Are you a Wine Connoisseur?

[Mister Cairo]

I have never liked wine.

Heretic...

 

[Mister Cairo]

There was a time if I saw a bottle with a screw cap, I wondered if you had to pay extra for a paper bag to drink the bottle out of in the gutter.

Now I am almost annoyed if it comes with a cork.

 

[Turnip]

I like wine, reds better than whites, but I’m far from being a connoisseur.

About 50 years ago you could tell who’s got money or not in a Palatinate pub by the wine glass. The poor drank reds, the money drank whites.

Times have obviously changed.

 

[Tiki Tom]

It used to be that ladies preferred whites and men drank reds. Although I had a friend who claimed he only drank reds October through April and only drank whites May through September. And of course there is the whole food matching thing. But, if nothing else played into it, I’m sure I’d probably prefer red 80% of the time.

 

[Mister Cairo]

We continue to explore new wines, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, south America mainly, in addition to supporting Ontario's growing production.

Liquor store vintages section has a good offering that changes frequently.

 

[belfastboy]

We continue to explore new wines, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, south America mainly, in addition to supporting Ontario's growing production.

Liquor store vintages section has a good offering that changes frequently.

A connoisseur is not what I would call myself but we do love wine. One of the fun aspects of travel is discovering the wines of a region. We have toured the NAmerican wine regions and most of Europe's but have yet to make it to S America and think at this point not likely to get there. So my point of contact will have to be our local liquor store.

 

[Mister Cairo]

A world wine tour would be a lottery win trip to be sure!

 

[GHT]

I have never liked wine.

Not even a glass of bubbly? You don't know what you're missing.
Cognac is a variety of brandy named after the commune of Cognac in France. It is produced in the surrounding wine-growing region in the departments of Charente and Charente-Maritime.
Cognac production falls under French appellation d'origine contrôlée designation, with production methods and naming required to meet certain legal requirements. Among the specified grapes, Ugni blanc, known locally as Saint-Émilion, is most widely used. The brandy must be twice distilled in copper pot stills and aged at least two years in French oak barrels from Limousin or Tronçais. Cognac matures in the same way as whiskies and wines barrel age, and most cognacs spend considerably longer "on the wood" than the minimum legal requirement.
So next time you are at a wedding or some similar function where the champagne flows, sneak a flask of cognac in and pour a mix of it into your glass of champers. Just don't blame me for the mother of all hangovers the next day.

 

[Harp]

Wine is not just wine. Wine is the whole experience that goes with it: it’s the perfectly matched dish; it’s the mellow blending of taste and scent and mood; its discovering a dusty label steeped in history; it’s a carafe of local table wine available on almost any budget; It’s romantic cafe’s with friends on a perfect summer evening; it’s ancient ruins and Renaissance architecture; it’s ceremoniously pulling out that long cork; it’s a winter meal by candlelight with that certain someone; its old friends and new friends; it’s travel and romantic adventures and new languages and exciting books and falling in love. It’s great music in front of a fireplace. It’s not about snobbery, or it shouldn’t be. Am I over-selling it? Not necessarily.

Once back in college, I spent a year living inside a student dorm, w/o a refrigerator. Stuck a bottle of
Greek red Domestica between the windows, and invited a girl to sample a glass or two. We were both
seated on my bed. Confess, I remarked to myself that Sylvia and I 'were on bed' if not actually 'in,'
dumb thought I fortunately kept to myself. The conversation had warmed to the point where a few
glasses of vino were just what was needed. And the bottle of Domestica was frozen solid.

 

[photo2u]

I am not. But love the thing. 40 years ago, I got a master lesson from a winemaker in Saint-Émilion. He advised me to drink what I LIKE. Price is not always an indicator of how you would appreciate the wine. Favorite wine is a well aired wine.

 

[belfastboy]

Our Covid activity has been working our way through and reviewing the box wine offerings of our local liquor store. We have settled on supporting Australian red as they offer great value and we figure they could use our support since China decided to boycott things Australian. We are doing our bit as they say.

 

[Turnip]

Some pretty nice Palatinate Riesling for football this week.

 

[Tiki Tom]

Yikes. Have recently been reading articles about vineyards being ripped out in Bordeaux and California. Apparently wine is out of fashion. Sales are way down. Too many bottles going unsold on the shelves. Young people prefer pre-mixed cocktails in cans. I will try not to be snarky. It goes perfectly with not reading books, not knowing history, and being covered in tattoos. Cocktails in cans!? I suppose I’ll have to look into this. I did see a mango margarita in a can the other day. Too horrifying to contemplate. Time marches on.

 

[Turnip]

They certainly also pay tribute to nowaday’s warmer conditions, shifting traditionally grown sorts northwards.

In the fifties to seventies of last cenrury you could see who‘s wealthy or not so in a Palatinate pub by the color of the local wine in their glass. The wealthy drank whites, the poor drank reds.

Today it’s the other way round.

Excellent Pinot Noir everywhere, Regent, Merlot, even Syrah and Tempranillo in some edges here.

 

[Trenchfriend]

I always liked Blauer Zweigelt.

 

[belfastboy]

I drink boxed wine but I am picky about which ones. That might make me a boxed wine connoisseur. I asked on a FB site if the wild fires in France would impart a smoky aroma to the new Bordeaux wines ala Islay whisky......no definitive answer as yet.

 

[Tiki Tom]

Boxed wine, or in other words: Cardboardeaux.

 

[Trenchfriend]

The funny thing is, my very first bottle of Blauer Zweigelt in 2008 was indeed THE Blauer Zweigelt from the Neusiedler See, Austria!
I remember very well, that this bottle tasted very good. But of course, If you want to drink a typical Zweigelt, you have to like it dryyyyyyyyy.

The best bottle Zweigelt, I ever had, was a gift from Saale-Unstrut. A different level, yumm!

 

[Tiki Tom]

Lived in Vienna for 20 years. Weird, little known Austrian varietals were fantastic. …And they were very affordable thanks to government subsidies. A meal without wine is …breakfast!

 

[Trenchfriend]

Yeah, Blauer Zweigelt is said to be the biggest cash-cow in wine market for Austria. Ultimate, but nice mass market wine, from cheapest NoName/storebrand in german supermarkets to nice affordable middle-class, up to premium middle-class, as far as I see.
Maybe, I should get a new bottle, after so many years.