Wine Buffs

[MR A-Z]

Any wine buffs out there?

Just wondering how we all feel about the red stuff. White stuff is for cooking with anyway.

Now don't get me wrong I love a good Rioja or Chateauneuf, but how good do you feel enjoying a Lidl finest that cost a bit of pocket lint and a broken soul. Anyhow..I wouldn't mind having a go at wine tasting but can't be doing with the posh people saying how much they can feel the apricots coming through and how the umami from the tannins is to die for.

I just want a wine I like with more than 13.5% that doesn't make me want to put my face into a roaring fire, but i do like the look of a good ol' wine.

[River Don]

They reckon Aldi Torro Loco is a cracking drop, well worth the £3.69 a bottle.

[CusworthRovers]

I'm no buff, but there a few obvious tips with Red.

The best wines always have a cork
Pour at room temperature
Leave the cork off 5 minutes
Pour slowly down the side of the glass

For me, it's always Spanish, then Australian

[jonnydog]

Bulgarian wine is becoming more and more popular.

[roversontheup]

I'm no expert but I know what I like.  My favourite reds would be any Aussie Shiraz, branch Burgandy or New Zealand Pinot Noir.  I also enjoy a Spanish Rioja. Many of my friends are really getting into Argentinian Malbec.

In summer I enjoy white wine but it has to be a French Chablis or a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.

I belong to a wine club and do believe I can tell the difference between many of the mass produced supermarket wines. That said I buy when there are good deals on offer.

[Muttley]

Generally, you get what you pay for.

There's £2 duty on every bottle of wine, so if you pay £4 you're getting wine worth 50% of what you paid - if you pay £6 you get wine worth £4 ie 66% of what you paid; pay £20 and you get wine worth 90% of what you paid.

I usually look out for wines that are on special offer - normally a few half price deals available in the supermarkets so get a £10 bottle for a decent price.

I normally go for a rioja or tempranillo, but there's some nice aussie and south africans available plus some good south american plonk.

I was once given a bottle of the local red while on a visit to Azerbaijan - not recommended!!!

[Dagenham Rover]

I'm no buff, but there a few obvious tips with Red.

The best wines always have a cork
Pour at room temperature
Leave the cork off 5 minutes
Pour slowly down the side of the glass

For me, it's always Spanish, then Australian

more or less the same as decanting it which is the preferable, room temperature, let the air get at it, leave it a while, chuck it down yer neck

[Mike_F]

There's a lot of cork snobbery around and yes, the very best wines will have a cork but that doesn't mean you can't get some really nice every day wine in the £10ish category witha screw top. This also prevents the wine from rwacting with the cork and going off/"corked".

As per Muttley's note above, you're paying in excess of £2 a bottle in duty. Factor in the cost of the bottle, case, label, production, shipping etc. and it's going to be more like £3+ a bottle to cover cost before you've even put any wine in there so a £4 bottle will have a quid's worth of wine in it. Every extra penny spent goes on the good stuff inside!

[Mike_F]

Here's another thing while we're on this topic. It does my head in when I go into a conveinece store and find a dozen different brands of Chardonnay on shelf alongside two or three other varieties. OK, I know a lot of people like Chardonnay (I generally find it vile) but why the overkill?!

[River Don]

You know how they ship wine today Mike? In a giant plastic bag inside a standard container. They bottle it in the UK, no cases.

I think the thing is not to underestimate how efficient they are these days and the quality of modern production techniques. It is possible to find some half decent wines at very reasonable prices now.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/wine/10091091/Wine-Review-the-best-of-Aldis-own-label-wines.html

[BillyStubbsTears]

Christ up above!

What has this place become? Metrosexual Central?

Look lads. There's nowt wrong wi men having a glass of wine. Once the ale, the whisky, the aftershave and the turps are finished.

But for f**ks sake, don't go TALKING about it! Where's your pride lads? Your f**king PRIDE?

[coventryrover]

I prefer twenty 20 mesen...fecking gayers!!!  Bet you look for a good nose, legs and bouquet too (not at a wedding!!)

[Mike_F]

Yes RD I knew that but there's still an outer case of usually 6 bottles which is palletised at the bottling plant and has to be delivered to supermarket RDC's. that's all incremental cost. The wine maker and the retailer also have margins to make too. That said, retail margins in entry-level plonk are tiny compared to most categories.

Aldi are generally decent across the board. They benchmark quality against M&S for their tertiary brands.