Looking for a champagne pairing with Kaluga, Oscietra and/or Beluga caviar (& trout roe) for my birthday next month. (My preferred vessel for caviar is Pringles with creme fraiche and chives, if that makes any difference). Price range up to about $130 CAD (would be priced $85 - $95 in USD). Options are semi-limited in my city, so I am looking at mainly major champagne houses.

I'm definitely not a champagne connoisseur by any means, but I'm probably looking for something more creamy and toasty.

My go-tos would be Taittinger Brut Reserve or Pol Roger Brut Reserve, as I've tried both and enjoyed. I've never tried Bollinger Special Cuvee Brut, but I've heard great things and would be absolutely willing to try if it's a good pairing.

Any suggestions from the three or other recommendations? Thanks!

1968 chateau latour- completely resolved and mature, this put on some weight as it got more air, very savory with fish sauce, mushrooms, wet soil and fruit leather.

1998 canon-la-gaffeliere- in such a gorgeous spot, really sexy and polished with tons of grilled fruits, spice, espresso and cacao.

2021 hirsch San Andreas fault- we knew this would be way to young so we drank it last, but this was layered and clearly needed some time to unfold. I was surprised by how little structure it had.

2017 l’arco pario- delicious fruit with a nice cooling minerality and some herbs. 15.5% abv and wore it well.

2021 donnhoff- pure, clean, cooling slate-y minerality. Gorgeous and ready to rock and roll, this is no block buster but very well built.

2003 Robert Weil- this was the biggest surprise of the night, ripping acidity, petrol and orange peel. Very delicious and drinking nicely once it had a chance to breathe.

Cheers!

This is a weekend dinner plan I’ve got (not a special occasion or anything) that I thought would be fun to pair wine with.

This dish is a from lesser-known but highly-prized regional Chinese cuisine from Taizhou, Zhejiang. The fish is yellow Crocker (literally yellow marine fish) from the country’s Pacific coast. The cooking is to fry/pan fry the fish and add in stock, garlic&ginger, Shaoxin wine, soy sauce and salt, a touch of sugar (but definitely much more savory/less sweet than Teriyaki) and let the fish simmer with rice cakes for a few minutes. It’s from the eastern region so not hot at all.

The choice I’ve got on hand is a Saint-Romain (which I honestly don’t know much about—is it a more buttery/oaked or more fresh/mineral burgundy?) a Villa Sparina Gavi, and an Alta Mora Etna Bianco.

The more general question I would have is that for the Chinese soy sauce based—would a more full-bodied white to match up work or would a more acidic/minerality-driven white to cut through the saltines.

I recently blind tasted a Shiraz Riesling, my palate didn’t know what to do. What wines have you had that you think would fool someone in a blind tasting?

Had Diatom Chardonnay on a flight recently and was quite pleasantly surprised, even with the cabin pressurization. Does anyone know of similar profiles for European (esp. German, Italian, Austrian) unoaked/non-malo chardonnays at similar price points (€15-20)?

Hi, I moved to the Bay Area years ago and since then I fell in love with wines. I am still noob to the wine world and I am still learning to appreciate bold reds with high acidity and tannins.

I tried Caymus and visited their winery before, and honestly speaking, I think I kinda prefer the jammy reds with high sweetness. However, there are things I don’t like about Caymus - lack of tannins, variation, lasting too short, and of course, way too expensive.

Wine experts, any recommendations on wines with same style but with better price (or similar price but better quality)? I am open to all regions and willing to try anything!

I’d love to hear some domaine recs. I spent a day cycling to a few houses south of Beaune last year, but of course could only hit a few. Would particularly love any recs under $100, but really I just want to hear some preferred names—Burgundy does not love to be particularly helpful on their labeling!

For what it’s worth, my dream is for all of my wine to taste like buttered popcorn and salted caramel.

I hold a WSET 3 with distinction and am itching for the next challenge, but I don't have the time right now to buckle down and start 4, or FWS for that matter.

I'm doing other France related research and would love to absorb FWS on the side at a very chilllll pace 🐌🐌🐌🐌

Studying for WSET 3 was very fun but I was between jobs and fully on it, probably studied harder than I ever did for a college exam. Or maybe I just forgot what studying feels like ;)

since I had to cram so hard so fast, I soon forgot a lot of it. My course was 9 weeks I believe. Why do we learn to sip so mindfully and then treat learning like a pool pounder grocery store rosé?!

Anyway, wondering if anyone has tips about how to acquire the manual on its own. I actually do hope to sit for the test eventually, but might be many a year down the line, depending on work commitments, so I don't want to start any clocks ticking...

I had an interesting carbonic white wine from a low-interventionist winery, and it had a bit of a vinegary thing going on, and I was just curious if that is common for those types of wine? Thanks.

Voluptuous, floral and vergeresque. Lots of stone fruits, nothing overdone, with a very long finish. A vinous incarnation of the concept of the garden of earthly delights. Perhaps the most pleasurable still white wine I have had.

I don’t see Scribe posted often here - this bottle from their hillside estate was part of their spring allocation. It’s a lighter, more delicate pinot with fresh strawberry and floral notes. There’s a touch of oak, but it doesn’t dominate, which I personally enjoy.

The vineyard behind this bottle has an interesting backstory. Planted 2016, the vines were actually a natural firebreak during the 2017 wildfires and protected the estate.

$65

So there's someone I've been sharing a bottle of wine with the last couple of weeks. First it was a Pinot Grigio, she said that's what she liked. Next week I knew we were having red meat, but she insists she only drinks white wine in the summer, so I went with a Rodney Strong Chardonnay, which I was told is oaked. It was fine but I'd like to convince this person to try a red while it's still warm out. She seems to trust me enough to give it a go.

I'm thinking Beaujolais - not a village cru. Maybe work up to a Pinot Noir later.

Just came back from a wonderful trip in Italy and wanted to share my experiences!

Going to talk more about the experiences rather than individual tasting notes, but if you're interested in that, see my CellarTracker story here: https://www.cellartracker.com/event.asp?iEvent=55510&searchId=F1AA5162&UISource=list

My wife and I are both very into wine and going down the WSET route (for fun). Italian wines are a particular passion for me. I've actually been wine tasting in Chianti before, but it was in a big tour and a very different experience than this trip (although I still appreciate Casa Emma).

We did two separate days, using Florence as our home base. We hired private drivers both days. Day one was Chianti Classico (we booked tastings on our own), day two was Bolgheri (the host booked all the tastings).

In Chianti, we went to Castello di Ama and Antinori. In Bolgheri, we went to Ornellaia, Sassicaia (lunch), and Chiappini.

A few notes on each:

Castello di Ama

Castello di Ama was absolutely incredible. This is one of my favorite Chianti Classico producers and while it's a hike to get there, it's absolutely worth it. I'm not exaggerating when I say this was one of the best wine tasting experiences of my life (up there with Promontory and Verite).

Castello di Ama is beautiful property and I love that it's attached to the village of Ama with a population of five. After a tour of the property, the vineyards, the village, and the cellar, it was onto the tasting.

I think the wines were incredible, especially L'Apparita (which is their famous merlot), but the service may have been better. The wines were stored well, served at the right temperature, and had time to open up. Our host was kind enough to serve us some library vintages, which ended up being our favorites. The 2013 L'Apparita, in particular, was amazing.

We ended up spending five hours at the winery, including lunch. The time just flew!

Antinori

They're a legendary producer, although after being in Italy, I'm realizing they're more like Mondavi or Beringer, in that there's a really, really vast range of wines, from supermarket wines to ultra-premium (for Antinori, it's Tignanello and Sassicaia, for Mondavi, it's To Kalon Reserve or Opus One).

We weren't lucky enough to get a tasting (all booked more than a month out), but thankfully, Antinori has a wine bar and we had a very kind host that I had traded emails with ahead of time.

I enjoyed the wines, but found them way too young and very closed off. I also personally thought Antinori felt a little Disneylan-ish (kind of like Opus One). Having said that, it's a beautiful place, including the lovely architecture, and I would go back.

Ornellaia

This was the first and only "group tour" of our trip. It was a small group, although not necessarily my favorite.

The property is beautiful, but my gripe is most of the tour was focused on the modern art installations and we really only saw the vineyards in passing.

Having said that, the tasting was actually really good. Nice array of wines and, while they were young, the team had given them time to open up and they were served at the right temperature. The flagship Ornellaia was fantastic and I like that they have a wine that you can only buy at the winery itself.

Sassicaia

This was actually a lunch at Sassicaia's restaurant, Osteria Enoteca San Guido. I'm not Jimmy Butler, so I don't get to actually visit Sassicaia.

I'm a huge Sassicaia fan, so it was great to visit. The lunch spot was lovely, the food was great (especially the pistachio dessert), and it was great to try the whole line. The current vintage Sassicaia is a strong as I'd expect, with solid upside over time.

Chiappini

This was a fun bonus. Chiappini is a family winery specializing in minimal intervention (maybe even natural) wines. It was a fun experience, felt very intimate, and I love supporting family wineries. I also enjoyed the wines, although it's probably a little unfair to have them after Ornellaia and Sassicaia.

In all, it was an outstanding and memorable trip, especially Castello di Ama. If I had time, I would even consider staying there (they have a few rooms you can actually stay at).

If I had more time, I may have gone down to Montalcino (Brunello is my favorite wine) or tried a few other wineries (Fontodi would have been lovely if there was time).

Long timer lurker, first time poster. Fortunate to share this one with family last night.

I’ve never tasted a vintage this far back, and this bottle did a great job of teaching me what’s possible with proper aging.

Everything felt balanced with noticeably smooth tannins and a silky finish. I tasted a nice mix of dark fruit, plum, oak and vanilla.

Maybe atypical but paired with glazed salmon, caprese salad, dirty rice. Dark chocolate to finish the meal off.

Cheers.

Wine you like

Wine you don’t like

Franzia

Foradori’s collaboration with Marco Devigili, another biodynamic winemaker in the Campo Rotaliano.

2ha of pergola-trained vines on alluvial. Hand-harvested, de-stemmed, aged for 8+ months on the skins in tinajas (amphorae).

Hazy orange-reddish hue. Moderately intense nose - apple skin, grapefruit pith, nectarine, kombucha. Moderate plus in body, apricot flesh, sour oranges, well-integrated black tea-like tannins, moderate acidity, lightly chalky on the finish.

I have a decanter and wonder how people keep their red wine from warming up again? If I pull it out of the wine fridge at the proper temp, decanting for an hour would bring the temp back up out of “ideal range” for the wine. How do you guys decant without losing the chill/temp range?

Title says it all. I want what I want and I want it now. I opened a bottle of 2019 blaufränkisch last night and wasn’t a fan, but today, after vacuuming it up, it tastes so much better. I have one of those single serving mesh decanters (I live alone so decanting a full bottle in one night isn’t really an option) but I’m not sure it’s actually doing anything

For context, I'm a screenwriter and a wine novice. I'm writing a script and need a wine (year/grape/region) that would be terrible to drink (preferably white wine because it's a lunch scene).

The joke I'm using it for is essentially: "He ordered a ______. Trust me, they're having a terrible lunch."

I don't want to use a specific vineyard name (Kim Crawford etc) because of potential lawsuits, so knowing a generally terrible combo (year/grape/region) would be perfect.

Thanks!

Anybody else that experience a burning sensation in the stomach when drinking wine? Or any other liquor. Im afraid i got some problems but idk.

I was in Portugal over the summer and got to try Dão Meia Encosta Red, which is literally a five dollar wine. I’ve tried far fancier wines and I find all of them to be bitter and unpleasant. But this stuff was really sweet and not bitter at all. I figured it was going to be a really expensive wine and it’s literally the same price as water. Is there any reason why I would find this stuff to be so good?

Do wine industry employees get free or discounted tastings at art and wine festivals?

It's been a while since I went wine tasting and I used a chart to pick out wine, but I feel like I am missing out on other types of wines. I'm not a fan of very sweet and fruity wines, but I do enjoy wines that have a hint of sweetness.

Do you prefer any websites to buy? Do you know any which ships to USA?

Thanks in advance