jcoz23's Profile
Burgundy vs. New World Pinot Noir
Very interesting thread! I would surely fail the quiz so I didn't even try! I love Pinot Noir, but though I drink an awful lot of it, I am not very good at analyzing the exact characteristics of why I like one vs. another. I do know of the New World Pinots, in general I far prefer New Zealand to California, and Oregon is somewhere in between. I love Burgundies as well. I just like those in a different way. I agree with one of the previous posters about Burgundies seeming more floral and earthy.
Cava
oh sorry... guess "clunky" means "unfocused", I missed that... but still don't know what that means. I like Cristalino but I'm no expert!
Cava
I guess depends what you call inexpensive... I like Segura Viudas Aria for around $10, but LOVE the Reserva Heredad in the pewter bottle for anywhere from $17-$20... Also Casteller makes a good brut as well as rose cava for $10-$13. My favorite for under $10 is Cristalino, have no idea what "clunky" means...
Wine in AZ gone bad?
Strange... I have never had a problem with AJ's, I buy a ton of wine there, and like you, the wine I purchase from there is usually something that I've had before so I have a point of reference. I go to the Chandler store not the Scottsdale one, though. At least at the Chandler one, they seem to take very good care of the bottles. I guess I will make a note to self not to shop at the Scottsdale location!
AZ Restaurant Week - Sep 20-26: Where to go?
No, I totally agree, HomeCookKirstin. At first I was excited.... but then upon examing the menus, the only places that had all three courses that looked good to me were Tarbell's and Sol y Sombra, neither of which are new to me. For the most part I am not a dessert or salad person, I think I would rather just go to most of these places and pick my own entree and have a glass of wine instead of the salad/dessert... so I don't think I will be taking advantage of Restaurant Week (I don't think Phoenix needs one either).
Taos- duck fat fries at Joseph's Table?
Has anyone tried these? Are they worth going there for? I am going to be in Taos for a couple of nights but will be by myself, so I'm not really interested in doing a "fancy dinner" (which is what I gather Joseph's Table would be). So I am thinking of going to the bar there instead to order the buffalo burger and duck fat fries (which look amazing). Or with just two nights in Taos, is there somewhere else you would recommend instead for a solo traveler looking for a great meal?
Imagine Spain - Scottsdale
Could you tell me what the atmosphere is like? I am excited about this place! I love the food at Sol y Sombra but the atmosphere is a bit too much "place to be seen" for me!
wineries by Madrid or Salamanca?
I already have your guide to Segovia printed out, too. Thank you for all of your great information!!!!
wineries by Madrid or Salamanca?
Thank you for the great information. We are definitly going to Toledo anyway by train so that first one may work. That Hacienda Zorita outside of Salamanca looks amazing, I will definitely email them to see if I can set up a visit on my own.
You aren't the Maribel of "Maribel's Guide" are you?
Is my bottle of Barolo ruined?
The metallic seal is still on, should I take it off to see? What should I be looking for to see if it's still okay (you can probably tell I don't normally hold on to wine for more than a year)?
wineries by Madrid or Salamanca?
Thank you for the information. I may need to go that route, the tours are a little pricey for me!
wineries by Madrid or Salamanca?
Do you happen to know what the approximate cost of the Vintage Spain one day tours are? The Viavinum ones are way out of my price range unfortunately...
Is my bottle of Barolo ruined?
I upgraded to a bigger wine fridge this week... as I was cleaning out the old one I pulled out a bottle from way in the back that I have been saving (and would like to save for another year or two) of Barolo. I guess there was a lot of condensation in the fridge because that bottle was completely wet, to the point that the label is coming off. I don't know how long it was like that, I admit I had not cleaned out the fridge for a long time. Is it still okay, or does dampness hurt the wine?
Who buys wine?
>> "It's interesting to note that the millennial generation, who enjoy drinking wine, are proficient web surfers and are more likely to order wine online. Millennials represent 26% of the U.S. population, while the boomers represent 29%. According to Wine Market Council research, 40% of them are reportedly drinking more wine, particularly imported wine. Meanwhile, the boomers prefer domestic wines in a large proportion (67%). The proportion of millennial drinkers who favored domestic wines was down to 37%, compared to 32% who enjoyed imported wines and 31% who enjoyed both evenly.">>
I guess there are no stats on us Gen-Xers!!! I can't speak for all us, but I think my wine fridge is probably 60/40 imports/domestic. I don't hardly ever buy wine over the internet, only once or twice when I've put in a repeat order to one of the wineries where I belong to the wine club. Half the fun of buying for me is walking up and down the aisles of the wine shop perusing!
wineries by Madrid or Salamanca?
Does anyone know of any wineries that are within a "day trip" of Madrid or Salamanca that can be reached by train or bus (or as part of a one day tour with a group)? I am spending three weeks in Spain next year (the majority of time will be in these two cities), but will not have a car. So far the only wineries I have been able to find that are within reach of a bigger city by public transport are a few cava places outside of Barcelona.
Sideways do-over????
I totally agree! I always have loved Pinot Noir, that is why I loved "Sideways". If you find a great one there's nothing else like it, but there are many horrible ones out there (now even more so)... so it can be "the thrill of the chase" to find a good bottle to some degree. I like WA Merlots for some reason, not a big fan of them otherwise, I think they are best in a blend, too...
To answer the original question, I would say + Rhone blends, - Bordeaux (reds).
Woodinville Tasting Rooms?
I was there a couple of weeks ago, I went to the two wineries jpc8015 mentioned and also to Facelli and Januik, which were closeby on Woodinville-Redmond Road. I liked the wines best at Januik (Januik shares a tasting room with Novelty Hill also). Facelli was a great "mom & pop" winery, I bought a very good Syrah there, and the winemaker was nice enough to sign the bottle for me. I went to Chateau Ste Michelle first, and the lady that was pouring that day gave me a brochure of Woodinville Wineries with a map that was very helpfull. If you like beer as well, Redhook Brewery is next to Columbia Winery and they have a restaurant called Forecasters Pub that has pretty good "pub grub" (obviously not in the same category as The Herbfarm, but if you looking for something faster/cheaper/more casual it is good).
In-N-Out, Fatburger, Culver's Throwdown
I think with Fatburger, you need to get the burger with the fried egg on top. Then it is neck and neck with the double double from In-n-Out in my opinion. Actually, I like the fries at Fatburger MUCH better also, so that influences my overall opinion when comparing the two places. I can't wait to check out Culver's, there is a new one a couple of miles from my house! Is there something wrong with the tomatoes at Culver's or do you just not like them in general?
Pizzeria Bianco - Obnoxious!
That is really interesting. My husband and I were just there last week, and actually had a conversation with the hostess regarding reservations for that very same night (it's my birthday). We were told they begin taking reservations a month before the date (so to call on August 20), and that they would be closed the last week of August and the first week of September. They couldn't have been nicer about it, but then again we were there in person.
Great Value Reds... ($10 - $20 range)
If you are looking for a good Spanish red, I just had Bodegas Borsao Tres Picos Garnacha 2006, it was great and retails for about $14 (at least where I live).
TN: Orfila Winery, San Diego
Thanks for posting this! I go to San Diego all the time but I didn't know this place existed (thank you also, Zin1953)! I definitely am going to check it out. Wow, the wines look great on paper, I'm sure they'll be great in person as well!
Finger lakes advice needed
I went last year and really liked Hermann J Wiemer (bought the most wine there) and Fox Run Vineyards as far as the best wine, but Miles Wine Cellars and Belhurst were on really beautiful, historic properties and had pretty good wine so I enjoyed visiting those two as well. I pretty much stuck to Seneca Lake. I had bought the book, "Greetings From the Finger Lakes: A Food and Wine Lover's Companion" by Michael Turback on Amazon.com before I went. It helped quite a bit, it seems like he covers almost all the wineries on the different lakes. What I didn't like about the book is that he seemed to only mention the positives (definitely not much of a "critique" provided), but what I did like is he gave a background about each winery and the winemaker and let you know their specialties, which was good information to have when trying to narrow down where to visit. Have a great trip, it's beautiful there!
Which of these wines would you pick?
Well, after all of my planning, when I got there the menu had changed. The pizza with the egg (which I love, so I had to have that one) did not come with arugula and mushrooms but with guanciale. I decided to go with the Barbera (I was torn between that and the Rosso di Montalcino) and it was great! Very good pizza too, by the way! Thank you all for the advice!
Which of these wines would you pick?
Hi,
I was just reading another thread about pizza and wine pairing, and realized I need some advice myself! I am going to Serious Pie in Seattle this weekend, which of these wines would you pair with the pizza with porcinis, soft egg & arugula?
http://www.tomdouglas.com/serious/menu.html
On another note, I don't know if I trust this guy's palate after I just saw he has Pabst Blue Ribbon on the menu... yuk... hopefully that's just there to show he's a "down to earth" kinda guy and not meant for actual drinking... just kidding (I doubt I would offend anyone on this board by that statement anyway) :)
Best Sandwich in Phx?
I second Flancer's, just about any sandwich there is great as long as you get it with the green chili mayo! I also love Miracle Mile's "New Yorker"- pastrami with russian dressing and coleslaw. The place gets mixed reviews, but I absolutely love that sandwich... definitely need to make a trip to the dry cleaners after that!
-----
Miracle Mile Delicatessen
1949 E Camelback Rd Ste 160, Phoenix, AZ 85016
Venice/Verona pizza
My mind is plenty open, I have been to Italy numerous times and tried all kinds of foods... I just wanted to try a good pizza for ONE meal of my trip as my post suggested. We wound up going to Al Vecio Canton and it was great.
Croatian wine producer?
Oh well, too late for that... I was in Croatia last week & now I'm back. Thank you for the link to that website, it looks great! I only brought back two bottles though from Croatia, so it was not a big deal to transport (I also went to the Valpolicella region in Italy so I wanted to save room in my luggage for a couple of bottles of Amarone, too). One of the bottles I brought back from Croatia was a Plenkovic Plavac Mali, I did not get the opportunity to taste it first, but from what I've read from you and others it will be good :)
Amity Gamay Noir
Wow, that made my head spin!!! When I visited wineries in the Niagara Peninsula there were a lot of Gamay wines there... Would those be from the Pinot Noir clone?
Brix chocolates
Actually, just tried one last weekend for a party I had. My mom gave it to me and it was the one that said to pair with Zinfandel or Syrah (I think it was dark chocolate but not extra dark). I paired it with a Syrah/Mourvedre blend from Callaghan winery here in AZ. It paired beautifully, and it was a big hit! I put it out on a tray with a parmesan knife and let each person hack off the amount they wanted.
