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I have an upcoming trip to cape may, nj so I'll visit some wineries while out there. I think it'll be nice, that area of NJ is supposed to be perfect for growing tender european wine grapes

6/11/2012 4:35:23 PM

I'm by no means a wine connoisseur but i can tell a difference between 2 Buck Chuck and like a $10-$12 bottle. A small local grocer here turned me on to this, for $9 a bottle it might be my go-to


[Edited on June 11, 2012 at 6:23 PM. Reason : ]

6/11/2012 6:23:31 PM

shared a bottle of Beringer Pinot Noir last night. Did not stand out and tasted like a ten dollar blend. Just was not impressed.


The more wines I drink (still staying with mostly american wines right now) I think I'm a much bigger fan of Oregon and Washington state offerings over Napa Valley. Anyone else feel the same?

or has anyone picked up a recent bottle they've liked? Going by the wine store tonight I think.

6/22/2012 9:23:45 AM

Washington is gonna give you more bang for the buck than Napa most of the time. Also, I don't like most California Merlot, but like the ones from Washington. They taste a little more mocha, coffee, and earthy instead of the green, leafy taste I get out of CA.

6/22/2012 10:07:36 AM

If you never try another bottle of wine for the rest of your life, you MUST try this:



It changed my life.

6/22/2012 5:43:55 PM

i just went by total wine to grab a bottle of annalisa moscato - my new favorite!

slaptit - where did you find mars & venus? i've been looking EVERYWHERE for it!

[Edited on June 22, 2012 at 5:47 PM. Reason : ]

6/22/2012 5:47:01 PM

^^agreed, thats a great bottle

6/22/2012 6:57:43 PM

Quote :

"I'm by no means a wine connoisseur but i can tell a difference between 2 Buck Chuck and like a $10-$12 bottle."

ditto...but, quite frankly, the $5-6 bottles are good enough that i find most $10-12 bottles a waste of money

my wife and i drink a glass of wine (sometimes 2 for me) about 5 nights a week...at $12/bottle, that would get pricey quick and the truth is that they're not so earth-shattering, life-changingly amazing that it's worth spending twice as much

we have an 85-bottle wine rack that we keep stocked...a solid 1/4 of that is $3 chuck (almost exclusively cab and shiraz) because it's decent wine...it's certainly not BAD wine

if that makes me a "bad" wine drinker, i'm fine with that

[Edited on June 22, 2012 at 7:14 PM. Reason : not to say we don't drink "nicer" wine, it's just not frequent and we only keep a couple in th house]

6/22/2012 7:10:05 PM

made a trip to Trader Joes and picked up about everything listed in this thread.

Albero Tempranillo
Albero Montrasell
Espiral Vinho Verde

2 bottles of 3 buck chuck.

6/24/2012 6:51:18 PM

Quote :

"Nope. You've got the D/s backward!"

Hmm, I just kinda figured that any grown man who is partial to sweet, white wines is probably the submissive bitch-boy type who would be led around on a leash by his girlfriend.


Cabs and Merlots for this guy...also like some Malbecs/Malbec blends.

Speaking of which, anyone ever had this malbec/merlot blend, by any chance?

6/24/2012 7:45:49 PM

I like sweeter wines - but when I say I like, I mean I tolerate them the best... I never drink wine, and if I do, it is something piddlebug likes, which is usually something sweet, mascato based.

6/24/2012 7:48:00 PM

i left a bottle of moscato in your fridge. you should try it! if there's any left, that is.

6/24/2012 8:21:11 PM

Quote :

"slaptit - where did you find mars & venus? i've been looking EVERYWHERE for it!"

A small upscale local grocer here in Colonial Beach, VA...first time i'd seen it, but they keep good wine on hand. Want me to mail you some?

6/24/2012 10:36:06 PM

In general I'm more of a red wine drinker, and particularly like Spanish style reds. On the other hand I also eat a lot of seafood, and for obvious reasons have a lot of whites as well.

Preferred reds:
Spanish style (from Spain and South America) garnache, malbec, temporanillo, bonarda and blends.
French: Cotes du Rhone, Bordeaux blends
Italian: Brunello!, Montepulciano, and lately discovered Sicilian Nero d'Avola...prefer more than Chianti Classico
California/Oregon/Washington: Pinot Noirs and Cabernet, not a fan of Zinfandels
Virginia: Norton and Cab Francs and Viogniers are actually very good

Preferred Whites:
Spain: Albarino
South America: Torrontes - great with spicy food
Germany: Gerwurztraminer- also great with spicy food
Pinot Grigio and Savignon Blancs can be good with seafood
Portugal: Vinho Verde

[Edited on June 25, 2012 at 12:19 AM. Reason : .]

6/25/2012 12:16:20 AM

I drank 2 bottles of Flip Flop riesling today

it was pretty good

6/25/2012 12:49:24 AM

Quote :

"where did you find mars & venus? i've been looking EVERYWHERE for it"

I think Seaboard has it.

6/25/2012 8:19:41 AM

wow, was not a big fan of the trader joe's Albero Tempranillo. i don't know if it was the bottle or the style but it was almost tasteless with no back end.

7/2/2012 11:56:54 AM

all their reds suck

7/2/2012 12:03:14 PM

Meh...to each their own obviously (especially wine).

I don't think Trader Joe's wines are great or anything, but I find their $5 and $6 bottles drinkable. The few times I try to get a really cheap bottle from Teeter/Food Dog/The Pig ($7 or less), I have a hard time finishing one glass.

I do not like the 3 buck Chuck though. But I've found 5 or 6 reds at Trader Joe's that I'm perfectly fine with drinking on a regular basis.

7/2/2012 12:22:55 PM

I bought some cat wine the other day. It wasn't great.

7/2/2012 1:08:25 PM

were the cats aged in oak?

7/2/2012 1:11:07 PM

they were aged in glass catsgets

7/2/2012 1:15:21 PM

jbrick, i bought a bottle of the Montrasell as well so i will open it this week to see how it differs. I know you said it was the heavier of the two.

7/2/2012 2:12:07 PM

wow, love the Espiral Vinho Verde. went great with the grilled fish and spinach and watermelon salad I had for dinner last night. definitely could be a go to refreshing white wine.

7/3/2012 8:27:36 AM

^ that's my wife's favorite white, hands down...i don't really care for most whites, but it IS a very refreshing wine, great for the summer

[Edited on July 3, 2012 at 8:29 AM. Reason : and it's what, $4/bottle? $5, tops?]

7/3/2012 8:28:54 AM

yeah, i think it was $3.99

will definitely be stocking up on several more soon. it's ridiculously refreshing and i love the slight effervescence. and only about 9% so it doesn't wear you down. great recommendation!

7/3/2012 8:33:17 AM

of the 85 bottles on our rack, i'd say we've got 10 or 12 of those

[Edited on July 3, 2012 at 8:42 AM. Reason : what kind of smiley is :{ ?]

7/3/2012 8:41:29 AM

nice rack!

7/3/2012 8:42:11 AM

we like it...we saw a bordex rack in an italian restaurant a couple of years ago and really liked it and found some chick on craigslist who was selling hers as a bordex (which it wasn't), but it was only $20 or something (it just isn't reconfigurable)

for those who don't know, this is a bordex rack



i really want to get something like this, but we don't have anywhere to put it

7/3/2012 8:45:55 AM

Real Simple posted a piece on Supermarket Wines

I may have to try a few...

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/shopping-storing/beverages/cheap-wine-00100000084473/index.html

8/7/2012 12:40:12 PM

Dude i was about to start a wine thread the other day.

I'm Krallum and I approved this message.

[Edited on August 7, 2012 at 12:42 PM. Reason : you know what i am not going to finish that story]

8/7/2012 12:42:07 PM

Quote :

"were the cats aged in oak?"

Quote :

"they were aged in glass catsgets"

i just died

8/7/2012 12:43:11 PM

Last couple weeks I went into Harris Teeter and they've had their Las Rocas wines marked down dramatically. These are normally $20-$25 bottles that are like ten or eleven bucks now. The two that are marked down are the Garnacha and a Spanish Red Blend.

Really good wine for a pretty good price, IMO.

8/7/2012 12:44:37 PM

Just had a nice balance Riesling, Stonecap 2009 Riesling, thoroughly enjoyed it.

One of my goto cabernets is the Grayson Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, great value

Also for the upscale wine, just recently had this:
Château Potelle Zinfandel VGS 2004
http://www.vgschateaupotelle.com/#page/cms/wines/VGS?2
And it was phenomenal.

[Edited on August 9, 2012 at 3:58 PM. Reason : .]

8/9/2012 3:54:54 PM

this is the best $23 i've spent:

vacu vin "wine saver" with 4 stoppers (which also work just fine as "regular" stoppers) for $12: http://www.amazon.com/Vacu-Vin-Concerto-5-Piece-Stoppers/dp/B00005U2FA/

true fabrications aerating pour spout for $11: http://www.amazon.com/True-Fabrications-Wine-Aerating-Spout/dp/B0027HV9TU/

actually, the second is under review by amazon because the pictures show a corkscrew-type aerator, but what folks (including myself) received was a unit with a stainless steel insert that "slows" the wine as it fills a chamber that has holes for aeration...i think it works great (and other reviewers agree)

3/19/2013 9:38:07 PM

bump. cutting back on beer, been enjoying wine and spirits a bit more. At least now that I live alone a bottle of wine will last a couple nights. Any big Chianti fans here? Have recommendations? Gabbiano is a trusty one for me.

Beringer Malbec was disappointing. I also saw a post i made last year about their Pinot that I didn't like. looks like i'm done with Beringer wines.

4/22/2013 10:04:12 AM

I didn't read the complete thread.


But when steaming clams, what white wine do you use?

We used clos du bois chardonnay. Wasn't bad, but I was thinking a Pinot Grigio, maybe?

5/1/2013 5:56:57 PM

Doesn't really matter as long as its dry. You could also use a dry vermouth.

5/1/2013 6:02:21 PM

Quote :

" Blackberry, raspberry and ripe cherry aromas accent the deep red color of this wine. Dried plum, black cherry and hints of vanilla combine with smooth, elegant tannins on the palate. This Merlot is a lush, well-balanced wine that is drinkable now, but also will age well. It is produced from hand-selected grapes on our Los Alamos Valley estate vineyard. It is fermented in open top fermenters, using punch downs, followed by a brief post-fermentation maceration. "

This wine was really smooth, and I thought it smelled like chocolate. I only had one glass and I kind of gulped it with the first few bites of my steak, and couldn't flag the server for another. Just as well, as I still got my sulfite headache though. Looks like you have to order direct from the producer.

11/23/2013 4:20:03 AM

We use to have the Queen of Hearts Pinot Noir at a wine bar I worked out. Pretty solid Pinot. And yes...also never been able to find it in stores.



BTW...I think I've figured out every shitty and good $4-$7 wine at Trader Joes. Every week I do a wine run and pick up about 7 or 8 bottles (4-5 reds, 1-2 whites, and 1 prosecco)...all for around $40. It's awesome.

[Edited on November 23, 2013 at 8:41 AM. Reason : .]

11/23/2013 8:39:39 AM

^jbrick, care to update your list of the good TJ wines?

2/5/2014 4:07:09 PM

Off the top of my head I know we like the Dark Horse Cabernet (although at 7.99, it's probably one of the pricier ones we get). I've moved away from their Spanish Wines as I think they're probably the ones I like the least (I actually find this to be true with most retail stores, while I find it the exact opposite at bars/restaurants....go figure).

I'll have to check when I get home, but I've been batting close to 100% with their French reds. I think their is a grenache/syrah/something else blend that I really like. Most of their Italian Primitivo's are pretty good. While not the best, the orange colored Grifone is a damn good value at $3.99.

Just checked online and I'm pretty sure we like the Cote du Rhone and Bordeaux Cru Bourgeois in the French. Although I know there are a couple TJ Exclusives that they've put our recently that I liked.

Hope that helps.

2/5/2014 4:17:28 PM

THIS UNOPENED WINE IS OLDER THAN AMERICA AND IT'S GOING TO AUCTION
http://www.newsweek.com/unopened-wine-older-america-and-its-going-auction-942003

Quote :

"The wine was bottled 15 years before the French Revolution and two years before America’s Declaration of Independence founded it as a nation in its own right. In the intervening 244 years of history nobody has taken these particular bottles out from their dark, dusty cellar and cracked them open. But now you’ll get your chance to sample what French grog tasted like in the 18th century—if you can afford it. . . Auctioneers say they are the oldest bottles of wine available on the market, and they come at a hefty price. Back in 2012, bottles from the same collection sold at Christie's in Geneva, Switzerland, for 46,000 Swiss francs ($46,248) a piece."

5/24/2018 7:46:58 AM

Cocobon at TJ's is our go-to red. At $6 or $7 it's a damn good deal. Pontificus is our go-to white.

5/24/2018 10:31:50 AM