Wine for an idiot

[Type941]

I like scotch. If I drink (like 3 times a year - bday, new year, plus some special occasion when everyone's having drinks) I like wiskey wihout any ice, or sometimes wisky with cola.

So when it comes to picking wines, I'm a bit of a noob. Can anyone sugest me a good wine make and sort, that's in the $50 range tops? I like the wine to be sweet. Any suggestions here? :)

[Skybird]

50$ per bottle? Wowh, you and me must live in two different world.

As to your question, I tasted some more expensive wines too (never at my costs :) ), but must say they failed to convicne me. I want to taste the taste, not the money. German red wine "Dornfelder, mild" is hated by german wine-makers, for it is nothing special, with 3,50-4,00 euros per bottle nothing they can make a fortune with, and it is considered to be a relatively low-ranking, or "primitve" wine. Nevertheless it enjoys growing popularity. Most wines of this kind are mild, sweet, have a fruity flavour, and despite the sweetness a good Dornfelder does not rush to your head. Sometimes they'll already taste like grape-juice.

I use to get mine from Frankenthal, where an old friend of mine is living. Best wine I'll ever had.

[Kapitan]

hock and liberfremelch (as if i could spell it) pronounced leeber frem elsch

[SUBMAN1]

Look at a Stonestreet cab - Should be about $30-$40. Do not buy any version from Napa - Stick with Alexander valley grapes (Stonestreet have a winery in both places) - Alexander Valley probably some of the best red grapes in the world.

I personally do not care for whites much, so I can't help you there.

-S

[Takeda Shingen]

Not a wine drinker either, but it is something that I have been wanting to learn about.

I know that the California winemakers don't have the lineage of the European (re: French) ones, but are they truly lagging behind due to inexperience, poorer quality of grapes, inferior production, or is it just not fashionable to like American wines?

[SUBMAN1]

Not a wine drinker either, but it is something that I have been wanting to learn about.

I know that the California winemakers don't have the lineage of the European (re: French) ones, but are they truly lagging behind due to inexperience, poorer quality of grapes, inferior production, or is it just not fashionable to like American wines?

Certain places in California make some of the top wines in the world.

Probably the story you heard was an old wives take you heard from a French guy! :) The French only drink table wine so I doubt he knew much!

-S

[STEED]

http://www.internetwineguide.com/

This may help :up:

[Takeda Shingen]

Thanks guys!

[jumpy]

hehe, I always go by the following guide-
don't buy wine if it costs less than five quid, or more than fifteen :D if you forget this you'll be dissapointed either way.

[JSLTIGER]

hehe, I always go by the following guide-
don't buy wine if it costs less than five quid, or more than fifteen :D if you forget this you'll be dissapointed either way.

And for us here in America that translates into roughly between $8.71 and $26.10 at an exchange rate of $1.74 to £1.

[SUBMAN1]

hehe, I always go by the following guide-
don't buy wine if it costs less than five quid, or more than fifteen :D if you forget this you'll be dissapointed either way.

5 quid ($8.71) - isn't that dangerously close to headache territory? It is probably still OK but it is close since cheap wines are an almost guranteed hangover.

-S

[Bort]

Thunderbird- it comes with a paper bag. :rotfl: Sorry, thats pretty much my knowledge of the subject.

[SUBMAN1]

* Bort]Thunderbird- it comes with a paper bag. :rotfl: Sorry, thats pretty much my knowledge of the subject.

Or in a box!!! How can people drink box wine? That is like asking for a hangover!

-S

[Skybird]

* Bort]Thunderbird- it comes with a paper bag. :rotfl: Sorry, thats pretty much my knowledge of the subject.

Or in a box!!! How can people drink box wine? That is like asking for a hangover!

-SThere are worse things. The EU had to accept a freedom for American importers now to bring "wines" to EU market that had been pulverized, extracted, filtered, powder-mixed, added with artificial aromes, and brought into a liquid form again by the use of completly different water than what it originally was made of. The "Panscherei" with Glycole, that Europe had seen in the late 80s and early 90s, appeared to have been tasty, compared to that sh!t that is coming now.

[The Avon Lady]

In the movie "The Jerk", Steve Martin, playing the lead role, takes his so-called friends out to an immaculate restaurant, to shower his new-found wealth upon them.

After the waiter reads the mostly in-French wine list to Martin, with vintages going back to the 1960's and 1950's, Martin says something like "Oh heck! Let's splurge! Bring us the freshest wine you've got!"

[lesrae]

5 quid ($8.71) - isn't that dangerously close to headache territory? It is probably still OK but it is close since cheap wines are an almost guranteed hangover.

-S

I think there are a few reasonable wines down at the £4 - 5 mark - Ernest & Julio Gallo, Turning Leaf, J P Chenet and Hardy's are all perfectly good, to my palette anyway.

Afraid I can't recommend anything much pricier, I don't tend to gamble much when buying wine. This thread's making me thirsty! :lol:

[Type941]

I gave a $50 mark as top price period, I've never baught anything more expensive than that.

[SUBMAN1]

I gave a $50 mark as top price period, I've never baught anything more expensive than that.

If you pay me enough, I might be willing to part with my 1995 (Very good year) Merlot/Cab bottle of Stonestreet! $50 won't cut it however, and there is a risk that it has gone bad - though it has been kept on its side the entire time (To keep the cork wet - dry cork = bad wine) and it has been kept in the dark at a constant temp. Chances are, it is going to be exceptional in taste.

-S

[sonar732]

Something else to think about is if you have a "local" winery. The biggest thing to keep in consideration is the food you will eat must match with the wine!

[SUBMAN1]

Something else to think about is if you have a "local" winery. The biggest thing to keep in consideration is the food you will eat must match with the wine!

That is very true, but I still can't stand whites! I guess you can give me a good beer in place of white wines. Rochfort #10 anyone? Rochfort#10 probably costs more than a $50 bottle of wine though - ounce for ounce.

-S