Somm: Inexpensive wine sucks

[David_Bu3ker]

No. 2016 is the most recent that I have.

[MChang]

@Stan_Y

@LasseK

But if you can find wines like these in Europe there must be gems in the US as well?

Here it’s like Marcus and Michael and the author of the article are saying, I don’t see so much from small, high-quality producers under $20 anymore vs. a diversity of things I am always reading about you guys drinking over there.

Cheap wine sucks in the US.

In many places in Europe you can order the house white or red and it’s a nice drinkable table wine. In the US it will be a crime against humanity.

I went to a very nice restaurant near Zion National park last year that had fantastic single origin beef, and we didn’t want a bottle so I made the mistake of ordering something btg; it was some sort of Beringer cab from Lodi and it would’ve been more useful in scouring toilets than drinking.

[Stan_Y]

I usually drink these on release, and went through a case or two of the '16 riserva most recently. Even though I don’t think it deserved the huge score and that it won’t be a long-term ager, I did cellar some. Medium bodied and tea-like with brown spices, and just satisfying to me. For whatever reason I don’t find consistent differences between the normale and riserva like I do with Ferrando.

[David_Bu3ker]

I have an inappropriately large number of bottles of the various cuvees from 2015 and 2016. When I first posted on a young one I got roundly chastised by a couple of our European posters who told me how well they age. I hope so, as I own too damn much wine.

[LasseK]

Haha fair enough. Guess there are different perks to live where we all do (for most of us here). Good wine at good prices is one of mine i guess hehe.

[Marcus_Goodfellow]

That’s a great pick up. Nice work!

[MChang]

@LasseK

Haha fair enough. Guess there are different perks to live where we all do (for most of us here). Good wine at good prices is one of mine i guess hehe.

I mean, there’s a lot of excellent US wines in the 25-50 price range. Oregon Chardonnay is outstanding and has dramatically decreased my purchases of white burgundy. Also, Zinfandel is a remarkable wine which isn’t made in many other places (I guess Croatia and Italy) which is a tremendous QPR.

I think the wines that the US is most known for (California chard and cab) is mostly overpriced.

[Marcus_Goodfellow]

It’s a bit higher than $20 in Oregon but well worth the cost.

[Marcus_Goodfellow]

That’s a “value” that I have never considered. If a wine costs $25-50, but decreases your need to buy $80-100 bottles, then it’s most definitely a value.

To be honest, Volnay and Pernand-Vergelesses worked this way for me for years. As does Clos des Briords.

[MChang]

@Marcus_Goodfellow

That’s a “value” that I have never considered. If a wine costs $25-50, but decreases your need to buy $80-100 bottles, then it’s most definitely a value.

To be honest, Volnay and Pernand-Vergelesses worked this way for me for years. As does Clos des Briords.

I mean, I think most ppl thought your $40-50 chard held its own against the $100+ Meursault charmes at the dinner last year. Add premox and escalating prices like $300 Clos de la Mouchere and white burg starts to look pretty unattractive.

[Kevin_Porter]

I don’t know about ‘great’ but I could drink well selecting from the $20 and less selections at this LWS - Browse Wines - New Jersey Store - Page 1 - Moore Brothers Wine Company

OTOH, they are an exceptional store. It would be tough to avoid Yellow Tail and Apothic red in the PA Monopoly stores.

[Mikko_Tuomi]

@Marcus_Goodfellow

That is really true. We had coffee with a grower today and 2 latte’s, 2 slices of quiche, a grilled cheese(a la cart), and a bowl of tomato soup were $57.

No fast food, everything was delicious but it was still $57 for a healthy snack or perhaps a very, very light lunch.

Calling quiche and grilled cheese a “healthy snack” is like saying Terminator 1 is better than Terminator 2. Aka. Patently false information.

[Marcus_Goodfellow]

Ha! So not true.

Though the grilled cheese was probably the closest to being over the ‘snack’ line for normal people. I am a Terminator of grilled cheese sandwiches though and just one is a snack…

[Otto_Forsberg]

I’d love to have quiche and grilled cheese right now, but I’d never see myself saying that I was only having a healthy snack.

An apple or a green smoothie is a healthy snack. Quiche and grilled cheese are delicious atherosclerosis bombs.

[Marcus_Goodfellow]

To be fair, it was a modest slice of quiche and 4 people. The grilled cheese definitely carries a hefty caloric load but it was an a la carte GC. The tomato soup was a bowl but with four people, those three items and 2 lattes aren’t really a meal.

[Scott_K1]

My takeaways from this thread are as follows:

1. Somms need to be kinder and gentler when criticizing the sub $20 mass produced plonk that dominate the US grocery store market.

2. Europe is for budget wine lovers; USA has nice desert canyons.

3. Inflation and wine: the pain is real

4. Marcus Goodfellow has a healthy appetite

[Tom_G_l_a_s_g_o_w]

@R_Frankel

I read this whole thread. I enjoyed it. Just another early morning WB thread with no information, random mis-representations, subtle arguing over word choice, and the usual assortment of web chaos. Though kinda polite, for the Internet.

I’m waiting for someone to share the La Tâche taste-alike sold for $20 that invalidates the article.

We’re all waiting for the Godot of wine.

[Mel_Knox]

If you know what you are doing, there are still lots of values out there. But as fixed prices rise, and by that I mean corks, bottles, shipping, etc-- go up, these values will be harder to find. The price of bottles for sparkling is very high.

La Tache is aged in new barrels…hard to imitate that for $20…maybe $40?

[Uli_K]

@Stan_Y

@LasseK

But if you can find wines like these in Europe there must be gems in the US as well?

Here it’s like Marcus and Michael and the author of the article are saying, I don’t see so much from small, high-quality producers under $20 anymore vs. a diversity of things I am always reading about you guys drinking over there

Europe is easy. I picked up a several exciting Alsace and Württemberg Riesling in the €15-20 range last year (and even one from Moravia). Haven’t been to Umbria in a while, but remember tasting great reds that were far enough from the threshold then that they should still qualify now. Portugal, so many great options.

It has gotten really hard for domestic wine in the US over the last 3-5 years. Mendocino still sometimes gets close. Ian Brand and Kenny Likitprakong have entry level brands that provide some excitement with uniqueness and typicity. Field Recordings’ and Tablas Creek’s entry level ones are not far off. Best option I have that stuns and still has some headroom is Birichino Malvasia Bianca.

[HoosJustinG]

I think for the folks who are actually looking to CNBC for wine advice and buying at American retail outlets, this isn’t really bad advice. Obviously, it’s not an absolute truth.