Wine

[RUDisney]

In the mid-90's, Glen Ellyn Winery had a white grenache that was pallitable. That is the only pink wine that I could ever drink.

 

[Bichon Barb]

Okay okay, I do confess to a couple of episodes involving Boone's Farms Tickled Pink when I was a young'un.

 

[LauraC]

I do not like wine and admit to being completely ignorant about it.... so I have a question for the wine experts out there. I received a bottle of 1998 Pinot Grigio made in Italy from my boss for Christmas either in 1999 or 2000 (can't remember when!) and it's been in my refrigerator ever since. Is it still good? I recall a saying that says something about wine getting better with age, but does that include wine already in the bottle?

 

[Pin Wizard]

I like white. Red has always seemed too heavy to me. And my favorite is Liebfraumilch! Hey, I'd even go to Germany to get it!!

 

[Melora]

Wine Yuck!

I guess im one of those weirdos who just doesnt get fermented grapes!

But I don't like any kind of alcohol at all..I'm really boring at a party!

 

[RUDisney]

OK, where to start...

Your pinot grigio may or may not be good anymore because of the way it was stored. Refrigerators keep wine too cold, and at a low humidity. First of all, remove the bottle from the fridge and look at how much has evaporated from the bottle (where does the wine fill to in the bottle?) It probably is lower than a bottle you might purchase today. That is called ullage, with the *u* being a short vowel sound.

One way of knowing that the wine is not bad is to uncork it. Look at the cork. If there is a liquid line that goes all the way to the outside of the cork, the bottle has been *corked.* This means that air got into the bottle and forced wine out. The wine will not hurt you, if you drink it, it will just taste like old socks. It will smell bad, too.

When wine ages, you definitely want to do it in the bottle. Once wine is exposed to air, it starts to break down and lose the qualities that make it wonderful to those who like it. I'm not saying that you can't open a bottle and put a cork in it to save the rest for tomorrow, or even this weekend, but you shouldn't keep opened wine for a long time and expect it to be as good as when it was first opened. The exception to this are some very old wines that need time to breath. A bottle from the mid-90's is not going to fall into that category.

Also, whites break down faster than their white counterparts. You can cellar a red longer than a white. The cellarability of the reds has alot to do with the way it was made, the amount of tannins in the wine and other characteristics.

So, in summary, your bottle that was stored in the refrigerator would probably not stand up in a blind tasting at this point.

 

[jwsqrdplus2]

Red all the way here!

Although, I do enjoy a nice white wine in the hot summer months!

Nice to meet fellow wineauxs!

 

[caitycaity]

white. i've only had a few reds i liked.

 

[Dodie]

My choice isn't there: somewhere in between white and red, as in rose' or white zinfadel, even though some of you "wine snobs" seem to be saying that there's something wrong with that.

 

[meeshi]

DH and I like to have a glass of white zinfandel or white merlot or reisling. The red wines we've tried seem to suck the moisture right out of your mouth.

 

[LauraC]

Thanks RUDisney!

One more question for you or for anyone else who can help. If I happen to receive another bottle of wine as a gift, how should I store it until I am able to give it to someone who can appreciate it?

 

[Bichon Barb]

Originally posted by Dodie
My choice isn't there: somewhere in between white and red, as in rose' or white zinfadel, even though some of you "wine snobs" seem to be saying that there's something wrong with that.

Come on over. I still have 3/4 a bottle of white zinfandel in the fridge that I bought for my MIL to drink the last time we had them over.

 

[Bichon Barb]

Originally posted by LauraC
Thanks RUDisney!

One more question for you or for anyone else who can help. If I happen to receive another bottle of wine as a gift, how should I store it until I am able to give it to someone who can appreciate it?

In a UPS Red package addressed to:

Bichon Barb
123 Her House
Central New York



Sorry, I'll behave now.

 

[lil mermaid]

Zinfandel is red, Zinfandel is red, Zinfandel is red.....(saying from the Ravenswood Winery, who makes killer zinfandels.)

I love wine...all types. My absolute favorite is a really good pinot noir. I like that it is so FULL..but never heavy.

In the summer I love a nice sauvignon blanc, well chilled.

Of course, I am not drinking ANY wine now, since I am pregnant.

 

[RUDisney]

Originally posted by Dodie
My choice isn't there: somewhere in between white and red, as in rose' or white zinfadel, even though some of you "wine snobs" seem to be saying that there's something wrong with that.

Do you know why we don't appreciate a pink wine?

I'll tell you.

All of the intense flavors in the grapes are obtained from the first press.

Instead of throwing away the grapes, smooshed as they are, vintners know that they can squeeze a little more and make a blushier wine. The flavor is less intense and, to an educated pallate, can be flat.

Now, I'm not trying to sound snobby in saying that my pallate is educated and your's isn't. I wish mine was more educated than it is, to be honest. The thing is that once you start using wine as a hobby and you start tasting *better* (that is a very subjective word in wine) wines, you develop your pallate to appreciate that puckery dryness of a good red, or the peary-oaky finish of a chardonnay. I used to like Black Tower when I was younger. It was a good slugging wine for me and my friends. I bought a bottle of it 2 years ago, for old time sake and I wanted a slugging wine that night. Blech! It became a cooking wine for me. I am too used to more complex wines.

Now, if you came to my house and said you wanted a white zinfandel, I wouldn't have it, but I bet I'd have a bottle of white wine in my cellar that you'd find very good and very drinkable. You might even go home with a new favorite.... it's happened before...

 

[RUDisney]

Put it in the coldest, dampest area of your cellar. That would be your best bet. Otherwise, if its a good drinking wine, it'll make an awesome chicken strips dish, so you can *use* it in a way that the giver didn't necessarily intend, but it won't go to waste, either.

It may just impress your friends, if you have a cold, dark, damp area in your basement and the bottle actually grows some mold spores on it. They'll think you are quite the oenophile when you bring the bottle to their house.

(I actually did that, as a joke, of course, on Super Bowl Sunday.) I took a bottle of zinfandel to our friends' house that I had in my cellar for several years. It tasted good, but they laughed at me because the bottle was moldy and dusty.

 

[Tantor]

Auzzie wines. Wolf Blass Yellow label comes to mind.

BTW Zinfidal's use the skin of the red grapes to make the wine.

 

[Lewski709]

One more question for you or for anyone else who can help. If I happen to receive another bottle of wine as a gift, how should I store it until I am able to give it to someone who can appreciate it?

Like Bichon Barb said, you can send it my way....but she beat me to the punch....or wine in this case. Ok, Ok....send it and we can split it at the Stomping Grounds for the TAGLIARCHY.

 

[Duchie]

I used to drink only whites (chardonnay and pinot grigio mostly). But lately we've discovered reds - shiraz has been my favorite as of late.

 

[crazyforgoofy]

I'm a sucker for a good Cote Du Rhone. But I also love some Oregon Pinot Noir and some California Cabs.