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With all due respect, JB, you too are full of ****.

merde?

There's a Georgian semi sweet red I like: Kindzmarauli. Similiar to a Shiraz.

My favorite Georgian is definitely Saperavi. It's very similar in a lot of ways to Greek wines made from Agiorgitikos. Saperavi is usually bone-dry with medium to light tannins, somewhat low acidity and has little fragrance. It pairs really well with Mediterranean cuisines.

I'm still surprised that Georgian wines haven't made more of an impact in North America.

So, tonight's selection was a 2003 Med Red blend from Cosentino of Lodi, California. This wine is a supposed "Mediterranean" blend of Tempranillo, Dolcetto, Charbono, Carignane and Valdiquie grapes. This is an intensely fruity wine, and upon first taste, my thought was "It's a box of raisins, isn't it?" I think the Tempranillo gives it a substantial body, but it's the Charbono (one of my absolute favorites!) that really makes this wine a joy on the palate.

We had it as an accompaniment to a simple dish of pasta with meat sauce, and it was an absolutely perfect match. The almost imperceptible sweetness of the Dolcetto component made a perfect foil to the spiciness of the Italian sausage in the meat sauce, while the Carignane was a great match for the tomatoes. This wine has an almost zinfandel-like quality to it in its lusciousness, low acidity and smoothness. I rate it quite highly!

I am most embarrassed in posting after Matt G's incredibly connoisseur-esque reply, that I am currently drinking a 40 of malt liquor which shall remain unnamed ;-)

Matt, you are something else....

We had a mediocre Pinot Noir from Oregon: Duck Pond. With steak, the wine was mismatched, but it was the only red in the house.

jf

If it's Colt 45, you're fine!

I don't take myself all that seriously, and if anyone thinks I'm starting to sound just the least bit snobbish or elitist in my wine descriptions, please slap me.

Jack, Pinot Noir is too wimpy for steaks. Pinot Noir goes best with chicken and veal. I will forgive you this trespass, but promise me you'll have something heftier on hand next time you get the urge for grilled red meat!

No no, lol it's a pleasure reading your expert wine critic-like descriptions for me. But yes actually it is Colt 45. LOL how did you know hehe.

Matt, I said it was mismatched. It was that or a trip out...it was all we had and unplanned. Forgive us this time our father.....

jf

Go forth and sin no more...

yes dad...

jf

Mad Dog 20/20 here. Thursday, October 14th the vintage. Good nose with hints of ALCOHOL and embalming fluid. The palette is somewhat dry with notes of either naptha or napalm (I am struggling a bit here after tasting more than spitting).

Tomorrow, an impetuous little number called Wild Irish Rose.

Ahahahahahaha.....now that's what I'm talking about!

Umm, yeah, SURE, JB, you strike me as the MD20/20 kind of guy. :rolleyes: I mean, shoot, you've got internet access, you can string together more than three words without uttering "DAMN!" or "MOTHER****ER" in the middle. You're probably really snarking down some really great wine right now, but you're just being too selfish to share!

And don't be making fun of "Richard's" Wild Irish Rose. If it weren't for that and T.J. Swann, I'd never have made it through my ******** year of college! (Edited to prevent underclassmen from thinking that drinking wine [or wine-substitutes] was my way of coping!)

Ok, so Matt here's a question for you.

I'm not much of a wine drinker, but during my visits to the in-laws in Germany I found a wine I really like. Here's the "specs" so far as I know them.

Grauer Bergunder, Trocken

I know that Grauer Bergunder translates as Grey Burgundy and that Trocken means dry. Another really good wine I found over there is a Wisen Bergunder. (I'm sure I mis-spelled Wisen, but anyway this is a White Burgundy.)

I understand from my father-in-law that these wines are made from red grapes (burgundy I presume) that are processed in such a manner that the color from the grape's skin does not make it into a red wine. I don't know anything else about how it's made.

My question is this: Once I've polished off the bottles I brought home, what do I want to get here in the states that's going to be roughly equivalent? I did some small experimentation, and found that I like the Pinot Grigio and the Pinot Gris, but I can't tell if these are equivalent or simply another type of wine I discovered that I also like.

Anyway, your comments (or anyone else's) would be appreciated.

Dan

First off, Grauer Burgunder (or Grauburgunder) is just the German name for Pinot Gris, and Weißen Burgunder is the German name for Pinot Blanc. Pinot Blanc is really just a variant of Pinot Gris that is slightly lighter in color. Don't let the term "White Burgundy" confuse you, either. White wines from the Burgundy region of France are produced from the Chardonnay grape.

If you're interested in replicating these wines (German wine names can be maddeningly difficult), you might want to try some Alsatian (French)-style Pinot Gris. Yes, this is really the same thing as the Italian Pinot Grigio, but the process for making wine from the grapes is different; the Alsatian style is considerably drier (trocken!).

While it is possible to make white wines from red (or darker) grapes, it is impractical under most circumstances. Dark-colored grapes with thick skins submit best to this kind of processing, which explains the existence of "white zinfandel" and "white merlot". None of these wines, however, is truly white like the wines made from white grapes; there is always still a stain from the grape skins in the wine -- the grapes have to be crushed to release the juice, and the flowing juice picks up some of the pigmentation from the darker skins. (All grape juice, regardless of variety, is in and of itself white.)

I hope that makes sense to you!

Yeah, that makes sense. Thanks for the info Matt. I'll try some of the Alsatian-style Pinot Gris for my next stateside purchase.

Dan

Oh, one other thing, Dan. If you like these dry whites, you might also want to try the Austrian wines made from the Gr­üner Veltliner grape. It's similar in many ways to the Pinot Gris, but has an interesting herbal taste to it.