Wine Appreciation / Oenophiles

Got 4-4-£10 Sicilian from the corner shop today, to mull.

Obviously had to try it neat first.

Not often summat is soooo rough that you have to laugh, spit and make the "whha whha, my tounge" noise all at the same time.

Sod being a tramp.

has anyone had any success with those aerator things that you pour the wine trough? someone managed to sort of convince me that they help mellow out some of the not-so-sublte new world wines (which is what I can afford anyway).
then someone else claims aeration only makes a difference at the (French) higher end. then again, you lot will probably insist it's pointless either way.

My understanding is that age and variety (obviously) are the factors which matter. For most Young red wines, and some whites, a lot of time breathing is essential, as the vintage gets older it need less time to breathe, to the point where very old vintages turn in minutes. In which case breathing would have more of an effect on expensive vintages, but potentially detrimentally so.

I guess those pourers would help quite a bit actually, as a high and steady stream is advised when decanting.

It's already coming out of a bottleneck anyway. Just how much difference can a little spout make?

Still, people with hobbies like buying gadgets for them.

More surface area. Proper pouring might cause more breathing than 10 minutes in a decanter.

Of course I'm talking out my arse.

Just make sure you mix it with a quality lemonade... no need for aerators.

More surface area. Proper pouring might cause more breathing than 10 minutes in a decanter.

Of course I'm talking out my arse.

So will just pouring into a glass.

.. young red wines, and some whites, a lot of time breathing is essential ... I guess those pourers would help quite a bit actually, ...

So pourers aside, how long would you leave a new world Malbec or Shiraz to aerate, and in what vessel?

As long as it takes to get the straw into the bottle?

So pourers aside, how long would you leave a new world Malbec or Shiraz to aerate, and in what vessel?

Open bottle, put open end of bottle to lips, invert bottle whilst tilting head back, empty contents of bottle, throw bottle over fence/at friend/etc, burp. #win

All depends on the tannin levels of the wine, aerators allow the wine to breathe. Old vines need less oxygen as most of the tannins should be a lot smoother. Supermarket Shiraz will benefit from oxygen. You can pick up an aerator for less than £10.

#whathippysaid

So pourers aside, how long would you leave a new world Malbec or Shiraz to aerate, and in what vessel?

20-30 mins in a 1.5L ships decanter

So will just pouring into a glass.

Yeah but more so. Pouring slowly is favoured, presumably this little gadget will add to that effect. Pouring a glass, tilting the bottle and waiting will have the same effect obviously, but take a longer.

this is nice > http://www.majestic.co.uk/find/category-is-Wine/category-is-Spain/category-is-Rioja/product-is-14473 < and on offer; quite fruity and can either be decanted or served chilled

I've yet to make my first internet order from a specialist wine merchant. Thing is, I feel the good stuff is spread so thinly among a billion different traders. Typically, I find a trader that stocks a wine I am keen to try. But then they don't have much else to speak of, so you end up with only the option of buying a crate of 6 of the same wine.
Where to start? Who is the SJS Cycles of wine?

okay, what do you define as 'good stuff'? what style of wine do you enjoy? and, what's your budget?

hmm... with good stuff I meant what gets good reviews rather than my personal taste really. It seems each wine merchant has perhaps one wine that receives good reviews, but then to fill a 6 bottle crate with wines at that particular merchant is a struggle as the rest of the stuff doesn't get particularly favourable reviews on the internets.

Me personally I'd love to stock up on some more rioja (& other Spanish perhaps?) and generally keen on learning more about Chilean and Argentinian. Italian wine is too confusing, and don't feel I can afford French. Budget might be around a tenner a bottle? I find some rave reviews of bottles in that price range, and some very tasty wines too.
I've tried most of the popular supermarket wines in that price category and want to move onto the more niche ones in the same price range. But each attempt gets lost in an evening of frustrated googling.

rioja, tempranillo, as good a place to start as any.

this lot is decent (2bts each) >

http://www.nakedwines.com/wines/burgo-viejo-tinto-2010.htm

http://www.nakedwines.com/wines/carlos-rodriguez-rioja-crianza-2008.htm

http://www.nakedwines.com/wines/hacienda-don-hernan-tempranillo-2010.htm

< just don't get sucked into the site's offer of becoming a 'wine angel' though... unless you really like the offerings and are prepared to have a direct debit on your credit card (not recommended as they can change the amount at any time)

none of the above are for 'stocking up', drink them and increase your knowledge!

cheers. yeah no pretensions about starting a wine cellar. just nice to have a few bottles around so as to avoid last minute purchases of supermarket wine.

yes, looked at naked wines before, might just go ahead and follow your advice here. any other merchants you would recommend?

i tend to find tastes/styles i like, then google away. relying on a few merchants is too limiting.

having said that, the winedirect mailing list is handy and i have bought from them before.

as for italian, yes, can be confusing. as a primer, try sourcing a 2008 valpolicella superiore 'ripasso', should get something very quaffable for around a tenner.

was going to go for your naked wines recommendations, but majestic has a Spanish promotion ATM so looked at the recommendations I already had from elsewhere and put together this list from Majestic instead:

Rioja Reserva 2006/2007 CVNE
Rioja Reserva 2007 Marqués de Riscal
Rioja Gran Reserva 2004/2005 Berberana
Rioja Reserva 2007 Marqués de la Concordia
Rioja Crianza 2007 Viña Eguia <- This one was on Rive Gauche's reccomendation :-)

54 quid including delivery for 6 bottles of the above.

Venture out of the Riojas and try some Ribera del Duero next time. Somontano has also some interesting atypical Spanish wines that you might enjoy. Enate would be my bog standard recommendation.

nice one! i'd also add a ramon bilbao single vineyard > http://www.majestic.co.uk/find/keyword-is-rioja/product-is-14416 < grenache cuts the tempranillo for a lighter style

and, if you feel a bit flush, try this, it's lovely > http://www.majestic.co.uk/find/keyword-is-rioja/product-is-14468/pgs-is-108

Winedirect? Fair enough. Seeing as you mentioned the site I went ahead and ordered this as well:

http://www.winedirect.co.uk/chakana-chakana-malbec-2011

Which I have wanted to try for some time. First time I ever did a six-of-the-same order, and perhaps silly considering I have never tried it before. But fuck it. If I keep strategising like I have until now, I'll only get to broaden my horison very slowly...
If I don't like it the remaining bottles will make for cheap Xmas gifts.