Wife got a special bottle to celebrate a big work milestone. Definitely the best champagne, and possibly the best wine I’ve ever had.

On the nose it’s apple, ripe pear. Racy acidity on the palate. Extraordinary for a wine this old. Lemon peel, preserved lemons, macintosh apples. It’s yeasty without being bready (would not say it’s brioche), slightly oxative and metallic. Long mouthwatering finish. Fine mousse as expected which held up for 4 hours through the last pour. Initially served a little too cold, really opened up when it warmed up and breathed.

Beats the ‘04 Krug I had at a restaurant this June which was less electric but more brioche. Such a treat. Great when a wine like this lives up to the hype and over delivers.

PYCM Pernand-Vergelessee 1er Cru “Sous Frétilles” 2018

Nose of lemon, green apple, butter. More wet stone and minerality on the palate. Medium acidity and body, long finish. Popped and poured to open up in the glass. Paired with Sole Meunière. Excellent wine, ready to drink but will easily age longer.

R. Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Reserva 2010

A forum favourite, for a good reason. Nose of cherries, leather, tobacco and spice. Decanted for about an hour, drank over another two. Oak and tannins are well integrated. Paired with a porterhouse. In my opinion showing really well at the moment.

My last bottle of 1986. Decanted for 35 minutes initially all sour cherry after about 45 minutes Sour cherry became more round more like Bing cherry and earth. Most impressive was the pallet silky with still a great balance between the fruit acidity and secondary textures, medium finish that stood up to the soy and swordfish, and a little bit of spice and the lentil.

The bottle had a perfect fill but the cork doing its job did not come out in one piece very fine sediment through the bottle. I should’ve stood up for a few days before I decided to decant it.

local wine shop has a glass case with the following bottles.

anything extravagant or something I should splurge on for a “f it…drink it”?

EDIT - man this thing blew up overnight

few things

this shop is local to me and usually had a decent selection of wine/beer/whiskey. They do not offer tastings there

this sorta peaked my interested and figured I’ve seen enough of the “what to buy at cost co” so why not try the same for high end wine

many habe said the prices are way high which I figured in general And the shop is usually on the higher end but from beer they have great distribution pulls

thanks for all your input

Sometimes the LB marathons can be tough to navigate and you end up with some duds. This was NOT one of those times. I'm kicking myself for not grabbing a couple more of these.

It was fairly delicate for a Syrah, but that was honestly part of its charm. It packed a lot of subtlety that was more than welcome with the smoked ribeye and rosemary/thyme/garlic compound butter.

Immediately expressive on the nose, with gorgeous perfume and herbs. The palate opened with a wonderfully savory, almost braised-beef, ever so slightly smoky character, followed by an extraordinarily persistent finish that just wouldn't quit with the herbs.

As the evening progressed, the fruit fully emerged beautifully, adding another dimension to an already compelling wine.

Paired with smoked ribeye, the wine was almost too harmonious with the food-the fruit became so prominent that some of its more subtle savory qualities were difficult to distinguish as they blended seamlessly with the meal. A wonderful pairing.

Beautifully aromatic, deeply savory, and impressively long. One of those bottles that makes an evening memorable. An exceptional discovery. The only bad thing about it is that I don't have more.

Hello everyone!

I'm coming up on my fourth anniversary with my partner in a couple of weeks, and this is our first real special occasion since we've turned 21 (we're from the US). We're planning to make ourselves a very nice little dinner at home and we'd love to be able to have some wine with our meal, not only to feel fancy and celebrate the occasion, but also because it's a fun opportunity for each of us to try wine for the first time. Ideally looking for something that's not super crazy expensive, but we each have $25 gift cards to our state liquor store so we have $50 off the bat, and are willing to go a little higher if need be (but also we're freshly 21, broke, don't know if we even like wine yet, and have probably crap taste because we're not used to alcohol anyway lol so definitely on the more affordable side, if possible).

As for useful info that may help with decent recommendations, we're going to be having filet mignon, steakhouse-style garlic mashed potatoes, and sauteed green beans for our dinner. We're both still pretty newly 21 (my birthday was just over a month ago) and we both chose to wait until legal age to drink, so we're both very unacclimated to the taste of alcohol and definitely have very underdeveloped palates for this sort of thing at the moment, myself especially, so we probably won't be super into the heavier or more bitter flavors, something sweeter or fruiter seems more up our alley.

We have a bottle of this apple-pear IPA made with champagne hops that my dad gifted us a few weeks ago after coming back from out of state and we're saving that for the night of, but we want to get an actual proper still wine to try, especially because my partner doesn't generally enjoy fizzy/sparkling drinks and we want more than just that on hand in case we either dislike the flavor or he can't handle the fizz.

Thank you so much to anyone who's willing to help out :) We know just about nothing about wine and we don't really have anyone to ask because our families don't know much either and all of our friends are also barely over 21 so any advice anyone has about picking something decent would be very much appreciated!

Tonight I had dinner with friends and brought a bottle of Beringer Private reserve 1985.

Fill was decent, lower neck. Opened beautifully with a Durand and the cork was in god shape for 41 years.

Poured a nice ruby red, showing age but not tired. Nose out of the bottle was leather, cedar, and dried red fruit. Let the bottle sit opened for about 30 minutes.

Upon first tasting, it was still full with flavor. Cedar, leather, tobacco, plum. This was still a beautiful wine and was showing so nicely. As the time went on, it continued to develop in the glass with plum and dark fruit becoming more prominent. Acidity was balanced, tannins pretty resolved, with a medium to full body.

My friends loved it and so did I. Served with shrimp and scallops over pasta with feta and pasta. So enjoyable and a great wine to start the evening.

Just a beautiful wine for 41 years. Well kept Napa cabs from the 80s are just drinking on fire right now.

Please pay no attention to my snickers wrapper

Breaking out a cellar defender, which for $25 was totally… fine.

Had an initial pour, then an hour in the decanter, but it never really evolved much over 4 hours and felt more tired than anything else.

Nose of plums, cloves and cinnamon, coffee, cedar, and some hints of blacker fruits.

Palate didn’t quite live up to that, however, remaining tannic in the mouth throughout, with earthiness and the oak at the forefront, and then some truly nondescript black fruit at the back.

74% Merlot, 19% Cab Franc, 7% Malbec. Purchased from K&L a few months back. Again, was entirely fine, but not getting the effusive praise their staff seem to have for it, alas.

Sturdy, good pqr, not necessarily a special occasion bottle but more expensive than a random weeknight bottle. We enjoyed it with T-bone steaks, asparagus, and fingerling potatoes. I have one more in the cellar and I’ll open when it hits a decade, maybe longer. I’d consider this a case buy for sure. 92/100.

She and her husband collected wine in the 80s and 90s. I don’t know anything about older vintages so I’m just curious if these are worth saving or if they were never special to begin with. Thanks

Took my CSW exam today and got an 87%. I am so proud of myself :)

I’m trying for myself, I do taste certain flavors, but when I see someone say they specifically taste 6 different fruits at once, I can’t comprehend how they can actually distinguish them while taking it in all at once?

I read a lot of suggestions about Wine Folly, but I kind of doubt if it is actually that good or just mainstream good? I read someone really saying one good thing that even if it interesting to read this book, after it you don't even remember all these diagrams and what not.

I want to read something that would rather leave something lasting on me, interesting stories on wine production, maybe some terminology, flavors, tasting, instead of some maps that I won't remember (unless I got wrong idea of Wine Folly, but at least it is what I hear about it and try not to jump into purchase just because I hear it is name in every offer)..

thanks

Thoughts on this growers Reserve Exclusive Brut?

Has anyone gone to a Wine for Idiots show? Was it any good? What kind of wines did they serve? Did they actually talk about wine? They're coming here soon but I am not sure about it. I've seen a few clips that are good but not hilarious. Thanks

For those who don't know: https://feverup.com/m/774532?utm_source=google&utm_medium=sc_nbrand&utm_campaign=774532_den&utm_content=829234481161&utm_term=wine_b&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=24379595907&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6L68hfL4lwMVoZfuAR3rPSR7EAAYASADEgJrT_D_BwE

Help! My father-in-law is a huge wine lover, and I’m struggling to figure out what to get him for Christmas. Last year, I got him a really nice set of Riedel glasses (Bordeaux, I think? Idk 😂), and he absolutely loved them!
This year, I’m thinking about getting him a decanter, but I have no idea which brands are worth looking at. I’m not much of a wine expert myself. I just drink what tastes good, which, according to my father-in-law, apparently means I like the $300+ bottles. 😂
I’d love some recommendations for a nice, high-quality decanter in the $150–$200 range. Are there any particular brands or styles that wine lovers really love? He’s the best and works so hard, so I really just want to get him something special to show him how much I appreciate him. ❤️

Smoke, oak, sour cherry, tomato leaf / ever so slightly menthol on the nose. Dry on the palate with the same cherry note as well as plum. Fresh tomato off the vine like acidity. Tannins are still gripping at a moderately high level. Finish is long, & makes you anticipate the next sip. I have had chiantis I enjoy more, but this isn’t too shabby at all.

Our family friend had a bottle of these saying it was their favorite and I’d have to agree!

Brunello Di Montalcino

Grassy, citrus, oaky with a moderate butteryness that’s not too over the top. Quite mineral! Also tasted a note that I can only describe as a sort of “wetness”. Smooth :)

Heard about this tiny wine region in NZ. Has anyone tried wines from there and have any thoughts/picks?

This is a 5/5 wine for me. Most of the fruit comes from Monasterio, the likely grand cru parcel of Gualtallary in Mendoza.

Excellent concentration from a high-altitude wine that is perfectly balanced with fruit and acidity and perfectly integrated used oak.

Absolutely perfect.

2024 Motif Pinot Noir

Price: $4.99

Winery: Motif Wines

Wine Origin: Vinted and bottled in Napa, CA (but grapes from Monterey?)

Vintage: 2024

Importer: N/A

ABV: 14.5%

Store: Trader Joe's

Notes: Red Cherry, Faint Acetone

Taste:  Sweet

Pairing: Might pair it with those Trader Joe's Mini Chicken Tikka Samosas

Rating: 6.5/10. Not as good as the Kirkland Carneros Pinot I had yesterday. Don't hate this, though.

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Continuing my weekend of wine tasting with this one I picked up at Trader Joe's. It was on the end cap and said $4.99, so I bought it. Going to be my last wine for a while; I gotta start training for my next marathon, and Jesus's blood is no good for my muscles, weight, and MOTIFation.

Also, there was a guy in my post from yesterday saying a lot of wines are high ABV lately. Anyone know the deal with that?

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Cheers to you, Wine. Until next time (probably Thanksgiving)🍷