Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Wine and Beer Enthusiasts
- Thread starter albertfallickwa
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
A seriously rich porter/stout: Lervig Aktiebryggeri - 3 Bean Stout - Tonka, Vanilla and Coca Beans.
Had a rather light beer this weekend. Jameson's Lager... It was actually pretty good. Not too light, yet not heavy at all and you get a very mild, I mean mild, taste of whiskey in it. If you swallow to fast, you will miss it! LOL
A Lambic beer from Belgium: Lindemann Authentic Lambic Beer - BlossomGueuze.
@mobilehaathi: You like sour beers and tart flavours: This style (Lambic beers - and Gueuze is a sub-genre within the Lambic style) - is very tart and satisfyingly sour.
@mobilehaathi: You like sour beers and tart flavours: This style (Lambic beers - and Gueuze is a sub-genre within the Lambic style) - is very tart and satisfyingly sour.
Just got back from Napa Valley/Russian River Valley. Highlights include:
We also hit Cakebread Cellars, which I would only recommend for the local-only tasting. The rest of their stuff is firmly good-not-great.
- Duckhorn - Particularly The Discussion 2012 and their Merlots
- Schramsberg - Particularly their J Schram
- Bacigalupi - Pretty much everything there was great. In the famous "Judgement of Paris", Chateau Montelena used Bacigalupi grapes to make its wines. Delicious tasting.
- Goosecross Cellars - Aeros was a highlight, but the little 5000 case per year winery was very, very good
- Iron Horse - two highlights for me were: Fairytale - the sparkling they produce for Disney Parks, Brut X - Sparkling with no residual sugar added
We also hit Cakebread Cellars, which I would only recommend for the local-only tasting. The rest of their stuff is firmly good-not-great.
Last edited:
My opinion of Cakebread, and most Napa wines, is that they're not worth their MSRP or even a reduced off license cost, such as my wine monger. The problem with wine today much like the 90s and 80s, even before, is that price isn't always relative to quality. A lot of the pricing goes into promotion and brand viability. In other words, some champagnes were cheap as hell before a bunch of rappers got their hands on it and promoted them in videos. In any case, a $15-20 bottle of Argentine wine blows most of its Washington state, Napa valley and New York state wines away. If you want a no BS California wine, Freemark Abbey is a good, solid purchase. A solid under $40 range of wines.
California sparkling is good, too. And that's because most of the wineries are German or French owned, by the big sparkling wine houses. If you think Napas are overpriced here, go to Europe where they're also sold at higher prices. I took a trip in Harrod's a few years ago and found maybe 30 American wines being sold and being bought. I'm not saying European means they're better, I'm saying that most Napa wines are a waste of money.
I'd rather pay a few hundred for one bottle of Opus One, which is always a killer wine and delicious, than 3-5 bottles of $70 each wines that are terrible in every regard.
Last edited:
I know quite a few people in the wine trade, and while some do not disdain New World wines, (whereas others will only rate and respect Old World wines), by New World, they tend to mean new Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Chile.
These days, you will find little respect for wines from the US in Europe, and when you add in taxes, and tariffs, and duties - the general consensus is that they are not worth the price charged for them in Europe. Granted, there are a few US wines of excellent quality, but their price means that they are not worth stocking, whereas other US wines are considered overpriced for what is on offer.
The sparkling houses owned by big European champagne makers are all pretty mediocre. Mumm Napa is mediocre, Domain Carneros (Taittinger) is mediocre. Chandon has some good offerings but the overall quality is mediocre. Basically, the big champagne house ones are actually among the worst of the bunch.
Instead, I strongly prefer Iron Horse, which is independently owned, or Schramsberg (Elizabeth II's favorite sparkling), which are both making great stuff. I have yet to have a French champagne which I prefer to a bottle of J Schram.
Personally, I do not much care for champagne, but good Old World wines - white Burgundies, Rieslings from Alsace, seriously good Italian reds, take some beating.
I love a Napa Cab. They're very expensive, but for occasions where I want to drink a cab, I accept no substitute.
I just recently got into Oregon Pinot Noir, but I think I prefer the California varietal as well
I just recently got into Oregon Pinot Noir, but I think I prefer the California varietal as well
You're a bit confused. J Schram is what the White House serves to foreign dignitaries. Bollinger is the Queen's favorite per multiple BBC documentaries. J Schram holds no royal warrant and she downs more dubonnet cocktails than champagne.
There's decent English sparkling wines, but you don't see them drinking that, so it's a huge stretch to suggest J Schram is their favorite and a supplier when they're an American sparkling wine house who've served them at the White House.
It's like stating Chateau St. Michelle is one of their favorite wine producers when it's cheap plonk that's mass produced but somehow alright if you just want wine, and made in Washington state. The Schramsberg website only states a 2007 formal event which they served the Queen and her naughty husband, Philip, their sparkling and still wines, and a few others in the 1970s and 1980s.
Last edited:
Jesus that whole thing went over your head.
maybe this thread should be called “post the wine you’ll like and Zenithal will insult you”
It's here !! It's here !! It's here !!
We actually have a fall/pumpkin beer embargo, so we don't drink any until September, however, that doesn't mean I can't buy some, maybe leave it out of the fridge till late Saturday (Sun is Sep 1st
)
Southern Tier, incredible brewery, and these are two of the very best pumpkin beers of the season (had these, and some **cosmic** variants at the ST brewery/bar in Pittsburgh last year).
We actually have a fall/pumpkin beer embargo, so we don't drink any until September, however, that doesn't mean I can't buy some, maybe leave it out of the fridge till late Saturday (Sun is Sep 1st
)Southern Tier, incredible brewery, and these are two of the very best pumpkin beers of the season (had these, and some **cosmic** variants at the ST brewery/bar in Pittsburgh last year).
I've tried a few of their beers and I liked them. One of them was called 9 days a week, IIRC. Not too special, but a nice blond with a good enduring after taste. They're a little tricky to find on the west coast, though. I haven't bought or drank a whole lot of beer this year. Trying to keep my waistline in check... but with fall right around the corner, it may be time to take after you and buy a stockpile.It's here !! It's here !! It's here !!
We actually have a fall/pumpkin beer embargo, so we don't drink any until September, however, that doesn't mean I can't buy some, maybe leave it out of the fridge till late Saturday (Sun is Sep 1st
Southern Tier, incredible brewery, and these are two of the very best pumpkin beers of the season (had these, and some **cosmic** variants at the ST brewery/bar in Pittsburgh last year).
View attachment 855150
I'm going to presume you've bought both of these before. The pumpkin spice flavor doesn't appeal to me, but the first one does. Is it like roast pumpkin tinted ale?
8 Days It's a nice blonde American ale, a little hoppy, good, easy to drink, light-ish ABV.
I've had both of these, the pumpkin/spice is a bit different just because the "base beer" is different - in the stout, it's less pumpkin, since it's a bit overtaken by the delicious, rich stout, so you get a lot of the peripheral spices flavors, in the ale, there's more pumpkin flavor along with the spice/nutmeg/pie, I find it has more "breadth" - the ale - which is what we bought:
It's a nice blonde American ale, a little hoppy, good, easy to drink, light-ish ABV.I've had both of these, the pumpkin/spice is a bit different just because the "base beer" is different - in the stout, it's less pumpkin, since it's a bit overtaken by the delicious, rich stout, so you get a lot of the peripheral spices flavors, in the ale, there's more pumpkin flavor along with the spice/nutmeg/pie, I find it has more "breadth" - the ale - which is what we bought:
Have just taken delivery of a crate of beer, a crate that contains mostly Belgian classics, such as St Bernardus and Trappistes Rochefort.