California Wine

Discussion in 'The Good Life' started by Cutthroat_trout, Mar 28, 2008.

  1. Beautiful ray of sunshine ! My shipment of wine arrived today from the Alma Rosa Winery in Buellton, California ! Four lovely bottles of Pinot Noir grown in Central Coast region of California. Another shipment from Babcock Winery is expected in a week !

    Doe's anyone else enjoy wine ? From which vineyards ?
     
  2. qhsdoitall

    qhsdoitall Wilbur

    From whichever vineyard down the street that's having a dinner party. :D
     
  3. netsurfr

    netsurfr New Member

    I do not have a particular favorite winery, but Oregon and Washington state make some great Pinot Noir wines.
     
  4. mastermute

    mastermute FatBoy

    I always appreciate a nice Ripasso
     
  5. Absolutely - I have toured a few wineries in the Williamette Valley and Yakima !
     
  6. Jimbo

    Jimbo New Member

    I really like "New World" wines. California, South Africa, South America, *cough* Australia... - red or white, doesn't matter.

    My all-time favourite though is a nice Rioja. Closely followed by Retsina (it's a *lot* of fun after a few glasses ;)).

    James.
     
  7. One of my all time favorite bottles was a Rockford Basket Press Shiraz 2002 from the Barossa Valley.
     
  8. Jimbo

    Jimbo New Member

    I don't know that one off the top of my head, but there are some nice ones coming out of the Barossa, for sure.

    Keep and eye out for Hunter Valley wines too. They've matured a lot recently, and are also producing some very nice stuff. There might not be a lot around at the moment though - they had some very bad flooding there in the past 6 months.

    James.
     
  9. mastermute

    mastermute FatBoy

    Do you know if this by any chance could be the "home" of the Williamette hops?
     

  10. It most certainly is one and same !
     
  11. mastermute

    mastermute FatBoy

    Cool! I really have to look out for wines from Williamette Valley (probably hard to find here :( )
     
  12. As mentioned in earlier post, Oregan is known for Pinots and usually at a reasonable price.
     
  13. netsurfr

    netsurfr New Member

    For those that may be French wine lovers, there is some interesting history concerning the wine blight in the mid 19th century. Most of the root stock in France and in some other parts of Europe were grafted with American vines that were resistant to the aphids that were causing the blight. Hence, most French wine is really American wine.
     
  14. Lyrt

    Lyrt Flash

    Actually, that’s the opposite. French used American rootstock on which were grafted local vines. That’s only fair since the phylloxera plague came from America. :)
     
  15. I had a lovely Hahn 2005 Reserve Syrah last night. It was an unexpected quality bottle of adult pleasure! Is anyone familar with this vineyard ?
     
  16. Sailinblues

    Sailinblues Well-Known Member

    Can't say I'm familiar with that vineyard. If you're a Syrah fan you might like to check out McDowell Valley Vineyards I lived out there for several years and bought local. Their Syrahs are outstanding (and reasonable for a California wine) There are some really good Australian Syrahs around for a lot less money. That's my "Steak" wine, something about the Syrah that goes really good with grilled beef.
     
  17. Thanks - I will check it out. Syrah does demand a nice piece of flesh !
     
  18. TG_Charles

    TG_Charles Member

    My wife and I routinely enjoy drinking wine with our dinner. While we are not poor, we do not have the wealth to drink expensive wines everyday. So, I try to find inexpensive wines that taste good! Some of my favorites in that category are Columbia Crest Cabernet Sauvignon, Blackstone Merlot, Rodney Strong Merlot and Fetzer Cabernet Sauvignon.
     
  19. I am the same - My favorite daily wine is Columbia Crest Two Vine Vineyard Cab-Sauv or Shiraz. I can buy it in D.C. for less than $5 / bottle and a couple years ago the Shiraz scored a 90 in Wine Spectator.
     
  20. rick

    rick I'll make ya SCream!

    On our way to Monterey last week we stopped in Paso Robles for a "break" and sampled at:

    Tobin James Cellars
    and
    Robert Hall Winery

    Great wines at reasonable prices.
    We were in Paso a while back and actually joined Tobin James' wine club. This time we signed up at Robert Hall as well.
    Overall I think Paso wineries are very proud (re: overpriced) of their offerings but these 2 make really decent wines.


    Oregon ======== Pinot Noir
    Australia ======= Syrah (Shiraz)
    New Zealand ==== Sauvignon Blanc
    Paso Robles ===== Zinfidel ;)
    California ====== =Sparkling Wines
     

Share This Page