OK, it may sound pretentious, but I suffer from hating beer.  I listen to all the IPA and craft nerds talk about their stuff, so I feel like this deserves a space.  Anyone into wine?  Pure wine snob?  Just getting into it?

I don't understand how Kelce keeps getting called offside on the push play when I'm sure he tells the official before the game that he's wearing a sleeve and Landon isn't. And also, how come every team can just gash us with quick throws but we can't figure out how to execute a simple quick slant.

 

 

Oh wait, there's no H in the wine in the title..... Nevermind 

2 hours ago, eagle45 said:

OK, it may sound pretentious, but I suffer from hating beer.  I listen to all the IPA and craft nerds talk about their stuff, so I feel like this deserves a space.  Anyone into wine?  Pure wine snob?  Just getting into it?

My wife is gluten free from Celiacs so I have been into wine for awhile now. Honestly drinking beer makes me tired, not drunk, and full. Wine is better.  I’m a red wine guy - Cab Sav mainly, Pinot Noir, blends.  I’m not a connoisseur or anything but I enjoy drinking red wine until I can’t feel my face. There are some really cool wineries near Charlotte that we’ve been to as well.  

I’m starting to get old enough that red wine makes me tired, but it’s still my favorite.

I like it all, but Brunello’s from Italy are probably my singular favorite.

46 minutes ago, eagle45 said:

I’m starting to get old enough that red wine makes me tired, but it’s still my favorite.

I like it all, but Brunello’s from Italy are probably my singular favorite.

This was the coolest winery I’ve ever been to.  Highly recommend!  The whole Sonoma/Napa scene really made me appreciate everything that goes into it.  

https://www.gunbun.com

2 hours ago, hputenis said:

My wife is gluten free from Celiacs so I have been into wine for awhile now. Honestly drinking beer makes me tired, not drunk, and full. Wine is better.  I’m a red wine guy - Cab Sav mainly, Pinot Noir, blends.  I’m not a connoisseur or anything but I enjoy drinking red wine until I can’t feel my face. There are some really cool wineries near Charlotte that we’ve been to as well.  

I swear we’re related - I only drink dry reds - Pinot Noir is my favorite.  

13 hours ago, eagle45 said:

I’m starting to get old enough that red wine makes me tired, but it’s still my favorite.

I like it all, but Brunello’s from Italy are probably my singular favorite.

I prefer reds (Malbecs are my favorite type of wine), but lately I've been on run of enjoying white wines. Dunno if it's age or anything, but anything very light and flowery tastes very refreshing to me of late.

The vast majority of red wine is considered dry...ie not a sweet wine.  Most sweet red wine I think of as a desert type wine...most of the stuff you see on the shelves at a typical store (and IIRC, PA still only sells at state stores) is not going to be sweet red.

Of the dry wines though, I'd think of Pinot as less dry.  It's pretty light and fruity.  A cab, zinfandel, sangiovese...they are going to be drier, bolder, and spicier.  

If you like Pinot Noir, then you'd probably like Valpolicella and Merlot...sort of on a similar spot in the taste spectrum.

Reds - Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cab Sav, and a Blend every now and then.

Whites - Pinot Grigio, Savaugn Blanc, and Gewurtzaminer. 

I'm a full on wine alcoholic. I'm drinking a glass right now, white, Pinot Grigio. 

And my spelling sucks. 

17 minutes ago, LacesOut said:

Reds - Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cab Sav, and a Blend every now and then.

Whites - Pinot Grigio, Savaugn Blanc, and Gewurtzaminer. 

I'm a full on wine alcoholic. I'm drinking a glass right now, white, Pinot Grigio. 

And my spelling sucks. 

Pino Grigio is what I've been drinking a lot of the past few months.

3 hours ago, eagle45 said:

The vast majority of red wine is considered dry...ie not a sweet wine.  Most sweet red wine I think of as a desert type wine...most of the stuff you see on the shelves at a typical store (and IIRC, PA still only sells at state stores) is not going to be sweet red.

Of the dry wines though, I'd think of Pinot as less dry.  It's pretty light and fruity.  A cab, zinfandel, sangiovese...they are going to be drier, bolder, and spicier.  

If you like Pinot Noir, then you'd probably like Valpolicella and Merlot...sort of on a similar spot in the taste spectrum.

Any collectors in here?  We don’t have a cellar or anything but we have a wine fridge where we’ve collected some reds from local wineries. We have a few from the Biltmore winery which I have no problem storing, because their wine tastes like butt. Then we have a few from Baker Buffalo Creek Vinyard. That’s our favorite spot to drive out to for delicious local wines in Charlotte. I’m not a Merlot fan at all, but for some reason, Bakers has the only Merlot I enjoy. They also have a double-Oak bourbon cab sav that’s 2 thumbs up. 

https://bakerbuffalocreek.com

 

 

13 minutes ago, hputenis said:

Any collectors in here?  We don’t have a cellar or anything but we have a wine fridge where we’ve collected some reds from local wineries. We have a few from the Biltmore winery which I have no problem storing, because their wine tastes like butt. Then we have a few from Baker Buffalo Creek Vinyard. That’s our favorite spot to drive out to for delicious local wines in Charlotte. I’m not a Merlot fan at all, but for some reason, Bakers has the only Merlot I enjoy. They also have a double-Oak bourbon cab sav that’s 2 thumbs up. 

https://bakerbuffalocreek.com

 

 

I have around 170 bottles.  Italian wine is my favorite, but I like to keep an eclectic collection with at least a small sampling from every major wine producing region in the world.

There is an app call cellar tracker where you can scan in every bottle.  You can set drinking windows and put it some comments.  It makes a restaurant style pdf wine list for the inventory, which is pretty neat if entertaining.  

1 hour ago, hputenis said:

Any collectors in here?  We don’t have a cellar or anything but we have a wine fridge where we’ve collected some reds from local wineries. We have a few from the Biltmore winery which I have no problem storing, because their wine tastes like butt. Then we have a few from Baker Buffalo Creek Vinyard. That’s our favorite spot to drive out to for delicious local wines in Charlotte. I’m not a Merlot fan at all, but for some reason, Bakers has the only Merlot I enjoy. They also have a double-Oak bourbon cab sav that’s 2 thumbs up. 

https://bakerbuffalocreek.com

 

 

Nahhhh...I have a small wine fridge, that's it. I keep a couple cases of inexpensive "go-to's",  grab a bottle or two when i make a beer run, and frequent local wineries a lot in the spring and fall. 

47 minutes ago, Boogyman said:

Nahhhh...I have a small wine fridge, that's it. I keep a couple cases of inexpensive "go-to's",  grab a bottle or two when i make a beer run, and frequent local wineries a lot in the spring and fall. 

I usually don’t post during games but I’m gonna puke after that AJ Brown play. Icing on the cake of this season. 

What are some good local wineries up north?  I’ve literally never been to one since I moved to NC when I was 18. Only been to some here, Greensboro, and a big wine trip out to Sonoma awhile back. 

Just now, hputenis said:

I usually don’t post during games but I’m gonna puke after that AJ Brown play. Icing on the cake of this season. 

What are some good local wineries up north?  I’ve literally never been to one since I moved to NC when I was 18. Only been to some here, Greensboro, and a big wine trip out to Sonoma awhile back. 

Laurita Winery in my go to. It's close and has lots of events. There are several smaller ones but that place is cool. Even the main building is made out of parts of "historic" NJ buildings the owner buys and has moved when places get demolished

Ripple or nothing

3 hours ago, hputenis said:

I usually don’t post during games but I’m gonna puke after that AJ Brown play. Icing on the cake of this season. 

What are some good local wineries up north?  I’ve literally never been to one since I moved to NC when I was 18. Only been to some here, Greensboro, and a big wine trip out to Sonoma awhile back. 

There’s some good places around the finger lakes region of New York - literally hundreds of wineries up there 

11 hours ago, mikemack8 said:

There’s some good places around the finger lakes region of New York - literally hundreds of wineries up there 

Whenever I hear Finger Lakes, this scene from the Office is the only thing I will ever think of.  

Here I was thinking the worst direction this thread could go in was someone suggesting pairing a Chardonnay with a well marbled ribeye.  

39 minutes ago, eagle45 said:

Here I was thinking the worst direction this thread could go in was someone suggesting pairing a Chardonnay with a well marbled ribeye.  

I mean that's probably worse than the direction this thread went, isn't it? 

Purchased another Red (Cab Sav) and a White (Pinot Grigio) just like 10 minutes ago. I just can't help myself!

Oh, one thing I thought of, I always chill my bottles in the fridge before opening them. For me, cold wine >>>> warm wine.

1 hour ago, LacesOut said:

Purchased another Red (Cab Sav) and a White (Pinot Grigio) just like 10 minutes ago. I just can't help myself!

Oh, one thing I thought of, I always chill my bottles in the fridge before opening them. For me, cold wine >>>> warm wine.

https://www.decanter.com/learn/red-wine-serving-temperature-420885/
fwiw 

On 1/6/2024 at 8:40 PM, hputenis said:

My wife is gluten free from Celiacs so I have been into wine for awhile now. Honestly drinking beer makes me tired, not drunk, and full. Wine is better.  I’m a red wine guy - Cab Sav mainly, Pinot Noir, blends.  I’m not a connoisseur or anything but I enjoy drinking red wine until I can’t feel my face. There are some really cool wineries near Charlotte that we’ve been to as well.  

Just when i thought you couldnt get less masculine…

On 1/6/2024 at 6:10 PM, eagle45 said:

OK, it may sound pretentious, but I suffer from hating beer.  I listen to all the IPA and craft nerds talk about their stuff, so I feel like this deserves a space.  Anyone into wine?  Pure wine snob?  Just getting into it?

 

Yeah, I got into wine through pairings back at the start of the pandemic. I'd always had something of an academic interest in wine and aging them, along with this curiosity about wine pairings on a conceptual level. I bought a 52-bottle Frigidaire wine chiller when I started started cellaring back then. It filled up pretty quickly, and I've got a modest collection going at this point. I actually have a better understanding of what I'm doing now and need to spend the next year carefully selecting and drinking the stuff that isn't gonna get any better at this point.

Slow aeration is such a huge factor to getting the most out of the drinking experience on a bottle-for-bottle basis for me. Imagine the ageing process essentially happening overnight on a micro level when you leave the remaining bottle uncorked overnight or do a full-on decant and enjoy the bottle gradually over the course of a long day. Especially with bold, heavy reads, letting the wine breathe while sampling it over a longer timeframe really allows what's in your glass to fully reveal itself. The underlying elements turn up more. Serving temperature is another key to enhancing the sensory experience.