There’s always some thread here asking for thoughts on what wine to drink for certain occasions. Do you find yourself suggesting the same bottle(s) often?
I know I’ve frequently sung the praises of Shafer One Point Five, JEC Rutherford Reserve, and Chappellet Signature when the conversation turns to California Cabernet. It’s certainly popular to mention JJ Prum and Donnhoff whenever the subject is Riesling. Come to think of it, Fu is probably sick of me mentioning Ponsot Chapelle-Chambertin.
Ha! You do love the Ponsot…
Donnhoff for sure, they’re so exactly what I always want Riesling to be.
Olga Raffault Les Picasses-so delicious, sick QPR, and walks the line of old world in the modern day perfectly.
It’s funny, it seems like there ought to be an Oregon wine in my list but there’s too many I like, and none that is head & shoulders above the others .
Liquid Farm, both the chards and the rose. For more wine obsessed friends I recommend Rivers-Marie and Ceritas.
Mordoree Tavel La Dame Rousse rose.
Absolutely my favorite year-in, year-out and a perfect example of great (serious) rose.
Anything by Scherrer and Sandler
Baudry Rose
This is a thread about “my favourite wines.”
I’d not recommend anything without knowing the other’s personal taste preferences.
I tend to recommend Ridge a lot to people who like wine but don’t know that much about it. Available in a variety of price points. Generally, pretty easy to find. Reliably excellent.
I don’t agree with your first statement. I enjoy the wines I would recommend, but I wouldn’t say they are my absolute favorite wines. These are wines that I feel are fairly priced and would appeal to the people to whom I am recommending them, and in each case, they have. I am certain they are not looking for the aged Bordeaux and Barolo I prefer.
Ridge Geyserville and Ridge Monte Bello. Both outstanding year in and year out and reasonably priced for the quality of the wine, IMO.
Thanks,
Ed
If someone likes Cali Syrah, I always recommend Jaffurs Upslope for a $60 ish bottle or his SVD Syrahs for a $40 ish bottle. Outstanding year in and year out. Always good QPR’s.
Yep. Also appeals to a broad range of palates.
Ramey Sonoma coast Chardonnay. I think everybody knows how good the Ramey and Ritchie are, but I’m seeing the Sonoma coast for around $30.00 now, one of the better qprs we drink.
Ridge Lytton Springs and Geyserville.
End of story.
I generally have a pretty good idea about what my friends like, otherwise, like Adrian, I will ask what they are looking for.
The two wines I recommend most often are…
For the complete novice trying to learn about wine, Dr. L(oosen) Riesling. Widely available for under $10, offers more complexity than many wines at twice the price. Novices generally don’t want to spend too much and like sweeter wine…this tends to be a hit.
For the person who likes red wine but isn’t an “expert” and is willing to spend a bit more, Au Bon Climat Pinot Noir. Affordable ($20), available in most larger wines shops, delicious.
Nice question! I read it to mean - what do you recommend widely, what is your go to, what would you recommend to someone who is not into wine but you hope that one day they might be…
I also tend to recommend ridge to folk - enjoyable by geeks and civilians alike and at a good range of price points. The above mentioned abc chards are also great value. Back in the day I used to recommend David Clark to anyone who’d listen. Haisma and grappin seem to occupy a similar excellently made, fairly priced for what it is, if you don’t like this example you won’t like the genre sort of place in my mind.
Nada barbaresco - sadly not available in the us - is crazy value for the wine.
Depending on what they’re looking for I suppose the wineries I talk about the most are Schramsberg, Iron Horse, Balletto, Trentadue, Pedroncelli, Storybook. Although my top recommendation is probably Russian River Brewing. lol
Leitz Rudesheimer for Riesling
Bonny Doon’s A Proper Claret.
These are two I recommend for $25 or so for non wine geeks. I keep a half case of each around for daily drinkers. These are not my favorite wines but dependable, flexible and approachable bottles.
Forgot about the less expensive bottles. Most less experienced friends usually ask about either of these two varietals…
Cab: H3 ($11) or Rutherford Ranch ($18) are the two best available at many retailers local to me. Once you get over $20 up to $35 there are even more options.
Riesling: Heinz Eiffel Spatlese ($12) and JJ Cristoffel Kabinett ($18) or Spatlese ($22) are very good. You can’t go wrong with either producer, especially if a friend enjoyed a bottle of JJ Prum with us but want to spend a little less.
Most if not all of my recommendations don’t fall into the <$20 price range.
Liquid Farm Chardonnay and Rose - there is a Chardonnay for almost every preference.
Also Ramey and Hanzell for Chards
Just about anything from Christoffel, JJ Prum, & Donhoff
Same for Huet, Baumard, and Domaine Weinbach
My Italian favorites all come from Scavino and Voerzio
Then there is Thomas Pinot Noir from Dundee Hills
Clos Mogador and Finca Dofi from Spain for reds and the Blanco Vina Tondonia Reserva from Lopez de Heredia for whites
I could go on but as you can see, I don’t recommend wines without having some idea of what would be pleasing to the drinker. I want the person to have a good experience with a wine that I might recommend.
From CA I’d say: Ojai.
Great PN, Chard etc. style has changed somewhat over the years to be less rich so that they are now in the ipob range. Prices are also extremely reasonable.