The Grapes of Wrath - The wine thread...

[from Margaritaville...]

Some of us Org members care to indulge occasionally with "the nectar of the gods". I find no need to spend exorbitant sums to find suitable wines to accompany salads, to get soaked up by warm sourdough bread or to compliment a fine thick cut of grilled steak. Today I opened a chilled bottle of Santa Barbara Landing Chardonnay. Just sipping on it after an afternoon hiking through IKEA...Mmmmmmmm...

[from Margaritaville...]

Originally Posted by from Margaritaville...

...Today I opened a chilled bottle of Santa Barbara Landing Chardonnay...

I picked up this selection from Trader Joe's a month ago for about $3.99, This is my second bottle of this delightful wine...

[scarabY2k]

Good thread. Not really a wine drinker but for health reasons am considering getting into it.

I guess ripple dosen't count huh?

[Johnny Ohio]

I enjoy a little wine once in awhile myself. I am by no means a true wine lover, but check out www.breitenbachwine.com Great stuff and affordable. I can highly recommend their Road House Red and Frost Fire( It tastes exactly like white grapes) Lets hear about your local wines!

[LadybugEwa]

I like a nice full-bodied red every once in a while. My fave is from Chile. They have very tasty wines that don't cost a lot. My faves are from the Santa Alica winery. Their Reserve Merlot is to die for!

[Moviequill]

we drink Fat Bastard from France in honor of Austin Powers (I am serious, it is a fantastic chardonnay)... just tried Francis Ford Coppola's chardonnay too, not too bad... "I love the smell of crushed grapes in the morning... it smells like... Napa Valley because I am too damn cheap to fly to France and the wife is airplane phobic)

[from Margaritaville...]

This evening I uncorked a chilled bottle of "Bear's Lair", a 2004 vintage cabernet sauvignon that I found at Trader Joe's for a few meager dollars last weekend. Very pleasing on its own and a nice balance of taste. About $4...

[marvins_dad]

Ever since my trek to Italy I have become an Italian Red snob.

[dgoldbe2]

I drink reds primarily.

A good inexpensive wine is Trinchero Family.

I usually keep a couple of bottles of it around to open whenever, and the more expensive stuff (Reininger Helix Pomatia and Helix Merlot are my current favorites) for good meals.

A few other inexpensive reds are Irony, Avalon, and Root. My grocery store carries a huge selection, and my liquor store is around the corner from my house, so except for the Helix, which I order online, I can pretty much find what I want.

[AmyJane]

Originally Posted by Moviequill

we drink Fat Bastard from France in honor of Austin Powers (I am serious, it is a fantastic chardonnay)... just tried Francis Ford Coppola's chardonnay too, not too bad... "I love the smell of crushed grapes in the morning... it smells like... Napa Valley because I am too damn cheap to fly to France and the wife is airplane phobic)

I LOVE Fat Bastard Shiraz!

I also love the wine from one of the local wineries here. Pindar's Long Island Spring Splendor, Long Island Winter White, Long Island Summer Blush and Long Island Autumn Gold.

The Spring Splendor is fermented with American cranberry it's tart yet sweet and good when paired with BBQ, beef and fish and served chilled.

The Winter White is a white wine and semi-dry.

The Summer Blush has a strawberry flavor but the flavor come from Suffolk red grapes not strawberries. Goes with hamburger, fish and poultry.

And last but definitely not least the Autumn Gold is a delicate white wine, kind of like a Pinot Gris, and goes well with fish, chicken and cheeses.
I seriously love my Pindar wines!!
If anyone is curious, you can buy them online and I know they sell their wines worldwide so there's a possibility they could have some in your local liquor store. There are TONS of different kinds of Pindar wines. I, luckily have a Pindar store that I can shop in whenever I want.

http://www.pindar.net/

We have lots of wineries out here on LI. It's like a mini Napa Valley

http://www.niteplanner.com/wineries/

[iScott]

I don't drink, but Grapes of Wrath was a great book!

[from Margaritaville...]

Just picked up a bottle of Pacific Rim dry Reisling. It was about $6 at Trader Joe's. Unusual wine bottles tempt me to try their wines...

[Alan From NYC]

I like a bit of sweetness to wine, so I used to be very fond of Rieslings. Remember "Blue Nun?"

When traveling, I also used to enjoy local stuff, particularly from Washington and Oregon. Connecticut was interesting, too.

Wine shops (and, I guess wine bars, too) seem to push Chilean and Australian wines, which can be excellent.

Here's a suggestion. Next time you have beef for an entre, try a Spanish Rioja. Full bodied and very drinkable.

Okay, one more. Champagnes are too often neglected until New Year's Eve. Unless you have a really sensitive palette, many inexpensive champanges are great, for appetizers, entrees and dessert. And of course, apperitifs.

[niki]

I've just started to get into drinking wine. Wine tasting can be sooooo fun!

My favorite so far is a Reisling and I found a sparking wine I liked a LOT! My friends and I also like to make spritzers with Sprite and White Zin.

[Alan From NYC]

Originally Posted by niki

I've just started to get into drinking wine. Wine tasting can be sooooo fun!

Wine tasting can be even more fun at a vineyard. Maybe someone should start planting seeds for a Sonoma Valley New Beetle GTG?

[BeetleCouture]

A wine tasting GTG would be excellent. There aren't too many out here, but definitely you folks on the West Coast should try.

I'm not a very huge wine fan, but my absolute favorite is Umberto Fiore Moscato D'Asti. It's a sweet sparkling wine with a low alcohol content, I personally think it goes great with spicy Thai food. I'm also fond of any Scuppernong wine, however they're very hard to find here. Yummm.

[niki]

Ashley, I'll have to try that one! I like the sparkling wines because they're sweet. I can't do the ones that are too winey tasting yet. I'm working my way up though because a year ago I wouldn't touch the stuff!

When my friends and I went wine tasting, we were at the LA County Fair and man... that was a good time!

[Interlinker]

My wife and I are connoisseurs of sorts when it comes to wine. When we travel, we pick up wine from winerys. Usually lots of bottles come back home with us. LOL The latest winery was Coffee Cake winery in Jewett, OH. We also bought a case from St. James winery in the Ozark Mountains in Missouri. I love the dry reds while my wife lights the crisp whites. But most chicks do like the whites! LOL My fav is the Robert Mondavi Private selection Cab Sauv. In restraunts it goes for $78 a bottle but at the local supermarket it goes for $10.99. Crazy markup eh???

[The Cheat]

i'm not a big fan of wine...but i've been known to down a bottle of moscato or riesling. the wine keeps the buzz i have from the jimmy or john going.

[Alan From NYC]

See? There are wineries just about everywhere! With a little digging, it shouldn't be difficult for anyone to organize a GTG if enough people show interest.