. I keep at least a dozen bottles on hand.

 

[WildcatFan1982]

 

[HymanKaplan]

Alexander Valley Vineyards produces some pretty good sub 30 dollar wines (the Estate collection IIRC)

Sterling* also used to make some nice wines, not sure now. It's been so long since I lived out there (Napa) that a lot could have changed.

There used to a small Winery on Silverado; "ZD" that made some fantastic wines. My first wife's BIL worked there in the 80's It's probably been bought up now though.

*(Sterling used to have one of the best winery tours in the business, if you're ever out there)

 

[HymanKaplan]

First of all, I am far from being a wine expert. I simply enjoy it and I know what I like. After trying dozens of different brands and nearly every varietal, I’ve settled on mainly drinking red blends. I’m not a fan of overly tannic wines or overly dry wines. I can enjoy a Cabernet or a Merlot. A Malbec is ok too, especially with a good steak dinner.

But this is my favorite. Gentleman’s Collection red blend. It’s a blend of Cabernet, Syrah and Grenache. A nicely balanced wine, I think. $12.99 at Kroger and 10% discount when buying 6. I keep at least a dozen bottles on hand.

If you like meritage/blends, give Frontier Red a try. Fess Parker (played Daniel Boone on TV 50 or more years ago) started a winery near Santa Barbara and produces it. If you're grilling out, it's a great wine with food.

 

[Blackish_Mamba]

Do the whole bottle with a straw

 

[Blackish_Mamba]

My go to. Fitvine. Around 15 bucks. No red wine headaches. Ever.

I try to stay away from the California wines because of the headaches. Keyword is try. Bogles are headache city. Once Dark Horse went to screw off caps, stuff gave me a headache. Fitvine is the best wake up after drinking red wine on the market.

19 Crimes
Berringer bourbon barrell
Buckshot
Freakshow
Juggernaut (love their cab)

 

[UK82]

I'm a pinot noir fan Any wine from Belle Glos is outstanding.

 

[WildcatfaninOhio]

I'm a pinot noir fan Any wine from Belle Glos is outstanding.

I’ve tried to like Pinot Noir. Especially after watching the movie “Sideways”. A few times I tried the Meiomi Pinot, which is a middling brand from what I understand. Anyways, just can’t enjoy it like I do the blends.

 

[HymanKaplan]

It always tasted "thin" to me. But I like "big tannin" Cabernet Sauvignon so dry that you've got carpet growing on your tongue. LOL

The funniest part of that movie is that it damn near ruined Merlot, and that rare bottle of wine, that he had saved forever and drank at the end, was something like 85 percent Merlot grapes. LOL

 

[UK82]

I’ve tried to like Pinot Noir. Especially after watching the movie “Sideways”. A few times I tried the Meiomi Pinot, which is a middling brand from what I understand. Anyways, just can’t enjoy it like I do the blends.

I hated that movie because everyone asks me if that's the reason I like Pinots. No, I was a fan years before. Regardless, red wines are a passion of mine. Cabs are still my favorite.

 

[HymanKaplan]

Another reason to hate that movie is because the two main characters were f***ing awful.

 

[HymanKaplan]

My go to. Fitvine. Around 15 bucks. No red wine headaches. Ever.

I try to stay away from the California wines because of the headaches. Keyword is try. Bogles are headache city. Once Dark Horse went to screw off caps, stuff gave me a headache. Fitvine is the best wake up after drinking red wine on the market.

19 Crimes
Berringer bourbon barrell
Buckshot
Freakshow
Juggernaut (love their cab)

I wonder if California uses more sulfites or something?

 

[Blackish_Mamba]

I wonder if California uses more sulfites or something?

I think they do. I use to drink the hell out of Bogle. I can’t drink it anymore. I drink a lot of red wine. A LOT. That is why I am pushing Fitvine. Stuff has low sulfites.

I agree with Pinot Noir. Too thin. Do love the blends. I love me some cabs . It really brings out my halitosis. Like the French, Spain, and Italians because of lower headache appeal.

 

[HymanKaplan]

I think the only Bogle I've ever had was the Chardonnay, so it doesn't really qualify here. IIRC though, it was pretty solid.

Shew, I'm craving a glass of wine right now though. LOL

 

[Blackish_Mamba]

Caymus has an affordable one called Bonanza. Not bad.

 

[Blackish_Mamba]

I think the only Bogle I've ever had was the Chardonnay, so it doesn't really qualify here. IIRC though, it was pretty solid.

Their cab will leave you with a two day headache

 

[HymanKaplan]

I agree on the blends. I've been moving that way for several years now. Honestly, I'm no expert, but it seems intuitive to me, that you can get a more balanced result, by using ratios of different grapes.

 

[Blackish_Mamba]

I think the only Bogle I've ever had was the Chardonnay, so it doesn't really qualify here. IIRC though, it was pretty solid.

Shew, I'm craving a glass of wine right now though. LOL

what I find wild about my tongue. I use to drink a crap ton of beer. When I switched to red. It killed my beer tongue. Still have a few from time to time but damn. Red wine to me is like the nectar from God

 

[Blackish_Mamba]

I agree on the blends. I've been moving that way for several years now. Honestly, I'm no expert, but it seems intuitive to me, that you can get a more balanced result, by using ratios of different grapes.

Yeah, and the tastes from blends can vary. Especially when Grenache enters. Tasty as hell

 

[UK82]

Rombauer is our goto for Christmas.

 

[mcwildcats04]

Love that you started this thread. My taste has slowly changed over time to where the only thing I really care much about drinking anymore is red wine. And I love Cabernets more than anything. Love them because they are so bold. And I really prefer a more dry one over a "wet" one if that is even the right terminology and more of a smoky flavor.

I'm the furthest thing from a wine expert. Have found myself quite comfortable with reasonably inexpensive bottles of Cabernet from my local Wal-Mart or Trader Joe's. Seem to flock more towards Josh and Joel Gott for Cabernet brands that are only around $20 or so. I should venture over to Binny's for a much greater selection and maybe I can find a better Cabernet bottle I'll like even more. I just know that when I've bought $40 or $50 bottles of Cabernet before that I didn't find much of a huge difference over the $15-20 bottles I normally buy. Definitely open to any recommendations for a good, bold, dry, smoky Cabernet!

 

[Blackish_Mamba]

Rombauer is our goto for Christmas.

Wife just picked up a chard of that. I’m not much on the whites. But she swears by their chards

 

[UK82]

Wife just picked up a chard of that. I’m not much on the whites. But she swears by their chards

Buttery. Hard to find these days.

 

[Blackish_Mamba]

Love that you started this thread. My taste has slowly changed over time to where the only thing I really care much about drinking anymore is red wine. And I love Cabernets more than anything. Love them because they are so bold. And I really prefer a more dry one over a "wet" one if that is even the right terminology and more of a smoky flavor.

I'm the furthest thing from a wine expert. Have found myself quite comfortable with reasonably inexpensive bottles of Cabernet from my local Wal-Mart or Trader Joe's. Seem to flock more towards Josh and Joel Gott for Cabernet brands that are only around $20 or so. I should venture over to Binny's for a much greater selection and maybe I can find a better Cabernet bottle I'll like even more. I just know that when I've bought $40 or $50 bottles of Cabernet before that I didn't find much of a huge difference over the $15-20 bottles I normally buy. Definitely open to any recommendations for a good, bold, dry, smoky Cabernet!

Agreed. Great post.

My wife and I just had dinner a couple of weeks ago with her childhood friend who ended up becoming mayor of the city a few years ago. He was telling us about his buddy who joined a $20k wine club. Just the membership. Wife’s friend said he was at a wine tasting with the guy and they brought out a $40K bottle of some red. He drank it and couldn’t tell the difference from a $20 bottle. (Disclaimer, he said he doesn’t know much about wine)

Reality is that $20 below can get you the best tastes.

 

[bigbluefattycat]

By far UB40’s best song.

 

[mcwildcats04]

Agreed. Great post.

My wife and I just had dinner a couple of weeks ago with her childhood friend who ended up becoming mayor of the city a few years ago. He was telling us about his buddy who joined a $20k wine club. Just the membership. Wife’s friend said he was at a wine tasting with the guy and they brought out a $40K bottle of some red. He drank it and couldn’t tell the difference from a $20 bottle. (Disclaimer, he said he doesn’t know much about wine)

Reality is that $20 below can get you the best tastes.

Ha, yep, I think that's right. And I feel like there's just such an endless variety of $15-20 bottles to try that I never get bored. But, I've been on the Josh and Joel Gott kick for a bit and haven't got bored of those yet. And they have different blends and different years anyways for just their Cabernet so hard to get bored of just those brands for me.

My wife and I like to go out to an expensive steakhouse close to us in the Chicago 'burbs (Capital Grille) and I always get a more expensive glass of Cabernet to go with my oversized ribeye. And I will admit they usually taste at least a little better than my cheaper bottles but it's not some massive upgrade where I would splurge over $100 for the bottle if I found it at Binny's. I can never remember the names I try anyways by the time I take down a few glasses and stuff myself. LOL

 

[WildcatfaninOhio]

Agreed. Great post.

My wife and I just had dinner a couple of weeks ago with her childhood friend who ended up becoming mayor of the city a few years ago. He was telling us about his buddy who joined a $20k wine club. Just the membership. Wife’s friend said he was at a wine tasting with the guy and they brought out a $40K bottle of some red. He drank it and couldn’t tell the difference from a $20 bottle. (Disclaimer, he said he doesn’t know much about wine)

Reality is that $20 below can get you the best tastes.

I’ve long been a believer in relative value. Is a $10 bottle twice as good as a $5 bottle? Absolutely! Is a $20 bottle twice as good as the $10? Probably. Is the $40 bottle twice as good again? Doubtful, imo.

Most I’ve spent is $25 on a Decoy brand Merlot. Good stuff. But I wouldn’t do that as an every weekend wine.

 

[UK82]

Love port wines, especially in the cold months. The best wine I've tasted was a Fonseca vintage port. Can't even remember the year but man o' man I'd love to have another bottle.

 

[UK82]

I’ve long been a believer in relative value. Is a $10 bottle twice as good as a $5 bottle? Absolutely! Is a $20 bottle twice as good as the $10? Probably. Is the $40 bottle twice as good again? Doubtful, imo.

Most I’ve spent is $25 on a Decoy brand Merlot. Good stuff. But I wouldn’t do that as an every weekend wine.

20-$25 is the sweet spot for me.

 

[mcwildcats04]

I’ve long been a believer in relative value. Is a $10 bottle twice as good as a $5 bottle? Absolutely! Is a $20 bottle twice as good as the $10? Probably. Is the $40 bottle twice as good again? Doubtful, imo.

Most I’ve spent is $25 on a Decoy brand Merlot. Good stuff. But I wouldn’t do that as an every weekend wine.

Yep, spot on. I'm naturally fairly frugal to begin with but have probably got even more so as I've got older. Not afraid to spend more if it's truly worth it but, you're right, really hard to find that nice bang for your buck once you get over that $20 mark. I would absolutely love to be proven wrong with the right brand but have yet to find it.

 

[WayneDougan]

I like Pinots

I bet it's because you saw Sideways

 

[HymanKaplan]

By far UB40’s best song.

I can't believe it took that long. LOL

 

[WayneDougan]

Was at a work dinner at an Italian place we ordered this last night. It was dry, but also sort of light like a Pinot. 5 out 5 stars. Definitely recommend.

 

[WayneDougan]

Reality is that $20 below can get you the best tastes.

There's a lot of anecdotes about this in blinded wine taste tests. The $20 one crushes the $500+ one.

That said, I do know that I work with this big wig at my company who "knows his wine". He always orders for the table and it's usually like a $150+ bottle of wine. It's always f'ing delicious.

 

[HymanKaplan]

Ha, yep, I think that's right. And I feel like there's just such an endless variety of $15-20 bottles to try that I never get bored. But, I've been on the Josh and Joel Gott kick for a bit and haven't got bored of those yet. And they have different blends and different years anyways for just their Cabernet so hard to get bored of just those brands for me.

My wife and I like to go out to an expensive steakhouse close to us in the Chicago 'burbs (Capital Grille) and I always get a more expensive glass of Cabernet to go with my oversized ribeye. And I will admit they usually taste at least a little better than my cheaper bottles but it's not some massive upgrade where I would splurge over $100 for the bottle if I found it at Binny's. I can never remember the names I try anyways by the time I take down a few glasses and stuff myself. LOL

Yeah, I don't think you have to spend a lot of money to get a really good bottle of wine. But, like anything, there is a definite "floor" where the quality goes south fast. And, there is definitely a pretty noticeable difference, most of the time, between an 18 dollar bottle, and a 40 dollar bottle. It just kind of goes in levels. I can't tell you what a 200 dollar plus wine tastes like, but I'd bet that most peoples' palates (including mine) top out at around 50 to 75 dollars.

 

[Blackish_Mamba]

I’ve long been a believer in relative value. Is a $10 bottle twice as good as a $5 bottle? Absolutely! Is a $20 bottle twice as good as the $10? Probably. Is the $40 bottle twice as good again? Doubtful, imo.

Most I’ve spent is $25 on a Decoy brand Merlot. Good stuff. But I wouldn’t do that as an every weekend wine.

Nailed it.

 

[Blackish_Mamba]

Ha, yep, I think that's right. And I feel like there's just such an endless variety of $15-20 bottles to try that I never get bored. But, I've been on the Josh and Joel Gott kick for a bit and haven't got bored of those yet. And they have different blends and different years anyways for just their Cabernet so hard to get bored of just those brands for me.

My wife and I like to go out to an expensive steakhouse close to us in the Chicago 'burbs (Capital Grille) and I always get a more expensive glass of Cabernet to go with my oversized ribeye. And I will admit they usually taste at least a little better than my cheaper bottles but it's not some massive upgrade where I would splurge over $100 for the bottle if I found it at Binny's. I can never remember the names I try anyways by the time I take down a few glasses and stuff myself. LOL

yeah restaurant dinner wines do seem a lot better lol

 

[HymanKaplan]

Also, I LIKE Merlot. LOL

(and old vine Zinfandel)

 

[Blackish_Mamba]

Yeah, I don't think you have to spend a lot of money to get a really good bottle of wine. But, like anything, there is a definite "floor" where the quality goes south fast. And, there is definitely a pretty noticeable difference, most of the time, between an 18 dollar bottle, and a 40 dollar bottle. It just kind of goes in levels. I can't tell you what a 200 dollar plus wine tastes like, but I'd bet that most peoples' palates (including mine) top out at around 50 to 75 dollars.

I started on the $2 buck Chuck from Trader Joe’s. Then the $3 bottles from Whole Foods. The label looks more expensive than the wine itself. Stuff killed me.

I got that Cooper Hawk membership which is pretty cool. (2 bottles a month plus a monthly wine tasting). Love that atmosphere