Van1

Ok, maybe this is a little OT, but I am curious what wines, if any, 993 owners drink. I have seen the "what watches do 993 owners wear" threads, and they were well recieved. By the way, I wear a TAG 6000 Chronograph that my wife bought me. So, what kind of wines do you like to drink? Do you maintain a collection? What is your favorite? What is the most expensive you have ever had? What is the best you have ever had? What are your daily drivers? I'll start. The best that I have ever had, and the one that turned me on to a better class of wines, is Pride Mountain 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon. I was first introduced to this wine over hamburgers as we camped in Monterrey during the Historics in 2004. It changed my view of what a good wine was. The most expensive wine I have ever bought was a bottle of Joseph Phelps 2002 Insignia at $150. It was Wine Spectators wine of the year for 2005. I bought it and drank it as a celebration of me pinning on Major in the USAF. It was a good bottle of wine but I would have rather have had two bottles of Pride at the price. I currently maintain a very modest $2000+ collection of Duckhorn, Silver Oak, Flora Springs, Peter Franus, among others. I prefer California Cabernets over all others. My daily drivers vary but run at the $20 price point.

So what do you like? Honestly, I really like relaxing with a glass of wine in the garage after tackleing a 993 project.

RallyJon

Finding good daily drivers for <$30 (pref <$20) is my main focus. A couple of current favorites:

Ch. Greysac 2004 Bordeaux for ~$16. Hands down the best cheap Bordeaux I've found.
Il Palazzino Chianti Classico 2005 for ~$22. An excellent all-red CC from Gaiole.
Cuvaison's "other" wines. They make a great Zin and Syrah for around $20.
Hendry Zin ~$25-30.

I still have a cache of '94 Caymus Cab in the cooler. It was a $27 wine... at the time.

If you (or anyone) can recommend a decent estate bottled California Cab in the $20 range that isn't fruity, lightweight, unbalanced swill I'd love to hear it!

And Van1, I really liked the Antonopoulos cab when I was in Greece.

Dan V

2 buck chuck.

fb47243

Currently having a Lynch-Bages 2002. The Phelps 2002 Insignia is amazing if decanted for a very long time before drinking. (I had some that I forced myself to wait 4 hours and it was very good and getting better but finished it off before it really was ready IMHO) Had an Opus One 1995 a last year which was the best I have ever had.

matt777

Right now I like Shiraz, Wyndham Estate's Bin 555 and a few others. If I can get them on sale for $12 I buy them. At $19 I keep walking.

dbf73

wine or whine?

Drink mostly zins with a few cabs and meritages. Favorite zin is Storybook Mt.

Barolos are very nice too.

RallyJon

I used to be a big Barolo/Barbaresco drinker... back in the days of 1500 lire/$.

There is--believe it or not--a $20 Barolo. It's a commune wine called Rivata. Of course, it's crap judged as a Barolo. But if you close your eyes and say, "it's a Nebbiolo, just with a lot of wood" it's very drinkable.

Kika

The wife is the wine expert in my family, but we drink mostly Reds and will try lots of differnet ones, but these are almost always in our rack
- Torres Sangre de Toro
- Silver Oak Cabernet (Special Occasions only)
- Woodbridge
- Mondavi
- Cheatau Julien (our son's name is Julian, which introduced us to the wine, my brother lives by the winery, so we have several bottles) merlot, Chardonnay, zins and dessert wines, not to mention when we were there, they gave my son several empty crates. He varnished the top of one of the Reserve crates and glued it to his bedroom door.
- Kendall Jackson
- 7 Deadly Zins
- Isocseles (sp?) also Special Occasion
- One of my favorite reds is 120 from Chile, not too heavy. Chilean wines are very good value IMHO.

Van1

Hmm, Caymus at $27 a bottle? I have yet to try Caymus but want to. It can't be had for less than $70 nowadays. One of my favorite sub $20 bottles of Cali Cab is BR Cohn from Sonoma Valley. It is very fruit forward, like any Cali cab, but very nice for the price. Not lightweight swill. Definately a nice mid week kind of wine.

iJeremy

Caymus and Nickle Nickle...mmm

Under $20 some great bets are Crimson, Fransican or Ménage à trois. All terrific. If you're after a white, go with CakeBread, so buttery and smooth. Enjoy!

dhicks

Whites for just quaffing ...any Malbrough Sauv Blanc....they are all good but Monkey Bay is nice $12, but for more serious tasting very partial to petit Chablis and Sancere...usually around $25ish....dont like many of the Chards on offer as just toooooo fuity and oaky.....forgot also Cakebread and Duckhorn $20ish....and has anbody ever tried Conundrum....great wine if you can find it ... about $25ish

Reds....Chateau Neuf....$20-30; Shiraz from Antipides Penfolds and Rosemount do reasonable ones for low ($15) cost; St Emillion $35---heaven; like Barolos; Roja reserves;

Sparkling Moet $40-50 and Piper about $40.....several bottles of this in the fridge for Tapas party I am hosting for family on Sunday

AtlJimK

Ferrari Carrano Siena 03 <$30
Boarding Pass Shiraz <$15

dcdude

My favorite varietals are Zin and Syrah. I'm a wine cheapskate, but I will definitely enjoy all of your good wine. As a result, my picks are all extremely good values:

Black Swan Cab/Shiraz $5
Tallus Pinot $7
Trapiche Malbec (Argentina) $7
Ravenswood "Old Vines" Zin $13. A very nice "every day" wine. I love it!
Gloria Ferrar champagne $13
Mosby Sangiovese $26. An Xmas gift from the boss that I really enjoyed Wed. night!
Ledson Ti Amo meritage (Sonoma) $70. Being put dow for "someday."

I tried a LOT of Argentine wines during my trip there in 2005. Their big region and varietal is Mendoza and Malbac- a very bold flavorful varietal, usually "bigger" than a cab. They're starting to export much more since then. With our 3 to 1 exchange advantage, there can be some amazing buys. I encourage you to try as many as you can. The Trapiche I mentioned actually has decent distribution in at least Whole Foods and Ralphs/(Kroger?).

There are also some superbly delicious $70-$90 Maryvale wines that I was forutnate enough to try during a slow winter day in their St. Helena tasting room...

rome

My personal favroite is Far Niente. www.farniente.com (BTW-- Great car collection at the vineyard).

I have a EuroCave which holds about 200 bottles. We keep it about half full, with a wide variey ranging from the latest $5 Beaujolais to Coppola's Claret to stuff like Far Niente, Nickel & Nickel, Quintessa, Jordan, Duckhorn and Parradux.

When we have guests over, our "house wine" tends to Clos du Val or the Claret, depending on the occasion (and who the guests are). LOL.

Tom W

We drink whatever I decide to pull out of the vinotheque for the night. We try to find reasonably priced fine wines to store and savor when ready - we have about 500 bottles from around the world, collected over the last 12 years to choose from. I'm working on the '96 and '97 cabernets now when we want something special. 2002 zins for everyday. And lots of other stuff to grab as the whim strikes.