Good wines with the egg?

WileECoyote

I have been working to lower my cholesterol and part of that program includes drinking 1-2 glasses of wine per day, usually after dinner.

Red wine is best but I occasionally mix in some white. I have never been a wine drinker in the past so I am just starting to sample and learn about wines. Some friends own a vineyard here in Tennessee and we recently stopped there to pickup some of their better wines. I also went to the local wine store and purchased 12 different bottles of red, all different brands and prices.

So I have a pretty good variety but after sampling about a dozen types I noticed that about 1/3 of them were pretty rough, most were ok, and only a few were excellent. Of course this is from a novice taster so I am just going on how it tastes to me before, during, and after drinking it.

I want my next purchase to be mostly good stuff, and I am hoping to find wines that are also fairly inexpensive since a single bottle only lasts 2-3 days when drinking 1-2 glasses per day.

What wines do you like best? Are there any specific types which match better with typical egg meals? I am on a low-carb diet so I eat a lot of steak, chicken, pork, ABTs, etc. and virtually no bread or desserts. I also have to avoid the really sweet dessert wines which have higher carbs. Any advice from fellow eggers that also like the vino?

TomM24

Once you know what types of wine you like. I have found that I almost always like wines rated highly by Wine Enthusiast. Pick you price point and get the highest rated. Our local wine shop posts the ratings for many wines which makes it easy. Or you can search here

http://www.winemag.com/buyingguide/search.asp?db=

lowercasebill

pick up a copy of wine for dummies interesting and unpretentious

rodney strong 2006 chard and sebastiani 2006 pinot noir
are less than $20 here in pa. just tried them this week went and bought more. very drinkable

Billy Grill Eggster

WileECoyote,

Buy the ones you like by name. i.e. Chianti, Cabernet Sauvignon. Then try wines with those names that are Australian and Chilean. Also, get yourself a vacuum re-corker for the open bottles.

DynaGreaseball

If you become a pretty consistent wine drinker, you'll kind of move from one favorite to another. It's really a learning experience.

You'll probably find that "big reds" like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlow, and Zins won't taste very good with hot, spicy foods, so a lot of egg food gets left out there. The tanins in these wines (that alum taste which is so prevelant them) just doesn't work well with hot spices. The best variety for me, to drink with ribs and pulled pork is Budweiser.

I know you can't go with sweet whites, but they work well with hot and spicy (like some Asian food).

For me, the two best varieties on earth (right now) are a typically expensive Pino Noir (seems I have to spend $$ to get a really good one), and a dry Reisling from the Alsace region of France. There's also a really nice (not so expensive) Dry Reisling from California by St. Michel that is great with AZRP's spicy shrimp. German Reislings are hard to learn (but probably the best in the world, however), and most of them are too sweet for most of us.

One very nice Chardonnay (which many times works with either red meat or fish and chicken) is Two Buck Chuck from Trader Joes. You can study Chardonnays for a long time. They can be quite different.

I'd say you're doing the right thing by trying lots of them, and making notes. Just remember that they all taste very different with different foods.

What a nice remedy for cholesterol reduction. Good luck with it.

SWOkla-Jerry

The fun is in the experimenting. I usually don't spend over $10 a btl for wine. My preference is Cabernet's. I find good prices and better value in Chile, So. Africa, and Australian red wines. My wife really likes Gnarly Head from California, and finds she can drink this without food, or enjoy after dinner, without a real dry or sour taste. Just my .02 worth.

DynaGreaseball

Woops. Sorry, TomM24. I put that post in the wrong place.

Little Steven

I like big "chewy" wines like Amarone and Barolo but as someone mentioned they don't compliment spicy foods.

Steve

DynaGreaseball

Me too! Or a Ripasso.

Little Steven

I like any wine I can eat with a knife and fork

Steve

Roudy

As one of the posters above recommends, buy a Vac-U-Vin to preserve wine if you don't drink a bottle in one sitting.

Regarding wines, I drink more reds than whites but my acceptable price point may be greater than yours. I like a good Cabernet, but most in the store need a couple years aging before they're at their peak. For drinkability you might stick with a Shiraz, a Syrah, a red Zinfandel, or a Pinot Noir.

For whites, you can't beat a Sauvignon Blanc from the Marlborough region of New Zealand. They're reasonably priced and every one I've had is good and good value. My favorites are Omaka Springs and Kim Crawford. I also like the fact that most use screw caps rather than corks, so you'll never get a "corky" wine.

Happy sipping :P

Roudy

Cecil

What Tn.winery? I am familiar with several.

Walt

WileECoyote

Great comments, lots of names to look for.

The Wine Enthusiast site is a great tool but I will need to work on narrowing it down some. I found nearly 3,000 wines with my first search criteria... :ohmy:

One thing which seems difficult is finding recommended wine that will be in stock at the local wine store. With so many regional producers and varieties (over 10,000 wines each year in the US alone) most of them will not be in stock at all stores so when I look for recommended wines 9 out of 10 times they are not available here. The local kids working the counter don't know anything about wine either so it can take me hours to sort through all the bottles and shelves.

I have tasted some pretty good wines in the past with my favorite being the German Reislings although they were expensive and too sweet for my current diet. When you drink 1-2 glasses per day you will use 2 bottles a week, which is about 9 bottles a month or 110 bottles per year. At only $10 per bottle that adds up to an extra $100 per month after tax which is not too bad but it seems a bit excessive for a once-a-day beverage. The best wines seem to be in the $20-$50 per bottle range which would be fine for special occassions but I can't justify spending that much more for daily use.

After all of my testing I hope to find 6-8 wines that are under $10 per bottle yet taste good enough that I won't get tired of them, and that compliment a wide range of egg food. And they have to be available often or I won't be able to restock.

The Tennessee winery is Monteagle Winery which was closed for a few years when the wife of the owner hired a winery employee to murder her husband. They were caught and jailed but the winery sat vacant during all the court trials and legal proceedings. Friends of ours invested with a second couple to purchase the winery about 1.5 years ago and they have been back in business ever since. Tony is the head wine maker and he has several degrees in his trade, as well as being a college professor in the subject. We just went down for a tour of the winery recently and they have a nice tasting bar setup where you can sample every wine they make for free. We liked many of their wines but my favorites are the Sweet Magnolia and Seyval (both white). I am going easy on the whites though since the reds are much better for your cholesterol.

Cecil

I am familiar with (the old) Monteagle. I would suggest finding a wine store with people you trust, just as you may have a butcher or even a dry cleaner. That may be easier said than done if you live in Grundy Co.
I know at my store in Nashville we pride ourselves on knowing our wines-even the kids behind the counter.

Experiment and not to worry, there are very good wine values in ALL price catagories, I know that you can find a few that will fit both your taste and budget.

Cheers!
Walt

Bacchus

I love good wines, but they don't have to be super expensive. I hate to sound like a snob, but stay away from the $8-$10 bottle stuff. For literally a couple bucks more you can get a wine of exceptional quality for the money. Once you identify a couple of vitners who suit your tastes, you can start buying by the case to save a buck or two, getting you back down to the $10 range.

South Ameircan wines(particularly Chilean) go very good with grilled food, and happen to offer a good quality to price ratio as well.

As far as spicy foods, the Grenache OR Garnache varietal (named depending on region grown, same grape)is a very good match. It is a peppery wine that can stand up to the task of following a bite of fiery food.

With wine you want to match the level of flavor with the food. Big bold dishes deserve big bold red wines. Lighter or softer flavored dishes pair well with soft reds or whites.

Good Luck!

WileECoyote

Another question came up as I continue to sample all these wines:

With one or two brands of red wine I have found some particles at the bottom of the bottle which look like little grains of sand but they are dark in color. I assume these are bits of grapes but I wonder why none of the other red wines had them. I think the wines in question were bottled locally vs. purchased at the state wine store.

Doesn't matter much either way but I get kind of irked by sandy particles in my drinks, especially when I don't know what they are. Same thing when I screw through the corks and get bits of cork on top the wine, but at least those are easy to wipe away. How does one avoid wine refuse?

Cecil

The "stuff" is called sediment, it won't hurt you. Chances are that it came from a local winery as they may not filter their wines (as much) as larger wineries. If you don't like the sediment you can decant the bottles (basically slowly pouring the bottle into another vessel.) Google it. Hope this helps.

Walt

Fidel

Big cabs pair well with red meats.

A merlot or chilean red will pair well with pork or even salmon. Pinot noir would be another good choice.

As others stated, look for a 2004 or even 2005 vintage for a good Cab. Even 3-4 years bottle time may require a little time in a decanter to open up and taste better - allow some of the tannins time to oxidize a little to reduce the harshness. Most reds are better after 30-40 minutes out of the bottle.

Another important point is to store them and serve them at the correct temperature. A red that is served too warm will give a higher alcohol taste and will mute the fruitiness. Whites are supposed to be served chilled.

As for recommendations, without knowing your price point I could either offend you or insult you, so I will refrain from labels until we get that info.

Fidel

I agree with Cecil - sediment is going to happen with wine. It is not sand or cork bits, just a natural byproduct.

Be careful how you pour it and it won't wind up in your glass, and if it does it won't hurt you.

If your wine is corked (the seal broken, cork deteriorated) the wine will turn and smell of vinegar. This is why a sommelier will offer the purchaser in a restaurant the cork to examine and a small taste of wine before offering to the dinner party. It rarely happens, but it does.

I typically decant every bottle of red, trying not to get the sediment into the decanter. This allows the wine to open up more quickly and makes for better presentation in most cases.

I'm no wine expert by any stretch, but I have had my share of business dinners with wine snobs and have partaken in many bottles of wine with sticker prices well in excess of $100, and at times in excess of $1000. They aren't that much better than the typical $30-40 bottle to my uneducated palate. I'm sure egret will be along shortly to espouse the virtues of the grape.

stike

i honestly think my palate tops out around $40. anything more than that, and it's lost on me.

we splurged on some fancy schmancy wines (the wife and I) for our mutual 40th birthdays, and though it was a wonderful experience, i think we are better off (monetarily, too) hanging out around the $15 daily-bottle price, and $50-$100 for the infrequent special bottle.

WileECoyote

More good advice from everyone.

So I will pour my wine more carefully and the sediment should stay in the bottle. Then leave it sit out for a bit to decant.

I was told to serve whites chilled and reds near room temp. but some of the reds tasted pretty rough at room temp. or even when slightly chilled. So I tried putting the reds in the refrigerator like the whites and most of them seem to taste better chilled, with a few notable exceptions that tasted best at room temp. Since the refrigerator is typically around 40 degrees this seems a bit too cold for the red wines.

So what wines should be served warmer than refrigerator temp, and how do you chill them without setting in the refrig? I tried setting the room temp bottles in the freezer for 20 minutes which seemed to work but this is a dangerous game since I will eventually forget and an exploded bottle of wine will make a real mess.

As for cost, I wouldn't hesitate to spend up to $50 for a wine on a special occasion like a holiday dinner. I wouldn't want to spend any more since I don't know enough to tell the difference anyway. I too have sampled very expensive wines while eating out and they were good but not much different than the cheaper stuff to me.

For regular wine drinking I need to stick in the $10 or less price range since I will be drinking about 110 bottles per year. I can justify $1,100 for a year to help lower my cholesterol and risk of heart attack / stroke but I can't justify raising this to $5,000 or more just for finer wines which I can't fully appreciate anyway. You could buy a heck of an egg setup for the difference of $4,000 so I am keeping my wine budget as low as possible without drinking rot-gut stuff. :side:

Fidel

Now now....I seem to remember a pic with (maybe) a 57 bordeaux......certainly north of $40.

I agree though on the upper price limit for my palate. For $40 (retail, not restaurant) you can find many good wines. Silver Oak, Stag's Leap, Jordan, Krug, Cakebread....all very nice wines that cost 3x retail in restaurants because of name recognition.

Oh, and I'll confess too - each year on our wedding anniversary I get my hands on a 97 Cab. We were married in 97 so it has that romantic quality. I have spent a few bucks to drop a wine off at a restaurant, and then a corkage fee on top of it. A 97 Mondavi reserve unfiltered was this year's choice. Not inexpensive.