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Skippy’s adventures with the Juice. Or maybe misadventures?


Skippy
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Okay, I put Pinot Noir in the title the other day and there have been a lot of hits on that thread. That makes me think that most of you like Pinot. Maybe the Meridian 2005 that I selected wasn't such a good choice or maybe my palate is just in such a unrefined state that I don't good from bad. :D

 

Where I am at tonight:

I have a bottle of Grant Burge Barossa Shiraz that is marked as a Chairman's Selection and as such was sitting right out front of my wine store. Well, I grab a bottle since I am sure the Chairman knows his wine and would not try to beat me out of my $9.99. I have opened and swallowed a glass and so far I am not at all impressed. I am not getting the 'deep cherry red, with youthful purple hues and complex aromas of blackberries, raspberries, dark cherries, black pepper, with subtle cedary oak and cured meat aromas in the background' at all. :D

 

I don't mean that it is terrible but it is not at all something that I would go back and buy again.

 

It is a darkish red. It is fairly smooth going down and I would say that it has a medium finish if I understand what the term means. I can not taste any of the fruits that they say are in there but I do think that I taste the black pepper a little. I will not be finishing this bottle of juice. I will drink about half of it total to hope that something wakes up in my taste but I am not thinking that anything will.

 

The other night I had two bottles of a Beringer White Merlot that we really enjoyed. It was really smooth with a great smell. I think that I was tasting some cherry flavor with some sort of spice. No matter what is was good. Also it was another cheap bottle at $8.99. I thought is was good enough that I went out and purchased six more bottles to keep around and drink after I have a bottle like the one I opened tonight.

 

Current rank of my recent adventures:

 

1. Beringer 2005 White Merlot

2. Grant Burge Barossa Shiraz 2004

3. Meridian 2005 Pinot Noir

 

I suspect that as I taste more cheap wines that these three will stay pretty close to the rank that I have them in that the Beringer White Merlot is the top, the Grant Burge Shiraz is in the middle and the Meridian Pinot is at the bottom.

 

Sorry to take up the space but it seems that a lot of you guys like to talk about the Juice and I am hoping that someone has had some experience with some of the ones that I listed and shares a little opinion.

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Keep at it Skippy! The best advice that I could give to anyone that is looking to move from white wiens to red wiens would be to start in the shallow end and work your way into the deep end. You need to start with something like a Beaujolias (this is a fruity light wine) and work your way up. It would be good to discuss with a wien expert at your local wien store. Try these types of wien Shiraz, Syrah, Grenache, Zinfandel... learn to swirl and aerate the wien, stick your nose in the glass and take in the aroma of a wien. Then coat your entire mouth with the wien and swish it around. It gets dramatized as far as what wien snobs do with a wien quaffing swirling sniffing etc... but there is a reason they do it.

 

When you are starting to drink red wien ALWAYS try it with a good cut of meat (food and wine go hand in hand), DON'T drink wien by itself when starting! Let the wine breath and open up, like Bier said one of the joys of wien is how it changes over a few or many hours.

 

Many of us didn't like things the first time we tried them, but now the majority of us enjoy coffee, beer, whiskey, etc... Keep Trying!

 

:D

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Tonight is going to be a variety of different wines starting about 10pm. I am going to head to the wine shop and pick up four or five different bottles. I think I am going to go right with Sundaynfl’s suggestions and get:

1. Beaujolia

2. Syrah

3. Grenache

4. Zinfandel

I have a Pinot ready to go so if my wife and I feel the need to get real crazy there will be that one also.

 

If anyone jumps on here real soon and wants to suggest a name for any of those varieties feel free.

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Tonight is going to be a variety of different wines starting about 10pm. I am going to head to the wine shop and pick up four or five different bottles. I think I am going to go right with Sundaynfl’s suggestions and get:

1. Beaujolia

2. Syrah

3. Grenache

4. Zinfandel

I have a Pinot ready to go so if my wife and I feel the need to get real crazy there will be that one also.

 

If anyone jumps on here real soon and wants to suggest a name for any of those varieties feel free.

 

 

With all these wines it's best to ask the guy at the store... but if they have these...

 

1. George DeBoeuf

2. Pillar Box Red... let breath for a while

3. Bonny Doon ( I haven't had in a while but they make a pretty good value wine.) Grenache

4. Seghesio is usually a pretty good value Zin.

 

All of the above are at or below $10... I think???

Edited by sundaynfl
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Just to add a little here. Don't be afraid to try a meritage(sp?) One I like is Red Truck from Cline. It has a little of everything and is a great beginners wine. It also is around $10 so if you don't like it, so what.

 

As for some recommendation's I enjoy the Syrah from Penfolds, they make some great juice at a variety of price points.

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As for some recommendation's I enjoy the Syrah from Penfolds, they make some great juice at a variety of price points.

Just a quick note here: Penfolds (and other Australian wineries) call their syrah "shiraz" (I wouldn't want Skippy wandering around crazy trying to figure out why he can't find a Penfolds Syrah anywhere).

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I am currently three bottles in to my tasteing for Thanksgiving eve. I am to whacked to really give a good report but the Pinot from Beringer was much better than the Meridian that I had the first night. The Shiraz that I am drinking right now is pretty tasty. The one that I had, :D, before this one was pretty good. My wife and I are on the same page. I am going to stuff the turkey tonight.

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This thread is cracking me up. :D

 

How's the hangover? :D

 

:bash:

 

I honestly don't get very hungover. I ended the night after six bottles of juice and while I am not ready for my mixed up notes, I can tell you that sweeter is not always better. That was something that I thought going in to the night but the last bottle that I finished was a Zinfandel that really was too kool aid'ish.

 

More to come when my thoughts clear.

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Here goes a quick little synopsis of last night. It was a Beringer winery night.

 

Started with one that we had the other night and that we both liked. It was the Beringer 2005 White Merlot and once again we really enjoyed this one as we drank it while getting the holiday food ready for today.

 

After the White Merlot we decided to give a Beringer Pinot a try. This one has been out in my new Decanter for at least two hours and while I have no clue what to do with my decanter I did swirl the wine several times during its decanting. :D This Pinot was pretty good. It was much better than the Meridian that we had the first night and is a wine that I would go back and buy again. I still don’t know what I am tasting other than some plum, (I think), but it was good.

 

Next up was Beringer Shiraz that I had opened at least two hours before the first pour. At this point I am digging the decanter and the filter that aerates that wine so once the Merlot was finished I poured a little of the Shiraz in the decanter and swirled the crap out of it to try to ‘clean’ it with the current juice. :D Drank the swirled cleaning mixture and put the rest of the Shiraz through the Skippy decanting process. We start on this and immediately both agree that the White Merlot and the Pinot were both better. This one is not terrible but is not great either.

 

Back the Skippy decanting process as I prepped the decanter with a Beringer Merlot. Just a Merlot this time. No White in front of the Merlot. We enjoyed it and thought that there was a lot of flavors that we could taste but there was no way that either of us could identify. At this point we are eating raw stuffing to complement the juice so you know our palettes are whacked. This Merlot while good enough was not great so I actually did not finish the bottle 100% so that I would have a taste of it at another time. I poured the ¼ cup back into the bottle and vacuum sealed.

 

Popped open a Beringer White Zinfandel and things got to sweet for me. That did not stop us from drinking it as it was not bad but it really was just a little too sweet. I don’t think that I will buy this one again unless I want to let the kids drink as it really was that sweet.

 

Next test is scheduled for Friday night. :bash:

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Here goes a quick little synopsis of last night. It was a Beringer winery night.

 

Started with one that we had the other night and that we both liked. It was the Beringer 2005 White Merlot and once again we really enjoyed this one as we drank it while getting the holiday food ready for today.

 

After the White Merlot we decided to give a Beringer Pinot a try. This one has been out in my new Decanter for at least two hours and while I have no clue what to do with my decanter I did swirl the wine several times during its decanting. :D This Pinot was pretty good. It was much better than the Meridian that we had the first night and is a wine that I would go back and buy again. I still don’t know what I am tasting other than some plum, (I think), but it was good.

 

Next up was Beringer Shiraz that I had opened at least two hours before the first pour. At this point I am digging the decanter and the filter that aerates that wine so once the Merlot was finished I poured a little of the Shiraz in the decanter and swirled the crap out of it to try to ‘clean’ it with the current juice. :D Drank the swirled cleaning mixture and put the rest of the Shiraz through the Skippy decanting process. We start on this and immediately both agree that the White Merlot and the Pinot were both better. This one is not terrible but is not great either.

 

Back the Skippy decanting process as I prepped the decanter with a Beringer Merlot. Just a Merlot this time. No White in front of the Merlot. We enjoyed it and thought that there was a lot of flavors that we could taste but there was no way that either of us could identify. At this point we are eating raw stuffing to complement the juice so you know our palettes are whacked. This Merlot while good enough was not great so I actually did not finish the bottle 100% so that I would have a taste of it at another time. I poured the ¼ cup back into the bottle and vacuum sealed.

 

Popped open a Beringer White Zinfandel and things got to sweet for me. That did not stop us from drinking it as it was not bad but it really was just a little too sweet. I don’t think that I will buy this one again unless I want to let the kids drink as it really was that sweet.

 

Next test is scheduled for Friday night. :bash:

 

 

Did you pick Beringer on your own or did you speak to a salesperson at the liqour store who was actually a Beringer rep.????

 

Sounds like you had fun!

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Did you pick Beringer on your own or did you speak to a salesperson at the liqour store who was actually a Beringer rep.????

 

Sounds like you had fun!

 

I picked it on my own based on some experince from a long time ago. When I talked with a saleperson at the store he really didn't seem to know much. I was pretty much on my own other than one or two things that he suggested. I did go with his two suggestions and they will be up for the Friday night test.

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If I can add something...

 

For starters, I don't believe that wines like White Merlot and White Zin are good bridge wines as they likely do more to special your appreciation of wine than they do at easing you into it. They typically have some rather pronounced residual sugar and rarely exhibit the true flavors that either Merlot or Zin show as they are made from the cheapest grapes available on the market. Thus, you wont find yourself any closer to understanding wine even if you drink those everyday.

 

I also don't share Sundaynfl's opinion that Beaujolais is a a good starter wine. Honestly, I think it's one of those wines that people can either take or leave but could just as likely turn you off to wine as bring you in. My wife hates Beaujolais. Certainly the Nouveaux style is very fruity but many have some rather curious flavors. The cru style is certainly one that I've had mixed experiences turning people on to.

 

I absolutely endorse the Grenache suggestion because what you want are simple and agreeable wines that don't have a ton of acid. Over time, your palate may become more refined and you'll be looking for more high-toned wines, but right now it's about unpaid friendty, ripe, and easy (how's that for cut and paste material?).

 

That Bonny Doon choice is a good one as are a bunch from Spain. Spain (not the livestock molesting variety, mind you) should be your best friend in your intro to wine. For starters, the quality to cost ratio is off the charts. At every price point, they deliver and even a lot of the high-end versions don't need years to come around (some, of course, do). They, by the way, call Grenache "Garnacha" and make it into both a great everyday red but also a good rose (essentially a drier but still fruity version of your white merlot, etc)

 

If you want wines with some sweetness, go with German Riesling. Because I run an Asian-inspired restaurant, I try a lot and am often reminded that Germany blows doors on everyone else. Austria makes some amazing (but typically pricy) wines but you're at least 100 or so good bottles of wine away from messing with that. Go for a QBA level wine from either 04 or 05 and you should be able to get into it for what you've been paying.

 

Lastly, Merlot is actually not a bad wine to be drinking right now as well. Caught on the other side of the Sideways trend that launched Pinot into being such a bad value, you can now get some pretty good Merlot for not much money. Try to find some appelation specific wines (they'll be labeled "Napa" or "Carneros" or "Sonoma" rather than simply "California") and you'll find some honest juice. The overcropping of that grape certainly lead to it's downfall as there was a bunch of pretty bad stuff made. However, when done right it can be a very likeable wine (which was likely why it got so overproduced to begin with).

 

Shiraz is often thought of as a good intro wine because it can be so big and ripe for the money. Well that assumes that's what you're looking for. You might want to try Aussie Cabs or Merlots if the Shiraz thing isn't doing it for you. I used to sell the hell out of Greg Norman Cab/Merlot blend because everybody who bought it came back for more. I think I saw it on the top 100 list that got posted the other day.

 

Hope this helps.

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Thank you, detlef. I will refer back to your post before my next trip to the wino shop. Right now I have enough juice for this Friday's taste test. I would post them but I don't even remember what I have.

 

BTW - I really never got into the wine with dinner thing but the other day I popped open a Kendal Jackson Reisling(sp) that really went well with our Changs Spicy Chicken.

 

Detlef - I don't know if the Ju Ju Bee is anything like PF Changs but that place has shot way up to one of our favorite places to eat during the past year.

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Detlef just fell over in his chair. :D

 

Honestly, I respect Changs even though I don't dine there often. We're like Changs in as much as we serve Asian inspired food in a slicker setting than your typical Chinese joint. We're also a ton smaller and have a much more ambitious beverage program and menu. Here's an example of a special dinner we're preparing for a client next weekend.

 

Dinner for xxxxxx Architects

Saturday Dec 9th, 2006

 

Jello Salad

-Sevruga caviar with dashi aspic and cauliflower panna cotta

 

-Champagne Jean Milan cuvee Jean Charles Milan

 

T Keller’s Bacon and Eggs (sort of)

-Poached quail egg and Chinese bacon with sake, shallot emulsion

 

Curious Fritters

-Snow pea leaf and currant

-Meat stuffed sticky rice

-Taro root and goat cheese

 

-2002 Lucienne Crochet Sancerre

 

Surf and Turf

-Spice encrusted scallop and sweetbreads with black truffle and shaoxing broth

 

-1998 Chateau Musar Blanc

 

Duck, Duck, Goose

-Sweet potato, five-spice duck confit cake with jujube preserves

-Vietnamese style duck liver pate with black rice “toasts”

-Seared foie gras with green pineapple chutney and chestnut honey

 

-2002 Nigal Riesling Privat

 

Pan-roasted duck breast with candied walnuts,

asian root vegetables and madeira glaze

 

-2003 Giridan Santenay

 

Curry-rubbed rack of lamb with watercress flan and pomegranate jus

 

-2002 Hyde de Villaine Syrah

 

Assorted cheeses with quince puree and roasted pear

 

-2002 Domaine Weinbach Pinot Gris Altenbourg Vendage Tardives

 

Cranberry, apple crisp with ginger ice cream

 

-Peller Estates Cabernet Franc Ice Wine

 

Chocolate, five-spice pot de creme

 

-Barolo Chinato

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Saturday Dec 9th, 2006 @ Ju Ju Be. Then we can all die very happy men.

 

detlet, that menu is way to sophisticated for me. Not that I would not grub away at it and drink every drop but I don't even know what more than half of that is. :D

 

I used to go to some rather upscale dinner events with my mother who was in a pretty high position at the University of Pittsburgh. I was a total outsider but do to my age the people loved me. I had manners and knew that if they served me a snail I would eat the snail. However, I had some of the most amazing dishes but still have no clue what they were. I also had some pretty bad ones, mostly to do with cheese, but still did not embarrass my mom.

 

Today, I rarely order something that I don’t know. I have been known to hold up the waiter for way to long as she tries to tell me what a dish is. I have ordered based on a waiter saying that something is really good. Most times they are correct.

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