On Saturday, January 24, 2015 at 11:52:38 AM UTC+1, santiago wrote:
> In Saint Emilion the base AOC is Saint Emilion Grand Cru. That's mostly
> plonk (with exceptions to be found).
>
> Upper level is Saint Emilion Grand Cru Classé. This is better.
>
> Then you have Premier Grand Cru Classé A and B. Only a handful. All of
> them ultra-uber-premium.
>

Ive had Grand Cru, Grand Cru Classe as well as Primier Grand Cru (dont remember if it was A or B). None of them is something I'd like to buy. Granted, it might have been too young. But I've had current release Pingus and Chat.. Latour (both being 800E per bottle)(But that cab driven pauillac) that even being young was amazing. I did evaluate Flor de Pingus to be the best value at that tasting at 100E per bottle. I think I never bought anything more expensive than 120E per bottle, and I doubt I ever will.



>
> Over simplicating:
> Northern Rhone = Syrah (Cornas, Saint Joseph...)
> Souther Rhone = Grenache and others. (Chateaneauf du Pape...)
>
> Cotes du Rhone is too big of an AOC and wines can come from everywhere
> in the Rhone. Try to find producers making Cotes du Rhone mostly with
> Syrah and not with Grenache in the blend.
>


Grenache is on my "cheap " list. when getting sub-10E wines, grenache can be fine. Along with Zinfandel and Malbec, and Valdepenas Gran Reserva ( I got one today Diego G.R. for 6E!). I think its just that I dont think all types of wine benefit as much from being made more premium as other types. I think cabs grow with the price range. Zinfandel doesnt really improve much through the price ranges in my opinion.

> Which is interesting because in Bordeaux, wines made primarily with
> Cabernet Sauvignon are thinner and more acid than the average Merlot
> wines and you are supposed to prefer bolder wines.


And as Ive been saying, most of it is really too thin and acidic

But cab-driven blends can be made to be bold, rough textured and earthy as I like it.

> My guess is that you just love Syrah and Cabernet wines, which can make
> sense if you grew your appreciation for red wines in California (Napa,
> etc).
>
> You should concentrate on wines from those grapes.

The wines that got me into wine loving was classic rioja Gran reserva (was a tasting with Martinez Bujanda Crianza, Reserva, and G.R.- unlucky for me it was G.R. that opened my eyes to what wine can really e. Crianza was "meh", Reserva had some of the right stuff, but was too thin, G.R. was just right)

Wine touring Napa extended on that even further.