Anyone for a nightcap?

[midwestyankee]

I feel like there are breakpoints. You can go terribly wrong at 7.99 a bottle, but you can also go right if you play your cards smart. Anything between like, nine bucks and fourteen bucks is chump change and I've been a chump for paying it.

You're going to be OK from 13.99 to 24.99 unless something is awry.

From 24.99 to 45 you're just making yourself feel better, silly rabbit.

Then from about 45-65 you're up another notch, but only about half the time.

I've never spent more than that, because single malt.

I almost always aim for the sweet spots of 8 bucks and 14 bucks.

And skunky bottles happen! I'm amazed, but they really do!

For the most part, this makes sense once you adjust the prices for local taxation. I remember discussing Menage a Trois, which is well under $10 here (usually I see it for $8.99) but DGE said it was well over $10 in his area, so one does have to keep that in mind. Tonight, I'm drinking one of my favorite $10 bottles: Hey Mambo, which is a self-described Sultry Red. It makes me want to dance, in particular the dance of the beast with two backs. Around here, taxes mean that the bottom line is $10 and the sweet spot is about $18.


@Elle, I enjoyed studying your chart and I largely agee with your philosophy.

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

What are you trying to drink?

I'd just go for anything that's certified organic, and there are multiple options for that, plenty coming out of South America, plenty from every other state where you can grow a grape. I like Bonterra, which is CA, but organic, and notably absent from the list. You can certainly pass over the state, but it's got one of the *more* regulated organic labeling codes out there.

I drink full bodied reds until it's about 75 degrees out, so it's those pinots and other reds from WA and OR - and anything done by Andrew Rich in Oregon is one of the most solid bets out there.

Leaving the US, not everything out of France is prohibitive.

For table wine, La Vielle Ferme is decent across the board, and totally does the job cheaply. I like the rose, lately. I've been on a dry pink kick, there's only so much Pinot Grigio from Italy I can suck down in a decade.

La Vielle Ferme is the budget arm of Perrin + Fils, where I go for my Cotes Du Rhone fix, still never really spend over 25 unless something exceptional is going on.

I roll over to rose from SA or Spain when it's over 75 degrees, sometimes splashing a touch of water into an OK rose or drinking it over ice. (They know a thing or two in southern Spain) Marques De Caceres pink stuff = good. Good enough for chicken dinners, light pizzas, pasta, anything you can really throw at it.

I have found myself drawn to the Italian earthy wines lately, but I also found some Chilean, Argentinean, French and Spanish wines. Your comments on California organic labeling codes are well received, I will mull it over (mull? wine joke? )

Argentina - Santa Julia cabernet
Italy - Foreign Press Rosso Toscano
A Malbec, Trapiche. Don't remember if that is Australia or Spain?
France - Luc Pirlet Pinot Noir
Spain - Protocolo
France - Domaine Laroque

These are some if the wines that I discovered and enjoyed, all in the $10 - $15 range. I am always on the lookout for an every day/ any day wine. And I have actually been to the Marques de Caceres wineries in Spain, so I'll keep am eye out for that one. I don't like their reds so much, they are too dry for me, but I'm happy to try their rosé.

Thanks for the input!

 

[La damnee elle la licorne]

 

[Curious_in_Cali]

A generous pour of Makers Mark.

Cheers all!

 

[midwestyankee]

Big House white.

 

[PattiJolene]

Cheers...sipping on a nice glass of wine.

 

[desertslave]

That's so great for you.
So, back to my original question.
Any recommendations on NOT California wines?
Because I am off of all of them.

I figure something is going to do me in some time so it might as well be something good.

I'm still holding out for a multiple orgasm-induced heart attack, but one of my favorite wines is a reasonable backup plan.

Seven Deadly Zins
Zin-Phomaniac
Menage a Trois



Master and I used to like a red from Spain, from Borsao winery. A few years ago they changed the blend and it wasn't to our taste any more. (OMG the face we made at each other, virtually at the same instant! ) Last week we saw it at CostPlus again, but decided we're a bit afraid to either love it or be disappointed again. A matching pair of goofs, we are.

 

[Niam1985]

Finished my growler of the saison before it got flat.

 

[seela]

Hello World API-IPA

The name's pure gold, the beer's kind of bad. That's what you get for falling for cute names.

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

Hello World API-IPA

The name's pure gold, the beer's kind of bad. That's what you get for falling for cute names.

Yes, I have fallen for countless wine bottle names or lables as well...

 

[La damnee elle la licorne]

 

[La damnee elle la licorne]

 

[Aphro]

I purchased a bottle of Bailey's last week. Chocolate cherry Bailey's.

I plan on doing some quality control testing on that bottle tonight.

 

[seela]

Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban.

Quite yummy.

 

[gypsy*seer]

Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban.

Quite yummy.

Hell, yes! Hiya, seela!
(Lately, sometimes that's all I can muster...)

 

[rbijon]

I purchased a bottle of Bailey's last week. Chocolate cherry Bailey's.

I plan on doing some quality control testing on that bottle tonight.

Nice, pour me a flaggon. ....I am Irish

 

[Endless_Night]

Nice, pour me a flaggon. ....I am Irish

I thought you were Pirate!

Cocoa Psycho. A Russian imperial style stout. Chocolaty. Nom.

 

[desertslave]

I've a craving for truly good tequila. A handful of years ago, on my birthday, I was seduced by Corazon (bless you, Columbus hotel bartender!)

I could use some on these hot summer nights.

 

[seela]

Hell, yes! Hiya, seela!
(Lately, sometimes that's all I can muster...)

Hi G*S! Fancy a drink?

 

[midwestyankee]

I purchased a bottle of Bailey's last week. Chocolate cherry Bailey's.

I plan on doing some quality control testing on that bottle tonight.

Was it any good?

 

[midwestyankee]

I thought you were Pirate!

Cocoa Psycho. A Russian imperial style stout. Chocolaty. Nom.

Sounds lime you and Aphroditiac should get together and pour your drinks over some good ice cream.


For me: green tea. I have officially lost my marbles and have committed to a whole foods cleanse that eliminates alcohol. I may be a tad more curmudgeonly than usual for a while.

 

[seela]

For me: green tea. I have officially lost my marbles and have committed to a whole foods cleanse that eliminates alcohol. I may be a tad more curmudgeonly than usual for a while.

So that's why I've been feeling like drinking beer and wine and calvados and whiskey lately! I must have sensed the imbalance in the global alcohol consumption. Don't worry, I'm picking up the slack.

 

[Curious_in_Cali]

For me: green tea. I have officially lost my marbles and have committed to a whole foods cleanse that eliminates alcohol. I may be a tad more curmudgeonly than usual for a while.

Oh man, this is so HAWT.

 

[La damnee elle la licorne]

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

Sounds lime you and Aphroditiac should get together and pour your drinks over some good ice cream.


For me: green tea. I have officially lost my marbles and have committed to a whole foods cleanse that eliminates alcohol. I may be a tad more curmudgeonly than usual for a while.

Don't worry! We probably won't notice a bit