[Zanth]

See? Who needs another forum

Thanks so much for all the info, it has been very informative.

Nick, thanks for the wine reco's! I'll pick up one of them this weekend and give 'er a test run.

 

[skyline889]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JaGWiRE So we've discussed cheapo wines from wineries, but how does more expensive wine from wineries compare to similiar brand name wines of the same price. Speaking in terms of $8-2xx or so I guess.

They don't even compare. Right now Yellowtail is the most popular wine in the US. Why? Because, one it's dirt cheap, two it tastes decent if you've only had similar stuff, and three they leave a small amount of residual sugar in the wine which appeals to Americans who've grown up their whole lives driking Pepsis and Cokes. Me and my dad just flew up to SF this week and while we were up there we also drove to Napa. One of the wineries there, Anderson Conn, had some of the best wine I've sampled in a while (My dad let me try some of each

), we tried his special label Ghost Horse, a $300, 2001 Cab, and it was amazing. So smooth, yet there were so many different flavors, and he had just popped the bottle too, so it hadn't even had a chance to breathe yet. Even when comparing it to a '95 Palmer which is a $140, 94 point WS rated wine, there was no comparison. The Palmer tasted watery and flat when compared. You don't need to go with a name brand to get great tasting wine, and more expensive doesn't always mean better but generally the more you pay, the more you get, usually bottles around $300-500 are really, really good, Lafite, Latour, Pomerol, Palmer, Leoville, all make great wines that'll blow almost anything of those "Great Deals" out of the water. Moderately priced wines are still really good, and some are really good, but everyone once in a while an excellent bottle is good to have.

 

[jefemeister]

I got a set of rubber stoppers with a little valve on top for hand pumping out the air. They're meant for wine and I think they work well but I'm no wine afficianado. I do have a love for scotch though. I figured they would work equally well on my single malts (MacAllan 12, Oban 14, Royal Lochnagar 12.) I just uncorked the Oban after a few weeks for the first time and it tastes pretty strange. Not sure if it's just my glass, or my spring water picked some fridge odors, etc but it doesn't taste right. I poured a little glass of the Mac to see about that one and it seems OK but I'm paranoid now. Fortunately I kept the original corks.

Anyone have experience with these little vacuum rubber cork jobs?

 

[VicAjax]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jefemeister I got a set of rubber stoppers with a little valve on top for hand pumping out the air. They're meant for wine and I think they work well but I'm no wine afficianado. I do have a love for scotch though. I figured they would work equally well on my single malts (MacAllan 12, Oban 14, Royal Lochnagar 12.) I just uncorked the Oban after a few weeks for the first time and it tastes pretty strange. Not sure if it's just my glass, or my spring water picked some fridge odors, etc but it doesn't taste right. I poured a little glass of the Mac to see about that one and it seems OK but I'm paranoid now. Fortunately I kept the original corks. Anyone have experience with these little vacuum rubber cork jobs?

i used to have a set of those. they would help a bottle stay good for about two weeks or so, if i remember correctly. of course, none of my wine lasted long enough for me to put them to any real use, so they're long gone now. they might've become cat toys.

as for scotch, as long as its kept in a cool, dry place, i don't think it should go bad.

 

[jefemeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by VicAjax ...as for scotch, as long as its kept in a cool, dry place, i don't think it should go bad.

Light and air are an issue too for oxidation. I keep them in their boxes/tins to solve the light problem and figured these stoppers could help with keeping out the air. I switched back to the old corks just to be on the safe side though. Maybe instead of trapping out the air, I actually trapped something in instead?

 

[hcabrita]

You guys should come and visit Portugal, the best place to drink quality wine. Not that I'll argue it is better than other wines or anything, it is just that wine over here is dirt cheap.
with 3Euros you get preety good wine, and if you start spending a bit more (from 10€ up), very good wine indeed