deacondamo
El Jefe
Anybody got any advice for visiting the Texas wine country?
Keep flying until you get to CA.
Anybody got any advice for visiting the Texas wine country?
Heading to the wine shop tomorrow to pick up another case. We have become REGULARS
I'm pretty open - my wife likes European whites, so we always get some of those. I grabbed a Zweigelt, a couple of California Pinot Noirs, a Spanish grenache, and a red burgundy. Probably my favorite bottle ever was an old Brunello from Ciacci Piccolomini d'aragona, so I have a soft spot for sangioveses from anywhere.
One of my favorite wine experiences (when I got hooked on red) was attending a wine tasting in the fortress in Montalcino. I was 28, had no idea what i was drinking, and they just kept pouring brunellos all night. I loved it and decided that my previous lack of appreciation for reds was because I was drinking the wrong things. Well, I was right....but my plan of going home and stocking up on brunello quickly fell apart when I learned how expensive it is over here. Instead, I ended up searching high and low for earthy european reds for under $10. (I found a few that became staples.)
Glad I have been able to move my price range up since then....although I'm still a sucker for that occasional $7 bottle that just tastes good. When we went on a viking cruise up the Rhine last fall, every day in town we'd find a cheap bottle of wine to take back to the ship with us for cocktail hour....one of my favorites we found in Germany for 3 euros.
just got back from a trip to sonoma. it was outstanding. Had to make reservations everywhere, but we had perfect weather (mid-80s) and no crowds - we could go anywhere we wanted and couldn't have felt more welcomed.
Ranking of wineries visited:
1. Macrostie
2. Gary Farrell
3. Dry Creek
4. Simi
5. Chalk Hill
6. Comstock
7. Trentadue
8. Twomey (surprisingly low)
9. Armida (skip it)
Ordered a bunch to ship home from the first 6, so they were obviously all good!
I'm pretty open - my wife likes European whites, so we always get some of those. I grabbed a Zweigelt, a couple of California Pinot Noirs, a Spanish grenache, and a red burgundy. Probably my favorite bottle ever was an old Brunello from Ciacci Piccolomini d'aragona, so I have a soft spot for sangioveses from anywhere.
One of my favorite wine experiences (when I got hooked on red) was attending a wine tasting in the fortress in Montalcino. I was 28, had no idea what i was drinking, and they just kept pouring brunellos all night. I loved it and decided that my previous lack of appreciation for reds was because I was drinking the wrong things. Well, I was right....but my plan of going home and stocking up on brunello quickly fell apart when I learned how expensive it is over here. Instead, I ended up searching high and low for earthy european reds for under $10. (I found a few that became staples.)
Glad I have been able to move my price range up since then....although I'm still a sucker for that occasional $7 bottle that just tastes good. When we went on a viking cruise up the Rhine last fall, every day in town we'd find a cheap bottle of wine to take back to the ship with us for cocktail hour....one of my favorites we found in Germany for 3 euros.
just got back from a trip to sonoma. it was outstanding. Had to make reservations everywhere, but we had perfect weather (mid-80s) and no crowds - we could go anywhere we wanted and couldn't have felt more welcomed.
Ranking of wineries visited:
1. Macrostie
2. Gary Farrell
3. Dry Creek
4. Simi
5. Chalk Hill
6. Comstock
7. Trentadue
8. Twomey (surprisingly low)
9. Armida (skip it)
Ordered a bunch to ship home from the first 6, so they were obviously all good!
What were some of the staples you found?
I live about an hour or so from Napa. Have been to most all on this list. Good call on Dry Creek....one of my favs.
T's and P's for your house.
I can't believe how lucky we got on weather. If we had gone a week later we'd have been smoked/burned out for the entire week.
We drank a Chalk Hill Sauvignon Gris this weekend - it was outstanding. I recommend it to dry white lovers.