Let's talk Wine.....

I've seen enough posts here to know wine is a favorite of quite a few cat lovers. :nod:

So, what do you like? Any recommendations?

I prefer drier wines, Carbernet, Malbec, Merlot for reds and Chardonnay for whites.

Slow Press makes an excellent Cabernet.

I'm partial to Zins from California wine country areas, such as:

Renwood (my fav)

Ridge

Rosenblum

Seven Deadly Zins

Big, bold fruity reds with low oak and low acid. 

For white, my preference are the Savignon Blancs from New Zealand in general but those from the Marlbourgh location are really nice.  Not very expensive either.

Pinot noir is my favorite but I love anything that's not too sweet or too dry.

sivyaleah said:

I'm partial to Zins from California wine country areas, such as:

Renwood (my fav)
Ridge
Rosenblum
Seven Deadly Zins

Big, bold fruity reds with low oak and low acid. 

For white, my preference are the Savignon Blancs from New Zealand in general but those from the Marlbourgh location are really nice.  Not very expensive either.

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The last few Sauvignon Blancs that I have had have been much too grapefruity for me. :nod:

I don't drink wine that often.  When I do, I prefer drier wines--merlots or cabernet sauvignons in red and pinot grigio or sauvignon blancs in white.  

A niece gave us a bottle of red wine for Christmas that I liked so much I bought a couple more bottles of it.  It's a syrah-grenache blend.  

Over Christmas, I discovered Chateau La Paws wines from California.  I bought a chardonnay  and a Sauvignon blanc and they were both pretty decent for inexpensive wine.  The best thing is a portion of their proceeds goes to support rescue dogs.  Their website seems to be down, here's a facebook link.https://www.facebook.com/ChateauLaPaws 

Margd said:

 
Over Christmas, I discovered Chateau La Paws wines from California.  I bought a chardonnay  and a Sauvignon blanc and they were both pretty decent for inexpensive wine.  The best thing is a portion of their proceeds goes to support rescue dogs.  Their website seems to be down, here's a facebook link.https://www.facebook.com/ChateauLaPaws 

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Love it.  What a great idea. 

Moscato and merlot are my favorite.

We go to a local winery when we want something; it's a good winery. http://www.shademountainwinery.com/

Reds:  005 Bottled in Bond, their Merlot is really good, I use their Proprietor's Red in soups and (beef) stews, we like their Shade Mountain Red.

Whites: Love the Chardonnay, love the Savignon Blanc, Anniversary White is a bit sweet for me, but I like it.

They also have a good Autumn Harvest Blush that's a big favorite with my sister and me. 

My MIL loves their Cranberry Wine (we give her a bottle several times a year). She also likes the Cherry.

Three Witches Sparkling Wine is wonderful, wonderful stuff! And they have Granny Z's Mint Iced Tea wine. My sister and I will crack open a couple of bottles in the summer while we're sitting on her front porch, watching the fireworks. Or while we're sitting out by the pool at night. 

If we buy it by the case, we get a 10% discount, so we'll often put a case together and get it that way.

We're not wine connoisseurs  by any stretch and I won't even pretend to be. There are other local wineries around here, but we like what they offer and so we tend to just go there. We're probably missing out on some other great wines, too.

I am really not much of a wine drinker. We have a friend who makes his own every year. It is a red sweet wine and he gives us a gallon. It stays in the fridge a long time because my husband never touches it.

I also like the Duplin County Christmas wine that is a red sweet wine. I haven't had any of it in a couple years.

I keep a bottle of dry red wine to cook with. I like to add it to beef gravies and other dishes.

This is a bottle my sister gave me at Christmas. It was a bubbly white wine, slightly sweet. I know nothing about wines, but this was pretty good.

I'm really not drinking much wine anymore because it's a bit of a pain to find one that is reasonably priced and vegan. A LOT of wines aren't. You'd think they would all be considering that it's basically grape juice but a lot of wineries use animal products in the making and filtering of the wines. Before I buy a wine, I do a search for it here

http://www.barnivore.com/

Fortunately, my favorite alcoholic beverage of all time (Grand Marnier) is vegan 

Oh, yes, let's do talk wines...although (she says with a blush) I tend to have very plebeian tastes in wine.  I just cannot bring myself to want to drink something made from fruit that no longer tastes anything at all like the fruit it came from.  I prefer sweeter wines to dry, and have no issue with a screw cap if I like the taste.  I have a weakness for Arbor Mist wines, the blackberry merlot being what I usually buy.

I also have a real fondness for Mavrodaphne, a Greek dessert wine.  I have a hard time finding it here in North Carolina (where Ripple goes with barbequed pork), but I just found an online source.  Since it's Greek, I like to gently heat olive oil with minced garlic, sprinkle in some sea salt, grab a loaf of fresh rosemary bread and a bottle of Mavrodaphne, and curl up with a good book or movie.

My other guilty, sweet pleasure is Cherry Kijafa, a Danish dessert wine.  It's so sweet that it will make your teeth ache, but cut half and half with ginger ale, it makes a really nice spritzer on a hot summer's day...and we get LOTS of hot summer days here!  That's the ideal drink for a lounge chair and a book, either at the beach, the river, or just under one of our big old pine trees.

I like Grahm's Six Grapes Port. 

I like the "Cat" wines from Hazlitt 1852.  I like the Red Cat and White Cat about equally. The Bramble Berry is good too.  So basically I like sweet wines.  I don't know much about wine, the terminology, etc.  I usually stock up when I go visit my family in Upstate New York.  I just opened my last bottle of white and I have one bottle of red left.  I need to make that last!  I don't drink enough to justify ordering a whole case from the liquor store.  Unfortunately; they do not ship liquor to my state.  I wish!!  

There are 2 local vineyards I hear good things about.  But I've never made it to either!  DH doesn't care for it.  My Mom and Step-dad do; but they are also my baby-sitters so I need to find someone to go with. Someone who knows what they are talking about with wine!  My cousin is forever going on different wine tours.  If I ever get her down here I'll be sure to take her. 

Apparently today is National Drink Wine Day! :lol3:

I have not found one brand of wine which I can consistently enjoy. 

I do jump around a lot. 

I really like Pinoit Noir, Syrah, Syrach, and Grenache

I have a tendency towards red wines. I do enjoy a good Chardonnay--a nice oakey one.

In the summer, I really like to occasionally have a nice Rose.

I do not like the tannic after bite. 

Guess you could say that I have expensive tastes on a paupers budget!!!

Years ago there was a Californian Vineyard which found a distributor at one of the stores. I tried it on a lark. It was awesome. I was a convert! Alas, the vineyard had problems with the cork.. It became dried out very easily and allowed air to get into the bottle, ruining the flavor. 

The distributor (store) put the remaining bottles on sale and discontinued carrying them.. It is a shame. I loved all the wines from that Vineyard. 

Needless to say, I stocked up on as much as I could and was a happy camper for a long time...

That supply is long gone; now I am a wanderer....

AbbysMom said:

Apparently today is National Drink Wine Day!

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Hmmm....     I can't let such an important holiday go by unacknowledged.  

AbbysMom said:

Apparently today is National Drink Wine Day! :lol3:

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I will definitely be raising a glass to that! :bigthumb:

I love going to wineries and trying new wines, and learning about the process. We try to go once a year to the Niagara wineries, and if we're on holiday in the summer we've gone on local wine/micro brewery tours. It's fun and you're supporting a local business. There's a micro brewery not far from us that's in its second year now and doing really well. We bought a growler and get it filled when we're having people over or going to a bbq etc. It's a great way to try new stuff and buy local!
As for wine, my tastes tend towards the "cheap and cheerful" a bit as I like the sweeter whites - sweet riesling and muscato. I also like the full-flavoured fruity savignon blancs from NZ (not cheap around here though!) and chardonnays, like from South Australia.
For reds I prefer good old merlot, nice easy drinking for an everyday wine. I also like cabernet savignon. One recent discovery is Apothic red, a blend from California. So nice and smoky and complex, great with a steak. When were in Vegas over Christmas we had fun trying the wines that are more expensive here, such Ghost Pines (really nice cab sav) and Dreaming Tree.
So it turns out, that yes, I do like wine.