DU Wine Snobs.. A Question....

[TheMightyFavog]

What wine would go best with an order of French fries with a side of a European style Mayonaise based dipping sauce?

[GOPisEvil]

1. Forget the wine - have a beer instead.

Something light and crisp...a Pilsner, perhaps.

:beer:

[Whitacre D_WI]

2. Beer.

Preferably a nice geueze.

[TheMightyFavog]

4. Supposing that all they were out of beer

and had only the biggest selection of wines anyone could ever think of....

[Whitacre D_WI]

6. In that case...

...a good Mosel Riesling.

[redqueen]

14. mmmmmm ... Reisling

There's another German wine I love but the name is too hard to remember (let along pronounce).

Sweet. :D

[Richardo]

16. Gewurztraminer?

Ge-vurtz-tra-meener... :thumbsup:

[redqueen]

18. Bitte!

That's it! :)

[Mrs. Venation]

17. Oooooh, No, That's Too Sweet!

I'd open a nice varietal, such as a Cabernet/Merlot or a Cabernet/Syrah. There are some excellent ones from Australia, and the prices are reasonable.

If red wines aren't your scene, try a Sauvignon Blanc or a nice, buttery Chardonnay. Hogue cellars makes a good Chardonnay for under $10 a bottle. Turning Leaf is, IMHO, over priced but it's a popular label.

There are also some excellent wines from Oregon and Washington. One of my favorite vineyards is Adelsheim. Their Pinot blanc, Pinot gris, Chardonnay, Pinot noir, and Merlot are good. They also offer some proprietor's reserves, Penta Pinot noir, Bryan Creek Vineyard Pinot noir, Elizabeth's Reserve Pinot noir, Stoller Vineyard Chardonnay Clone '76', and Stoller Vineyard Chardonnay Clone '96' that, while pricey, are a real treat.

For the creme de la creme of California white wines, try Camus Conundrum. It is, IMHO, the best white wine bottled in the USA.

[Whitacre D_WI]

19. Um. Riesling IS a varietal.

And Mosel Rieslings are usually sweet (though, unless we're talking about a TBA or an eiswein, more "off-dry" than SWEEEEEET), but they're not sweet like Cali sweet wines.

There is a complexity to German Rieslings that, in the best years (like '01 and '02) leads to the wines being the equal of any white wine in the world. Of course, this is assuming one seeks out better quality levels (QbA, Spaetlese, Auslese), good vineyards, and good producers.

Drink a 2001 J.J. Prum Wehlener Sonnenheur Spaetlese with your pommes frites, and THEN tell me I'm wrong. ;)

[Mrs. Venation]

20. I Stand Corrected

I still find Rieslings to be too sweet for my taste, and, with wines being one of my passions, I have tasted many.

It's a good thing the vintners make different kinds of wines, isn't it? Something for every taste is out there.

Have you ever tried any of the Adelsheim wines I mentioned?

[Whitacre D_WI]

24. Haven't tried the Adelsheims.

I like lots of Oregon Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Much better IMO than the Pinot and Chards from CA (the Wilamette valley is closer in climate to Burgundy).

[Mrs. Venation]

28. Adelsheim Is A Willamette Valley Vineyard

I first discovered their wines when I was in Seattle, WA on business. I had the privilege of dining at a restaurant called "Ray's Boat House." They had an excellent wine list; I had an Adelsheim Pinot Noir with Alaskan King Salmon. I still remember that meal as one of the best I've ever enjoyed.

Adelsheim has a web page here: http://www.adelsheim.com/

[Whitacre D_WI]

29. I shall have to try it!

[northzax]

21. once again, I must quibble

eiswein is hardly off-dry, it's some of the sweetest stuff on the placent (and some of the best, as well)

[Whitacre D_WI]

22. That's why I said UNLESS we're talking about an eiswein...

Dammit. :P

[BrotherBuzz]

27. Please, please, pass on Turning Leaf

Turning leaf is a Gallo product and is a knock-off of Kendall-Jackson. Big history of lawsuits and bad blood that begin with the Gallo brothers (Ernest and Julio) suing the other unknown Gallo brother for using his name, "Joseph Gallo", on a a line of cheese! Jackson (of Kendall-Jackson) represented Joseph in the nasty lawsuit and lost.

Blood and Wine: The Unauthorized Story of the Gallo Wine Empire
by Ellen Hawkes
Ernest and Julio Gallo have built the largest wine empire in the world. The E. & J. Gallo Winery sells more wine than its three closest competitors combined and now makes one of every four bottles of wine sold in the United States. Yet, despite their market domination and their influence, Ernest and Julio have zealously shielded their business and their families from public scrutiny. The Gallo history was little known to Ernest and Julio's younger brother, Joseph Jr., the "unknown Gallo." Ten years younger than his brothers and raised by them from the age of thirteen, following their parents' deaths in 1933, Joe worked for Ernest and Julio for nearly thirty years, and then established his own vineyards and dairy farms. But in 1986, after Joe began to market cheese, his brothers sued him to prevent him from labeling his cheese with his own name. The lawsuit revealed long-hidden secrets and intrigues that astonished Joe and his family. Although Ernest and Julio had always maintained that they started their winery, Joe and his attorneys argued that newly disclosed evidence indicated that the winery was a continuation of the wine and grape businesses begun by Joseph Gallo, Sr. This raised the issue of whether Joe Jr. had been denied an inheritance of a one-third share in the Gallo Winery, today worth hundreds of millions of dollars. As the court battle turned into a bitter feud between Joe and his brothers, more Gallo family secrets were exposed, among them the murder/suicide of Joseph Sr. and his wife. Blood and Wine is a riveting family saga of the Gallos and a revealing look at the California wine business, from the turn of the century to the present, from immigrant roots to bootleg exploits, from poverty and family enterprise to success, domestic discord, and tragic turns of fate. An epic account of violence and passion, deceit and ambition, it takes readers behind the scenes to watch Ernest and Julio Gallo build the winery that today dominates the industry.

The saga continued: a decade later, Kendall-Jackson sued Gallo because they brought out a 'new' product - Turning Leaf - that had a label almost identical to Kendall-Jackson's (coincidence? I think not.). Ten feet away, you could not tell the difference. Gallo bought the judges and prevailed (IMO). Please, please, pass on Turning Leaf!

www.winespectator.com/Wine/Archives/Show_Article/0,1275,1237,00.html

[Whitacre D_WI]

7. And, of course: CHAMPAGNE GOES WITH EVERYTHING!!!

[northzax]

3. honestly?

cheap, light farmhouse red, perhaps a Montelpuciano.

[BOSSHOG]

5. Jonathan, Jonathan, Jonathan

You proudly display a Milwaukee avatar and you are trolling for wine information??

Please choose the beer that made Mel Famy walk us!

[emulatorloo]

8. Any wine as long as it is red

EOM

[H2O Man]

9. Night Train, MD 20-20, or

Thunderbird. Brown bag - optional.

[LynneSin]

10. It's a special occasion which calls for Champagne!!!

Nothing like Andre's Cold Duck

$2.99 for a cheap drunk!!

[CanuckAmok]

12. Oh, no, you have Andres in the US?!

That's a Canadian company, but I didn't realise we were inflicting it on other parts of the world.

Sorry about that, LynneSin!

[H2O Man]

13. For goodness sake!

LynneSin, you beat me with that one!

[LynneSin]

25. I use to drink that stuff in college MIXED with Vodka

Talk about getting drunk real quickly - damn!!!

[CanuckAmok]

11. Thunderbird, February vintage.

n/t

[GregW]

15. Probably a 1938 Chateaux Latour

:shrug:

[geniph]

23. Ripple goes with everything!

(do they even still make Ripple? am I dating myself?)

[absyntheNsugar]

26. NIGHT TRAIN!!!!

(not a wine snob actually)