OT for wine lovers

I have found a new favorite table wine, and it has a screw top.

I was at the store the other day and found a bottle of French wine with
chickens on the label. I don't usually drink French wine because
frankly, it's usually crap, but I was amused, so I bought it for a
friend who I knew would appreciate it. On the way through the store I
was asked by no fewer than three employees whether I had tried it
before. For some reason, the label haunted me (in my head it is called
"chicken wine") and I had to go back and get a bottle... the wine guy
chatted with me for a long time about grapes, and he pointed out the
screw top. We finally had a chance to drink it last night, and it was
nummy... a lovely, perfectly serviceable table wine with a rich
fruitiness and a hint of blackberry. I went back and bought a case! It's
called La Vieille Ferme, and as the name would imply, past years have
also had farm animals on the label. The chicken label is for 2003, and I
can vouch for the goodness of chicken wine.

My last favorite table wine also had a screw top, but alas I cannot find
it any more. It was called "Screw Kappa Nappa" (for reals) and it seemed
to be a collaborative promotional effort on the part of some better Napa
valley vineyards to coax the buying public to accept screw caps on
quality wine. It failed, but for a short time the excellent Cabernet
selling under that label could be had for a ridiculously low price.
--
-Kalera
http://www.beadwife.com

LOL We've had the Screw Kappa Napa! We liked it okay but it wasn't in my
personal top 10.

OTOH, if you have a Trader Joe's near you, DO try the Charles Shaw. Mike
likes the Cabernet a bunch, I like the Shiraz, and I drink and cook with
the Sauvignon Blanc fairly often. (Geez, I sound like a wino!) In
California they sell it for $1.99 a bottle, earning it the loving
nickname "two buck Chuck". Here in AZ it's another dollar, but still
quite worth the price.

One of our other favorites, from Spain, is a nice blended red called
Borsao. It's tanniny, with a really tasty berry finish. (Geez, I almost
sound like I know something. Ha!)

Yesterday we went to one of our favorite gourmet supermarkets (I get to
go only with permission, generally with a chaperone G). For anyone who
knows Phoenix, it's a local chain called AJ's. They have a wonderful
wine selection and even someone on staff who KNOWS wine. Yesterday we
stumbled on a tasting of some Aussie wines....Red Knot Cabernet and
White Knot Chardonnay. The chardonnay is crisp and refreshing without
being too sweet. And it has a "zork" cap....opens like a cork, recloses
like a screwcap. LOL The cabernet is wonderful! Rich with a nice tannin
but very smooth, and berries at the end. And $12.99 a bottle.

It's really cool how many inexpensive wines are out there. We've bought
several just cuz the labels make us grin....Jest Red, The Stump Jump,
Smoking Loon, Toasted Head, Fat *******, and a great gift wine...Menage
a Trois (they make a red and a white....cool they go both ways wink).

KarenS (hic!)

Karen Sherwood wrote:

OTOH, if you have a Trader Joe's near you, DO try the Charles Shaw. Mike
likes the Cabernet a bunch, I like the Shiraz, and I drink and cook with
the Sauvignon Blanc fairly often. (Geez, I sound like a wino!) In
California they sell it for $1.99 a bottle, earning it the loving
nickname "two buck Chuck". Here in AZ it's another dollar, but still
quite worth the price.

I'll second that! We just tried Charles Shaw and were quite happy
with both the price and the quality. (I _love_ TJ's! I'm
enormously impressed by the price and quality of their foods. The
nearest one is about 30 miles away, but it's a good excuse for going
to Santa Fe - as if I needed one.)


It's really cool how many inexpensive wines are out there. We've bought
several just cuz the labels make us grin....Jest Red, The Stump Jump,
Smoking Loon, Toasted Head, Fat *******, and a great gift wine...Menage
a Trois (they make a red and a white....cool they go both ways wink).

Yep - tried a few of these. Really liked Smoking Loon (also from
TJ's, IIRC). Now if wine would just stop giving me hot flashes... :-(

Carol in NM
--
Born to live a life of leisure, still waiting for it to happen.

To reply, unleash the dog

I like a heavy red; a Cabernet that really grabs you by the hair, so to
speak. It was gentle enough for my friend who prefers softer wines,
after breathing for an hour or so.

I've had lots of three-buck Chuck; it's an extra dollar here in Oregon,
too. It varies a LOT, though, as it's any of a wide array of different
overruns relabed for Charles Shaw. It can be excellent one time and not
so great another, so if you get a bottle you like it's not a bad idea to
go back and pick up a case the same day.

I've had Smoking Loon (not bad) Fat *******, and Menage-et-Trois... I
have a soft spot for wine that makes me smile, too. g. There are so
many good cheap wines out there, but it's not quite the rich wonderland
it was before the Columbia Valley wineries were "discovered". I used to
buy Sokol-Blosser for $3.99 a bottle!

Karen Sherwood wrote:
LOL We've had the Screw Kappa Napa! We liked it okay but it wasn't in my
personal top 10.

OTOH, if you have a Trader Joe's near you, DO try the Charles Shaw. Mike
likes the Cabernet a bunch, I like the Shiraz, and I drink and cook with
the Sauvignon Blanc fairly often. (Geez, I sound like a wino!) In
California they sell it for $1.99 a bottle, earning it the loving
nickname "two buck Chuck". Here in AZ it's another dollar, but still
quite worth the price.

One of our other favorites, from Spain, is a nice blended red called
Borsao. It's tanniny, with a really tasty berry finish. (Geez, I almost
sound like I know something. Ha!)

Yesterday we went to one of our favorite gourmet supermarkets (I get to
go only with permission, generally with a chaperone G). For anyone who
knows Phoenix, it's a local chain called AJ's. They have a wonderful
wine selection and even someone on staff who KNOWS wine. Yesterday we
stumbled on a tasting of some Aussie wines....Red Knot Cabernet and
White Knot Chardonnay. The chardonnay is crisp and refreshing without
being too sweet. And it has a "zork" cap....opens like a cork, recloses
like a screwcap. LOL The cabernet is wonderful! Rich with a nice tannin
but very smooth, and berries at the end. And $12.99 a bottle.

It's really cool how many inexpensive wines are out there. We've bought
several just cuz the labels make us grin....Jest Red, The Stump Jump,
Smoking Loon, Toasted Head, Fat *******, and a great gift wine...Menage
a Trois (they make a red and a white....cool they go both ways wink).

KarenS (hic!)

--
-Kalera
http://www.beadwife.com