Wine seems to have shutdown. Never got that in a Marsannay. This was not good at all. up to now it was drinking great. One can only guess how long this wine will be in a slumber before re-awakening. I won't find out. it was my last bottle.

I’m new to wine and am hosting a tasting for from clients this Saturday, 5-8 wine drinkers and one is a professional. The whites are all sorted. For the reds I was planning on doing 2 wines from 3 different countries, and have everybody try to guess where each pair came from. Already have:

Argentina: Cantena La Consulta Malbec 2021 C7 Malbec blend 2021

France: 2020 Xavier Vignon Lirac 2010 Chateau La Croizille St Emilion

Third choice:

Italy/Piemonte: 2021 Barbera Nizza 2021 Barbera D’asti or 2019 Fontanafredda Barolo

Or Spain: 2018 Balbas reserva (rdd) 2018 glorioso reserva (rioja)

Deciding whether Piemonte or Spain would make the better third region. Only worry is that the rdd, rioja, and barolo still need time in the cellar

This 2018 from Paul Pernot was the best match with a wild duck I had in a while.

On the nose, beautiful notes of leather and red cherries. On the palate, the cherry is very present, with lovely hints of fresh mushrooms emerging from the forest floor finish.

The holy grail comes in various shapes and forms. Merci la Bourgogne 💙

Colour: medium ruby with a touch of garnet Nose: fruity,strawberry,cherry,pomegranate,plum,blackberry,some floreal notes,oak,vanilla,and some spice. Medium complexity. Palate: dry,full-bodied,14,5%abv,medium to-high acidity,medium tannins with a medium finish. I guess With some ageing this wine will gain complexity but it is pleasant right now though. 85

My family is heading to Nelson for a fishing trip and I thought that was so boring…

I figured since we are visiting Nelson, there are wineries there but I don’t know which ones to visit?

Any notable wineries to visit in Nelson Tasman area? Thanks

Long shot but driving from Bamberg to Neuweid, wondering if anyone has any recommendations for a Weingut to visit along the way? Danke!

So I was just looking at the list at Maria Dolores in Playa Mujeres, it's one of the nicer places in the area and has a nice list that they brag about being awarded a Wine Spectator award...

Belle Glos pinot noir is on the list for $MXN 9,800! I know that's Mexican pesos, and it's in a restaurant, but... it's ~$500 USD for a bottle that can be had in the US restaurant for less than a third of that price. And off the shelf at HEB it's $40. There's no way I'm paying $500 for a $40 bottle of wine in Mexico.

Does anyone have any tips for navigating wine lists in Mexico, or should I just order tequila and move on?

Just had a pretty incredible (bad) night at a restaurant. What’s the worst wine service you’ve ever experienced? Where was it?

Ordered a bottle of 2005 German Riesling and 2014 California Syrah along with appetizers. Server brought the right red but the wrong white. Goes ahead and opens the red, breaks the cork badly so we decide to decant. He then brings a decanter to the table with a strainer and an aerator. He forgot to bring a serviette so when he’s decanting (and repeatedly setting the bottle upright) I hand him my napkin. The decanting takes over 10 minutes because of the aerator and sediment, I end up taking the bottle and finishing it myself. I ask our server to wash out the bottle because we weren’t confident we would finish both bottles. Appetizers show up and shortly after we get our white wine, similar story with the opening of the red. I refuse decanting at this point and just have him bring me another glass so the taste glass captures the cork remains. He pours the table glasses but forgets to pour me wine so I fill up my own. The wine is great with our appetizer and salad course.

The main course show up and we don’t have new glasses (or plates for the family style meal) for red and we can’t find our server for about 5 minutes. Eventually shows up with necessary items and we move on. Again the wine is fantastic. We have some dessert after and we still have half the bottle of red wine as we’re checking out. I ask him to put it back in the bottle, he grabs the bottle of white wine still on the table and walks off. It happened so fast that I couldn’t stop him. He put the red wine back into the bottle of white and sealed it in a wine bag for us to leave.

After all this I felt very split. Obviously the wine service was awful. But he was just a kid and seemed nervous (even though this is a premium steakhouse in this area with a good list and prices to match). I ended up splitting the wine off and tipping maybe 5% on wine but 20% on the food. I couldn’t bring myself to tip 0 on the wine. Also, even as a wine director in a different state, I just wanted to leave and be done with the situation. We talked briefly about the bottle switch and he seemed defensive to me so I dropped it. Not my program, not my problem. I’m considering writing an email next week.

TLDR; went to a suburban steakhouse, got awful wine service. Want to know what you’ve experienced and how you handled it.

We had a delicious wine tasting with such a knowledgeable woman from Italy (a distributor/ caught her on off hours and she taught us a lot- we left with several bottles to lay down for ten years) . I’d like to brave some off the shelf ideas. Please throw out some red (or anything you really enjoy at M of C) and a few qualities you like about the wine so I can start taking a few new roads away from the local OR Pinot?

Hi guys,

This is my first post here. This looks like a fun Subreddit and I thought I would say hello.

First are foremost I can't actually drink 99% of the wines. few sips make me sick. I believe this is due to the Sulfites and histamines etc in the wine.

However, to my surprise, I discovered that I am OK with dessert wines.

I do not really drink alcohol. Not a fan. However I have a sweet tooth and love the sweet, sticky, resinous taste of the port wines. Perhaps more so for the sweet taste not so much for alcohol content in it etc. Also it has a great digestive effect on me.

I moved to the US couple of years ago from Australia and I am trying to look for something which is sweet and sticky, resinous Tawny port like the Grandfather or the Great Grandfather port from Penfolds. These two are pretty expensive but I woulds love your suggestions please of cheaper or more expensive variants of these here in the US.

How could i go about insulating a 4x10 underground root cellar into a room to store some wines (more than likely not just wine) i have the room at 40 degrees in the winter and it usually gets to about 73 in the summer… any tips would be very appreciated

So I preface with I'm not a very big drinker. Socially and professionally (like staff holiday etc) I would opt into 1 of the Sutter Home Sweet Red. Locally in NJ I am struggling to find it.

Looking for similiar profile notes and such....preferrably if they come in those "smaller" bottles.

Usually not into the big bold new world wines but this one surprised me. At 15% abv I thought it would be too dense but surprisingly the structure is balanced for such a full bodied red. Dark deep garnet, dark fruity and bit floral nose, taste of blackberries, plums with a faint hint of black pepper. Tannins are present yet surprisingly lighter than expected. Felt it was intense but not overwhelming. Paired nicely with some Aussie streaks 👍

My partner really enjoys a glass of red but has been getting headache hangovers only recently from them (not other alcohol just reds) and I was hoping for some red wine suggestions that might not cause this as much. Typically she enjoys a merlot, ideally in the sub $50 range

Good evening, oenophiles (and to the handful of oenojerks 🤣)! My son is turning 5 in January and I’m looking for suggestions on a case to lay down for the next 2-4 decades, to mark special occasions in his life (graduations, real jobs / promotions, engagement, first house and maybe have one or two left for when I’m gone). We are fortunate to live 40 minutes away from Napa so we have plenty of local options (and I enjoy making new discoveries from time to time). But 2020 we had devastating fires and the smoke ruined a lot of the harvest that year. So I’ve been dipping my toe in the water, learning more about (and REALLY enjoying) left bank Bordeaux’s.

We are doing a tasting dinner later this month with some friends who are doing the same (2020 birth year wine) and I’ve picked out Pichon Baron, Pichon Lalande and Pontet Canet. Should I add anything else to the list or maybe just bite the bullet and pick up a first growth like Mouton (I had a 1997 at Thanksgiving that held up well)?

Appreciate your thoughts/input! I’m not Saudi royalty so let’s use that 2020 Mouton as a soft price cap.

How do you go through a big cellar list and learn about wines you won’t try before selling?

Been getting into wine this year, and have been loving exploring different regions and styles. Typically spending 15-20 on a bottle because I’m a normal person, but I’ve decided I’ve been a good boy this year and want to get myself something nice to enjoy over the holidays.

Willing to spend around $50 I think. I looooovve Nebbiolo, so I’ve been thinking maybe either the Vajra Albe Barolo, or maybe Produtti del Barbaresco as a good way to get a glimpse into some of the better the region has to offer. Anyone have any suggestions or advice on one way or the other, or maybe something totally different altogether???

I also have a crush on Rioja, so willing to keep my avenues wide open

I travel all over the country for work and enjoy a sparkling wine or two. But I’m kinda blown away by the fact that so many (vast majority?) establishments carry La Marca Prosecco as their only sparkling wine option. Whether it’s an airport or hotel bar, to small mom& pop restaurants to large national chains - east to west, north to south- it’s all friggin La Marca Prosecco. How did they get to be so ubiquitous when there are so many other better options? And why are bars/restaurants so lazy when it comes to sparkling wine/champagne to seemingly not put any thought into their offerings in this category of beverage?

Hey wine people! I have an opportunity to buy a bottle of Cuvée Substance by Jacques Selosse (disgorged in 2021) for a whopping 440 USD. Is it worth it? What experiences do you guys have with this wine? Should I buy it?

View Poll

I am looking for 'Black Fox' Cabernet Sauvignon and can't find it anywhere. Any suggestions?

||No decanting|| True BOMB! Edit: after some time gets a bit acidic (dont decante to long). Perfect age perfect balance. Still a lot tannins.

Dark red colour

Smells like red currants, cherry, dark berrys, slight herbs,some dry fruits, another aroma i would describe as cola. no oxidation

👅very fruity in terms of dark berrys, very soft tannins, oak, some herbs, tea.

I’ll be going to a new restaurant soon and I want to try their wines but I have no idea where to start. My only experience is drinking Stella Rose Black lol. I like sweet wine so I’m attaching the list of wines they are serving but I could not find their White or Rose wine, only Reds. Any tips I’d appreciate!!

It's not often that I get to drink wine that's older than me, and even rarer that I get a bottle with a quote from one of my favourite authors on it, but alas, this was faulty with VA. I don't know whether it was an overarching fault with the vintage or if I just got a flawed bottle. Definitely picking up vinegar and boot polish/glue. Not working too hard to redeem the bad reputation of the dreadful 1984 vintage across Europe.

Have left the rest of it in the fridge overnight, hoping that it blows away and leaves a fruitier wine behind. Will comment below if it improves.

If it had cost significantly less than the £43 I paid for it at TWS in September, I might have just written it off as a novelty, but at that price I do expect the bottles not to be faulty! Especially annoying as I'd opened it as a birthday treat with specially ordered foie gras, which is a ballache to get hold of here in the UK.

Cork was natural, fairly short, and didn't look anywhere near 40 years old, so I suspect that this was either bottled recently or recorked. It's a recent release so I would have hoped they'd do some QC beforehand: maybe I just got unlucky.

I'm trying to figure out a long-term cellar situation.
My wife and I bought our forever home and are in the process of remodelling it. We have a garage building that we want to use as a cellar and hangout for us and friends when folks visit us.

Over the last year, I've been monitoring the temperatures to figure out what works best.

It looks like during winter, it's fine as it hits the right temperature and humidity; however, during the summer, it gets a lot hotter. It's still a good 10-15 degrees less than outside.

I'm considering a few options:
1 - buy a big wine fridge for the nice stuff I want to age and be ok with the not-age-worthy stuff being quickly rotated and or suffering a little over the summer.

2 - create an area in glass for the nice stuff and refrigerate that area only. Harder to do and more expensive.

3 - have air-con running during the summer to chill stuff. However, this may be good during the summer but if I want to hang out with folks in the winter I may have to bring the temperature up, otherwise, it would be too cold.

4 - any other ideas?

I've added an image which is kinda similar to what we want to do. The shelves are different but it's close enough.

https://preview.redd.it/3gvo0dg9pw5e1.jpg?width=736&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b2363beb08910f09fcadcdc52e6ee5a6c1f753c5

https://preview.redd.it/6010wgmymw5e1.png?width=940&format=png&auto=webp&s=4332d19501473dfc197b9076b2f66ba1481e1a15

,

Hello!! One of these days I was out with my friend group and a discussion started about the best wine we've ever had. I'm very fond of St Véran / wines from the Mâcon-villages area in France from the Beaujolais valley. I think the best wine I've ever had was at a birthday party at a beautiful farmhouse in that area. It was a mix of wines from the area but I didn't get the chance to ask at the time and after asking the host she told me it was a gift and she had no idea too (and was also actively looking for it haha). Could I get any recommendation for fine crafted mixes of dry white wines from that region? It was on the dry side but it was so light it felt like having a cloud in your mouth. Only clues I have:

- Mix of white wines

- Beaujolais Valley region

- Dry but really soft

- Probably a little expensive (over 150 euros)

Thank you very much for your help :)

2022 Ramey Russian River Chardonnay - Chard is my dad’s go-to wine. Lots of acid, bright fruit character with just a hint of oak. Full malolactic fermentation with monthly batonnage delivers a soft and round wine with minimal butter on the finish. Very well balanced. Served as a perfect starter.

2005 Ramey Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1.5 Liter - Opened bottle with a Durand - cork was in pristine condition with no signs of failure. This wine wowed the crowd. Lots of fruit left - mature with soft tannins.

2018 Ardèvol, Coma d en Romeu

Got recommended it by a Wine expert I know from Spain to try tonight and wanted to know if anyone had experience?