The Wine Thread.

[Motu]

Prompted from another thread.

I'm the last person to do a thread on wine,I know nothing about wines - but then I may have drunk more wine than some who know a bit about them.We used to buy wine in flagons - bottles are for casual drinkers,we were serious drinkers...we drank our port out of AGee jam jars,say a coffee cup size,we were taught how to drink by those who knew how to drink seriously - the wine was watered down 50/50,the port still tasted nice,got you well and truly out of it - but with reduced hangover symtoms

I was talking about the Dalmation vineyards of West Auckland and how we are loosing them to developers - so I am going to do a survey of West Auckland Dallie vineyards - please join in.I'll only be doing reds,maybe white ports if I find them,you Chardony drinkers are girls.

First I went to Fullers in Candia Rd,this was one of our favorite vineyards,Fullers made a special port every year,50 flagons only,matured in brandy barrels,you could really taste the brandy,absolutly superb.These days he has a reduced range,wine is not a big seller for them now,it's more a function centre.Only one port,at $15 a bottle it's not a bad price for port these days as it's been hit hard by the new tax.He only does one red,a blend,so I guess that may be cabernet sauvigon merlot or some other I know nothing about,they are reds to me.$10 for the dry red.

Next was Mazuran's on Lincoln Rd,this guy specialises in ports,he has bottles going back to the 30s,gold medal winners - some of his ports are over $100 a bottle....I think I'll be coming back here often.I spyed a white port for $34 a bottle,I'll get one of those next,but today I got a cabernet sauvigon merlot for $15 -looks like the vineyards are more expensive than Foodtown,I seldom pay over $10 for a bottle of wine.

The next bottle of wine is a surprise present from a guilty customer - her husband made it,and came with just a cork jammed in the neck.Having just got through a Tamura Merlot I was too tempted with this homemade red and tried it tonight before leaving work.Not bad,not bad at all,a very fruity taste,much more fruity than you get in a red,but with a good spit stopping pucker after taste - after half a glass I don't give a flying fuck what you lot think,I reckon it's pretty damn good,the perfect companion for Bluebird Kettle's.

It's going to take me awhile on this subject,a bottle a week,and I'll work my way around the vineyards,with a few surprises thrown in like that homemade job,also got a Montana I put down my pants on saturday night,I'll take that one home and drink it.Anyone in Auckland who wants to partake and comment is welcome to come on down to my workshop after 5.00pm,although I may be half a glass ahead.

[MikeL]

I seldom pay over $10 for a bottle of wine.

Me too. Pay more, and all you're doing is over-educating your palate.
I learned to drink wine in France where (admittedly a few years ago), a rough vin de table cost less than 50c, and anything over about $4 was eminently quaffable. Now $9.95 at the supermarket is my usual benchmark. For special occasions I might stretch to $13. Paying $30 or $40 for a bottle is for me a convincing demonstration of the law of diminishing returns.
Or will be at least until I win Lotto.

[NC]

I like Feijoa wine


But Merlot is my fave

[jimbo600]

I like Feijoa wine


But Merlot is my fave

Feijoa wine?

Can't beat a good Aussie Shiraz.

I drank sooo much wine once my wahhh looked like Ribena.

[Paul in NZ]

I was a wine steward / head waiter in a silver service Hotel in England. We specialised in serious wine and some of it was in the $1,000's per bottle.

Some was terrible (well for the price)

but some of it.....

OH trust me....

SOME of it was like drinking in the night sky, all dark and velvety with stars in it... (sigh) a '52 Chateau Muton Rothschild ....... Lovingly decanted over a candle in our stone cellar where it had live since 1953

But you don't buy it for $30

Me! A half a gallon of Vellito Rosso in a bota bag and I'm anyones...

Paul N

[jrandom]

Mrs Random and I drink a bottle or two a week. About the $13 mark gets us a tasty red. Cab sav, merlot or a blend thereof. For anyone around Te Atatu, the Filipino lady (I'm a regular, but I fear I've never asked her name - shameful) that runs the little 'Wine Villa' shop up on the peninsula along Te Atatu Road really knows her stuff and has a good selection. Unlike the wholesalers around the corner, she's never sold me a corked bottle.

I've sampled a bit of the expensive-ish NZ wines, and frankly, I'm happy to leave them. I don't get $80 of enjoyment from an $80 bottle. When I have the cash (not often) I'll save that kind of expenditure for Scotch, where it actually counts as some sort of value for money.

The most I've ever spent on a bottle of wine was $230 for a bottle of Veuve at a bar on the night Sarah and I got engaged. I was young and foolish.

[Slipstream]

I was a wine steward / head waiter in a silver service Hotel in England.

Dude, we so have to talk.

I wasn't as far feild or as glossy as you, but I did win a silver medal in the NZ Culinary Fair for Silver service and I have been involved with wine from drinking it, to studying it , to making it....now I'm just back to drinking it again

A real life sommilier Joy.

[Posh Tourer :P]

Hmmm got recommended a pink wine by a friend, I'll let y'all know when I try it.

[Ghost Lemur]

I started getting into wines when my dad built his wine cellar, poor guy had to drink 72 bottles of wine last year.

The really sad part is he's in Wellington so I wasn't able to help him. We've generally always got wine in the fridge, but due to finances (or lack thereof) seldom is it in a bottle.

A really nice Muscat after a good meal is hard to beat.

[SPman]

A really nice Muscat after a good meal is hard to beat.

Fuck the meal - just have the Muscat!

[Jackrat]

We used to get in a mobile sheep dip once a year.
The guy that owned it would drink a flagon of port every day,After one days work I got into it with him.Never been able to touch the stuff since.
Havn't seen him for a few years,odd that

[Skyryder]

Not a great wine drinker myself but the wife partakes on a regular bassis. When I was in California a few years back went to a resturant and had a Red that was over $500kiwi a bottle. That was tasty. Spend a bit on a good Port.

Skyryder

[Motu]

When I was living on Waiheke I got to taste some of the soon to be expensive fancy wines - they were bloody expensive then too,but they needed people to drink it and say ooh,aaah....I drank it and said - ooh,shit! nice,but I couldn't drink it everyday...there are wines made to drink everyday...that's what this thread is going to find out.

Wines are like motorcycles,some very fine and expensive ones,and if you know anything about wine,then that's what you drink - completely missing out on the plethora of cheap and nasty wines at shoe level in the supermarket,some are absolute gems.I'm the same way with motorcycles,I have no interest in the top shelf,I look for bargins,the unwanteds,the ones no one else will take - the home made one that the owner has poured his heart and his families food money into.

[Paul in NZ]

Dude, we so have to talk.

I wasn't as far feild or as glossy as you, but I did win a silver medal in the NZ Culinary Fair for Silver service and I have been involved with wine from drinking it, to studying it , to making it....now I'm just back to drinking it again

A real life sommilier Joy.

Not really. Just a poor kiwi in the UK who bullshitted his way into a good job! Thankfully the hotel was run by a surfing addicted Basil Fawlty type that was pissed / stoned half the time and the guests were happy as long as you kept them the same way! Trust me, I had no idea and no training other than quick wits and rewading a big book at night.

We did have some serious wine though and every now and then, on special nights the boss and I would open a few for a few regular customers and oh MY! (btw - you still feel rat shit in the morning though)

One customer (well known and shall remain nameless) was a bloody decent stick and taught me a lot. (military type don't ya know, what!) We started corresponding a month before he arrived and ordered in a special shipment. 2 bottles for lunch and 3 for dinner! They were not super rich but this holiday was their big event of the year and it was done in a fashion that would have left the Orient Express gasping. We loved them though! First night he heard there was a staff party at the beach and sent down (via me) 2 crates of beer. They got the royal treatment from the staff. Bloody decent people I tell you!

About all I got out of the job was enough $$ for a ticket home, a smoking habit, several world class hangovers and a hatred of irish coffee. I got a kick back of $1 for every one I made but once some try hard ordered one for his mutton dressed up as lamb date, everyone wanted one.... That mean't I was there ages doing these things while the rest of the crew went down the pub! Argh!

We used proper Devon clotted cream mixed with a little fresh and carefully floated using the warmed back of a silver spoon. Very nice but once you have made a few hundred the gloss goes off them...

[Lou Girardin]

Aaaaahhhh! Vino. My third pleasure. I have no compunction in paying silly money for wine. Fortunately so does my Missus. We bought a bottle of 1998 Martinborough Vineyard Reserve Pinot Noir on our honeymoon, to be opened on our 5th anniversary.
We also bought a bottle of Penfolds Bin 707 and weren't impressed, so price doesn't always count.
We do vineyard visits on our holidays, Northland, Hawkes Bay, Martinborough, Marlborough, Nelson, etc. Feb will be Otago.
But don't ask me to describe flavours and noses, she can do that but I'm at a loss. But I know what I like.
Mind you, we drink $10 to $15 quaffers on a regular basis, so I hate wine snobs.
I you like it, it's good. End of story.