The wine thread

I'm no expert when it comes to wine and definitely not one of these bellends that can talk endless waffle about what any one tastes like, but it's been my drink of choice for about 6 months (mainly red) and I do have my preferences.

I absolutely love Australian wine at the minute. I've never been disappointed by an Australian wine. Asda do one at £4.98 a bottle called Langhorne Creek Cabernet Sauvignon that's just flawless. There's really no need to pay the earth is there.

I'm not keen on French wine as it tends to be a bit bitter and bland.

What wines do you like and dislike, and what's your price range?

doffcocker wrote:I'm no expert when it comes to wine and definitely not one of these bellends that can talk endless waffle about what any one tastes like, but it's been my drink of choice for about 6 months (mainly red) and I do have my preferences.

I absolutely love Australian wine at the minute. I've never been disappointed by an Australian wine. Asda do one at £4.98 a bottle called Langhorne Creek Cabernet Sauvignon that's just flawless. There's really no need to pay the earth is there.

I'm not keen on French wine as it tends to be a bit bitter and bland.

What wines do you like and dislike, and what's your price range?

I too like a good Australian wine - preferably a decent shiraz - but I have to admit that I don't go for the mass produced mixed vine wines such as Treasury Wine Estates (aka Wolf Blass) or Accolade Wines (aka Hardys) but tend to go for the more independent producers mainly from the Hunter Valley, which I have visited 3 times. But there is 1 vineyard (cant currently remember the name) but they produce a fantastic desert wine - will repost later when I remember the name!

Carry on drinking what you like doffcocker but do remember that most of the money in a £5 bottle of wine has gone on tax and duty. You get a lot more spent on the actual wine when you spend say £7-10 on a bottle. Try an Australian cab sauv that costs a little more and see what you think.

One other tip is that the best value wines are often the supermarket own label quality range. Most of them have some name like Sainsburys Taste the Difference.

xmiles wrote:Carry on drinking what you like doffcocker but do remember that most of the money in a £5 bottle of wine has gone on tax and duty. You get a lot more spent on the actual wine when you spend say £7-10 on a bottle. Try an Australian cab sauv that costs a little more and see what you think.

One other tip is that the best value wines are often the supermarket own label quality range. Most of them have some name like Sainsburys Taste the Difference.

Hi xmiles.

I got my uni degree a few weeks ago and celebrated with a £7 (reduced from £10) bottle of Brancott Estate. I wasn't going to say anything as my dad posts on here and he's a £3.50-£4 sort of man, who might go berserk.
It was alright, but I've definitely had £4-£5 bottles that I enjoyed more.

I really think Asda do some fantastic wines of their own range that you can sometimes pick up at 4 or 5 quid.

I'm just enjoying a bottle of Wolf Blass yellow label as I type   

doffcocker wrote:

I got my uni degree a few weeks ago and celebrated with a £7 (reduced from £10) bottle of Brancott Estate. I wasn't going to say anything as my dad posts on here and he's a £3.50-£4 sort of man, who might go berserk.
It was alright, but I've definitely had £4-£5 bottles that I enjoyed more.

I really think Asda do some fantastic wines of their own range that you can sometimes pick up at 4 or 5 quid.

Seven quid for a bottle of wine from fecking Asda?. I'm giving you too much spending money my lad!  

Italian for me- and almost always Amarone. You can get them for under £7 and worth every penny

Doffcocker - If you like Aussie wines, look for a brand called 'kumala' - its actually south African, similar climate growing wise but the soil is better, makes for a much more flavorsome wine. try it, let me know what you think. Mrs Rebel loves the stuff.

I'm not a fan of red's if im honest, I love a really dry white - Chablis is my wine of choice or a nice woody chardonnay.

Only when im at home mind, I cant drink wine when out with the boys can i... Ive actually got in to real ale instead of larger of late, but that's a different thread!

Try Byrnes at Clitheroe for bulk buying quality stuff.

Reebok_Rebel wrote:Doffcocker - If you like Aussie wines, look for a brand called 'kumala' - its actually south African, similar climate growing wise but the soil is better, makes for a much more flavorsome wine. try it, let me know what you think. Mrs Rebel loves the stuff.

I'm not a fan of red's if im honest,  I love a really dry white - Chablis is my wine of choice or a nice woody chardonnay.

Only when im at home mind, I cant drink wine when out with the boys can i... Ive actually got in to real ale instead of larger of late, but that's a different thread!

I have had the Wolfblass and the Kumala but I only tend to drink wine during a meal and only red. I'm not over keen on white wine because it tastes too much like vinegar.

I don't mind a nice glass of Zinfandel on a hot day either.

After 6 months off the red I had a couple of bottles on Sunday - a decent Maipo Valley Merlot and a 10 yo Stellenbosch Pinotage. Made the mistake of finishing the evening off with a couple of large Highland Parks. Nice at the time, but I didn't sleep well that night and felt rough all day Monday.
Now I remember why I packed in red wine.