That's really insane. At least in KY we are allowed to have real bars, that are just bars. Louisville, where I used to live before, and I believe Lexington now as well, will let you buy on Sunday, but it has to be after 12 pm. Everywhere else I know of in the state is highly against Sunday sales. I actually live just inside the border of a dry area now too. Thankfully there's liquor stores just down the street in the next city. No one will change the laws here either because no one cares, you can drive ten minutes to the next liquor store, so they can keep it dry and satisfy the religious nutjobs, while not getting much fuss from the rest of us. haha What's funny is Jesus drank wine...so what do they care if other people do? Do Christians not read their own bible? Wait...don't answer that... XD
It ain't even a Christian thing. Americans are puritanical and fucking stupid. This is a country that banned alcohol a hundred years ago and essentially created organized crime. This is a country that so butchered its drug and social policies that it created the drug corner street gangs. And the less said about tepid marijuana legalization policies the better. The Mexican drug cartels are laughing their culos off. More laws, please. More walls, please. There seems to be this bat-shit crazy notion that criminalizing drugs/booze will make people want to stop getting high.
Damn. Oh well. I've still got two bottles of the 2010 vintage that I'm saving for something special. It's exactly the same company and same bottle as I got this time, but there was one other difference I noticed. The 2010 vintage used real corks. This 2014 vintage uses some kind of plastic one. Not sure if that matters. I mean, it's not undrinkable or anything ...in fact, I just opened another bottle because I'm making a Hungarian stew for dinner tonight, and I added some to the stew. But it's a disappointment.
I don't know much about Hungarian wine. I'm sure they have some history with it and have some talented winemakers, but they're not typically recognized as a wine producing region. It takes generations to get that shit down--more so for the grapes to "take" to the new climate after decades of alternating growth and fallow seasons. US wine is so good only because they imported (or stole, depending on who you talk to) French grape clippings, planted them here, and worked through all the hybrids and variations. Even then it was only fairly recently that US wine caught up in quality to the French (and boy are they pissssed about that one). Your Hungarian wine issues may only be a matter of instability in the climate because it's not an ideal wine area. Even the Germans/Austrians, who have been making excellent wines for centuries, particularly whites, have quite a bit of variation in their vintages. As a general rule, you can grow grapes and produce wine almost anywhere, but without that one percentile in climate suitability, you get what you get with no guarantee in quality or consistency.
Yeah, I suppose you're right, it might actually be a holdover from the prohibition. I'm witness to the stupidity of our drug laws though, and you're right on about all of that. Of course, the war on drugs began as, and still is, a racial discrimination tactic. The very people who started it even said as much, in not so many words, and everyone suffers for it. Yeah, I've seen the fake corks used before. It's an imitation, but I'm not sure if that would cause the taste issue. Homer might know though. Was the stew disappointing, or just the wine?
It's that infamous cork shortage again!!! Actually, what they found is that the screw tops and plastic corks to a better job preserving the wine than the real thing. Even the French and Italians are beginning to choose function over form, but the high-end stuff will probably always use traditional corks just to "keep it real." A word on cooking with wine: the good stuff doesn't really translate to the dish. All the qualities that make it good evaporate. That's why we "flame off" wine and use it primarily to deglaze the pan (scrape the fatty deposits into the sauce, where all the flavor is). And if you're not careful wine will dominate whatever you're cooking. Particularly red wine, so use it sparingly. I always recommend using a cooking wine designed for that specific purpose. They tend to be salted and flavor neutral. Stews and soups are a bit different because you're not typically deglazing or reducing, but most of the flavor will still get lost. Use the cheap shit for cooking. Ditto for your whiskeys and brandies. You will taste no difference between Maker's Mark or five dollar swill in a bourbon cream sauce. Once you cook a wine or whiskey everything that made in special in the first place disappears.
Ermmm.... Hungarian winemaking history goes back to Roman times, and their wines are VERY well regarded! Many of their wines are too pricey for me. (I balk at paying more than around £20 for a bottle of wine, and prefer stuff that comes in for a lot less.) I've tried a few Hungarian wines that made my eyes roll back in my head from sheer pleasure, though. Unfortunately, perhaps quantity of production is an issue, or something—which is why they've become scarce at the supermarkets over the past 10 years or so. Hungarians have grapes that are unique to them. Kekfrankos. Furmint. And others. Even their cheap wines are usually excellent, but it's just hard to get them. This current batch of Egri Bikaver is the first I've had that wasn't really good. As you say, there might have been a problem with the storage. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_wine By the way, I just read a site that says 2014 was a 'rainy' year in Hungary, so maybe that's the problem with this batch I've got.
I am an experienced cook, and I usually try to use the wine I plan on serving with the dish in the cooking process. However, I also buy inexpensive red and white wines in the small bottles just to use for cooking purposes when I'm not planning to also drink wine with the meal—such as making risotto or ordinary beef stew, or pasta sauce, etc. I guess it probably doesn't matter a lot, as you say. But my husband turned purple with suppressed horror when he first saw me dumping 'cheap' wine into a dish! He's a believer in using good wine for cooking. He's a very persnickety cook. (Pretty damn good, though, if truth be told.) He's a measurer, while I'm a dumper. PS - The pörkölt I just made (with the wine in it) is bloody delicious! I tried something different with the recipe this time, and it worked well. The pumpkin-dill soup I made to go with it is also not bad at all. Now all I've got to do is cook the ribbon pasta with a bit of butter and poppy seeds, and that's my Hungarian dinner ready. Byeeee....
There will always be a certain...je ne sais quoi about real cork, but I agree. Function is superior to aesthetics and tradition, in most cases anyway. I've always found it difficult to cook with alcohol, no matter the quality...it often never makes it into the pan, if you catch my drift...
I have no palate for reds whatsoever. I've tried. I can't get passed the all I'm doing is learning how not to spit it out phase. I know. I'm leaving now.
I'm sure they've been doing it for awhile and it is of high quality, but it's not recognized as a wine producing region. I suspect a lot of that has to do with availability and exportation. There's none here in the US that I'm aware of, but that doesn't really mean anything. Looking at my wine map, Hungary appears to be on the fringe of the stable climate longitudes. If a rainy season can make that much of a difference they're already flirting with disaster. That's that one percentile of climate thing again. A traditional wine producing region can suffer aridity or torrential rain in any given season and still retain most of its quality. Then there are the micro-climate zones where little obscure areas fall into habitability, like in India or Brazil. I've never had any Hungarian wine so I can only speculate, but from what I've read it looks like there's a little hit or miss there. I'd love to try some though! That's funny about your husband and cheap wine. He shouldn't worry too much about it. The chefs don't. Wine is at best an adjunct as far as flavor sets go. Have him try a cup of boiled expensive wine next to a cup of boiled cheap wine and see if he can taste the difference.
It's all good, bruh. I also drink canned beer, moonshine, and whiskey straight from the bottle. It's win win for all of us! ETA: I seriously need to go write now. Dammit, Meow... as soon as you started this thread I knew I was going to get sucked in
You should try a blush wine then, there was a nice rose that I had sometime ago too that I can't remember the name of, but it's one of the few that my fiance likes, and she usually prefers white wines. If you lived in KY I'd recommend the Holiday Blush around...well...the holidays. It's only distributed around that time, and I doubt it makes it to any other state, but it's an amazing wine. It's not too sweet, not to the point where it feels cheap or covers up all the other flavors, but it's like candy almost, with a little bit of bubbly to it. This year I'm planning on stocking up if I can, as much as I can afford to at $17 a pop that is. Stuff goes fast, and I might even have to drive back to my home town just to find it. lol
Sorry... I've thoroughly enjoyed the conversation though, and you've taught me so much! Now go write, we'll still be here when you get back... Edit: Speaking of cooking, I have to start dinner now actually.
I can drink "pedestrian" wines like sweet German wines. An off the shelf Riesling or a Kabinett or Spätlese. Living in Berlin meant Eiswein in the winter months as well, with tasty wurst and yummy mustard from street venders.
@Homer Potvin I personally don't care for Maynard's wines. They're very harsh on the palate and the tannins are to high. It's good if you're into that, I guess, but he is creative with them. Lots of combinations with grapes from all over the state and some out of California. One of those that you need to try at least once just to say you have. @big soft moose Of course not I've wanted to try making apple jack. Do you have experience with that? All this great wine talk! I can't keep up. Salud!
Never tried his wine but it doesn't surprise me. No knock against him but new wineries tend to be pretty generic, and I'd imagine the Arizona climate ain't exactly Napa. Still, I can't get the picture out of my head of Maynard stomping grapes and screaming, "Swim, learn to swim, learn to swim, learn to swim."
For my short story that was just accepted, I get a flat fee of $200 instead of a royalty deal. I told my husband that now that we're enjoying reds more, I want to earmark $50 towards The Most Expensive Wine We Have Ever Purchased To Date (from a liquor store). We're lucky to have a Total Wine superstore close by so we'll have plenty of options. @Homer Potvin, any suggestions for a fruit forward Cabernet Savignon around that price point?
Yes. Whiskey. It'll last longer. Make it $100 and get a single malt or Islay scotch or small batch bourbon that will peel your eyelids off. I'd have to think about the wine. I have no idea what's available out there (Wisconsin, right? Green Bay Packers? Go Patriots). Is there a link for the liquor store you can send me? @HistoricalScience might know better than I since he deals with a whole wine department and I'm usually playing around with my rather small restaurant wine lists, which are limited by the selection in my area.
I have to agree with Homer on this. I think what he's saying is your wine choice will not be that much better than a $15-$25 bottle, and at the end it'll only be one bottle of wine. A scotch or single malt whiskey has far more difference to it and then it's also going to last you a bit longer. I'd recommend three or four bottles of wine for $50, rather than just one. I've picked up some great bottles for $15, and also had some $20 bottles that I didn't like as much. Just because of the price, it won't guarantee your enjoyment necessarily, so variety might be better? I think Homer would concur?... Then again, if the splurge is fine with you, and you can nail down one you'd definitely like, maybe it would be nice...
Our location is Total Wine in Brookfield, WI: http://www.totalwine.com/store-info/wisconsin-brookfield/1901 While I'm a fan personally of whiskey, scotch, brandy and cognac, the hubs is not much on hard liquor except as a mixer. Thus why I'm looking for a wine to splurge on, so we can indulge together to celebrate.
I'd go with a Napa Cab first off. Stag's Leap is good, Duckhorn is good, and the Franciscan (or St. Francis--I always confuse the two, whichever is the more expensive is the one I'm thinking of, though the cheaper one is really good too). If you're willing to bump it to $70 go with the Caymus Cab. You can almost chew that one.
Just picked up a decent pair of red wine glasses, nice and large bowl on them. Nothing fancy, but they're actually proper glasses instead of the generic wine/white wine glasses I had before. I may enjoy some white wines in the future, but for now I'm sticking with red since it is my preference, and if that's what I'm going to do then I need to enjoy it properly I think.
The good glasses are worth if only for their sturdiness. I've broken like ten of crap ones this year just by tapping them against something else in the dish strainer. Not to mention the ones I knock off the deck railing and find once the snow melts. Wasn't even drunk or anything. I just bumped up against them in the dark or whatever. I worked in a joint once that had these crystal captain's glasses that were something like 40 ounces. I'm talking holy grail huge. They cost around $40 apiece. You has to order off the captain's list to use them. Those bottles started at around $100.
