The Wine Thread -- what have you been drinking?

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How does applejack compare with calvados?

― M. White (Miguelito), Friday, 8 September 2006 14:07 (6 years ago) Permalink

Less brandy-like, mostly -- more of what I consider a strong apple flavor -- it varies by brand, because the cheapest ones tend to dilute with neutral spirits. But it's one of those things where you can make some good educated guesses about quality based on price (unlike with rum, I'm still discovering). The proof might be different too, not sure.

I'm still adjusting my vocabulary, because growing up "applejack" meant something completely different that you'd never buy in stores -- unpasteurized, unfiltered cider allowed to ferment to its maximum, and sometimes strained of its sediment, about as alcoholic as a high-octane beer.

― Tep (ktepi), Friday, 8 September 2006 14:53 (6 years ago) Permalink

Isn't applejack freeze-distilled while calvados is distilled normally (by evaporation)?

― Paul Eater (eater), Friday, 8 September 2006 15:18 (6 years ago) Permalink

Check this out

― M. White (Miguelito), Friday, 8 September 2006 15:22 (6 years ago) Permalink

Applejack's not always freeze-distilled anymore, just the cheaper stuff -- I think Laird's is distilled by evaporation, for instance. It used to be called apple brandy to differentiate it from home-made freeze-distilled jack, but so few people make that these days.

xpost -- the advice about homemade grenadine there is good, too, but I usually have to adjust the amounts of grenadine I use as a result (I'm also not very scientific about reducing it)

― Tep (ktepi), Friday, 8 September 2006 15:25 (6 years ago) Permalink

There used to be a restaurant here called Jack Rose that made a great one. Long gone now.

Looks like Laird's sells an aged apple brandy or two, and also cuts same with grain spirits to make their applejack. I used to get some Wisconsin (I think) brand that was freeze-distilled and quite delicious, if faintly toxic-tasting.

― Paul Eater (eater), Friday, 8 September 2006 15:42 (6 years ago) Permalink

There we could -- the Bond 100 Proof is the Bonded, though I didn't realize it was that high proof. I'm definitely going to have to hot-butter-rum that. (Hot buttered applejack doesn't sound right, though.)

― Tep (ktepi), Friday, 8 September 2006 15:51 (6 years ago) Permalink

"Bonded" means exactly 100 proof. That's a feisty brandy -- I'll have to look for it. We're coming up on flambe season.

― Paul Eater (eater), Friday, 8 September 2006 16:07 (6 years ago) Permalink

Oh, there we go, ha! You can tell where my drinking habits usually lie (or don't) -- I've just been hearing "Laird's Bonded, Laird's Bonded," for a year now, and had no idea what Bonded meant. You can't ship to Indiana, so I was just waiting for it to show up.

― Tep (ktepi), Friday, 8 September 2006 16:10 (6 years ago) Permalink

Green & Red Zinfandel

Argyle's 2003 Pinot Noir

Argyle's Nuthouse Chardonay is great, too - about the only white wine I'm willing to spend more than $20 on.

― darin (darin), Friday, 8 September 2006 17:55 (6 years ago) Permalink

La Grange Daniel 2005 Domaine Alary Daniel & Denis Red Wine Vin de Pays de la Principaute d'Orange, $14 American, probably good with cheeseburgers

― youn (youn), Friday, 8 September 2006 22:42 (6 years ago) Permalink

Last night, dinner guests brought a 2000 Bunchgrass cab sauv (Walla Walla), which was delish. Her cousin owns the winery and she regaled us with tales of tasting 10 years worth of his early attempts.

― Jaq (Jaq), Saturday, 9 September 2006 14:19 (6 years ago) Permalink

― M. White (Miguelito), Thursday, 14 September 2006 18:55 (6 years ago) Permalink

cantina parroco barbaresco

― youn (youn), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 23:01 (6 years ago) Permalink

2 weeks pass...

Alain Corcia Pinot Noir - I think this will be my standby.

― youn (youn), Thursday, 5 October 2006 23:57 (6 years ago) Permalink

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Friday, 6 October 2006 00:02 (6 years ago) Permalink

i can't afford wine anymore :(

― gbx (skowly), Friday, 6 October 2006 00:04 (6 years ago) Permalink

I've been drinking Yellow Tail Chardonnay mixed with Italian Pear/Peach soda b/c I'm on a budget and my kitty is dying and I don't give a fuck. It tastes better than beer. yum.

― Sam: Screwed and Chopped (Molly Jones), Friday, 6 October 2006 02:50 (6 years ago) Permalink

got a free and so-far-unopened bottle of piemonte barbera sittin' on my desk right now, mmm

― joseph (joseph), Friday, 6 October 2006 04:18 (6 years ago) Permalink

3 weeks pass...

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Tuesday, 31 October 2006 21:21 (6 years ago) Permalink

British people,

Tesco is selling an Amarone ("Rocca Alata") for £9.99 that is really drinkable - not incredible but it ticks all the boxes and is like almost half the price of any other decent Amarone I've found.

― === temporary username === (Mark C), Tuesday, 31 October 2006 22:25 (6 years ago) Permalink

The question for me lately is "what haven't I been drinking?"

― Scorpion Tea (Dick Butkus), Wednesday, 1 November 2006 07:17 (6 years ago) Permalink

I shall take that under advisement, mark.

I'm really not enjoying establishments that have no european wines on the menu for those of us conscious of our food miles.

― Ed (dali), Wednesday, 1 November 2006 09:22 (6 years ago) Permalink

Couldn't agree more.

I had a bottle of marvellous English sparkling (the mighty Nyetimber) the other week. Rich, toasty, good mousse, ecologically conscious and tasty to boot.

― Matt (Matt), Wednesday, 1 November 2006 21:32 (6 years ago) Permalink

Can anyone suggest a decent Pinot Noir for under $15? I don't think one exists, but I still like to try and fool myself.

― darin (darin), Wednesday, 1 November 2006 23:35 (6 years ago) Permalink

the one i posted just above is $17

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Wednesday, 1 November 2006 23:44 (6 years ago) Permalink

I aim to be scotland's first winemaker. The whole world is fucked so I reckon I can be scotland's first winemaker and then iceland's. Future generations' of cockroaches can marvel at my prowess.

― Ed (dali), Wednesday, 1 November 2006 23:46 (6 years ago) Permalink

if you want to go under and get something decent, get a half bottle or pick a syrah/rhone wine instead

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Wednesday, 1 November 2006 23:47 (6 years ago) Permalink

(the garnet line is about $17, the carneros, which is much more than decent, is a bit more)

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Wednesday, 1 November 2006 23:51 (6 years ago) Permalink

We'll try that Garnet - thanks. Is the carneros a Californian vineyard, too?

We get syrahs pretty often actually, but I'm on a mission to find a pinot that's a bit less pricey than what we usually spend.

― darin (darin), Wednesday, 1 November 2006 23:57 (6 years ago) Permalink

Oh, nevermind my question - I just read the wine label on the above jpeg. Duh.

― darin (darin), Thursday, 2 November 2006 00:00 (6 years ago) Permalink

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Thursday, 2 November 2006 00:25 (6 years ago) Permalink

Ed will make the world's first Polar Pinot.

The burgeoning excellence of english vineyards is the sole crumb of comfort to be drawn from the whole sorry affair. The self-imposed liberal guilt driven personal ban on pinotage is a world of misery.

― Matt (Matt), Thursday, 2 November 2006 01:11 (6 years ago) Permalink

Tonight at an italian place close enough to some movie theaters to be considered in the Food Court, 2 glasses of Beaulieu Vineyards Coastal cab sauv. Which was okay with the bruschetta and mostaccioli puttanesca, but both glasses were very short pours at $7/glass.

I've been checking out wine.woot.com once a week and have bought a couple nice lots from them (Pepper Bridge and Death's Head Red?). A bit spendier than our normal daily stuff, but excellent deals.

― Jaq (Jaq), Thursday, 2 November 2006 05:19 (6 years ago) Permalink

I would have thought this was revived because of this story.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 2 November 2006 05:25 (6 years ago) Permalink

Oh yes, the story in the NY Times said a human would have to drink 750-1500 bottles a day to replicate the dose of resveratrol that they gave the mice. I'm trying, okay! Get off my case, doc!!!

― Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Friday, 3 November 2006 00:22 (6 years ago) Permalink

At the moment I'm on Cosme Palacio y Hermanos Cosecha. 749 to go...

― Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Friday, 3 November 2006 00:24 (6 years ago) Permalink

Wonderful with funky St. Nectaire cheese, which I'd crow about on the cheese thread if only I wasn't getting poxyfuled for searching.

― Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Friday, 3 November 2006 00:25 (6 years ago) Permalink

I had some absolutely fantastic, startlingly complex, almost scotch-like wine the other day. I will have to track down its info. It was a $40 bottle of wine, though, which might be the most expensive I've had (I know, I am naif) but it was startling how fantastically good it was.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Friday, 3 November 2006 00:26 (6 years ago) Permalink

yeah, let's get some cheap recs here, people

― gbx (skowly), Friday, 3 November 2006 00:28 (6 years ago) Permalink

Our house staple is Red Truck from Cline. Cost Plus/Trader Joe's will occasionally have it for $8/bottle; usually it's around $12. I usually keep a case of Little Penguin (one of their reds, they are all close in quality) around - good for stews/pasta sauce/pot roasts, okay for drinking. Runs $4 - $6/bottle.

― Jaq (Jaq), Friday, 3 November 2006 00:45 (6 years ago) Permalink

$8/bottle is getting rich for my blood, unfortunately -- grad student. i miss the two buck chuck, but trader joe's is about a million miles away from Montana.

― gbx (skowly), Friday, 3 November 2006 00:46 (6 years ago) Permalink

I just bought a half case of Ravenswood Zinfindel for $8 per bottle. That is probably the greatest deal in the history of mankind.

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Friday, 3 November 2006 00:55 (6 years ago) Permalink

Has anyone read Jancis Robinson's books? They sound really good. Has anyone had Beaujolais Nouveau? I brought Beaujolais to a party once and a visiting researcher from France drank most of it, so it must really mean something there - in terms of seasons and memories. France is the source of many wonderful things.

― youn (youn), Friday, 3 November 2006 00:58 (6 years ago) Permalink

St. Julien has terrific wine that's often overlooked cause it's right next to Pauillac (a dingy, grim town with a sparkling reputation for wine) and Margaux - you can get a bottle of it here for $2 - http://www.winecommune.com/lot.cfm/lotID/1327752.html

Might want to do a bulk order on some of the cheaper finds there, that bottle usually goes for $34 it says

Beaujolais Nouveau is not very good but it's light and goes down easy because it's just been put in the bottle (a French friend of mine claims that it is known sometimes as "vin de piss" because that's what you do afterwards but no one I've talked to since will back that up)

― Euai Kapaui (tracerhand), Friday, 3 November 2006 01:01 (6 years ago) Permalink

I need a partner for blind tastings.

― youn (youn), Friday, 3 November 2006 01:07 (6 years ago) Permalink

I like Gamay (the grape Beaujolais is made from) but I like it after it's had time to get good. It's still watery like Beaujolais but there's more taste to it.

― Euai Kapaui (tracerhand), Friday, 3 November 2006 01:15 (6 years ago) Permalink

about the nouveau. a more forgiving take.

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Friday, 3 November 2006 01:17 (6 years ago) Permalink

so i just got a bottle of rawon's retreat, cab.

we'll see about this.

― gbx (skowly), Friday, 3 November 2006 01:24 (6 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, I've never really understood it because light watery wine - i.e. Gamay, Pinot Noir, rosé - works best in summertime.. who wants to be drinking chilled watery wine in November??

― Euai Kapaui (tracerhand), Friday, 3 November 2006 01:25 (6 years ago) Permalink

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