Veeky Forums is for wine lovers

>drinking a Mondavi cab
>not drinking a nice big Colombia valley syrah/GSM
why do you have such shit taste user?

I'm in the two bottle a night crew.

Got me and the wifey a bottle of aveleda for the evening

Good wines are expensive so I prefer vodka.
Also
>tfw storing 2007 sauternes and millesime charts still suggesting to keep it, not to drink

I would'hve post here if the OP wasn't an insulting cunt and learn how to post properly.
Not this redddit garbage double spacing style shit.
Fuck you OP

>good wines are expensive
This is what Americans actually believe.

>This is what Americans actually believe.
They also believe that they landed on the Moon. kiek

Whats the best box of wine I’ve been going through a couple with my gf I like the black box ones but is there any others worth trying?

I'm Russian, and wines I like like Barolo pretty expensive for me to drink regulary. And vodka is like $3,5 per bottle here

>I'm Russian
opinion discarded

>I like the black box ones but is there any others worth trying?
try white box vines dude, they are much better.

Reccomend me a good red wine. Im more of a fan of white wine and the only red wine ive ever had is merlots and I cant stand them

You can get the same health benefits that you get from wine by drinking just grape juice.

Just sayin'.

yellowtail label from Australia reds are great.

BS BS BS

Are you fucking kidding me man? I love red wine and I love alcohol so I never let it go to waste if I can help it. That yellowtail shiraz is the only wine I have ever tasted in my life that was truly undrinkable. It's even worse than "shocked" wine that got too hot in the bottle. It tastes almost exactly like grape cough medicine.
My theory is that people who dislike wine in general might like that one because it tastes nothing like wine.

Virginia>California.

Anyone who disagrees considers Boone's Farm as a go to.

That shit is fucking vile

I guess I should withhold judgment until I've tasted it, but does Virginia actually have the climate to grow good grapes? Even most of California is too hot, everything is an alcoholic sugar bomb. I picture Virginia as being really good at sweet jug wine, muscadines, scuppernongs, and stuff like that

but it's fucking boring

>mfw people make 100% shyraz wine

it only adds body and tanin, kek

Where do you live? I'm going to assume US.
Merlot is polarizing. It used to be very popular here but not so much in the last ten or fifteen years. I don't like it that much.
The major categories of wine you should be trying out are the typical varieties from the main wine producing countries, and the "varietals" (meaning, one type of grape as opposed to a blend) grown domestically.
When you are just trying things out, don't spend more than $12 a bottle. Assume everything I am talking about is in that price range or lower.

>Wine-growing regions
France - Bordeaux and Burgundy. These are the most famous wines in the world. All the super expensive ones you see in movies etc. are these types, but not all are so costly. Bordeaux are blends, Burgundy mostly Pinot Noir. Try something labeled Cotes du Rhone. That will be a nice French Pinot Noir which many people find easy to drink.
Italy - I like wines with the typical Italian grape Sangiovese. These might be labeled as "Toscana" Or "Super-Tuscan," but are also produced in other regions of Italy. Pic related is a bunch of Italian reds in the $5 range that I like to get at Trader Joe's. The other major Italian variety is Chianti, which tastes chalky and is polarizing. I'd say stick to stuff like Montepulciano.
Argentina - It's all about the Malbec. This wine is becoming more popular and you can find it almost anywhere for cheap.
Other new world: South Africa, Australia, etc. - I say avoid.
Iberia - They have a few good ones. Tempranillo, I guess.

>Domestic Varietals
Merlot - you tried it and you didn't like it
Cabernet Sauvignon - Popular, kind of the standard "red wine." Gives some people a headache
Pinot Noir - A bit of a "lighter" red. Very cheap Pinot (I'm thinking like, Rex Goliath) is often more drinkable than its peers of other grapes.
Zinfandel - Talking about RED zin here, not the pink stuff. Has an interesting "spicy" or cinnamony flavor.

They make some good 100% syrah in the Northern Rhone, stop confusing a grape with the Aussies who ruined it

I live in Virginia and am proud of Virginia wines for developing into something worthwhile, but VA is really too wet and humid to compete with California overall. CA just produces so much that a lot of it is utter crap.

>I picture Virginia as being really good at sweet jug wine, muscadines, scuppernongs, and stuff like that
Most of the decent stuff produced here ends up as white wine. Chardonnay, Viognier, and such. We can make reds from "minor" grapes like Cab Franc and Petit Verdot (which are usually just small parts of traditional French blends).

Virginia wine is worth a try for the novelty at least. If you are ever in the wine-growing region of central Virginia, stop by a winery for some samples! It's fun.

>We can make reds from "minor" grapes like Cab Franc and Petit Verdot
I mean, can't pretty much anyone? Long Island does this too, on the logic that Joe Average doesn't have a specific yardstick for evaluating a 100% Cab Franc wine and hopefully we can carve out a niche. Thing is, that used to work in like 1995 before wine consumers were as savvy as they are now. People can pick up a 100% cab franc from say, Bourgueil or Chinon, and it doesn't take a supertaster to realize they're much better wines, and much more reasonably priced.

I'd love it if more effort was put into turning weird ass labrusca varietals into something good, but I guess there's no money in that. Everyone wants a free ride off what the French did to French grapes.

I mean, I hope Virginia wine is better than something grown on Long Island, but there definitely is a price premium for the limited quality you are getting. The wines aren't bad, but they have to be sold for like three times as much as their "peers" from other regions, because they aren't made in enough volume. That's why I say to try them at a tasting at a winery or something.

I think the situation will also change over time. It takes a long, long time for a vineyard to reach its peak potential, and most of the vines in virginia were only established in the last 20 years or so (a handful are hundreds of years old though).

Pinot noir is the usual suggestion for a white fan trying to into reds. Funnily enough what got me into reds was an estate petite syrah which is usually considered a strong red and not suggested for beginners, but it was really high quality and the tannins were nicely balanced by blackberry flavors. Moral of the story quality counts, cheap wine is bad a good bottle should be around $20 and be estate grown from a private label.

Is 19 crimes good?

It has reduced sulfites or something, so some people who get sick from red wine swear by it. It tastes fine, not really my thing though.

>cheap wine is bad a good bottle should be around $20 and be estate grown from a private label.
That is not really true. Some cheap wine is bad, some $20 wine is bad, and some very expensive wine is bad. I agree that you should look for a small label instead of something mass produced like Mondavi. That's why I like Trader Joe's selection, it's less of the mega-brands. $20 for a bottle of wine in a store is actually quite expensive. I frequently drink $40, $50 bottles in restaurants, but those would be like $15 at a store. I would spend up to $20, but usually no more, and only for something "special." Like if I specifically want a Willamette Pinot Noir, sometimes the store won't carry that for less than $20. A few weeks ago I found a case of some 2010 Bordeaux at costco for $21 a bottle, which is an incredible deal for that year (one of the best years in the history of Bordeaux wine). It was some little-known, not particularly beloved appellation, but it was still some of the best wine I've ever tasted.

For the most part you can get by on the $5 and $10 bottles.

Pretty much the same problem with American wine in general. Expensive for the quality of the European stuff they're trying to imitate. $25 for an estate grown american cab franc, or $15 for an estate grown loire cab franc? I'll take the loire most days and pocket the difference.

What does "usual" mean? People like all kinds of things, but if you're going to try and make up sweeping rules like that, neophytes tend towards bombastic wines with loud flavors which pinot noir is most certainly not. As demonstrated by your affection for petite sirah. In my case my first "wow this is awesome" wine was a zin, from Ridge. Pinor noir is wildly popular right now because it's perceived as "sophisticated", not because it's particularly appealing to new drinkers.

The other problem I have with your suggestion is that pinot noir is quite expensive for anything decent, $20 pinot noir is a crapshoot and a lot of it (really most at that range) will be shitty and/or completely lacking in typicity. Typicity doesn't matter if all you want is something to drink but you're certainly not going to learn anything by drinking wine labeled as one thing but vinified to taste like something else.

Now, $20 will get you a decent petite sirah, a GSM blend, or syrah (which is a totally different grape than petite sirah). You can drop that price floor substantially if you're willing to look to imports.

Define "good". It has mass appeal and there are worse wines. It's sweet and boozy and approachable and widely available. Nobody is going to confuse it with a fine wine, but not everything has to be. A beer analogy might be Blue Moon although beer analogies have limited value.

Not all big label wine is bad. Mondavi produces some top notch stuff, you're just not going to get it for $15. If you want good wine from California prepare to pay out the ass.

The best supertanker-tier mass market wines come from Chile. They seem to have gotten the hang of decent wine a bit better than their neighbors across the Andes.

That breaks my "no animal on the label" rule of thumb.

Also tastes like fucking puke

It's literally the reason why "no animals on the label" rules exist, user. Yellow tail is single handedly responsible for the horrible reputation Australia has.

In America it's mostly true.

You Europoors keep all the tasty cheap wine for yourselves.

Easy.
You just need to follow very basic rule and let the wine "breathe" after opening.Don't start drinking right after opening.
Red wine, especially cheaper lower quality read will benefit from minimum 30 minutes better yet up to an hour of "breathing" and it will taste much better if you were just start drinking after opening.
Of course it's not going to have the aroma and flavor complexities and all other taste qualities of higher end wines but is not going to be as bad as drunk right after opening the bottle.
Letting wine "breathe" or decanting the wine is very underestimated by yahoo wine drinkers who are just looking for fast experience.

Do an experiment, buy two bottles of the same red wine and open one and let it "breathe" for let's say solid 45 minutes
(you can even 'shake' the bottle little bit, 2-3 times during the 45 min period, just swirl the wine in it so it moves and gets better contact with the air), or pour it into the decanter and let it sit in for 45 min.
NOTE: when pouring into the decanter don't do the rapid method pour. Pour it slowly. Rapid method is unnecessary harsh on the wine, let the air enter the wine slower.

After 45 minutes open the other bottle and start drinking both, and compare the difference.
Tho must be noted that some red wines benefit more from "breathing" some less. But definitely helps.
If you don't let red wines "breathe" before drinking, even $40 bottle of wine will not taste to it's potential and might even taste flat and nothing special.
So don't underestimate this. Even witch cheaper wines.

it's colder in the northern rhone so grape isn't a disgusting bomb of tanin

breathing does literally nothing with young wines

>stop confusing a grape with the Aussies who ruined it
LOL, this is funny, but true.
Aussies paired the syrah with the kangaroo meat so that's why they ruin it

drinking a glass of cum makes you less gay than drinking wine

you are wrong of course.
are you suggesting that young wines don't mix with the air that let's them to 'relax' after being locked in the bottle for year or two or more
get real please.

I know about letting wine breathe. I use aerators and decanters, or pour the wine against the side of the glass and swish it around. That is often a must to make the cheap wines I prefer to by drinkable, but it won't do anything to save Yellowtail. That shit is not wine.

You have to also remember that the same wine might taste to you different on different days, some days might taste not so good or so great.
Reason for that is that our diet is affecting our sense of taste and how other foods or drinks react.
Many times I was surprised that quite good quality wine that I had few days before was nothing special few days latter, and it has to do with the food I had that day.
Also believe it or not but the weather, humidity of the air and barometrical pressure that day will effect how the wine tastes to you.

>but it won't do anything to save Yellowtail. That shit is not wine.
LOL.
OK, I must confess that I posted yellowtail on purpose to trigger reactions.Yes I agree yellowtail could be very harsh, depends on the grapes of course.
Shiraz grape,Syrah wines are very complex and 'heavy' and tricky, even the double or triple the price than Y-T syrah could be nothing special never mind the cheap stocks of y-t

I'm not sure if this is still the practice now but few years ago I've heard on the radio that Yellowtail wine brand was started by buying cheap wines from other countries
and just bottling them in Australia.
Maybe some are Australian but majority could be from all over the World if they still continue this 'buy and distribute' practice.

The fucking kangaroo picture on the label is so fucking gross and what fucking kangaroo has to do with wines you fucking Aussie dick heads.
As a rule I don't buy Aussie wines cheap or more expensive.
I don't think they are good value for the money. They of course make good wines but I'm not fan of their wines.
Or maybe I just don't want to support their economy by buying their wines.

>I must confess that I posted yellowtail on purpose to trigger reactions
Oh thank god

Eh, fast pour isn't any more "harsh on the wine" than swirling, in fact I would say swirling in the bottle is worse because it's likely to stir up sediment. Read up on hyper-aeration.

If we're talking about some aussie or lodi garbage then you shouldn't worry shaking up sediment because that shit is basically the wine version of sunny D. But if you pull that shit on a bottle of corbieres or primitivo you'll be picking sediment out of your teeth.

Obviously you don't shake up the bottle. I've never seen anyone do that, even people who rarely drink wine seem to understand how to treat the bottle (likely because treating it gently is so commonly portrayed on TV, in the movies, etc.).
Swirling takes place in the glass, while the sediment stays in the bottle.

Tbf, this 2016 Yellowtail Merlot I've been drinking lately is pretty fucking good.

Homemade wine>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Any other wine, even the most expensive

>(you can even 'shake' the bottle little bit, 2-3 times during the 45 min period, just swirl the wine in it so it moves and gets better contact with the air),
I must agree that I wasn't very specific, and using word 'swirl' the wine in the bottle could give impression that is done so much that disturbs the sediments (if they are any in that wine).
Yes,has to be done gently just to move the wine a bit.

>Tbf, this 2016 Yellowtail Merlot I've been drinking lately is pretty fucking good.
as I said >Yes I agree yellowtail could be very harsh, depends on the grapes of course.
Last time I bought y-t wine was 3 or 4 years ago, I actually had maybe 20 bottles in total of y-t various reads and from time I was also surprised that it was good or even bit better than just good
(in that price range of course).
Just the stupid kangaroo label design makes this wine such an embarrassment to buy even if that particular wine is decent or even good.
I'm just not bothering with them anymore, there is so many other wines to choose from that also have some sensible graphics design on it.
Why do I need to look like a total loser at the pay counter holding bottle with such shitty label on it picturing fucking stupid kangaroo.

Hard to say without knowing which merlot you had, and under what conditions. Just having a wine with the wrong food, or even whether or not you had it with food at all, can make a huge difference.
>Merlot is polarizing.
What the fuck? No it's not, Sideways was fiction and the joke was that his favorite wine was 100% merlot. If someone doesn't like merlot chances are they simply don't like wine

>It used to be very popular here but not so much in the last ten or fifteen years. I don't like it that much.
You're talking about trends for bottom-shelf wine. Merlot is, was, and always will be popular for good wine. Merlot quality has actually improved lately for fairly low-tier stuff because the hoi polloi have decided that pinot noir is the "it grape", so the cash-grab wine conglomorates that were all over merlot in the 90s and early 2000s are now pushing dreck labeled as PN doctored up to taste like manischewitz and adulterated with mega purple to a deep inky black, and merlot is now once again free to be merlot.

Kind of like how low-tier chardonnay has somewhat improved due to the trickle-down effect of ABC stigma, as cash-grab conglomorates have moved to sauvignon blanc for their supermarket tier swill and lower end chardonnay producers have been freed of the pressure to do full malo and toss a dump truck full of oak chips into every tank.

> The other major Italian variety is Chianti
Italy is about more than supertuscans and chianti dude. Some of the greatest wines from Italy are from Piedmont and Aosta, up near the French border. I think most reasonable people would put them at a higher tier than Tuscany despite the 90s craze for supertuscans

>Malbec. This wine is becoming more popular
Argie malbec went fully mainstream in the 90s and they're experiencing a backlash as consumers have tired of the heavy-handed, overextracted, over-oaked gut bombs that made them famous 20 years ago. The current trend in "up and coming" argie wines is Torrontes.

>Hard to say without knowing which merlot you had, and under what conditions. Just having a wine with the wrong food, or even whether or not you had it with food at all, can make a huge difference.
^^^THIS
and add different weather conditions on that day and it will taste different.

>Sideways was fiction
Just because a movie made a meme out of it doesn't mean there's no truth to it. I'm not saying I wouldn't drink it if it were the only choice, but I never prefer Merlot over other similarly-priced options. Lots of people who like some red wine don't like it. I think you might be oversensitive to criticism of Merlot because of that meme.

Your other comments are appreciated. I will check out Northern Italian wines and Torrontes if I come across them. Tuscans and Chianti are just usually the only choices for Italian wine at grocery stores, which is why I say they are the "major varieties" (i.e., they are what a first-time wine buyer will have to choose from). In fact, at some places (World Market, off the top of my head) the Italian selection is like 90% Chianti, which drives me crazy.

eh, cheval blanc is a blend, usually cab franc dominant ... and really after qualities that are found in an an exceedingly good pinot noir.

merlot in a blend is fine - on it's own, 95% is fucking garbage. to me, at least. - I mean overpowering to the point of puking. like a "ripe" fish. Throw the fish in some other dish...and all of a sudden it's delicious.

>merlot in a blend is fine - on it's own, 95% is fucking garbage.
Oh yeah, definitely. When I say I don't like Merlot, I mean domestic wine that is just labeled as merlot. It doesn't detract from like a Bordeaux or something to me.

>Just because a movie made a meme out of it doesn't mean there's no truth to it.
The "truth" behind the meme is that in wine, as in many hobbies, a few people will be insufferable douchebags and espouse contradictory beliefs to provoke others or to seem "deep", usually due to having emotional problems. Which is what Paul Giamatti's character was. A guy with problems, who professed to (if not boasted about) hating merlot, even though he secretly loved it. The historical subtext was that at the time the movie came out, merlot was also the "it grape" among casuals, although that hasn't been true for some time.

>I think you might be oversensitive to criticism of Merlot because of that meme.
I don't really drink that much of it and when I do, I rarely if ever drink pure merlots - the last time I drank a pure merlot was about a year ago. This year my most consumed grapes have been nebbiolo, pinot noir, syrah, touriga nacional, riesling, gewurtz, and cab franc. In roughly that order. Although tonight as it happens I'm drinking a bordeaux blend which is 57% merlot.

> wine at grocery stores
General tip for getting the best bang for your buck - don't buy wine at grocery stores. You won't get a good selection and you'll pay more and get less. I like chianti too, but it's sad to see Italy reduced to two styles of wine from one region. You should find some smaller shops in your area where the inventory is primarily wine, that's where you'll find the most interesting stuff and the best deals.

>cheval blanc
They changed that for the movie due to some kind of permission issue, the original story was petrus, which is pure merlot

>I mean overpowering to the point of puking
That's a strange reaction, maybe you drank too much of it once and it's a psychosomatic response?

Sorry anons, what movie you are talking about

youtube.com/watch?v=KXXDC5FarhE

LOL
Thanks

whatever, still doesn't do shit

About to open this Magnum of Rose with some friends. This is a pretty excellent California winery, really like their white wines.

I think you are memeing, but there is unironically nothing wrong with Rose. Just because it is popular now does not mean it is ruined. I wouldn't drink it in the winter of course, but on a warm day Rose is perfect for any kind of day-time activity involving drinking.

eh, I think your assumption that the old petrus bottle was 100% merlot stems from that particular wine being ONLY merlot since 2010. The pomerol appelation has a significant portion of cab franc grown historically - and I suspect the idealized petrus in the book would have a similar cab franc/merlot blend - again an excellent "replacement" for an excellent bottle of pinot noir.

This is all my own personal opinion - based on some excellent cab franc/merlot blends and my appreciation with how much they share with some of the valued pinot noir bottles I've enjoyed.

I think the main point of the book OR the movie was pointing out the HUGE fucking error modern california merlot producers have - and the fact they're attempting to shove overripe fish down our throats, when we're really after a nice balanced bouillabaisse. The fact that california offers an inferior pinot noir(based on terrior), and albeit, a superior merlot - exemplifies the opinion of the author.

Some people enjoy merlot on it's own - but hey - I'll take a shitty pinot or a merlot/cab franc blend over any 100% merlot any day of the week.

I 100% stand by the opinion that merlot in it's current form is a travesty to what the california wine industry could be.

So, which country has the best cheap wine, Veeky Forums?

>real man drinking rose wine
>and people are surprised that society is collapsing

Not actually meming, I love me some rose as long as its good and not overly sweet. Its probably a little cold for rose right now where I am but for the crowd that will consume it, it will work nicely. My wine dude was trying to move the last of the magnums so it was cheaper than normal

>rose did nothing wrong

chile :3 - if you're in america.

europe - drink country of origin.

I drank a white (I don't know alot) Liebfraumilch from germany in the US. It was 4.99. Best white I've had in the US under 30 bucks. lot of body and complexity. Was really impressed by the price tag.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liebfraumilch

Definitely Italy, see examples in pic here

Jeremy Clarkson is a casual

What are some good white wines I should try?
I normally stick to reds and every time I've tried whites I found them sugary and lacking in flavor complexity.

ver-deh-how

yes, white wine is sweeter than reds
if you find decent tasting very dry white wine keep the secret, they are quite rare. Lol

>was supposed to show what a dumbass that guy is
>mercans took it as 'he knows about wine'

explain, pleb

I hope this is meant as a joke

There tons of easily available sauvignon blancs with

>Cloudy Bay
>McDonalds
>Nespresso
Fucking hell, British people really don't give a shit do they

>I 100% stand by the opinion that merlot in it's current form is a travesty to what the california wine industry could be.
California's wine industry as a whole is a travesty. I don't know why you're singling out merlot.

eh, only due to it's potential to god-tier status of compared with the "known" varietals and blends. I'm not intentionally singling out merlot, save for the topic of OP.

if there's travesty to had - it's the undeveloped PNW at large - and the uneducated application of oceanic climates to emulate the european varietals.

I hear from too many vineyards up there - "It's too wet" - fucking lol

what's worse/harder, being a slav man or a slav woman

Man. At least there's a chance you can be sold to someone in a different country if you're a woman.

I remember first time I did a full enema I couldn't believe how much my sense of taste/smell improved. was blown away.

but ye I went through 3 bottles of dreaming tree past week. seriously amazing

>dreaming tree
???
post a pic pls

no actual pic cause I'm poorfag with no phone

>tfw allergic to red wine

Is this any good?

Thanks user.
That's a nice looking label design. Not that kangaroo crap.

Dreaming Tree wines. Might try one day, especially cab sauv. Like decent cabs.

was on sale for $13 so I grabbed it. jelly I got no more tho

I had it before 2 years ago last time, red and white.Nothing special.

>I had it before 2 years ago last time, red and white.Nothing special.
>, red and white
I mean I had theirs red and white wines, not that particular in the anons picture.
It might be better than the 'nothing special' I had, who knows.

I’m drinking it now. It’s sparkling wine and I’ve mixed it with cherry juice. It’s pretty tasty