Which new wines have you discovered lately? I just tried a Pinot Noir and Shiraz from

M

meryl

Well-known member
"Hobnob," a French producer, and they're both excellent. I had tried Shiraz only once before by another producer (forgot who it was), and I didn't like it, but this one is excellent, as is the Pinot Noir.

I tried Chenin Blanc for the first time a few weeks ago, and while the wine was very well produced, I found it to be too sweet. (It was "Domaine Toussant Vouvray)." Chenin Blanc's typical taste is off-dry, so it's sweeter than Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. For those looking for something slightly on the sweet side and fruity, this is very good.

 
Have been loving Malbecs lately..not everyone can find every wine, I realize...

certain states sell certain wines, it seems...but, the Malbec I've recently enjoyed is Dona Paula Los Cardos Malbec 2006 from Argentina...$8.99. Have never heard of Hobnob in SW Florida but will check it out...am very partial to reds and during the summers, Malbecs are very nice especially with grilled foods. Nice topic!

 
Val, I think Hobnob is fairly new. I just tried it over the weekend at a wine tasting - hope you can

find it. (Oh, by the way, each wine was $9.99).
I've tried only one Malbec so far. It was from Argentina, but made by a French producer, and was organic. It was very good, but I can't remember the name. I'll have to look for it at my health food market the next time I'm there.
By the way, if you're into Merlot, I discovered an unbelievable one several months ago. It is the ultimate - luscious, round, rich, and smooth as velvet. The producer is Raymond Vineyards. You can read the reviews on the Total Wine site - one of the reviews is mine under the username "merstar."

http://www.wineaccess.com/store/totalwine-briercreek/ecommerce/product.html?product_id=10079019

 
All the Australian and Tasmanian wines....

And boy... do I miss French wines smileys/frown.gif

They are way too expensive here, when you can even find them, that is...

I find the Australian wines to be too "alcohol-y" if that makes sense, and some whites are quite acid...

 
And you are still writing sense????? some sense, what nonsense!.....

LOL! I like the boozy bit to the Aus. wines when we have a 'dinner' but far prefer the French wines for lunch and those light suppers.
And yes, the Aus. whites do seem to be rather acid after the French.
We had white and red this Sunday for the braai...Yellowtail, but I forgot to note pre'xactly which ones.
I was waiting for a reaction (as here we get an abundance of very good priced quality French wines) but apparently everyone found them superb!
We were drunk dry!
Luckily the Baileys was plentiful.

 
Australian wines

Australian wines (like most all wines from the New World) do have, in general, a lot higher alcohol content than French wines. That's because these are warmer areas, the grapes thus get riper with more sugars (plus the producers often let the grapes stay longer on the vine to get even riper), and those sugars are then converted to alcohol during fermentation. So you get high alcohol wines as a result. It's one of the reasons why I hugely prefer French wines as well. But the comments about the white Australian wines having too high an acidity level puzzles me because in general white Australian wines tend to be on the low acid side -- that's also because of the high heat there making those acids turn into sugars. French whites, by contrast, tend to have a much high acidity level because of the cooler climate. An example would be Chablis - quite high acidity. By contrast, the Australian Yellowtail whites are actually quite 'flabby' - not much zing on the tip of the tongue which signifies good acidity. Try some Chardonnays from Margaret River - maybe those will be more pleasing.
cheers, Bonnie

 
Our Costco has a lovely French Rose and red right now. very affordable. will post the name later.

 
I'm a wine wuzz, but I did enjoy a bottle of Fat Ba$tard Chardonnay

served with little filo packages of roasted chicken and goat cheese, followed by halibut in pistachio crust.

 
for cab sauv lovers - a couple of surprisingly good, inexpensive favorites are

goats do roam (south african), and little boomey (australian). sadly, i can't find the little boomey anwhere anymore...maybe you'll have it down in the states.

 
Bonnie, I'm not a big fan of the Chardonnays

French or Australian...

And much to my husband's chagrin, I don't like most of the Montrachets either -

When I say acidity, what I mean is - 1 (2,3,4...)glass of Italian Pinot Grigio, no probs... 1 glass of Australian equivalent, nasty stomach acid and after 1 I'm done with it...

I have found a nice Tasmanian Pinot Noir I really like, but haven't found a nice rose...

It is fun experimenting though!!

 
My husband has the same problem.

He gets stomach problems from high-acid whites. So I have to be careful about which whites I pick for him. I'd never serve him a sauvignon blanc, for example (except for a Sancerre). A lower acid white, in Australia's case, would be a Riesling from the Eden Valley or, especially, a Semillon or Semillon blend, such as from the Hunter Valley. The buzz is that Australian wines are about to get much more expensive due to the drought severely cutting back the grape harvest - so maybe the French wines will start becoming more affordable...
cheers, Bonnie

 
The drougt has been very bad...

I'll give the semillons a try, I don't mind trying them !!

Unfortunately, pricey or not, I have to go out of my way to get a French wine, they're no easy to find! I'll just have to develop a taste or stick to the reds...

Now to find a nice rose...

 
and I'm such a sucker for a clever name or a pretty bottle. put it in a blue bottle and I'll buy it

call it 3 blind moose, or toasted head or fish eye and I'll buy it. goats do roam---gotta find that one!

 
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