NeroW Needs Your Help

[docsconz]

Our new "house wine" is CASA CASTILLO MONASTRELL 2001.  It's made from old-vine Mourvedre grown in the emerging area of Jumilla in southeastern Spain. Big, dark, gutsy, with chewy flavors of black fruits, minerals and earth, it’s only $7.99 and the Wine Advocate rated it 89.

I will second this one.

[Chad]

I'll second the Lindeman's Bin 65 Chardonnay recommendation and add our new favorite Summer Swill: Morande Sauvignon Blanc. This is a Chilean wine that we get for about $7 a bottle. Very nice. Crisp, citrusy and with some real depth -- a true surprise at this price point.

It seems to be much harder to find a good, inexpensive red than it does inexpensive whites. Maybe I'm just pickier about reds and take them more seriously. My favorite is a little out of the range at $12 a bottle, but the E. Guigal Cotes du Rhone is wonderful. I like even better than Guigal's $30-40 wines. Parallel 45 is another decent Cotes du Rhone, but I don't like it as well as the Guigal. A treasure that just a couple of years ago was $9 a bottle is Marques de Caceres Rioja, but it's been discovered and is now at $14 or so. Damn.

Chad

[NeroW]

Last winter, my house-wine was this shit in a big screw-top bottle, Pierre Dourthe (I think that's how you spells it).

I think I've had this in year's gone by. Came in a bright green 1.5 liter bottle, yes? White's kinda like turpentine? It was cheap.

Yes.

Like turpentine.

[hollywood]

Like turpentine.

You could move up to Augey. Not a lot better but good chilled and cheap. And there's a cork.

Edited September 5, 2003 by hollywood (log)

[Alex]

Spanish reds are a terrific bargain now. I'm fond of the tempranillo-based Gotim Bru. Looks like I'm going to have find that Casa Castillo.

What is the Gotin Bru like? What does it cost?

I purchased the Casa Castillo from The Wine Exchange in CA. You can order on-line from their website here.

Thanks, sammy. But...I'm in Michigan. (See my thread that I started today.) I'll talk to our local wine store guru to see if they have it or can get it.

Gotim Bru is a blend of three grapes, primarily Tempranillo with some Merlot and Cab. This from the vintner, a little over-the-top but fairly accurate: "Castell Del Remei Gotim Bru is ruby-purple in color with rich aromas of cassis, blackberry, cedar, licorice, spice and earth. It is full-bodied with firm tannins and intense flavors of blackberries, black currants, cherries, plums, spice and oak. This wine was aged 10 months in American oak. It is well balanced to enjoy now, but will age well for 10-12 years. It is long, rich and intensely flavorful on the finish." It's under $10 by me (on sale), but your mileage will vary depending on taxes, markup, etc.

[Auxerrois]

I haven't found it in Chicago, though.

If your in Chicago come stop by Fox & Obel, I have a lot of wines for under $10, we'll findone for you. Here's my favorites:

Shale Ridge Syrah $9

Colombelle (ugni blanc & colombard) $7

Conde del Valesquez $9 all the reserve varietals.

Allram Gruner Veltliner $9

Cortello Tempranillo $8

La Fonti San Georgio Chianti $9

Monte Antico $9

Castano Monastrell $10

Delpiave Pinot Grigio & Merlot $9

[Auxerrois]

[

. It is well balanced to enjoy now, but will age well for 10-12 years. It is long, rich and intensely flavorful on the finish." It's under $10 by me (on sale), but your mileage will vary depending on taxes, markup, etc.

I'd be wary about aging Gotim Bru, It's fun and flashy now but lacks the acid and stuffing for aging. Another flaw is the use of carbonic maceration in it's production which also shortens it's life span.

[Alex]

[

. It is well balanced to enjoy now, but will age well for 10-12 years. It is long, rich and intensely flavorful on the finish." It's under $10 by me (on sale), but your mileage will vary depending on taxes, markup, etc.

I'd be wary about aging Gotim Bru, It's fun and flashy now but lacks the acid and stuffing for aging. Another flaw is the use of carbonic maceration in it's production which also shortens it's life span.

Thanks for the info. For <$10 a bottle I wasn't planning on aging it anyway, but that 's good to know. I like your description -- it is fun and flashy.

[NeroW]

I won't be aging anything. That would involve not drinking the bottle immediately, right?

Auxerrois--this may be a stupid question, but is there more than one Fox & Obel? The one I am familiar with is downtown, on Illinois.

[Auxerrois]

Nero the one in Chicago is the only one, well, for now.

[pfibiger]

I've had a couple of really good < $10 bottles recently.

Berger Gruner Veltliner $9 (and it's 1 liter)

Bogle Zinfandel $9-10

Walnut Crest Pinot Grigio $4-5 (as good as many $10 bottles I've had), served it alongside a Cline Zinfandel (also pretty good at $8) at my wedding this past summer.

[KatieLoeb]

A couple more I tried today that were delicious:

Hope Estate Chardonnay - HUGE butter bomb chard from Australia. Aged on the lees. Really delicious and ~ $10.

Hope Estate Alvharino - tasty in a very elegant way. Crisp. light, almond like. Imagine a cross between Pinot Blanc and Viognier. Would be spectacular with seafood (hence we'll be buying it for the list here at Striped Bass). ~ $9

[tommy]

Hope Estate Chardonnay - HUGE butter bomb chard from Australia.  Aged on the lees.  Really delicious and ~ $10.

nerow, please don't drink that.

thanks.

regards,

tommy

Edited September 10, 2003 by tommy (log)

[KatieLoeb]

Yo Tommy -

What's this about? Was it something I said? Have you personally had this wine and not liked it, or is this a swipe at my palate which may very well be different than yours?

Dude, I thought we were friends...

[Craig Camp]

Yo Tommy -

What's this about?  Was it something I said?  Have you personally had this wine and not liked it, or is this a swipe at my palate which may very well be different than yours?

Dude, I thought we were friends...

Don't feel bad. Tommy is a famous hater of butter bomb chardonnay. Come to think of it: so am I.

Needless to say that besides Tommy and me there are a few hundred million people out there who seem to love the stuff. NeroW was drinking KJ and this HAS to be a step up!

[KatieLoeb]

Yo Tommy -

What's this about?  Was it something I said?  Have you personally had this wine and not liked it, or is this a swipe at my palate which may very well be different than yours?

Dude, I thought we were friends...

Don't feel bad. Tommy is a famous hater of butter bomb chardonnay. Come to think of it: so am I.

Needless to say that besides Tommy and me there are a few hundred million people out there who seem to love the stuff. NeroW was drinking KJ and this HAS to be a step up!

Thanks Craig. I feel a little better now. But really, I meant "butter bomb" in the nicest way possible. Just a very buttery and tasty juicy fruit forward chard. The aging on the lees really makes for an interesting and very rich tasting end result. And not in a "jam-a-railroad-tie-down-my-throat" sort of way. The story behind this winery is quite interesting. The proprietor is a former pharmacist that wasn't getting any satisfaction out of his day to day dealing with his clientele that were picking up their medicines and leaving, and picking up their medicines and leaving, so much so that, in his own words, he felt "like he was living the movie Groundhog Day". So he packed up the wife and kids and moved to Hunter Valley and started growing grapes. Then had to bottle and actively market the end product with no prior experience doing so. The wines he produces are quite good, and very fairly priced for the quality. I asked my salesperson for a sample of this having only read about it, and was very pleasantly surprised. The Alvahrino is really good. Who knew this varietal could do so well in that climate? End result is very elegant, and more importantly to me, absolutely perfect to accompany the majority of our menu offerings. Working in an all seafood restaurant makes buying the wines quite challenging. Although the list is quite "Chard-centric" with the white Burgundy and other global Chardonnay offerings, I'd like to believe we can offer some other less obvious choices that might allow our clientele to learn a thing or two about wine, food and the possibility of those pairings to be greater than the sum of their parts...

[tommy]

Dude, I thought we were friends...

[NeroW]

Hope Estate Chardonnay - HUGE butter bomb chard from Australia.  Aged on the lees.  Really delicious and ~ $10.

nerow, please don't drink that.

thanks.

regards,

tommy

I'm so confused now, I don't know *what* to drink.

[tommy]

sometimes knowing what *not* to drink is more important than knowing what to drink.

[NeroW]

I just want to say that at this time of year, I drink Beaujolais Nouveau for cheap wine.

Carry on.

[Craig Camp]

I just want to say that at this time of year, I drink Beaujolais Nouveau for cheap wine. 

Carry on.

Bad timing NeroW. Drink Beaujolais nouveau after New Years when it is half-price. Now is the most expensive time to by it - bad value.

Drink some montepulciano d'abruzzo would you!

[NeroW]

I just want to say that at this time of year, I drink Beaujolais Nouveau for cheap wine. 

Carry on.

Bad timing NeroW. Drink Beaujolais nouveau after New Years when it is half-price. Now is the most expensive time to by it - bad value.

Drink some montepulciano d'abruzzo would you!

But by then, I'm sick of it!

What's that m-word?

[GordonCooks]

Everyday drinkers currently

Taurino Salice Salentino

D"Arenberg Stump Jump

A.Mano Primitivo

Bogle Petit Sirah

Pepiere Muscadet

2001 Jaboulet Paralelle 45

all around the 10.00 mark

[fresco]

I think it's time for a Nero drinkblog. How about it?

[tommy]

I think it's time for a Nero drinkblog. How about it?

i don't know if my stomach could take it.