Wine, Beer, and DACs

Discussion in 'Food and Drink' started by frenchbat, Feb 7, 2019.

  1. frenchbat

    frenchbat Almost "Made"

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    I almost choked on that one. If your reference for burgundy is Frog's leap, I suggest you start researching names like Romanée-Conti.
     
  2. Vtory

    Vtory Audiophile™

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    Definitely didn't mean burgundy. I liked metaphor and analogy though. Haven't exposed myself to french wines that much. So from my limited tasting experience, believe the mentioned two represent the feeling more vividly. Think them as "more complicated, takes time (in terms of both re-fermentation and experience) to really understand" vs "more straightforward, fruitier, something just good right out of the box".

    I even doubt whether to touch the real bottle of RC during my life span...
     
    Last edited: Feb 7, 2019
  3. frenchbat

    frenchbat Almost "Made"

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    There are cheaper ones, more akin to latour 2003 if you want to. That's pretty young for that kind of Bordeaux btw.

    fwiw, the analogy actually kinda works, Bordeaux being more mineral (DS) and Burgundy more floral/fruity (R2R)
     
  4. Elnrik

    Elnrik Super Friendly

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    Wine: Comes in a box.
    DACs: Comes in a box.
     
  5. Taverius

    Taverius Smells like sausages

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    If you think French wines are the apex of wines, you know wines like the typical headfi punter knows audio :p

    Petrus and d'Yquem ain't bad tho.
     
  6. jowls

    jowls Never shitposts (please) - Friend

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    [​IMG]
     
  7. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    I do. It's a matter of taste and also most California wines wines being too one dimensional or unrefined (kerosene) for me. California wines regardless of the grape / blend are like modern discrete ladder NOS. Most are crap, but there are a few good ones from "craft" boutique joints no one is ever heard of. It's getting better though. Still, 99.9% of California "Chardonnay" is garbage that is nothing like the real Chardonnay.

    When it comes to French wines, it's hard to put them in all one category as French. For Bordeaux, I like the stuff from St. Julien (and within here, some very different stuff too). For Burgundy, Gevry-Chambertin. The Bordeaux industry has taken a shit. The AOC system is partially to blame.

    If there is a Head-FI'ization of the wine industry, it's from the New World growers which are squeezing out the French ones. The New World growers are much better at marketing and producing shit that appeals to novice wine drinkers: the fake blond ladies who sell the Rodan and Fields pyramid scheme skin-care shit.

    Granted there is a lot of overpriced French shit that survived for way too long because of the AOC system. But there are also the ECs, DNAs, and ECPs where top shelf stuff can be had at high, but not exorbitant prices. I can't find the value or "Schiit" Bordeaux wines in the USA anymore unlike 10-15 years ago. And anyone I ask at the local boutique spirit and wine places (USA) knows nothing about Bordeaux. I just tell them now to leave me alone when I look through the racks.

    P.S. the Convert-2 is a good bright robust California Zinfindel with the grapes grown in a cooler micro-climate like Niebaum-Coppola. I like those too, especially with a rare- fatty ribeye steak charred on the outside for a few minutes at 800F+
     
    Last edited: Feb 8, 2019
  8. atomicbob

    atomicbob dScope Yoda

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    There are "New World" wines other than California. Maybe a taste of Sleight-of-Hand Cellars 2015 Psychedelic Syrah would prove enlightening:
    2015_Psychedelic_Syrah_Front_COLA.jpg
     
  9. famish99

    famish99 Friend

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    I'm with Taverius here, I prefer the minerality of wines from Northern Italy and Austria.

    Edit: to throw the new world a bone, wines from Willamette Valley in Oregon have quite a nice acid profile.
     
  10. Ntbm3

    Ntbm3 Friend

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    Wine is like audio... it is meant to be enjoyed :)

    At the same time the deeper you dive into it, the more you learn and appreciate certain styles/ traits.

    I know the wine I love the most is attached to a memory from being at a certain place/experience. The smell.. the taste brings you right back. Same goes with audio... I think we all are trying to recreate the wow experience we have run into through the years. Chase the rabbit!

    Sounds like this DAC is creating those experiences for some of you! Enjoy it...
     
  11. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    That actually sounds extremely interesting because the Syrah blends have been becoming my favorite for the California stuff. The problem is finding a Corbières in the USA. Year after year, I see the shelf space for French wines getting smaller and smaller. And the shelf space for local California joints (some of them quite dreadful but with big marketing dollars) getting bigger and bigger.

    I'm mostly a bourbon drinker now (less cost per unit of alcohol), but occasionally I'll splurge on a bottle of good wine. All this DAC and wine talk got me to pick up a Burgundy and Bordeaux. The Gruaud Larose / St. Julien Bordeaux will stay in the wine cooler for a few more years. They have been horribly inconsistent, with some great and some not so great. While the buyers at my local wine place know absolutely nothing about French wines, they are not dummies and I trust them to curate the good vintages (years).

    In the meantime, this 2014 Gevry-Chambertin / Au Closeau was imminently drinkable. I don't think a few more years would have done any good to it. Not a grand cru, but screw that overpriced stuff, as if this premier cru isn't expensive enough. Handpicked Choice ribeye steaks with good fatty marbling are just as good as any USDA graded Prime ribeye (it's all subjective anyway - and most Californians are retarded and go for the lean shit.)

    IMG_20190211_173300 (1).jpg

    The really surprising thing about this Burgundy was its earthiness, rain-forest, or foot-odor (depending upon one's point-of-view). This shifts it more to a thinking man's Burgundy if there were such a thing for Burgundy. I'd love to get a case of this. In California, one gets the choice of either a bright Pinot Noir or a mellow pinot noir. The French Burgundy wines somehow nail both qualities at the same time. Perhaps one day, we'll have a DAC that combines the qualities of the Convert-2 and Yggdrasil.
     
    Last edited: Feb 11, 2019
  12. Biodegraded

    Biodegraded Friend

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    You might like some of the NZ ones: Otago for real dirt, Martinborough (Wairarapa) for a lighter but still smelly style. Avoid the Marlborough ones. Marlborough is for whites but Pinot Noir attracts premium prices so many there try it - but IME with limited success.

    Edit: Sorry, would try to come back to topic but I have no experience to add here...
     
  13. Xecuter

    Xecuter Brush and floss your amp twice a day

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    New Zealand is known for having some of the best pinot noir in the world. I would also recommend for the red wine connoisseurs here to try some of the Australian shiraz and cab sauv, particularly from the Coonawarra area. The Terra rossa soil results in a wine that has controlled red fruits, succulent spice and many complex layers.

    I can heartily recommend: Wynns Coonawarra Estate Michael Shiraz.
     
  14. frenchbat

    frenchbat Almost "Made"

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    @purr1n availability is definitely an issue. I advised Corbières for two reasons : first because they're out of the traditional circuit for french wine classification, which means they have free hands to innovate ; second because there was some availability when I was living abroad. But California will have a different supply so that makes it more difficult I guess.

    Gevrey-Chambertain is a nice wine, and I assure you it can stay for a long time in the cellar. We can take this to pm if you will, no need for more awkward flexing. Middle-priced (here in France, ofc) Mercurey, Aloxe-Corton, Cotes de Nuit, are solid performers, however I know they're either expensive or plain not available elsewhere.

    Seems like you have better choice with Bordeaux, which makes sense historically. Saint-Julien and Saint-Estephe are personal favorites, but they're pricey, even here. As usual the supply chain is where the money is going.
     
  15. Walderstorn

    Walderstorn Friend

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    Such complication... just get some Port and you won't need anything else (says the Portuguese ^^).
     
  16. frenchbat

    frenchbat Almost "Made"

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    Did you mean porta pro ?
     
  17. GoodEnoughGear

    GoodEnoughGear Evil Dr. Shultz‎

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    Nice discourse...move to Food and Drink?
     
  18. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    done
     
  19. OJneg

    OJneg The Most Insufferable

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    California wine is an inferior product IME, no idea why it has a pumped up reputation. I prefer the Old World stuff in general, but Californian reds I always avoid. Aussie and NZ stuff I've had hit and miss. Some of the South American stuff is likable. Otherwise I prefer my wine from Mother Europa.
     
  20. lm4der

    lm4der A very good sport - Friend

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    I have to agree with this sentiment - California wines are sucky for their price. For the west coast, I am personally rather impressed with the wines from the Columbia Valley (Wa). Chateaux St. Michelle wines for example, if they make it out of this area at all.
     

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