What is your favorite winery?

[chuckles]

What is your favorite winery?

-chuckles-

[mg151]

when i drank wine i really liked Jackson Triggs (http://www.jacksontriggswinery.com/en/). they had a really great Merlot.

[tokenuser]

Wynn's Coonawarra Estate - Coonawarra, South Australia ... but its 400km away from Adelaide, and a bitch to get to. All the same, the Coonawarra region and Barossa Valley produce some of the best reds in the world (Grange Hermitage anyone?). Its an area well known for its Shiraz (Syrah) and Cabernet Sauvignon production.

I also like the wineries in the Hunter Valley. No specific ones - its just that they are a 30min drive from where my Mum lives, so its a good way to fill in a day ... and they have great whites, and reasonable reds (on par with US reds, but not as good as South Australian, Chilean, or South African).

In the US, I like the Californian central coat vineyards around Paso Robles, particularly the Wild Horse estate.

I will also give an honourable mention to the New York Finger Lake district wineries. Their wines are OK, but the location can't be beat for touring wineries.

[mr-glass]

Well, I only drink kosher wine, but I've had a decent amount and managed to visit my favorite winery when I was in Israel: Yarden. The actually have 3 brands they distribute under, but the Yarden label is the one with the good wines. If your looking for a nice, kosher wine, go with Yarden.

I also visited another winery a couple days later, it was small and unknown, but unfortunately I loved the wine so much I couldn't resist drinking more and now I can't remember the name! I'll be sending my brother on a fact finding mission in a few months, however.

[tokenuser]

Well, I only drink kosher wine, but I've had a decent amount and managed to visit my favorite winery when I was in Israel: Yarden. The actually have 3 brands they distribute under, but the Yarden label is the one with the good wines. If your looking for a nice, kosher wine, go with Yarden.This might sound like aq dumb question, but what makes a wine "kosher"? Do grapes need a rabiniccal blessing? Do they need to be crushed in a particular way? Bottled in a particular way?

I am serious ... the concept of kosher wine has my interest piqued.

[mikec]

Token, some light reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosher_wine

It sounds like some rule makers decided that the Jewish faith needed some more rules.





PLEASE I AM NOT knocking the faith. Sometimes rules are made not to protect but to control. This mistake is done in all religions.

[tokenuser]

Token, some light reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosher_wine

It sounds like some rule makers decided that the Jewish faith needed some more rules. For the most part, I appreciate what Kosher (and Halal, ut I guess that is irrelevant for a discussion on Wine ;) ) means ... and it was a set of rules for safe food handling and prep taught in a way that was understood by the masses - ie via religious teachers.

BUT, huh? Kosher wine - even after reading the wiki entry - makes no sense from any religious sense. It almost appears like the making of wine by Gentiles (Christians) or Idolators (someone who worships a false god ... like Ryan Seacrest or Simon Cowell) is banned purely for commercial protection of Jewish businesses.

[xibalba]

I like http://www.blackopalwines.com/home.html cheap and taste good, well to me it does.

[dstrack007]

Two that I've visited and love the wine and the winery - Quintessa in California and Castello Banfi in Italy. Quintessa actually blends a number of grapes for their wine and it's fantastic. They also released their Savignon Blanc "Illumination" which is pretty cheap (I think under $15; the red blend is more expensive at $75) and until recently not available outside of visiting the vineyard. It's a very modern winery and the people who run it are great. The same owners also make Faust, which is pretty hyped up but if you can find any outside of a restaurant it's pretty reasonable at $35/bottle... but tough to find and it's received some high praise so people are raising prices big time.

Castello Banfi makes a lot of different wines but their flagship is "Brunello di Montalcino" and it's fantastic. Highly Recommended.

[dstrack007]

I am also very into small yielding and try to find organic wineries as well... www.garagistewine.com has a great email mailing list. He's not a distributor but he actually has relationships with many wineries and gets good allocations on a variety of little known low yielding places. He has the occassional high-priced overblown stuff as well as some of the classics (I've attended one of his wine dinners at PerSe in NYC where we met the owners and drank 1947 LaFleur)... so you'll see some Cheval Blanc on his lists for crazy $$$ but he also has LOTS of $9 - $35 deals and many of them are very affordable and have been fantastic. The one caveat... if you order... it takes forever to receive your wine because they will not ship in bad weather and sometimes they are taking orders before the wine is actually released... so patience is key here.

[tokenuser]

I like http://www.blackopalwines.com/home.html cheap and taste good, well to me it does.If you like Black Opal, try Banrock Station. Their "Chateau Cardboard" (cask) wines are great for casual drinking, perfect for a BBQ, and cheap. I generally have a cask of the Shiraz or Merlot hanging around for both drinking and cooking (if you won't drink it, you shouldn't cook with it).

[xibalba]

How much is their wine? black opal is only 9-12 bucks around here.

Still the best wine i have had is some brand got at a gas station for like 4 dollars for a gallon. I guess thats the hillbilly in me. :D

[tokenuser]

How much is their wine? black opal is only 9-12 bucks around here.

Still the best wine i have had is some brand got at a gas station for like 4 dollars for a gallon. I guess thats the hillbilly in me. :DYou can get a cask (equiv of 4 bottles) for about $12. Its a bargain ;) ... and gets good reviews online.

BTW - its also available in bottles, but the cask is much better value (about the equiv of buying 2 750ml bottles), and self seals so it keeps longer after opening.

[0garrett0]

Merkin Vineyards, don't drink wine only picked this becasue it's operated by the lead singer of Tool.

[xibalba]

http://www.vampire.com/

I wish I could find it locally since places won't ship to Tennessee.

[mikec]

It's not that the vineyards won't ship to a state, it's because of silly politicians making it illegal for them to ship to you.

http://www.freethegrapes.org/

BTW, do what many do, have relatives or friends order and have it shipped to a state that allows delivery of wine. When you go visit, pick up the wine.

Why not ask a local wine shop to order a case for you?

[dstrack007]

Merkin Vineyards, don't drink wine only picked this becasue it's operated by the lead singer of Tool.

I actually have heard good things about his wine. It's supposed to be great. I tried to order some but they won't ship to NJ or any of the states it's easy for me to have shipped to a friend/relative, but at some point I'm going to get some.

[murphy1d]

Merkin Vineyards, don't drink wine only picked this becasue it's operated by the lead singer of Tool.

MJK also ownsCaduceus Vineyards (caduceus.org) and I have had the Chupacabra and its one of the best I have had.

[aicscott]

Cougar Crest Winery in Walla Walla, WA

http://www.cougarcrestwinery.com/