Poll: What are your current "house" wines?

I'm a little late on this thread, but here it goes:

No one single "house" red, but these are consumed a couple times a month:

RED

Altos Las Hormigas Malbec - Argentina Artazuri Garnacha - Spain Capcanes Mas Donis - Spain Concannon Petite Sirah - California

WHITE Nothing currently, enjoying sampling to come up with a new house white since our old one, Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc/Viognier has gone up a few dollars. Sampling various Oregon Pinot Gris and Spanish whites trying to come up with the keeper.

Sadly, the Kim Crawford is roughly double that price here in BC & The Coppola comes in at almost Triple.... (sigh). My 'cheapie' house wines both come in under $13 per bottle. Pergolas $10.40, Wild Goose $12.something. I'm always searching for those under $15 gems. Of course, I wish my personal finances could handle the $150 gems..... one day.

Cheers Mathew

Hi Chuck,

Love the CSGamay R also. But at $17, I would not be opening these up daily or even every second day. Think I'll get out of the vintage section for a while and go on a hunt for the $13 bottle.(but with the $17-20) taste ;-}

All the best,

Larry Southern Ontario

If you find it Larry, please don't keep it a secret!!!

I always love this poll. It brings out so many new ideas for wines.

Haven't settled on a white yet. House varietal is SB. Red - Mark West Edna Valley Pinot Noir 2002. After sale and case discount, it was just under $9!

My view of a house wine is a rel. cheap, simple, enjoyable drink for early consumption. When I buy a wine by case that does not mean I want to drink a bottle every week for the next three months. It usually means I want to watch the evolution for the next 20 years. So my rule of thumb is (seemingly paradox): the higher the price, the higher the stock to buy (usually price correlates with longevity).

Fully agree - variatio delectat.

Another anecdote from the food section: Some twenty years ago I went to a Mexican restaurant with a friend. We ordered our meals an both liked what we got. My friend called the waiter and ordered exactly the same dish for the second time. I was flabbergasted.

Martin

Mark,

Our "house" wines vary somewhat, but tend to rotate around the following: McManis 2002 Syrah - a light Calibornia wine, good for quaffing and at a fairly decent QPR in my estimation ~$9.00US) Paringa 2002 Shiraz - when we want something a little heavier with a spicey element (~$10US) Waterbrook 2002 Melange - decent red table wine somewhat of a bordeaux style blend (~$12.00US) La Boca 2002 Malbec - a rather light Malbec from Argentina. Trader Joe's offers this one, and it is quite a step up from their 2/3 buck Chuck (~6.00US)

Tom AZ

Tom,

While I'm not a big fan of most Merlots, McManis Family does a nice one, and at about the same $ as the Syrah, and is worth the price.

Hunt

I live in Ontario, We like the Peller Estates Oakridge Merlot, It is quite satisfactory @ $9.00 Canadian 750 ML. I often pick up Hillebrand Stoneroad Chardonnay. When we are entertaining friends and family we find that Peller Estates Heritage Series is a step up around $10.50 for a 750 Ml bottle. The Cabernet Franc is very good as is the Sauvignon Blanc, The Merlot is also noticeably smoother. I buy by two or three bottles not by the half case.

Robert Patrick

Did he order the same dish to take home or eat there?...

I can kind of see doing this (ordering the same dish) if you're an out-of-towner and want to take some pizza home from NYC, or jambalaya home from NOLA, or something like that.

Karen

Geyser Peak sauvignon blanc (three years running) Fetzer Pinotchio (pinot noir) (used to be Cristom Marjorie Vineyard, frequently use Sebastiani as well) Sebastiani cabernet sauvignon (frequently intermingled with Liberty School, Fetzer Bon Terra, and Beringer) Franciscan merlot Paul Jaboulet Parallele 45 Cotes du Rhone

What vintage of P45 are you drinking? I was thinking the other day I should give the 2001 a try. This used to be my fallback CdR, but didn't seem to do so well in some recent vintages -the '95(especially) & '99 were worth looking for; I was far less impressed with say the '00. Even with the '99, there was the issue of bottle variation. Have you experienced this? I've opened bottles back to back that were quite different (the '99 Jalets Crozes was even worse- truly hard to believe the bottles were same wine). Unsure how Jaboulet bottles.

Dale

Dale Williams Drop "damnspam" to reply

Current supply is 2001, which is drinking nicely! I found the same thing in the `99s though and stopped drinking the P45 for awhile.