The Red Wine Thread

My wife and I love Paso, favorite wine region. Haven't had the opportunity to do Napa but feel Paso will still win

We've done most of the major wine areas in CA and our favorite by far was Paso. Great wines, not at all pretentious, more friendly and not just about collecting a tasting fee. We have friends who live 6-months of the year here and 6 months in Paso so we've got a place to crash when go.
 
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About to dive into this from The Prisoner. Will report back!
 
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About to dive into this from The Prisoner. Will report back!
Curious your thoughts! Had a wine from prisoner on my 21st and I’m sure I didn’t appreciate as much as I would now
 
REALLY good! I’m a big Cab fan and usually Pinot is very light, but this is delicious. Not too sweet, a bit dry and stands up well. Will buy again.
 
We had a couple of nice bottles over the weekend.

This Bordeaux:
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And this Tuscan:
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Both were in the $20-25 range and super tasty. I am not great at describing what the flavors are but my wife and I enjoyed both of them.
 
Well, I finally opened that Menage a Trois Cabernet. It's not what I thought it would be. It's a red wine. Not bad with Sprite:LOL:. Sorry... I'm not a wine drinker.
 
I usually don't do a Cab with pizza. In fact, never. Must be a lighter style of Cab. Beer and Pizza are good partners as well as a Zinfandel or Italian Red. But a Cab - would not have thought it.

Great minds think alike! A stout but fruity Zin, real red Zin not that insipid, sweet pink stuff, would be perfect with pizza! In fact, back when young Cabs could be a little stiff with tannin, I preferred a Zin, or a less tannic Italian red with steak. Tannins are short chain proteins, that would seem to "clash" with the proteins in the steak! In the day, you had to age a Cab to let the tannins polymerize and settle into the sediment.

over the last couple nights we drank tesoro de bullas monastrell from total wine. for $20 it was pretty tasty.


Oh lord! I do love me some mourvedre, or monastrell in Spain! True story. We're at the Monterey Wine Festival, the opening night of which is held at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Quite spectacular! I'm wandering around looking for new wineries, when I spot a short, white haired gentleman behind a table bearing the banner "Phillips Vineyards, Lodi, Ca." I go there and ask if they make zinfandel. He says they do, but first he wants me to taste his Syrah! Hmmmm. It's wonderful! Then he says he wants me to taste his mourvedre. Absolutely heavenly! I tell him that I need to go find the rest of the crew, and get them over there.

I find them, and when we return there's still nobody at his table. The snobs didn't want to be bothered with a wine from Lodi! Turns out they made wonderful wines at very reasonable prices. So, we bought their wines, and were quite successful with them. Except for the mourvedre! People around here didn't know what the heck it was!

One of my favs hands down

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Uhhh, YEAH! Another true story. We were in Monterey again for the wine festival. We had run into a friend and local restauranteur who had the best wine selection in the tri-county area, and invited him to dinner at Casanova in Carmel. As we are walking toward the restaurant, he suddenly yells out, "Charlie Caymus, you overpriced SOB!" I'm cringing as this guy ahead of us whirls around! He catches sight of us and says, "Richard, you loudmouth bastard!" Then they're hugging, and we're being introduced. A big plus was being presented with a bottle of Caymus Special Selection during dinner, courtesy of Chuck Caymus!

I know a lot of folks think of fine wine people as stuffy, and there are certainly plenty of those. But a lot of people in fine wine are very down to earth!
 
Looking for a bit of insight, had a Tuscan cab by Cignale last night and wasn’t what I was expecting. Very alcohol forward and earthy. Much different than the Cali Cabs I’ve grown to like lately. Is that normal for the variety or did I get one that was “off?”
 
I need to start upping my wine game. I can surely appreciate a good tasting wine, just hard to justify since the wife doesn't drink wine, and unlike bourbon, once these are opened they'll go back soon.

That said, finished off a bottle of Josh pinot noir, pretty decent but definitely need to compare it to a better wine to see what I like vs don't like
 
Looking for a bit of insight, had a Tuscan cab by Cignale last night and wasn’t what I was expecting. Very alcohol forward and earthy. Much different than the Cali Cabs I’ve grown to like lately. Is that normal for the variety or did I get one that was “off?”

that’s pretty indicative of italian terroir imho. i find most italian wines to lack much fruit. we ate some amazing food when we were in rome and tuscany. but the entire time we were there, we never drank a bottle of red wine that i enjoyed.
 
Looking for a bit of insight, had a Tuscan cab by Cignale last night and wasn’t what I was expecting. Very alcohol forward and earthy. Much different than the Cali Cabs I’ve grown to like lately. Is that normal for the variety or did I get one that was “off?”

Cignale is not a brand that I am familiar with. Since you mention that it is Cabernet based, is it supposed to be a "super Tuscan" red? Grown in the Bolgheri region of Tuscany? This was kicked off by the Barone Incisa della Rocchetta who was fed up with the stodgy Italian government wine bureaucracy! He began planting Bordeaux varietals in a coastal region of Tuscany, and named the wine Sassicaia. Piero Antinori, head of another of Tuscany's most ancient wine making families followed suit, and called his wine Tignanello. Next came Ornellaia from the Frescobaldi family who has been in the wine business for 700 years!

that’s pretty indicative of italian terroir imho. i find most italian wines to lack much fruit. we ate some amazing food when we were in rome and tuscany. but the entire time we were there, we never drank a bottle of red wine that i enjoyed.

I find this to be a shame, and I don't know what to attribute it to. Perhaps because Italian wines need a bit of time to show their fruit! It used to be that way with Bordeaux and California cabernet based wines. I had a cellar full of Cali cabs from the 70's and let them lie down for 20+ years! OMG! They were so good! And none of the measure over 12.5% alcohol. We'll not enjoy that any more!

We are now too much in a hurry. Nowadays we get big, fat wines full of alcohol and up front fruit, but incapable of further development! This kind of makes me sad, that wineries are now pumping out overly alcoholic, unrestrained, fruit forward wines, that have no capability of attaining further complexity! I consider this a disaster!

Yet, I do understand it. We now live in a "microwave" society. We want things "now"! We don't have the patience to age wine. And that's kind of a shame. I've tasted some magnificent wines in my lifetime, and they were all "old"!

It's hard for me to pick the number one!
 
What's the best pinot I can get at my local wine and spirits shop? What have you tried and really liked?
 
What's the best pinot I can get at my local wine and spirits shop? What have you tried and really liked?

what’s your budget?
 
I would go up to $50 if it was really good. To be honest I've never had a $50 bottle of wine before
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Here is an apparent deal in your area Fine Wine and Good Spirits - call them to make sure
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@AndyL0711 I don't know your wine knowledge, but if you don't have a wine fridge, and want to serve it quick, put it gently in the freezer for 20 minutes and it will be about the right temp.

Wine heresy for sure, as critics will say - slow changes only - but I've done it many times as a quick way to get it at a decent temp for oh, 40 years. ...;)
 
@AndyL0711 I don't know your wine knowledge, but if you don't have a wine fridge, and want to serve it quick, put it gently in the freezer for 20 minutes and it will be about the right temp.

Wine heresy for sure, as critics will say - slow changes only - but I've done it many times as a quick way to get it at a decent temp for oh, 40 years. ...;)
My "wine knowledge" is basically zero. I will admit I have bought bottles of wine because I like the pic on it 😆
 
I would go up to $50 if it was really good. To be honest I've never had a $50 bottle of wine before

i’m not a big pinot guy. imho belle glos single vineyard are pretty good for the guy who likes a fuller body pinot. i think they can be had a little under your price range and usually readily available.

that’s a lot to spend on wine. price and enjoyment don’t always go hand in hand with wine. my best recommendation is to find a smaller retailer, tell them what you like and see if they can make a recommendation.

and definitely report back!
 
i’m not a big pinot guy. imho belle glos single vineyard are pretty good for the guy who likes a fuller body pinot. i think they can be had a little under your price range and usually readily available.

that’s a lot to spend on wine. price and enjoyment don’t always go hand in hand with wine. my best recommendation is to find a smaller retailer, tell them what you like and see if they can make a recommendation.

and definitely report back!
I need to find an actual wine store instead of going to my local wine and spirits mega mart
 
The wife and I got a bottle of the Jordan Cab the other night for Valentines Day and it was stellar!
 
@AndyL0711 I don't know your wine knowledge, but if you don't have a wine fridge, and want to serve it quick, put it gently in the freezer for 20 minutes and it will be about the right temp.

Wine heresy for sure, as critics will say - slow changes only - but I've done it many times as a quick way to get it at a decent temp for oh, 40 years. ...;)

I sold fine wine for many years, and all I can say is just don't get it too cold. The thing about serving red wines at room temp is NOT talking about the usual room temp today. It comes from a French country dining room in the middle of winter in the mid-1800's, when the room temp might be 55* to 60*. I worked the market one time (I was in wholesale) with a winemaker. At the first stop where we were going to open his wines, he asked if I had already pulled the corks and I said no. So we opened my sample bag and he grabbed his Zinfandel, pulled the cork, and did something I'd never seen before.

He smelled it, put his thumb over the opening, and shook the living crap out of that bottle! He then held it away from him and peeled back his thumb and pffft, a little CO2 escaped from the bottle. He smelled it again, and shook it again! After smelling it the second time he pronounced it ready to go. He said you needed to stir a little air through that one to get it to open up.

To the OP, I would recommend looking for some of the Gloria Ferrer Pinot Noirs. She makes quite an assortment, and I've really enjoyed every one I have tasted. Don't know what's available where you live, but they have a store locator on their website. Meiomi is also pretty good and not that expensive. FWIW, the California AVA's that I like for Pinot Noir are the Carneros region of Sonoma Co., the Sonoma Coast, the Santa Lucia Highlands, and the Santa Rite Hills AVA in Santa Barbara Co.
 
I sold fine wine for many years, and all I can say is just don't get it too cold. The thing about serving red wines at room temp is NOT talking about the usual room temp today. It comes from a French country dining room in the middle of winter in the mid-1800's, when the room temp might be 55* to 60*. I worked the market one time (I was in wholesale) with a winemaker. At the first stop where we were going to open his wines, he asked if I had already pulled the corks and I said no. So we opened my sample bag and he grabbed his Zinfandel, pulled the cork, and did something I'd never seen before.

He smelled it, put his thumb over the opening, and shook the living crap out of that bottle! He then held it away from him and peeled back his thumb and pffft, a little CO2 escaped from the bottle. He smelled it again, and shook it again! After smelling it the second time he pronounced it ready to go. He said you needed to stir a little air through that one to get it to open up.

To the OP, I would recommend looking for some of the Gloria Ferrer Pinot Noirs. She makes quite an assortment, and I've really enjoyed every one I have tasted. Don't know what's available where you live, but they have a store locator on their website. Meiomi is also pretty good and not that expensive. FWIW, the California AVA's that I like for Pinot Noir are the Carneros region of Sonoma Co., the Sonoma Coast, the Santa Lucia Highlands, and the Santa Rite Hills AVA in Santa Barbara Co.

We have great things in common. I sold fine wine at retail during law school. Started drinking at 14 when Dad let me tase CA wine - around 1970. I found the 20 minute rule works wonders for a quickie chill to get it to the right temp. :D You're right, too cold and not 🆒 or rather, too cool.;)

I gave him a good recommendation - Elk Cove is well known and that is a great deal - must be a closeout on an older wine that is coming into its best drinking years. - I think Oregon Pinot Noirs are more complex than Nor Cal. If CA, I prefer the areas you mentioned in central CA.

I've been visiting CA to taste and buy since '82, mostly north of Napa, Sonoma, Green Valley, Russian River, Dry Creek, and then north of Healdsburg across Highway 128 and then to Mendocino - that is one heck of a run!! And fun. It's always interesting.o_O And you meet a lot of fun people. Covid needs to go away so I can visit and drink again.:LOL:
 
Hard to wrong with a bottle of Oregon Pinot. $30-50 Range will get you a lot of solid options. Penner Ash is now more widely available and is dependable. If you ever find Purple Hands, grab it, their Latchkey Vineyard, Holstein Vineyard or Shea Vineyard offerings can’t be beat IMO, but aren’t widely distributed.
 
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