The Best Wine

[Ben Sones]

Someone mentioned it, now here it is. I mean, if we're going to do beer...

I drink a fair bit wine. We probably have wine with dinner as many as two or three times a week, so my picks change all the time. But this is my favorite stuff that I've had somewhat recently.

2001 Marquis Philips "S2" Cab (I wish I had bought a case)

1999 Opus One Cab (just had this one, as a graduation present)

2001 Whitehall Lane Cab: also pretty amazing.

2001 St. Francis Old Vines Zinfandel

2002 Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc

Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin (still my favorite bubbly)

Conundrum, a unique white blend from Caymus. Pick a vintage; I have yet to have a bad one. I also love their cab, but it's gotten way too pricey.

Silver Oak cab. Again, pick a vintage. I prefer the Alexander Valley version.

2001 Moscato d'Asti I Vignaioli di Santo Stefano (an amazing Piedmont dessert wine that we recently had in NYC)

Man, I could go on and on...

[Ryan A]

My hot wine buying tip is to buy Italian. It's been my experience (and in the opinion of my friends with more refined palattes than my own) that a typical $12.00 bottle of Italian wine is about the same in quality to a $20.00 bottle of domestic. I don't know why that is, as I would think import taxes would cause the reverse effect.

I've found the effect to scale as well. A $35.00 Italian (I'll have to look up the label) beat the socks off both $80.00 Napa wines we had...

For a while, I suspected it was in my mind - -that I wanted to like the Italian wines more than the California and Washington wines -- you know, the idea of it and all. But we've done several blind tastings and the Italians always win.

I've yet to go wrong with a Spanish wine too.

Makes me want to move to Italy or Spain.

This refers only to Reds... I won't have anything to do with white wine.. even if it's a dish traditionally paired with a white, I'll order a mild red instead.

[triggercut]

When it's summer, I gotta go with summer wines. After declaring myself a "red wine" snob for many a year, what I came around to realizing is that I just hate the way California's big wineries have done to domestic whites. They kill them with oak and over malolactic fermentation until they all taste as if Robert Mondavi himself got his evil paws on them all.

Anyway, within the past two years, I've fallen head-over-heels for a new style of white that's becoming more and more popular in the states (thanks to the cheerleading of Wine Specator, Wine Enthusiast, and Tastings magazines): the bold, fruit-forward "ain't-no-damn-oak-in-here white wine.

Conundrum is a brilliant, old-school example of this, and I second Ben's recommend on it. Caymus actually sold off the Conundrum brand to the winemaker who originally put it together for them. Makes it a bit tougher to find, but is worth the search.

But that isn't my current reigning favorite. That'd have to be the Kim Crawford Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. Forget what you think you know about SB's, and buy a bottle of this now. The fruit just explodes on the palate, and the finish is lovely and smooth. $17 retail, the 2004 vintage is a 91 rating from WS--and on their list of the 100 Best Wines in the world. Seventeen freaking bucks, for heaven in a bottle.

The good folks in Washington state in the Columbia Valley make a brilliant and affordable riesling. The Chateau Ste. Michele/Dr. Loossen "Eroica" riesling is also a WS 91, $20 a bottle, and alsot a perennial Top 100 wine. Can be tough to find in stores, since the word has gotten out on this beautiful, bold white. Worth seeking out.

My favorite growing region in the world right now is the Marlborough area of New Zealand. In addition to that Kim Crawford slice o' heaven, Thornbury have been making beautiful chardonnays in that region. $16 will fetch you a 93-rated chard that'll make you feel like ordering a fatwa on the Kendall-Jackson/Mondavi unholy California "oak the life outta this fruit" American chardonnay style. If you're out shopping and see a sauvignon blanc from Marlborough, even if you don't recognize the winery, chances are it's a good pickup. From what I can tell, you almost have to be deliberately *trying* to screw up a sauvignon blanc or chardonnay or viognier or pinot gris from this area for it not to be good. Maybe the *best* white-wine grape region on the planet right now.

I'm also really getting into the Pacific Northwest wine scene. With a better growing climate and longer, cooler growing season than the Californians to the south, there are folks like Argyle and Ponzi in the Willamette Valley of Oregon making beautiful, brilliant, and affordably priced wines. Sadly, 2004 was a terrible year, climate-wise, in this region...but vintages 98-2003 in Willamette Valley vinyards and/or 98-2000, and then 2002-2003 vintages in the Columbia Valley are worth a look, even if you don't know the winery.

As for Italian and Spanish wines--Hido!!!!!!

[Nellie]

I'll second the support for Italian and Spanish wines.

Cheap Rioja and Chianti can be pretty grotty, but spend more than the benchmark minimum (About £4.99) and it gets pretty good.

Barolo is also a good wine, but you need to be spending £15+ a bottle to really appreciate it.

At the budget end (more my speciality) where you just want something cheap and cheerful that won't double up as paint stripper Aussie wines (both red and white) are really good.

[Bill]

I'll also chime in with props for Conundrum. And I really liked the Villa Maria Sauvignon that I had but I don't remember what vintage it was.

With the hot weather I've been drinking more bubbly; Domaine St. Michel being my fav cheap (~$10/bottle) one.

I've been very happy with the Italian wines that I've had but not with the Spanish ones. But it's strange--when I was in Spain last year I had plenty of good wines (at very reasonable prices too), but I just can't seem to find the same quality here.

My wife started drinking port last year, mainly as an after dinner drink, or with some cheese. Unfortunately she's taken a real liking to it and refuses to drink anything less than 20 year old, with the Taylor Fladgate 20 year tawny her "cheap", workman port.

[Chris Nahr]

Italian wines tend to have a curious "fruity" taste that I don't like much... as if they weren't quite ready for drinking. Some Chianti Classicos are fine, though.

I absolutely second the recommendation for Spanish wines. Actually I can't remember buying one that I didn't like, no matter how cheap, and my favorite wine is a Spanish Rioja as well (Marquis de Cáceres Gran Reserva -- not cheap, though).

French wine can be good but usually you have to spend at least twice as much as for the Spanish equivalent, and many French wines taste (and produce a headache) as if someone had directed a chemical factory outlet into the barrel. So I mostly tend to stay away from them.

The red wine that makes its way here from other continents -- mostly California, Chile, Australia -- is generally very decent, though I have to say they seem to lack "personality" compared to European wines. However, one good Califorrnian wine that I buy quite frequently is the Turning Leaf C.S. by Ernest & Julio Gallo.

There's plenty of white wine in Germany and Austria so I usually pick one of those -- not the cheap sugar water that has made German wines infamous around the world but reasonably-priced dry wines from Castell or other reputable vineyards. Don't think those get exported much, though.