Question about Wine
 

I know a couple that absolutely loves wine. I was thinking about giving them a nice bottle or bottles of wine for Christmas but I just found out that one of them actually owns a vineyard. I am now a little scared to give a crappy bottle so I'd like to ask you knowledgeable wine afficionado's on GC, what is a good red wine?

Please don't let me screw this up! These two have been really good to me & Mike so I'd just like to let them know I appreciate everything they've done for us.

I'm willing to spend upwards of $100 on them so anything within that limit would be good.

How about a wine of the month club? My friend did that for her wine connoisseur boyfriend this year for Christmas.

One of my favorite bottles of wine isn't expensive at all, its a cabernet sauvignon called Kaiken. A little more expensive and also really good is the 2004 3 Rings Shiraz. I'm more of a white wine fan though, so my red wine tastes are limited.

White wine is good too actually. Perhaps I could give them a good bottle of each. One red & one white.

I just came from visiting Italy over thanksgiving and everyone really like a Barolo that was served (I don't like wine, so I am not an expert) but from everything that I've read about this particular Barolo it is very good: Costi Di Bussia, 2001, I just bought 2 bottles for my mom $52 each.

They might enjoy it.

To try to find it in your area or online you can try Wine Searcher, I bought the Barolo from: Terranova Fine Wines, they seem reasonable.

You also may want to contact some local wine shops and see if they can offer some recommendations.

I second this idea! Some local wineries that offer something unique could be the way to go! There is a local winery near my house that sells a nice dry apple-infused white wine, and its just a really unique flavor. Its worth a shot!


As for something you can pick up at the liquor store, I'm a HUGE fan of the Bonny Doon Reisling, and its not expensive at all. ;) My parents just brought me a wine I'm not familiar with, Travicello, we had a glass of it earlier & its also really good.

Sherry-Lehmann is considered to be the wine Mecca in the NYC area and beyond. You could call or email them for suggestions because they pretty much carry everything under the sun.

If you're worried about the actual wine, what about nice "accessories"? Like a vacuum sealer top to keep an opened bottle fresh, a nice set of glasses, etc. That way you're catering to their love of wine, without worrying about what they'll enjoy most.

Good wine does not have to be expensive or a big name of sorts.

There are many really great wines out there that are not gong to either break you or make an impression to some people.

A good wine is a good wine no matter what.:)

A bad wine that is dry is not sour. A wine that has gone bad is viniger.

I am sure this is of great help to the original poster!

Some red is a very broad guideline...I love red wine, but prefer to give non-bottle gifts...a nice pull, (I'm giving a few screwpull trilogy corkscrews this year), glasses, etc...However, I like trying different things, so whenever some body gives me bottles as a gift I always enjoy it. Of course you'd probably want to give something unique, but most any decent wine shop can help you pick out a bottle or two your friend likely hasn't tried yet.

Get them a bottle of Carmenere and if you want to know what is just so special about Carmenere, all is revealed here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmen%C3%A8re

Ditto on the local wine. If you can find a good local vintner, it's good to support them.

Also, you might try going to a specialty wine shop instead of a run of the mill liquor store (or grocery store - I still can't get over the fact that you can buy booze in grocery stores in the States!). A specialty wine store will have knowledgeable staff on hand who can steer you in the right direction after asking you a few questions.

Yes it is actually!

People who conider themselves as wine snobs so to speak look for the big named high priced wines to show their friends.

In private tastings in Napa and Sanoma distric of Cal. the Charrdanay had such a difference in taste that it was mind numbing.

The wine business has changed so much in the last few years it is unconciviable for many people.

Hell, I had many first growth French Bourdeauxs in my collection, it was not funny.

But guess what, if you do not drink them then it is grape juice in the friggen bottle. Nice to look at and brag about unless you are a wine merchant.

So what do you know about wines?

I worked for a California Winery, owned a Liquor Store, ran a state part of a wholesaler, was with the Gallo Division of a wholesaler, and the Import Division of a Distillery, am a personel friend of a Kansas Vineyard owner who has won many awards from all over the world.

Wine prices are getting ridicioulous anymore.:(

Buy a decent wine that can be consumed soon and just enjoy it!

It might be helpful to explain this assertion.

Total bottles produced has vastly outstripped demand recently - in fact, many Australian vintners are literally sitting on millions of bottles. This has led to a drop in overall quality across the board (according to some), but has also allowed for many smaller, less expensive brands to 'catch up' in quality. Price and name recognition are not really important to most people with a refined palette - keep that in mind when shopping.

So yeah - bargains are available, but you'll really need to do the work. It's a tough racket to keep up on, as well.

This actually isn't true at all, and you know it - purchasing a bottle for cellar is perfectly acceptable, and some bottles/varietals won't reach peak for years.

However, the vast majority of bottles for sale (regardless of price) are meant to enjoy immediately - in fact, many will degenerate over time. Unless you know what you're doing, don't keep a bottle to 'age' . . . most simply won't.

Actually I think prices now are the lowest they've ever been, for the mid-range wines most people desire - see my first point above.