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MacDonald's of wines Jacobs Creek, Blossom Hill, Harry's etc





BigGully

Well-known member
Sep 8, 2006
7,139
you need to provide a detail or 2 to help out. Do you prefer red or white? If red, do you like light and fruity styles or full bodied, bigger flavours? If white, then someone else can help!

Thanks, I prefer white but would consider red, really would just like to find one that taste quite nice, compared to the vast majority I have currently tried it just needs to be affordable quality, which I am sure I could at least appreciate.
 


Iggle Piggle

Well-known member
Sep 3, 2010
5,281
Cheers. Still, cheaper than importing one at a time! :cheers:

I use the Vivino app. If you take a picture of a bottle of the wines label it gives you reviews, where you can buy it, best year and similar wines. That Cakebread Cellars is apparently one of the top 2% of wines in the world. I'd give it a go myself if I didn't have to spend £240 to find out if I liked it..

Vivino is especially useful in foreign supermarkets where you haven't a clue what you are looking at (although I did manage to buy plenty of Portugals finest paint stripper last summer) and for laughing at overly pretentious people describing a drink.
 


Iggle Piggle

Well-known member
Sep 3, 2010
5,281
It's also nice to see [MENTION=323]Normal Rob[/MENTION] on this thread. I was worried he was holed up with gout after quaffing too much Chateau Musar.
 


Shropshire Seagull

Well-known member
Nov 5, 2004
8,477
Telford
Many folk say they don't like red, but I suspect this is because their first / only experience was a Greek Domestica or a Bojolias Neuveau.

I was lucky enough to spend a day being shown round several vineyards of Capetown a few years back - wished I'd been a "spitter" not a "swallower" as I don't remember much after lunch ...

Anyone looking for a reasonably priced red should give this hidden beauty a try [I've only ever seen it in Tesco] Cuvee Prestige

vino.jpeg
 






Steve in Japan

Well-known member
NSC Patreon
May 9, 2013
4,417
East of Eastbourne
I love Mateus Rose! Back in the day, if you managed to get invited back to her's 'for a coffee' there were signs to look for. If she put on a Leonard Cohen LP, that was pretty hopeful.........but if she then got out a bottle of Mateus Rose - that was Bonanza!!
Still occasionally buy a bottle - just to reflect on some very happy occasions! Mateus Rose - Woo-Hoo!

You remind me of another fine wine you could take away from the pub if you were wooing....the lovely Hirondelle
 






Harry Wilson's tackle

Harry Wilson's Tackle
NSC Patreon
Oct 8, 2003
49,337
Faversham
I use the Vivino app. If you take a picture of a bottle of the wines label it gives you reviews, where you can buy it, best year and similar wines. That Cakebread Cellars is apparently one of the top 2% of wines in the world. I'd give it a go myself if I didn't have to spend £240 to find out if I liked it..

Vivino is especially useful in foreign supermarkets where you haven't a clue what you are looking at (although I did manage to buy plenty of Portugals finest paint stripper last summer) and for laughing at overly pretentious people describing a drink.

Cheers for that - will deffo check it out :thumbsup:
 


BigGully

Well-known member
Sep 8, 2006
7,139
I use the Vivino app. If you take a picture of a bottle of the wines label it gives you reviews, where you can buy it, best year and similar wines. That Cakebread Cellars is apparently one of the top 2% of wines in the world. I'd give it a go myself if I didn't have to spend £240 to find out if I liked it..

Vivino is especially useful in foreign supermarkets where you haven't a clue what you are looking at (although I did manage to buy plenty of Portugals finest paint stripper last summer) and for laughing at overly pretentious people describing a drink.

Done, what would you say is in your mind your minimum review score on an untried wine ??
 






Triggaaar

Well-known member
Oct 24, 2005
49,989
Goldstone
Oh no no no, I said "usually". I am a massive fan of the Running Duck red wines which usually sell for around £7.99
I'm no wine connoisseur, but think I appreciate nice wine, but I never spend £10 a bottle for myself. I'd like to do some wine taste testing with some of you rich boys.
 


BBassic

I changed this.
Jul 28, 2011
12,220
I'm no wine connoisseur, but think I appreciate nice wine, but I never spend £10 a bottle for myself. I'd like to do some wine taste testing with some of you rich boys.

I'm the same. If it's me and the Mrs I'll go for the Running Duck but if we're going to a friends for dinner or entertaining then I'll splash for a £10 bottle
 


Questions

Habitual User
Oct 18, 2006
24,721
Worthing
I 've drunk wine in just about ever major town and city in Italy and nearly always ordered the carafe of their table wine. On some occasions I've gone for a bottle of something special and you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference.
If you're sitting eating some nice cheeses then ok a good Barolo or the like might be better but some of the wines sold over here would be poured down the drains over there. They wouldn't even cook with it.
In the small Umbrian village my mother came from everybody grew grapes in their garden and then an old boy would come and collect all your picked grapes in the crates and take them off and make the wine for the whole village which you bought back for a very small charge per bottle. Depending on your harvest ) It was lovely. Cannot remember what grape it was but probably Sangiovese and Trebbiano.
 




Normal Rob

Well-known member
Jul 8, 2003
5,644
Somerset
I try to average out at £10 per bottle, some more expensive and some well known (to me) cheap and cheerful favourites for less. My current favourite pricey tipple is this


18935_p.jpg

which you can pick up for £20-£25 a bottle.
 






Cheeky Monkey

Well-known member
Jul 17, 2003
22,953
I'm no wine connoisseur, but think I appreciate nice wine, but I never spend £10 a bottle for myself. I'd like to do some wine taste testing with some of you rich boys.

This. £6-£7 limit, and many tasting polls concur that more expensive doesn't always equate to a better product where wine is concerned (although it does equate to daylight snobbery).
 




Normal Rob

Well-known member
Jul 8, 2003
5,644
Somerset
This. £6-£7 limit, and many tasting polls concur that more expensive doesn't always equate to a better product where wine is concerned (although it does equate to daylight snobbery).

You can choose to believe that should you wish to. In my experience of drinking plenty of wines both above and under £10, you can indeed get a nice tasting bottle for under a tenner. You are more likely to get one if you spend over a tenner. I'm not saying go mad, but as Simon Hoggart said 'Life's too short to drink bad wine'
 
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Iggle Piggle

Well-known member
Sep 3, 2010
5,281
Thanks, I prefer white but would consider red, really would just like to find one that taste quite nice, compared to the vast majority I have currently tried it just needs to be affordable quality, which I am sure I could at least appreciate.

It's difficult to give a catch all. One of my favourite wines is 3.5 stars (Terra D'alter). Another one which I handily reviewed as 'Paint Stripper' is also 3.5. Blossom hill is 3.4. Anything over 4 is usually spot on. Digging through the comments is your best bet, you can get the idea. The pretentious gang tend to underscore but your drink to get pissed reviewer will give any old shit 5.

It's also a very handy app to see how much a £30 restaurant wine really costs.
 



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