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barnaby33ParticipantThe problem is basically you both make valid points. There is a lot of expensive crappy wine out there. There is also a lot of decent wine that doesn’t cost a lot. What is decent and what is crap is all in the eye of the beholder. Too much emphasis is given on expert ratings. I’ve never read a wine speculator, not even once. I’ve never read Parker either. I’d prefer to figure out what I like on my own.
I’ve found the easiest way to do that is to join a tasting group. Mine meets every Friday at Vintage wines at 5. Its because of this group that I know what I do. Half the fun is disagreeing.
Joshbarnaby33ParticipantThe problem is basically you both make valid points. There is a lot of expensive crappy wine out there. There is also a lot of decent wine that doesn’t cost a lot. What is decent and what is crap is all in the eye of the beholder. Too much emphasis is given on expert ratings. I’ve never read a wine speculator, not even once. I’ve never read Parker either. I’d prefer to figure out what I like on my own.
I’ve found the easiest way to do that is to join a tasting group. Mine meets every Friday at Vintage wines at 5. Its because of this group that I know what I do. Half the fun is disagreeing.
Joshbarnaby33ParticipantI think I’ll expand a bit on something that TG said, because it dovetails so nicely with a problem in making recommendations. If you want to skip the story and just get the recommendations they are at the bottom.
Drinking wine and appreciating wine are two different things. People who drink wine will eternally be happy at the sub 20 dollar price point. To appreciate wine however you will end up having to go deeper, both intellectually and financially. Sorry hoi poloi, good wine will never be cheap, great wine will always be expensive.
As TG said, enjoy each phase of your wine drinking experience. Whether its looking for easy drinking merlots (like ghost pines,) a wine to match your food, or ultimately where wine is the star of the experience. Its a journey and its gotta start somewhere. Americans in general are not wine drinkers, hence we have a newly emerging wine culture. Its lead to a lot of confusion and angst about consuming it. Bottom line, drink what you like. The wisest sommelier I ever met told me, if you like 2 buck chuck don’t waste your time on Insignia (he worked at Phelps) it won’t do you any good.
That being said most of us follow a progression in wine tasting. It starts out with big fruity low acid reds. Generally it moves onto the experimenting phase where most of us buy too much Napa cab. The third phase is where we discover Bordeaux and Italy. I find the fourth phase Spain seems to be optional. Thats how you can tell your friends are adventurous. German wines always seem to be there but since most winos are men and men tend to prefer reds, they don’t get nearly as much credit as they should. Finally for the true wino, who doesn’t have a fire hardened palette, and isn’t flat broke, all roads lead to Burgundy.
Why Burgundy, and why not E&J jug Burgundy? Well because ultimately what you are paying for with Burgundy and this by the way is true of all higher end wines is subtlety. Mostly in the form of aromatics. Pinot Noir is in my opinion the most versatile red grape. I love Cal Cab and Bordeaux, but once you’ve eaten steak 3 times that week, you are going to need something else to go with your dinner.
If you’ve made it this far I’ll make a few specific recommendations.
- Mockingbird Hill petite sirah and Cab. This is available occassionally from WinesTIllSoldOut.com, they rotate whats for sale every day.
- Almost any Cameron Hughes wine. He’s a negociant, they are available at Costco
- Ruffino Chianti from Costco
- Columbia Crest whites. I don’t have a specific favorite but I’m trying to recommend stuff you can get at local retailers.
One last thing to note. Its worth establishing a relationship or two with reputable retailers who will learn what you like and make recommendations. I don’t personally recommend SDWC, simply because I find them too mercenary. Whatever they’ve brought in is awesome. Wine Exchange in Orange is my favorite SoCal retailer. I also like Vintage Wines on miramar. There are a few others I’d recommend if people are looking for something more specific.
barnaby33ParticipantI think I’ll expand a bit on something that TG said, because it dovetails so nicely with a problem in making recommendations. If you want to skip the story and just get the recommendations they are at the bottom.
Drinking wine and appreciating wine are two different things. People who drink wine will eternally be happy at the sub 20 dollar price point. To appreciate wine however you will end up having to go deeper, both intellectually and financially. Sorry hoi poloi, good wine will never be cheap, great wine will always be expensive.
As TG said, enjoy each phase of your wine drinking experience. Whether its looking for easy drinking merlots (like ghost pines,) a wine to match your food, or ultimately where wine is the star of the experience. Its a journey and its gotta start somewhere. Americans in general are not wine drinkers, hence we have a newly emerging wine culture. Its lead to a lot of confusion and angst about consuming it. Bottom line, drink what you like. The wisest sommelier I ever met told me, if you like 2 buck chuck don’t waste your time on Insignia (he worked at Phelps) it won’t do you any good.
That being said most of us follow a progression in wine tasting. It starts out with big fruity low acid reds. Generally it moves onto the experimenting phase where most of us buy too much Napa cab. The third phase is where we discover Bordeaux and Italy. I find the fourth phase Spain seems to be optional. Thats how you can tell your friends are adventurous. German wines always seem to be there but since most winos are men and men tend to prefer reds, they don’t get nearly as much credit as they should. Finally for the true wino, who doesn’t have a fire hardened palette, and isn’t flat broke, all roads lead to Burgundy.
Why Burgundy, and why not E&J jug Burgundy? Well because ultimately what you are paying for with Burgundy and this by the way is true of all higher end wines is subtlety. Mostly in the form of aromatics. Pinot Noir is in my opinion the most versatile red grape. I love Cal Cab and Bordeaux, but once you’ve eaten steak 3 times that week, you are going to need something else to go with your dinner.
If you’ve made it this far I’ll make a few specific recommendations.
- Mockingbird Hill petite sirah and Cab. This is available occassionally from WinesTIllSoldOut.com, they rotate whats for sale every day.
- Almost any Cameron Hughes wine. He’s a negociant, they are available at Costco
- Ruffino Chianti from Costco
- Columbia Crest whites. I don’t have a specific favorite but I’m trying to recommend stuff you can get at local retailers.
One last thing to note. Its worth establishing a relationship or two with reputable retailers who will learn what you like and make recommendations. I don’t personally recommend SDWC, simply because I find them too mercenary. Whatever they’ve brought in is awesome. Wine Exchange in Orange is my favorite SoCal retailer. I also like Vintage Wines on miramar. There are a few others I’d recommend if people are looking for something more specific.
barnaby33ParticipantI think I’ll expand a bit on something that TG said, because it dovetails so nicely with a problem in making recommendations. If you want to skip the story and just get the recommendations they are at the bottom.
Drinking wine and appreciating wine are two different things. People who drink wine will eternally be happy at the sub 20 dollar price point. To appreciate wine however you will end up having to go deeper, both intellectually and financially. Sorry hoi poloi, good wine will never be cheap, great wine will always be expensive.
As TG said, enjoy each phase of your wine drinking experience. Whether its looking for easy drinking merlots (like ghost pines,) a wine to match your food, or ultimately where wine is the star of the experience. Its a journey and its gotta start somewhere. Americans in general are not wine drinkers, hence we have a newly emerging wine culture. Its lead to a lot of confusion and angst about consuming it. Bottom line, drink what you like. The wisest sommelier I ever met told me, if you like 2 buck chuck don’t waste your time on Insignia (he worked at Phelps) it won’t do you any good.
That being said most of us follow a progression in wine tasting. It starts out with big fruity low acid reds. Generally it moves onto the experimenting phase where most of us buy too much Napa cab. The third phase is where we discover Bordeaux and Italy. I find the fourth phase Spain seems to be optional. Thats how you can tell your friends are adventurous. German wines always seem to be there but since most winos are men and men tend to prefer reds, they don’t get nearly as much credit as they should. Finally for the true wino, who doesn’t have a fire hardened palette, and isn’t flat broke, all roads lead to Burgundy.
Why Burgundy, and why not E&J jug Burgundy? Well because ultimately what you are paying for with Burgundy and this by the way is true of all higher end wines is subtlety. Mostly in the form of aromatics. Pinot Noir is in my opinion the most versatile red grape. I love Cal Cab and Bordeaux, but once you’ve eaten steak 3 times that week, you are going to need something else to go with your dinner.
If you’ve made it this far I’ll make a few specific recommendations.
- Mockingbird Hill petite sirah and Cab. This is available occassionally from WinesTIllSoldOut.com, they rotate whats for sale every day.
- Almost any Cameron Hughes wine. He’s a negociant, they are available at Costco
- Ruffino Chianti from Costco
- Columbia Crest whites. I don’t have a specific favorite but I’m trying to recommend stuff you can get at local retailers.
One last thing to note. Its worth establishing a relationship or two with reputable retailers who will learn what you like and make recommendations. I don’t personally recommend SDWC, simply because I find them too mercenary. Whatever they’ve brought in is awesome. Wine Exchange in Orange is my favorite SoCal retailer. I also like Vintage Wines on miramar. There are a few others I’d recommend if people are looking for something more specific.
barnaby33ParticipantI think I’ll expand a bit on something that TG said, because it dovetails so nicely with a problem in making recommendations. If you want to skip the story and just get the recommendations they are at the bottom.
Drinking wine and appreciating wine are two different things. People who drink wine will eternally be happy at the sub 20 dollar price point. To appreciate wine however you will end up having to go deeper, both intellectually and financially. Sorry hoi poloi, good wine will never be cheap, great wine will always be expensive.
As TG said, enjoy each phase of your wine drinking experience. Whether its looking for easy drinking merlots (like ghost pines,) a wine to match your food, or ultimately where wine is the star of the experience. Its a journey and its gotta start somewhere. Americans in general are not wine drinkers, hence we have a newly emerging wine culture. Its lead to a lot of confusion and angst about consuming it. Bottom line, drink what you like. The wisest sommelier I ever met told me, if you like 2 buck chuck don’t waste your time on Insignia (he worked at Phelps) it won’t do you any good.
That being said most of us follow a progression in wine tasting. It starts out with big fruity low acid reds. Generally it moves onto the experimenting phase where most of us buy too much Napa cab. The third phase is where we discover Bordeaux and Italy. I find the fourth phase Spain seems to be optional. Thats how you can tell your friends are adventurous. German wines always seem to be there but since most winos are men and men tend to prefer reds, they don’t get nearly as much credit as they should. Finally for the true wino, who doesn’t have a fire hardened palette, and isn’t flat broke, all roads lead to Burgundy.
Why Burgundy, and why not E&J jug Burgundy? Well because ultimately what you are paying for with Burgundy and this by the way is true of all higher end wines is subtlety. Mostly in the form of aromatics. Pinot Noir is in my opinion the most versatile red grape. I love Cal Cab and Bordeaux, but once you’ve eaten steak 3 times that week, you are going to need something else to go with your dinner.
If you’ve made it this far I’ll make a few specific recommendations.
- Mockingbird Hill petite sirah and Cab. This is available occassionally from WinesTIllSoldOut.com, they rotate whats for sale every day.
- Almost any Cameron Hughes wine. He’s a negociant, they are available at Costco
- Ruffino Chianti from Costco
- Columbia Crest whites. I don’t have a specific favorite but I’m trying to recommend stuff you can get at local retailers.
One last thing to note. Its worth establishing a relationship or two with reputable retailers who will learn what you like and make recommendations. I don’t personally recommend SDWC, simply because I find them too mercenary. Whatever they’ve brought in is awesome. Wine Exchange in Orange is my favorite SoCal retailer. I also like Vintage Wines on miramar. There are a few others I’d recommend if people are looking for something more specific.
barnaby33ParticipantI think I’ll expand a bit on something that TG said, because it dovetails so nicely with a problem in making recommendations. If you want to skip the story and just get the recommendations they are at the bottom.
Drinking wine and appreciating wine are two different things. People who drink wine will eternally be happy at the sub 20 dollar price point. To appreciate wine however you will end up having to go deeper, both intellectually and financially. Sorry hoi poloi, good wine will never be cheap, great wine will always be expensive.
As TG said, enjoy each phase of your wine drinking experience. Whether its looking for easy drinking merlots (like ghost pines,) a wine to match your food, or ultimately where wine is the star of the experience. Its a journey and its gotta start somewhere. Americans in general are not wine drinkers, hence we have a newly emerging wine culture. Its lead to a lot of confusion and angst about consuming it. Bottom line, drink what you like. The wisest sommelier I ever met told me, if you like 2 buck chuck don’t waste your time on Insignia (he worked at Phelps) it won’t do you any good.
That being said most of us follow a progression in wine tasting. It starts out with big fruity low acid reds. Generally it moves onto the experimenting phase where most of us buy too much Napa cab. The third phase is where we discover Bordeaux and Italy. I find the fourth phase Spain seems to be optional. Thats how you can tell your friends are adventurous. German wines always seem to be there but since most winos are men and men tend to prefer reds, they don’t get nearly as much credit as they should. Finally for the true wino, who doesn’t have a fire hardened palette, and isn’t flat broke, all roads lead to Burgundy.
Why Burgundy, and why not E&J jug Burgundy? Well because ultimately what you are paying for with Burgundy and this by the way is true of all higher end wines is subtlety. Mostly in the form of aromatics. Pinot Noir is in my opinion the most versatile red grape. I love Cal Cab and Bordeaux, but once you’ve eaten steak 3 times that week, you are going to need something else to go with your dinner.
If you’ve made it this far I’ll make a few specific recommendations.
- Mockingbird Hill petite sirah and Cab. This is available occassionally from WinesTIllSoldOut.com, they rotate whats for sale every day.
- Almost any Cameron Hughes wine. He’s a negociant, they are available at Costco
- Ruffino Chianti from Costco
- Columbia Crest whites. I don’t have a specific favorite but I’m trying to recommend stuff you can get at local retailers.
One last thing to note. Its worth establishing a relationship or two with reputable retailers who will learn what you like and make recommendations. I don’t personally recommend SDWC, simply because I find them too mercenary. Whatever they’ve brought in is awesome. Wine Exchange in Orange is my favorite SoCal retailer. I also like Vintage Wines on miramar. There are a few others I’d recommend if people are looking for something more specific.
barnaby33ParticipantBerated by your spouse… I’m not into beating dead horses, but that statement says a lot.
Joshbarnaby33ParticipantBerated by your spouse… I’m not into beating dead horses, but that statement says a lot.
Joshbarnaby33ParticipantBerated by your spouse… I’m not into beating dead horses, but that statement says a lot.
Joshbarnaby33ParticipantBerated by your spouse… I’m not into beating dead horses, but that statement says a lot.
Joshbarnaby33ParticipantBerated by your spouse… I’m not into beating dead horses, but that statement says a lot.
Joshbarnaby33ParticipantSorry I don’t buy it. After reading this thread, the whole thing stands as testament to the sadness of leaving Sd. In a way all the denials and people coming out of the woodwork to say they’d leave too, if only…. Rings hollow to me. Sd is a place like many others, you could live in Sydeny or Tel Aviv, or Grenada and get similar weather. So its obviously more than that, that makes this a special place. I think its the combination of jobs, weather and lifestyle, all rolled into one. Kvetch all you want this place has an awesome lifestyle and that is what most people will end up missing. You can cry about it during the massive thunder storms that everyone else has, so your spouse won’t know its you.
Joshbarnaby33ParticipantSorry I don’t buy it. After reading this thread, the whole thing stands as testament to the sadness of leaving Sd. In a way all the denials and people coming out of the woodwork to say they’d leave too, if only…. Rings hollow to me. Sd is a place like many others, you could live in Sydeny or Tel Aviv, or Grenada and get similar weather. So its obviously more than that, that makes this a special place. I think its the combination of jobs, weather and lifestyle, all rolled into one. Kvetch all you want this place has an awesome lifestyle and that is what most people will end up missing. You can cry about it during the massive thunder storms that everyone else has, so your spouse won’t know its you.
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