whats a good wine?

[nirvana]

Im attending a new years gathering and i want to bring a good bottle of wine.
I'm really not an alcohol drinker so i don't know what to get.
The people i'm going to see enjoy wine.
So anyone who knows their wine,can you recomend a nice one.
I don't know the difference between red or white,but its a social gathering.
I'm looking at spending approx $50.
thanks.

[spiv]

Depending upon your budget I have the following suggestions:

Penfolds Bin 389, 1998 vintage approx $45 (this is my personal pick, it's an awesome drop)
" " " , 1999 vintage approx $31

Red Hill Estate Shiraz, 2001 vintage approx $25

Killerby Shiraz 1997, approx $30

Bremerton "Old Man" Shiraz, 1996 vintage, approx $40

All these are red wines as I only drink red wines.

Hope that this helps.

Cheers

[Ryzz]

Mate for $50 you should be able to get a bottle of wine that will brush your teeth at the end of the night too :lol:

It really depends on what sort of wines people like. I personally prefer sweeter rather than dry wines and only drink white. For a nice sweet (not sickly sweet, but smooth) look for a Verdello or Gewvertstraminer (German word and i cant spell to save my life :rolleyes: ). For something dry look at a Chardonay or maybe a Savc Blonc.

Keep in mind your best bet is to drag someone good with wine with you to choose as just because its a Chardy or a Verdello doesnt mean it will be sweet or dry, every wine maker has a different idea on these things!

Good luck!

[nirvana]

thanks spiv,
the penfolds bin 389,can it be bought at any bottle shop?
Ryzz; i don't understand.:confused:
are you saying $50 is not enough to buy a nice one.
I don't have anyone else to ask,thats why i'm asking here.
All i want is a nice wine,i'm willing to spend a bit more if its worth it.
As for specific tastes,who cares.I'll drink it if they don't like it.:p
For $50 I'LL LEARN TO LIKE IT.:lol:
p.s.
sorry ryzz i only saw the smiley after i posted.

[COSMOS]

I recommend the bin 389 also. If your friends are right into viticulture you can tell em it comes from the same barrels as Penfolds Grange.... now how special is that?

[nirvana]

I'm not sure what viticulture is but they do love their wines.
as for penfolds grange,i know the holden grange is expensive.:D

[spiv]

thanks spiv,
the penfolds bin 389,can it be bought at any bottle shop?
Ryzz; i don't understand.:confused:
are you saying $50 is not enough to buy a nice one.
I don't have anyone else to ask,thats why i'm asking here.
All i want is a nice wine,i'm willing to spend a bit more if its worth it.
As for specific tastes,who cares.I'll drink it if they don't like it.:p
For $50 I'LL LEARN TO LIKE IT.:lol:
p.s.
sorry ryzz i only saw the smiley after i posted.

Call up Dan Murphy's they will most certainly have it.

Cheers & enjoy:D

[nirvana]

just came back from the bottle shop.
they had the penfolds bin 389 but 2002 vintage for $50.
is there a big difference in taste between the two.
im also going to see if there is a dan murphy's near me.

[spiv]

just came back from the bottle shop.
they had the penfolds bin 389 but 2002 vintage for $50.
is there a big difference in taste between the two.
im also going to see if there is a dan murphy's near me.

A fine wine need to age and the '98 in just ready to be enjoyed now...The 2002 is too soon a vintage to be fully enjoyed at this point in time.

[Super Snake]

Im attending a new years gathering and i want to bring a good bottle of wine.
I'm really not an alcohol drinker so i don't know what to get.
The people i'm going to see enjoy wine.
So anyone who knows their wine,can you recomend a nice one.
I don't know the difference between red or white,but its a social gathering.
I'm looking at spending approx $50.
thanks.

If only my Father-In-Law sold his fantastic wine, that I would recomend. It has a great taste, but most of all you do not wake up the next day with a terrible and nasty hang over.

[Ryzz]

Ryzz; i don't understand.:confused:
are you saying $50 is not enough to buy a nice one.
I don't have anyone else to ask,thats why i'm asking here.
All i want is a nice wine,i'm willing to spend a bit more if its worth it.
As for specific tastes,who cares.I'll drink it if they don't like it.:p
For $50 I'LL LEARN TO LIKE IT.:lol:
p.s.
sorry ryzz i only saw the smiley after i posted.
Just playing with you mate, for $50 you should be able to get a very decent drop of wine. Hence my cleaning your teeth when its finished comment :lol:

[plonkerchops]

for 50 bucks you should be able to get 2 very nice bottles of wine

[daza]

Just a thought
If you dont drink much wine or havent drunk a lot in the past I would probably wouldnt recomend a Sharaz or a Cabernet as they are probably a bit strong flavour wise. Try a merlot or a grenach as these are a bit milder. Even the most dedicated Claret drinkers will enjoy a good Merlot and most dry white drinkers will enjoy it as well. As for brands the two that I have yet to have a bad bottle from are a Saltram and a Brown Brothers. These are fairly common in most bottle shops.
Cheers
Daza

[RED R8]

My personal fav is a bottle of brown brother croutchen reisling (spelling may be wrong ) its about $13 bucks a bottle and many people I know enjoy it.

[A^K^T]

I'm no wine buff but have been trying the odd drop now and again , so far i have tried merlot from wolf blass , penfolds bin128 01 and a few others that i can't remember right now . Can't say i have disliked any of them .
I will have to keep an eye out for spiv's recommendation’s .

This looked like an interesting site , thought it may be handy.
http://www.langtons.com.au/tools/tool_reviews.asp

[MNR-0]

Bests Bin-0 Great Western Shiraz $35
Paul Osicka Goulburn Valley Shiraz $25
Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc $35
Tower Estate Riesling $25
Peppertree Coonawarra Cab Sauv $45
Passing Clouds "Angels Blend" $30 (great drink now value for money wine)

Theres just too many to list...

[nirvana]

thanks for all the replies guys.
but its starting to get a bit confusing.
i think i'll get spiv's recommendation.
penfolds bin 389,1998 vintage.
like cosmos said it sounds classy.

thanks,
dennis.

[ls1ozstyle]

'Cockfighters Ghost'----> beautiful red, reasonably priced and has an interesting name that is a conversation starter. ;)



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[seldo]

'Cockfighters Ghost'----> beautiful red, reasonably priced and has an interesting name that is a conversation starter. ;)

A very good recommendation - I buy it buy the case and try to enjoy some every night..... "matter of fact....I'm having some now..." ;) However, you also won't go wrong with 389 - it's often referred to as the poor man's Grange...

[nirvana]

seldo out of the two is there much difference?
i'm going today to buy it.

[ACT_Cross8]

'Cockfighters Ghost'----> beautiful red, reasonably priced and has an interesting name that is a conversation starter. ;)



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yep, not a bad drop. Killerby make some great wines as well if you can find them in shops. Scarborough are one of my favourites as well.

[Bilharzia]

If you can get a '98 (repeat '98) Penfolds bin 389 for less than $50 - I'd like your source. It was a great year for SA wines and this is a good example. Anniversary and we went to Magill Estate winery (Penfold's home) couple of months ago. They were looking for $100+ for a bottle.
It is very good. This is high quality wine - do it!
Tony

[JHamilton]

Any wine in a box is good. Just make sure you bring plastic cups with you so you can share.:beer:

[Dickie Knee]

Any wine in a box is good.................

I would disagree with this statement.

I once have a wine in my gearbox and it cost me more than $50 to fix.

If you get a wine in your diff it can be worse. :lol: :lol: :p

[Dickie Knee]

Edit ...... Double post.

Funny only the first time....

[plonkerchops]

Any wine in a box is good. Just make sure you bring plastic cups with you so you can share.:beer:


only derelicts drink wine out of a box

[seldo]

seldo out of the two is there much difference?
i'm going today to buy it.Well, you should only pay about $18-$22 for the Cockfighter's Ghost, and you'll pay more for the 389, but there's no doubt the 389 is the better drop - just that i can't afford to drink 389 every night - these LS1s are big drinkers too..;) As far as vintage goes, just try to get the oldest you feel comfortable with paying for. 98 was a sensational year but 02 was also ok...

[plonkerchops]

damn doublepost

[MNR-0]

I doubt you will find the 98 389 for less than $50. Its a good wine for a reason. That, and it needs 10 years careful cellaring before drinking to really appreicate it at its peak. Drunk now, it would no doubt be very tasty within the first hour, but thereafter will show its youth and tannins that will tell you "you should of opened me years from now".

IMO, the 98 389 is a great value wine but not for drinkning now as it is a cellar vintage. You would be better served with offerings liek Passing Clouds as I mentioined above because they are MADE to drink now and within 5 years from bottling - and damn good to boot.

[nirvana]

ok, i went searching for the penfolds bin 389 98 vintage but can't find it anyware.
they get sold out straight away.(words out about how good it is).
i settled for the bin 389 1999 vintage.
a few of the places i whent too say the 2002 vintage is the best yet.
i got a bottle of that for myself,which i'm planning to drink in a few years.
(i'll let you all know how good it is in approx 2 years:lol: ).
apparently thats also running out of stock. i got told if you find one buy it straight away.
if anyone has tried it let me know.
i also bought a bottle of cockfighters ghost for $16 but in white.
they had no red.(hope its good).
bilharzia; you can get the bin 389 98 vintage for $45 at dan murphy.
if you can find it!!!!!!!!:mad:

thanks for all your help guys.

[Ryzz]

Which cockfighters mate? The Verdello they make is verry nice :drool:

[thorshammer33]

Nirvana - just don't hope to keep it in a place that varies a lot in temperature + humididty and/or light and have it age well over the years.

Think of wine as a living thing that stores best underground in a cellar.

[slucas]

the 05 evans and tate classic white is a nice drop if white wine is your thing about 20-25 a bottle

[nirvana]

Which cockfighters mate? The Verdello they make is verry nice :drool:

it's a semillon wine.

[seldo]

i settled for the bin 389 1999 vintage.
.
Good choice. I think you'll find that will be excellent. As for wines that have a reputation as keeper, there is absolutely nothing wrong with drinking them now - it's just that they will get substantially better with some age on them, whereas a quaffer, designed to be drunk now, won't improve with age nearly as much. But...they are almost all better with a few years on them.. Hope you enjoy it. :cheers: