for me i actually rarely spend more than $50 a bottle, 'cos IMO a lot of the above $50 comes the issue of dubious Quality-Price-Ratio. I mean some of them are really good, but is it that good that I have to fork out hundreds and possibly thousands of dollars? as a marketing guy, we're paying a lot for the brand. that's why i do so much research on a bottle before i buy; and it goes even beyond wine critic's points as i don't care much for them.
i can't remember the 'nicer' deals but i just saw that they had placed lots of discounted items in the wine section (except the inner bordeaux section). i saw some affordable 2007 chateauneuf du papes, that was a very good vintage to lay down for the long term.
for me i actually rarely spend more than $50 a bottle, 'cos IMO a lot of the above $50 comes the issue of dubious Quality-Price-Ratio. I mean some of them are really good, but is it that good that I have to fork out hundreds and possibly thousands of dollars? as a marketing guy, we're paying a lot for the brand. that's why i do so much research on a bottle before i buy; and it goes even beyond wine critic's points as i don't care much for them.
i can't remember the 'nicer' deals but i just saw that they had placed lots of discounted items in the wine section (except the inner bordeaux section). i saw some affordable 2007 chateauneuf du papes, that was a very good vintage to lay down for the long term.
IMO, good ratings by critics would usually mean high prices as well and i tend to avoid it. I do get $50-100 bottles from time to time depending on the offer and region. Which finest branch did you see the 2007 CDP? Care to share some of the CDP labels available?
i was at the PS one this morning cos checking out the prices of some of the bordeaux that i intend to buy as a present for a friend. $127, gonna buy it tomorrow.
i was at the PS one this morning cos checking out the prices of some of the bordeaux that i intend to buy as a present for a friend. $127, gonna buy it tomorrow.
I just had a very bad Medoc over the wkend. Dourthe Medoc. Not ex, but pretty horrible. Super sharp and raw. Decanting didn't help. Left overnight and it became vineger
yeeaahhhh....i don't really like dourthe as a producer. they pretty much just grab grapes all over the medoc and squeeze out some plonk.
go for a chateau brillette instead or their 2nd label hauts de brillette at carrefour. let it decant for about a half hour and it tastes great. affordable and decently well made.
the bordeaux i am getting for my friend is the 2000 Chateau Malartic-Lagraviere, Pessac Leognan, Graves, Bordeaux
yeeaahhhh....i don't really like dourthe as a producer. they pretty much just grab grapes all over the medoc and squeeze out some plonk.
go for a chateau brillette instead or their 2nd label hauts de brillette at carrefour. let it decant for about a half hour and it tastes great. affordable and decently well made.
the bordeaux i am getting for my friend is the 2000 Chateau Malartic-Lagraviere, Pessac Leognan, Graves, Bordeaux
I've yet to attend any courses. I think the key is experimentation to try out a variety of wines to know what you like. Also, you may find that your taste may change with time as well.
just got back from carrefour at PS. bought the 2000 malartic lagraviere and a bottle of white for myself to drink with dinner today: 2009 Neethlingshof Gewurztraminer. it looked interested, under $30, so why not? i bought a nice block of Camembert cheese as well to go with it cos carrefour was having sale on those cheeses ($5.95).
@woolyrhinoc:
i haven't attended classes (actually i conduct classes in NUS, but this semester way my last class 'cos i am graduating this semester). most of my learning comes from lots and lots of online research, reading, chatting on wine forums and experiment and taste as many as possible. there are some wine tastings that are free or affordable and i head for those.
you can look at the first few pages of this thread as i posted a brief writeup on the different components of wine and how to appreciate it. there are many resources online as well:
www.thewinedoctor.com (focuses on france with a passion for Loire and Bordeaux. he has detailed writeups on the various producers, regions, sub-regions and wines.
i talk about wine and read about other people talking about wine regularly on www.cellartracker.com/forum
you can use cellartracker.com to search for wines and see what other people say about them before you buy. u can find most wines there. there's even an iphone app for it. very very useful website.
tv.winelibrary.com
while the host may seem brash and loud, but he KNOWS his stuff. very informative wine vlog that has almost 900 episodes and still going. each ep is anywhere between 10 to 30 mins on average. u can watch an episode or two before you sleep. updated almost everyday. lots of nuggets of knowledge and wine information for example: how to get your wine palate trained (while this video may seem crazy, but that's what sommeliers and professional tasters do) http://tv.winelibrary.com/2006/12/15/how-to-get-your-wine-palate-trained-episode-148/
IMO one of the world's greatest wine critic and author is Ms Jancis Robinson from the UK and while this series is old (1995), it is still relevant and she gives a very structured way of looking and knowing about wine. they are all on youtube, here's the first episode.
just remember to keep tasting and trying new wines. make it a habit that whenever you wanna buy wine, buy something different, buy something you've never had in your life, something strange and weird. that's where you learn.
it also helps that everytime you drink a wine, write down on your phone, your smartphone, pen and paper...etc. write down the characteristics of the wine the nose and the palate. i write about tasting and appreciating on the first few posts. it takes time to wrap your head around it but once you get it, you got it.
I've yet to attend any courses. I think the key is experimentation to try out a variety of wines to know what you like. Also, you may find that your taste may change with time as well.
of course your taste will change over time as you appreciate different types of wines and as you gravitate towards certain styles of wine. have u taken at the previous post i wrote for you regarding some wine resources you can use?
denise wine is a large chain of wine retail in SG and they carry a large range of wines. they have a good selection but IMO can be a little expensive especially if you are first starting out. you can try wine connection instead. they have various branches and the prices are lower and they carry a range of more newbie friendly wines for you to start on.
bunch of us celebrated my friend's birthday dinner last night at a restaurant. we brought 4 bottles: a french champagne, a french white and two portugese reds. delicious!
today was my friend's actual birthday so we had a very nice italian meal at Pietrasanta. I had a squid ink pasta with crabmeat and we shared a nice pizza topped with onions, homemade sausage and blue cheese. we chose a bottle of 2007 Michele Chiarlo Barbera d'Asti "Le Orme". Very nice wine that went well with out dishes. Dominant plush red fruits with some herbaceous notes at the backend. Overall very balanced and had the delicious factor.
grabbed a bottle from cold storage today for dinner.
2009 Waipara Springs Sauvignon Blanc, Waipara, New Zealand
I am generally not a big fan of new zealand sauvignon blanc (SB) in general, especially those that come from Marlborough region, which is famous for its SB as I find the grassy notes too harsh and many entry level efforts are not very balanced and/or just leave me feeling very 'meh'.
However I do admire the Waipara region of New Zealand, more famous for its Rieslings, I think its terrior and climate are also suited for making SB in a style that I enjoy; maybe I am the exception since Marlborough SB has taken the white wine world by storm. Perhaps it's due to the hotter summers in Waipara that help ripen the SB a little more so that it doesn't have too much of that grassy notes and brings out more of the fruit driven flavours. In addition, the limestone rich soil adds a nice and crisp acidity and mineral edge to the wine that brings about a nice balance to the fruitiness.
At 13% alcohol, I particularly liked this bottle of NZ SB. It had good balance, great crisp and mineral edge, lovely flavours and nose. Starting off as very lemon dominated and as it breathed gave way to more lime and pineapple with a bit of cream custard nose. On the palate, the strong lemons also developed to more softer honeydew-esque flavours. While it may not be the most complex wine I have had, this is a well made wine with pure flavours that's not overly done. Waipara Springs is more of a boutique winery that clearly has respect for their grapes and terrior, bringing forth rather expressive wines. This retails at Cold Storage at $34 regular price, but it was on sale for about $29; but even at $34 it's still worth the money, at least for my palate and in my humble opinion.
Just be sure to let it breathe for about half and hour to 45 minutes, keep in mind I drank it at room temperature at an air-conditioned restaurant...there is no need to chill it. Goes great with poultry dishes and even cream based pasta as there is enough acidity to cut through the fat and cream.
just an update. Carrefour is having another wine fair (yay) but this time they're using the annex at Marina Square. It runs from today till the 22nd July. Some stuff to taste and some new stuff on sale that I have not seen in previous sales.
For my personal palate, I was not impressed by most (if not all) of the wines that I could taste (tasted about 12 wines IIRC); many of them IMO not worth the price tag (even though it is relatively affordable)
What I did recognize as pretty decent were the offerings were as follows
- 2005 Chateau Brillette. From the Moulis region of Bordeaux, lesser known but great values. Can start drinking next year and will be able to keep for another 5-8 years
- 2005 Sillage de Malartic (red). From the Pessac Leognan region, this is the 2nd wine of Malartic-Lagraviere and delivers great value. Formerly priced at $61, you can now get it at $49. I have been waiting for this one for a long time for a price drop.
- 2008 Albert Ponnelle Bourgogne Blanc Réserve de la Chevre Noire. A white burgundy made from 100% chardonnay grapes. I have had the 2007 last year and it was great for the price. The 2008 vintage was better for the whites than reds in burgundy and thus the 2008 should deliver at least a good value buy for under $30.
- Chateau Fesles. This is not a bordeaux producer but one of the oldest producers in Layon, Loire Valley knwon for its dessert style (botrytis) wines made from 100% chenin blanc grapes. I have been waiting for a price drop for a while. Their 'Bonnezeaux' is their premium offering and have dropped their 500ml 1996 bottling from $79 to $59! I immediately grabbed one. Their 2005 'Bonnezeaux' bottlings are also available for $39 for a small bottle but I would highly recommend that you keep it for another 10 years at least; the 1996 vintage can start drinking now. Their signature dry wines "La Chapelle" goes for an awesome $26 for a dry Chenin Blanc in the 2006 vintage. A great value for a serious wine that is well structured and balanced. Great stuff from a great producer.
- There are serveral other bordeaux producers that are on sale for a decent amount of money. As per last wine fair, the 2006 Picque Caillou reds taste delicious and go for around $30 or under (I can't remember)
- A lot of the other new world stuff seemed rather entry level and didn't really deliver on the value. However the penfolds had some of their more premium bottlings (save their GRANGE range) at very competitive and discounted prices. If you are willing fork out money ranging from$50 to $100+, you would be able to get their Bin128 (shiraz), St Henri(shiraz), Bin 389 (cabernet sauvignon), RWT (shiraz). But keep in mind that these are more recent vintages (06 and up) so most of these wines need to lay down for a couple more years to get their act together.
- Now that I think about it, i think the only wine that i tasted and felt was not bad was the 'Lambloch Shiraz Classic' from Australia. It was around $30+ and it was decently well made. Nice aussie sunshine fruit with nice chocolate and spice notes. Good weight and overall quite delicious.
So if you are free, do pop down to take a look. There's a whole bunch of stuff. Plus some discounted cheese such as camembert and goats cheese etc... do post here if you got some questions or tell us what you bought. I bought the Fesles Bonnezeaux and the Fesles La Chapelle. My friend bought the Sillage de Malartic.
the Long Flat label can be found at many supermarkets and provide very affordable entry level aussie wines. i have not tried the moscato red, but it should be more towards a dessert style of wine, so it will be sweet.
why don't you try other types of wines or even other types of sweet wines?
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