Wine Connoisseur's

Shonsteez

Gurpologist
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 33
So I'm not too sure how many of you guys here at ill are really into wine, but I thought it would be cool to share my favorites and see what others are into here in this thread...

I myself am a big Zinfandel and Cab drinker. I really enjoy the spicy notes of a good Zin or a nice Cab. A good zin is always not too jammy but still has a nice balance between the alcohol feel/flavor and the taste of the fruit. I cant stand white wines 99.9% of the time, but reds are the shit at least for my palette.

I usually dont cop the 20 dollar bottle range since I just cant get down like that, hell lately I cant even afford my preferred 7.99 - 10.00 bottle, but when I can I dont usually go below the 8 dollar range. Wine is very much like music gear, you get what you pay for IMO - this is coming from years of experience, lol.

And to those of you sleepin on the wine tip - its a great beatmaking friend! One of my favorites! haha.


So anyways, listed below are some of my current favorites and trusted bottles in the 8-10 dollar range:

Peachy Canyon Incredible Red: 9 bucks, really good bang for the buck...nice light yet spicey mouth feel, not too jammy.

Sacred Stone Masters Red Blend: 8-9 bucks, another great bang for the buck wine, very earthy, one of my favorites, very nice finish.

Cline Zinfandel: Usually 8 bucks, one of my favorite Zins, very consistent taste, nice spicy notes, great finish

Ravenswood Cabernet: 7-8 bucks, this wine is actually better then their zin IMO, once again nice spicy notes, full bodied yet not jammy

Gnarly Head Old Vine Zinfandel: 9-10 bucks, i usually dont pass my 8 dollar threshold even tho its only a couple dollars, but every now and then i get the Gnarly Head and let me tell you - this Zin is fucking awesome! Really nice peppery notes, with a great balance of alcohol to fruit.

Bogle Old Vine Zinfandel: 7-8 bucks, very earthy, has its own unique flavor, nice finish


I got a few more to add to the list but their not coming to mind at the moment...
 

Hypnotist

Ear Manipulator
ill o.g.
Nice.

I'm a cab person myself.

A few favorites:

1. Grey Wolf "Alpha" Cabernet unfiltered 1999 & 2001 - Paso Robles, CA
Amazing. Their wines changed with later vintages to "lone wolf" and another zinfandel, but this Alpha was one of the best I've tasted. It's like 30 bux though I think, but I have yet to get my hands on another bottle. I think maybe it tastes so good because nobody carries it. Like that chick who's just unattainable.

2. Kendall Jackson Cabernet, Napa Valley, CA (01-03) This is like $9-10, and it's consistently good!

3. J. Lohr Seven Oaks Cabernet - Paso Robles, CA $14-16
Very full body, especially after 03. (Seems to me that 03 was an awesome year for cabs.) This one needs to BREATHE... Give it like 45 minutes to an hour, especially if it's a young vintage.

4. Thelema Cabernet - Stellenbosch, South Africa
I had this when I went there in 05. I think it's like 40 bux in the states, but it's one of the best wines I've ever had. It was only like 80 rand ($16 bux) in the restaurant over there. I just had a bottle that my sister gave me a few weeks ago and DAMN it's good. I think better than Opus One ($150-180) and even matches up to some brunellos.

5. An assortment of Brunellos and Super Tuscans. I've had some amazing ones, and the best bottle of wine I've ever had was a Brunello. If only if I can remember the name, or afford the damn thing... Lucky for me I worked for a company with an appreciative palate.

I have several more in my list, but those are the best, and worth springin the bux if you have a special occasion!!! Trust me. If not, keep experimenting with the $7-10 ones, and you can't go wrong. I'll post those if I think of em. Haven't had the bux to spend on wine lately, so I'm a little rusty...
 

LDB

Banned
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 73
I like wine...not that into though. Give me some Margarita mix (SOUTH OF THE BORDER) some Quervo and a twelve of some bud light lime and I'm str888888888888888888888888888.

I think I'm going to buy a bottle of each and everyone Shon listed though. Can't be tart to taste though, lightly sweet to sweet or I'm not drinking it.
 

Shonsteez

Gurpologist
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 33
Haha, well my suggestion is if your not a red wine drinker then some of those may be tart to your palette. Ive been drinking wine for a long time now and so the wines Ive listed above are actually very well balanced at least to my taste for that price range.
The thing about wine is I think you really have to find one that impresses you for the first time to really jump in and start experimenting with new brands and vintners....Once you do that, and you start to really try new things you'll begin to develop an understanding of what your palette likes and doesn't like.

@Hypnotist - Word, Ive always seen that J Lohr Cab but never bought it yet....Im tempted to try it now.

And South African wine, i woulda never guessed!?....A lot of the wines that ive tried outside of California always seem to disappoint so i tend to stay within Cali often with my choices, but now im eager to check this one out.

HAHA LOL, @ the Grey Wolf comment/review....I know the mind fuck you speak of. hehe

Hey Hypnotist - I forgot to mention in my first post since your Cab fan, the last REALLY GOOD cab i bought that was under 20 bucks was called Josh by Josh Cellars....Fuck dude, this wine was goooooood. It was like drinking a 20 dollar bottle but for 10 bucks. Prob the most amazing bang for the buck wine i ever found to date. When i bought it they had it at Trader Joes, but of course they never stocked it again since, but dam this one was good.

http://www.joshcellars.com/cabernet_sauvignon.htm
 

Ruimixx

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 1
I'm telling you, Riunite Lambrusco is the best wine ever. (around $9 a bottle, lol)

But yeah, Bud Light and a shot of Henny >>>>>wine,
 

Hypnotist

Ear Manipulator
ill o.g.
Yo Ruimixx,

Lambrusco is really good. I just got back from Italy earlier this year and I had wines you wouldn't believe. But over there, it's a way of life. Young people drink it b/c it's sweet, and they haven't acquired a taste for the grape yet, and they chug it like it's goin outta style. Wine is meant to be drunk with every meal, as a food. Lambrusco is usually paired with lasagna, to take the fat out of your mouth.

RaO Large,

S. America is definitely on my list. Malbecs are okay, but they're sorta like the merlot of Cali. If I'm sippin a light wine, I'll grab some tempranillo, which is a Spanish grape, raised all over in S. America now. I once found this bottle that was $6.99... beautiful shit. I think Solaris was the winery and plata was the name of the vintage. Went back and they had a new one, which was not nearly as good.

Don't like frontera, even though it's marketed well. Bought it twice by mistake.

Damn I could go on for days about wine... haha

Shonsteez, I'll definitely try that Josh shit out.
 

Ruimixx

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 1
Yo Ruimixx,

Lambrusco is really good. I just got back from Italy earlier this year and I had wines you wouldn't believe. But over there, it's a way of life. Young people drink it b/c it's sweet, and they haven't acquired a taste for the grape yet, and they chug it like it's goin outta style. Wine is meant to be drunk with every meal, as a food. Lambrusco is usually paired with lasagna, to take the fat out of your mouth.


Dude, that's awesome. It's really sweet and packs a hellabuzz, lol. I'm pretty much like Ominous, don't have the acquired taste. That dry stuff is hard as hell to drink.
 

God

Creator of the Universe
ill o.g.
T

The Arkitekt

Guest
but yeah, a nice red cab or even some merlot would do nice.... especially wit some medium rare steak... mmmmm.....



hell yea lol. I neverr drink wine just to drink but with food, it's almost as good as a beer.


Robert Mondavi's cab is a really good cheap wine, I think the shit is like 13 bucks for a good size bottle
 

Sucio

Old and dirty...
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 304
WINE IN A BOX!!!!!


WHAT!?!


Merlot is all I drink, when I decide to drink wine...
 

Hypnotist

Ear Manipulator
ill o.g.
charlotte??? wow... who is we... thiking bout moving to greenville sc myself. wow.

"we" is me and aristo the krat. moved the biz down here. barely told anyone... told midas like 3 days before we moved.

but hit me up on aim one of these days or gimme a holler so we don't have to bore people about the personal sh*t. u gotta fill me in on this greenville thing mang.

on another note, to get back on topic, can't wait til I'm makin enough to actually sip a nice bottle of wine!!!!

Real wine is for real wine drinkers!!! (winos) Not that wine cooler white zinfandel sweet stuff...

Unless, of course, you just finished some bangin din din and you wanna get this chick nice n mellow before you back yard boogie... (only said that cuz it's playin on pandora right now haha)
 
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