Expensive Wine & Cheap Food (Page 1 of 3)

That Tempranillo sounds like it would go great with smoked meats!

I have been a member of several great California wineries' clubs for years. This has been a very bad year for top wineries economically since the majority of good labels' sales are to restaurants. Restaurants have been hurting and have been selling off their cellars and not buying new. One of my favorite wineries, Rutherford Hill, a good Napa marque, found it necessary to raid the caves and sell off wines that were fully mature and needed drinking. I was fortunate to get a heads up and purchase a case of '98 Reserve Merlot for $26 per bottle and a case of '02 Cab for $22 per bottle including freight. We're living high on the hog right now as these need to be consumed soon. We are doing our best to comply. I'm sipping the '98 as I write this. Cherry, tobacco, forest loam, smooth as silk.  Spaghetti with a wine like that is      . There are great deals to be had right now folks. Look for deals on most any '05 Napa or Sonoma wine. Great year! Joining a wine club is free if you commit to a couple of bottles a quarter and you get big discounts.
Rick

Wine!  Now we're talking.

I'm a white wine drinker by choice, preference for Sauvignon Blanc.  Really used to enjoy the stuff coming out of Chile but find the quality has been quite variable over the past year or so.  If you like that slightly tangy, grassy edge to your whites then you can't go wrong with a Marlborough Sauv from New Zealand, but again I find you need to spend a bit more to get the quality.  Don't know if you get Oyster Bay in the US but I discovered this a few years ago, thoroughly enjoyed it (a bit too much sometimes) and it's probably my general white wine of choice (their Pinot Noir and Merlot are recommended too).

Another white I discovered recently is Falanghina from Italy.  It has a slightly oily feel to it (for want of a better wine-y type word) but not unpleasantly so.  It's hard to find so can be quite expensive.  I'd love to know what this would go with.  I also love Albarino from Spain.

I'd love to learn more about wine and food pairings.  Lori - any recommendations for whites to go with vegetarian food (think pulses, tomatoes, beans ...)?

LynnB, you might like to try some of the dry Rieslings from Germany with your veggies. (had to look up pulse, a term not used over here) I have a question for the Euro contingent. What wines are most available there as table wines. ie what countries are most represented in your local markets? Here in California, we are spoiled by an abundance of good inexpensive wine for everyday use. Usually, for $5 to $7 one can get a quite decent white or red. I've found few California wines that are bad for everyday use. As you say Lynn, the South American wines can be spotty in quality. We also get the New Zealand wines you mentioned which are quite good.
Rick

We like the same, ie, Sauvignon Blanc, NZ Oyster Bay/ Marlborough
But one of my favourite reds is a Merlot, St Emilion. The French are still kings, IMO 

My wife and I go to Napa and Sonoma every other year. We usually bring home about a dozen bottles from small wineries or from those we can't get here in New England. The best wines we've ever had are; (in no particular order)

Vincent Arroyo Petite Sirah
Chimney Rock Cabernet Sauvignon
Gundlach Bundschu Pinot Noir
Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon
Pine Ridge Chardonnay
Heitz Cabernet Sauvignon

We've had these wines with everything from hamburgers and hot dogs; tenderloins and tuna.

Our favorite, everyday wines that are readily available are;

Folie a Deux "Menage a Trois"
Cline "Red Truck (Red)"
Chateau St. Michelle Chardonnay
Gnarly Head Zinfandel

Mmmm...me loves me some wine!

Actually, we have Joe to thank for one of our recent wine finds.

While in Chicago for Crossroads, we stayed at a hotel near a winery/restaurant called Cooper's Hawk. So the day we checked in, we went there and did some tasting and then had dinner. They had an excellent bottle of Meritage that was $40 that we recently cracked for our Thanksgiving dinner, but their chief treasure, we felt, was a Cabernet Sauvignon that was, I think, the best I have ever tasted; like drinking a cloud!

And as for this being an Illinois winery, I have to say, in the same style as Craig Ferguson, I KNOW! But they actually truck in their grapes from California and perform their wizardry in the Chicago area. For those of you nearby, I recommend checking them out at www.coopershawkwinery.com!

(And no, I am not being in any way compensated for this endorsement!) 

I'll save my big bucks for single malts - they'll last after being opened for months if not years. I happen to live in New York's Finger Lakes wine country and a really expensive bottle from there will run about $20! Finger Lakes dry reds are mediocre at best but I have to say that a regional specialty, the dry rieslings, are top notch. I've been getting into "heritage' wines lately. These are wines created to mimic what our forefathers made from grapes varieties available 100+ years ago. Although they tend to be on the sweeter side they are very good IMO. (Back then, when you were living on dried and smoked meats and root vegetables for months on end through the hard northeast winters, a nice sweet fruity wine would help to break it up). Some I've had lately were whites made from Diamond and Vergennes, Blushes from Isabella and Iona, and a fantastic dry Concord red made by a friend.

The GF came over last weekend and we put together a fantastic venison stroganoff and popped a bottle of de Chaunac red. WOW!

But yeah, with a 1" thick ribeye hot off the grill, give me a good California Pinot Noir or an Australian Shiraz! 

Hmmmm, chocolate with chilli    We have a great chocolatier just around the corner and sometimes I can't resist.
My favourite is a truffle with a hint of cinnamon and a shoot of "Ziegler vielle prume"".

My Borolo experience is different and it's years ago.  But I clearly remember, cause it was a desaster. Never tried a Barolo again.It was also around Christmas and I cooked something very special for the family. Can't remember.
In the recipe it was mentioned a Barolo would be fine with the meal.
So I bought a Barolo in a supermarket! The bottle was expensive and very disappointing.
I still think that a Barolo is a great vine, but it has to come from a winemaker who's in search of excellence.
So maybe one day ... I'll give the Barolo a second chance.