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mary 25-11-2003 09:59 PM

Consumer Reports Choices
 
Every year or so Consumer Reports rates wines that are not high priced. I
bought two of their suggestions in the past, and did not like them. One was
merlot. To me they tasted like "dust." That is the only way to describe
them. I like the wine in the boxes better. Are there better guides to lower
priced wines. Reading a description of a wine leaves me confused. The
statements seem so subjective.

Thanks

Tom



Xyzsch 27-11-2003 09:51 AM

Consumer Reports Choices
 
>Every year or so Consumer Reports rates wines that are not high priced. I
>bought two of their suggestions in the past, and did not like them.


I don't put too much stock in Consumer Reports for rating wines. They seem to
pick the fruity obvious wines. The tasters do not have experienced palates, so
they seem to like wines a beginner would like.

I think you would be better to look at any edition of the Wine Spectator or
similar publications (even though I often disagree with them). They taste wines
all the time.
There is also the Wine Enthusiast and several other publications whose names
escape me. They do rate inexpensive (under $10) wines, some of them highly.

You might try Vitiano by Falesco. Consumer Reports does not rate this, but the
wine writers seem to like it. It's in a fruit forward with toasty oak style,
which not everyone likes. But I bet it's more interesting than Consumer Reports
wines. And it costs $10 (approx).

Tom Schellberg

J Derby 28-11-2003 12:01 AM

Consumer Reports Choices
 
"mary" > wrote in message >...
> Every year or so Consumer Reports rates wines that are not high priced. I
> bought two of their suggestions in the past, and did not like them. One was
> merlot. To me they tasted like "dust."


Strange, isn't it, that good wines taste like asphault whereas bad
wines taste like fruit? I happen to agree, however. Mary, there are
LOTS of people here better qualified to answer this, but it has been
my experience as a once-beginner (I now qualify as an experienced
novice ;-) ) that trial and error is best.

For my taste, very generally I enjoy most wines in the $10-$12 range,
and do not enjoy lower priced wines, although I have found a few
cheaper wines that I like, and some higher priced wines that I hated.
I have never had a $20 wine that I did not like, and the best wine I
ever tasted was pretty expensive. It seems you get what you pay for,
generally speaking. I would say this price point works 90% of the
time.

I have also come to discover what *types* of wine I like. I prefer old
world to new world philosophy, for example. Most $10 Rhone wines are
decent for me, but I dislike most $10 Calif Cabernets and new European
(etc.) merlots. I tend to like most Chardonnay-based wines from any
region, and so forth. My advice, then, is to sample some
wines--consider it a research project--and at least make mental notes,
then re-try those that strike you.

If that's not good enough, someone recently posted the following link.
Time will tell if I agree, or if this is helpful:
http://www.tablewine.com/
It's all about affordable wines. Personally, I prefer trial and
error--it's a calling, I think. Best of luck.

John

D. Gerasimatos 28-11-2003 01:49 AM

Consumer Reports Choices
 


A $10 California cabernet is quite an adventure indeed. Without knowing
anything about the wine I would shy away from any California cab less
than $30.


Dimitri


pavane 28-11-2003 03:22 AM

Consumer Reports Choices
 

"D. Gerasimatos" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> A $10 California cabernet is quite an adventure indeed. Without knowing
> anything about the wine I would shy away from any California cab less
> than $30.
>


Totally correct. I would not consider drinking any wine that
is not a First Growth Paulliac costing at least US$125.
I admire your egalitarianism.

pavane



J Derby 28-11-2003 05:05 PM

Consumer Reports Choices
 
Dimitri wrote:
> > A $10 California cabernet is quite an adventure indeed. Without knowing
> > anything about the wine I would shy away from any California cab less
> > than $30.


Pavane wrote:
> Totally correct. I would not consider drinking any wine that
> is not a First Growth Paulliac costing at least US$125.


I think Dimitri's contention is that $10 CA Cab ia quite a gamble
unless you know what you're doing, not that there is no such thing as
a good one. It has been my experience that $10 Cabs can be a harsh as
$15 Bordeauxs can be weak. If any of you have recommendations for
inexpensive ($9-$13USD) CA wines of *any* varietal, I have a notepad
right in front of me, and (as a school teacher) gobs of cash!

John

D. Gerasimatos 28-11-2003 07:26 PM

Consumer Reports Choices
 
In article >,
pavane > wrote:
>"D. Gerasimatos" > wrote in message
...
>>
>>
>> A $10 California cabernet is quite an adventure indeed. Without knowing
>> anything about the wine I would shy away from any California cab less
>> than $30.
>>

>
>Totally correct. I would not consider drinking any wine that
>is not a First Growth Paulliac costing at least US$125.
>I admire your egalitarianism.



As someone else said, the point here is that most California cab under
about $30 just isn't any good. It's an expensive varietal with a high
demand. If you don't want to spend that sort of money then there are other
varietals. A $30 zinfandel is usually a helluva wine. You can occasionally
find a value in California cabs, but that's not a good place to go looking
for one.


Dimitri


pavane 28-11-2003 07:38 PM

Consumer Reports Choices
 

"J Derby" > wrote in message
om...
> Dimitri wrote:
> > > A $10 California cabernet is quite an adventure indeed. Without

knowing
> > > anything about the wine I would shy away from any California cab less
> > > than $30.

>
> Pavane wrote:
> > Totally correct. I would not consider drinking any wine that
> > is not a First Growth Paulliac costing at least US$125.

>
> I think Dimitri's contention is that $10 CA Cab ia quite a gamble
> unless you know what you're doing, not that there is no such thing as
> a good one. It has been my experience that $10 Cabs can be a harsh as
> $15 Bordeauxs can be weak. If any of you have recommendations for
> inexpensive ($9-$13USD) CA wines of *any* varietal, I have a notepad
> right in front of me, and (as a school teacher) gobs of cash!
>


Of course, almost any wine is a gamble of sorts. In the ten dollar Cab
range I would look at the Gallo of Sonoma, Frei Vineyards and the
new Louis Martini releases, all by Gallo; Bogle, Hess Select, BV Napa,
Rodney Strong, Niebaum-Coppola Claret and Guenoc North Coast, all
of which can be found at or under $15 in Florida. Be careful of years as
this is the least of the fruit (ie, avoid 1998 and 2000 except for the
Guenoc) and see what you think. Probably the N-C and Hess are the
best of the lot, with the Frei and other Gallo wines awfully close (they
made an amazing 1997 Indigo Hills Cab which sold everywhere for
about $8.00) and as opposed to Dimitri's snarky comment on
inexpensive wines I believe that you will find some good drinkability
at school teacher prices. Just do yourself two favors: 1. Do not
expect Great Wine, look for easy enjoyment, and 2. Remember
that there are some really disappointingly dreadful $30. CalCabs.

pavane



b zajac 29-11-2003 09:47 PM

Consumer Reports Choices
 
This discussion relates to what I call value wine.

Obviously, each to their own, however, from my experience there are
certain large scale California wineries that over the years have
produced decent wines at a decent price. However, I am not a chard
devotee. Two come to mind:

Meridian, especially their santa baraba pinot noir.

J Lohr, carbs

Have a great holiday season.



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