Wine, Grapes & Vineyards Thread

[Lotesse]

What to do with last night's leftover champagne: Serve it with Sunday Brunch, as a fresh-sqeezed orange juice & champagne mimosa! If it's good enough for Holly Golightly, it's good enough for anyone, especially if you're having sunday brunch at Tiffany's...

[Lotesse]

Bordeaux is the next best-known winemaking area in France, after Champagne. Its wines are classified by sub-region, such as Pomerol and Saint-Emilion.
Here's a map of that area:

Here's one of the more famous labels:

[Lotesse]

Absinthe is not wine; it's an opiatic liquor made of herbs, wormwood and god knows what else, but I thought I'd post something interesting here since no one seems to be digging the wine stuff. Plus, I am bored, so - feel like corrupting you all.
Here's a pic or 2:


Here's Johnny Depp enjoying absinthe (my god he's gorgeous):

Here's a Picasso painting of an absinthe drinker.

Here's Degas' take on the same subject:

Here's Jean Beraud's Absinthe Drinkers:


COMMON & BRAND NAMES
Green Fairy; Green Goddess; La Fée Verte

EFFECTS CLASSIFICATION
Alcoholic Depressant Intoxicant

DESCRIPTION
Absinthe is a distilled spirit infused with herbs including the thujone-containing Aretmesia absinthium. Many describe its effects as significantly different than alcohol alone, but the nature of thujone's effects are much disputed. It was popularized in the late 19th century and associated with the bohemian artistic movements of the time.

[Butterbeer]

heh! that's my wife ..how did you get that pic? that's private!
beautiful boomerang

[Lotesse]

BB - you were wondering before what my sig translates to:

"Thirst is more powerful than the fear of poison." It's a George Eliot-ism.

[Spock]

.."wine is fine but liquor is quicker"
......W.C. Fields.....

[Hasty Ent]

wow... this thread has had a lot more success than this previous attempt: http://entmoot.tolkientrail.com/showthread.php?t=9145

I love wine, Lotesse (as you might notice from my post in the Wine Club thread), and have enjoyed reading your notes on the subject

have you seen the movie Mondovino? very very biased, but I found it wildly entertaining nevertheless

[Hasty Ent]

Originally Posted by Lotesse

Oh, and THIS is very, very important: always drink your champagne from a flute, never those ridiculous cat-dish saucers. And hold the glass by its stem, so the heat of your hand doesn't flatten your bubbly's bubbles. This is a Riedel flute you see here. Riedel is THE world's foremost wine stemware maker, and if you can afford to, and you take your wine uber-seriously like I do, its really worth the investment to get yourself Riedel glasses! For real.

Yes, Riedel sets the benchmark for wine glassware, and I own some of their Burgundy and Bordeaux wineglasses. Riedel does produce a range of glassware, covering a decent range of prices. However! Have you tried Ravenscroft yet? A friend in the wine biz turned me on to them and they are really very good, but much cheaper than Riedel. Haven't bought any yet, since I'm pretty good at not breaking the Riedels, but if I were in the market for wineglasses I'd take a serious look at Ravenscroft.

http://www.ravenscroftcrystal.com/co...ons/index.html

[Lotesse]

Ciao, Hasty Ent! It's so nice to get some feedback hee, for real! I have not heard of this stemware Ravenscroft, but I'll DEFinitely check it out. I am a notorious breaker-of-expensive-things. It's a sort of accident proneness curse, and it (or I, while under its spell) has broken not a few beautiful glasses and china throughout the years. When I accidentally broke my Baccarat crystal wineglass, I cried, and cried. Well, I was a little buzzed at the time, but STILL! You'd cry too; it was part of a truly expensive Baccarat set!

Yes, I watched Mondovino just yesterday. I KNOW, it was enormously biased, and it really made the Mondavi people look terrible but it was awfully entertaining still, to get to see the Francobaldis and Robert Parker, stuff like that. And the scenery! I really, really want to move back to europe soon, as soon as I publish a play I am going, but to Italy this time, not England. The scenery of all those beautiful places just made me YEARN to get out of L.A.!

[Hasty Ent]

MICRO-OXYGENATE!!! :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Have you read or do you know anyone who's read The Emperor of Wine? I plan to read it, but haven't ordered the book yet. Went to a tasting ages ago where Emperor Parker sat at the head table pontificating while his audience respectfully hung on every word as they swilled, sniffed and spit with reverence. It was a lotta fun, and he is an affable speaker. Expensive event though, and if the ticket to it wasn't a gift, I would never have gone. But then I'm not much interested in Bordeaux, gimme a Burgundy or Rhone any day. :shrug:

[Lotesse]

I'll check that book out. What are some of your favourite Rhone varietals? You know, the Central Coast of California - namely, San Luis Obispo and Paso Robles, puts out a few noteworthy, yummy Rhone wines.

[Hasty Ent]

yeah, I've had some awesome Rhone Rangers.... years and years ago some friends and I had the good luck to visit with Brian Talley who was just starting to get some attention and were able to explore the SLO area....

lessee... Vin du Mistral used to be really reliable, but I haven't had it in a while, that's Phelps though, and they're Napa.... aha! Bonny Doon makes Le Cigare Volante, no? 'scuse the spelling...

but generally, I drink European more than American... with the increased and well-deserved respect American winemakers are getting, their prices have gone up proportionately, while there seem to be many many many small producers esp in the Southern Rhone and Provence that make decent and inexpensive wine

[Hasty Ent]

just realized you asked about favorite varietals.... don't have a favorite grape, really.... love Rhone wines, but they're usually a blend of three, no? syrah, mourvedre and grenache? I think those are the three....big fan of pink wine, too.... love Provencal rose

another wine I love to death (and the image I use for my avatar) GRUNER VELTLINER! oh baby... nothing finer than a crisp gruner.... unless it's a bone dry reisling... absolutely adore Austrian wines :love:

[Lotesse]

Le Cigare Volant is always yummy! I love Bonny Doon's Ralph Steadman labels, too. I used to collect labels, as I attended so many wine shows and wine festivals, where the winemakers like to give out labels.

Yes, the Syrah, Mourvedre & grenache blend is the Rhone way; I suppose I was thinking more along the lines of California Rhone wines, where they like to make a bottle of One or one-two varietals. Syrah was a big fave of mine for a time.

Brian Talley! I remember him; he used to bring his family & the older woman who is like the Talley matriarch, into Edna Valley Bistro next to Cafe Roma, in San Luis Obispo. I was building that restaurant up with my good friend Denis Rizzo, back in the late 90s. We would get all the big local wine families, and wine lovers, into Edna Valley Bistro. Those were the days... The Bistro doesn't exist anymore; Mr. Rizzo went to Italy for a while after a falling out with Tom Gallo - a long and dirty story , and the Bistro was sold a couple times - not sure what's in that property now. Hmm. I digress.

I don't know as much as I'd like about Austrian wines, H. Ent.



[IMG]

[Hasty Ent]

what I know about Austrian wine:

Wachau Valley
Pichler (Rudi is cheaper than FX)



Seriously, though, Austrian wines are new to me, as well. I started drinking Gruner a few years ago, and I don't seem to retain wine label info :blush: Don't know about you, but I go through phases with wine, and discovered Austrian wine thanks to some friends in the wine business. We were jointly fleeing the Chardonnay/Cab juggernaut and looking for more interesting things to drink (although someone opened an amazing Meursault for me awhile back and I remembered how good Chardonnay could be).

Lately I've been drinking some VERY interesting Spanish whites. Yes, I did say "white." Always stuck to Spanish Reds in the past, and I'm happy to say NO MORE! Their whites are lovely. Please don't ask me for names.... don't remember, although I do try to save my sales receipts and slip them in a wine file for future reference. Doesn't always happen, though. I rely very heavily on a local wine merchant who assembles cases for me. He also sends emails to customers with frequent specials/recommendations.

[Hasty Ent]

btw... Brian Talley is a sweetheart... he gave me and my friends a place to crash the night before our flight... very fond memories of him making a "santa maria style" barbeque for us.... and I remember the private tour of the vineyard... going into the cellar with his winemaker (Rasmussen???? can't remember) and sipping wine from a "thief".....

fun fun fun!

[Lotesse]

Yes! Steve Rasmussen, I remember him as well! Talking to you is really bringing back some memories...

I go thru taste stages, too. I'm on Bordeaux, now, for the first time in my life. Guess you could say I'm doing it "backwards!" When I first was getting into wine, I was a Zinfandel/Syrah/Viognier enthusiast, then a Cab fanatic, and as the years and endless opportunities to have bottles and tastings free of charge in my industry came and went, I learned and sampled SO many more kinds of vino. It has only been the last year or so that I've put myself back in the world of wine, this time just as a private enjoyer of it rather than from the perspective of "being on the inside." And, as I'm incredibly blessed with a well-to-do boyfriend who prefers european wines, now I finally get to explore bordeaux and barolo, stuff like that. Mmmm.

[Hasty Ent]

ah.... my wine experience started with the Hungarian plonk my dad bought, as well as the occasional German Reisling. Once I became an adult, Chablis was all the rage, so I started there, moving on to other regions including California/Oregon/Washington. I prefer European wines too, but mostly because it seems they're a better value. Last time I looked at Oregon Pinot Noir I positively gagged at the price. Although Dry Creek Zin is still a good value, but then I've always preferred Sonoma to Napa on a spiritual level.

Barolo, eh? yum..... Pretty sure I had some incredible Barolos by Vietti. I enjoy Italian wines, but don't know much about them. Love a Brunello once in a great while, and Rosso di Montalcino is nice, too. Whites like Vernaccia di San Gimignano (spelling?) are fun, and one of the most refreshing beverages in the WORLD is a Prosecco. *licks lips as she starts to drool* You mentioned Asti Spumante earlier in this thread, which made me think of Moscato d'Asti. Now Moscato d'Asti is COMPLETELY different from Asti Spumante, that is, it won't kill you. In fact, I think it is positively delicious and a wonderfully refreshing dessert wine.

As for Bordeaux/Cabs, I stay away from them because in my experience they need to be a MINIMUM of 10 years old before they're even drinkable. Anything younger is just nasty, in my experience. And buying 10-20 year old bottles is WAY out of my price range. I do have a couple of California Cabs in my cellar that are nearing that magic 20 year mark and I'm looking forward to opening them. One of them is a Mt Veeder, can't remember the vintage.

[BeardofPants]

Natalie. *waves*
Now, the best NZ Sav Blanc I've ever had was the Mount Nelson, but it only had a limited run, and is relatively hard to find...
Also love bordeauxs.... and of course the italian chianti, and pretty much anything from the barrossa valley in Oz.

[Hasty Ent]

hullo, BoP! *waves*

I GOT A BOTTLE OF MOUNT NELSON LAST MONTH! Local wine shop was clearing out some shelf space and the FOOLS put a lonely bottle of Mt Nelson Sav on the sale shelf.

*great big evil laugh*

Yep, NZ produces the best Sav Blanc I've had in a very very long time, and I've had my share of Loire wines. In fact, finished off a Pouilly Fume earlier this week. Squiggy/Unhappy Meal seemed to like it fine.