.....or how about just some BOLers who enjoy a good glass of wine?
My husband, knowing I do like a good glass of wine, bought me a small wine fridge and I try to keep it stocked with bottles I enojoy, but I also like to try new labels and varietals.

Anyone have a favorite they are willing to share? (Red, White, Rose, Sparkling - doesn't matter, I like 'em all!)

Thanks!!

Sorry, I only drink wine from big-boy juice boxes... generally do nto fit in a wine fridge.

Being a Loozeana boy, I'm partial to Mogen David...a little MD20/20 is always right for starting the night off!!!

Just kidding folks, not a wine drinker at all. But Ms. Gilmore likes Sterling Pinot Noir

Hey nobody says just because wine is inexpensive it isn't good. I'll take any and all suggestions!

I'm a huge fan of local wineries. Ok, so a couple hours away isn't that local, but whenever I drive through Indiana, I stop along the way.

I usually prefer a good red wine, whether it be a Chianti or Cabernet. However, I've recently become hooked on berry wines like Blackberry and Strawberry as a desert wine. (Mostly because of a fantastic vineyard I found just outside Indianapolis).

My favorite wines are a bit pricey.

My absolute favorite is a 1990 Opus One but all the vintages are exquisite.

Silver Oak. Both the Sonoma and Napa valley's

I mostly like Cote du Rhone. Oh and I'm very fond of Valpolicella.

Valpolicella? Tell me more! (I like Opus too.)

I'm definitely a red wine drinker, rather than white.

My favorite red wine right now is Smoking Loon Merlot, which I discovered when my husband and I went out to dinner and I asked for a glass of the house merlot. This wine is one of the brands from Don Sebastiani and Sons winery in California. In New York, it's well under $10 a bottle.

And since I live in central New York, I have to say a word about our wines. The wines here in New York are quite fine, but the best ones are probably the whites rather than the reds.

I just moved to the Southern Oregon area late last year and I am a now a fan of So. Oregon wines. As a matter of fact I am going wine tasting tomorrow!!!!! In addition to them being so yummy I can feel good about buying locally and supporting the local economy.

My most recent favorite is Willamette Valley Pinot Noir but Roxy Ann Winery is right around the corner from my house and everything they have there is oh so good!!

I have to agree with Valpolicella...A good wine. I know enough about wine to order the right color with whatever meat I'm having, but as for brands, I only know what I've liked when I've had it.

Are any of the local wineries you speak of able to ship out of state? Maybe I could find some of them at a large wine retailer we have in Baton Rouge?

Here's some info on Valpolicella:

http://italianfood.about.com/library/weekly/aa041297.htm

Probably two of my favorites are Sterling Castle Riesling and a white merlot by Beringer. Both are reasonably priced.


I also enjoy guhertztiwimer (I'm sure I totally butchered that spelling!).

Some of my faves are:

*Chateau St. Jean in Sonoma (I haven't met many of their wines I don't love) - Cing Cepages (sp?) is a highly, highly rated Bourdeux style red that's not cheap, but has beat the French at their own game in past years by winning competitions there
*Chateau Soverign in north Sonoma I think (I like their whites mainly)
*Chateau St. Michelle in Washington State (though they lost their main winemaker last summer, so we are watching to see if there is a quality change)
*Domaine Chandon in Napa for Sparkling
*Gruet in New Mexico (yes really) for Sparkling - actually has a good rep out of our state and I've had it in NOLA during my last girls weekend there, so I know you can find it there

All these out of state wines I can get shipped here, the websites should tell if it can be shipped to LA. Also, try wine.com, they have you plug in your state & it will let you know about shipping rules plus you can browse by rating, type of wine, etc.

Not much of a Rose fan, sorry. I know I had one I enjoyed on my last Napa trip, but can't remember what it was for the life of me. I'll have to look at my house to remember specifics to suggest, I shouldn't think about wine this much at work!

I have always liked reds better than whites, but recently I have really started to enjoy a good Savingnon Blanc.

Can I just say....

My ex-husband gave me two bottles of "Fat Bastard" --- and no, it's not a joke....

LBG, not sure if you were addressing this to me but here are some links to a few of our locals. As I said I'm going out tasting tomorrow at many new ones that I haven't tried yet and can give you a report on Monday!

[url=www.roxyann.com]http://www.roxyann.com[/url]
[url=www.willamettevalleyvineyards.com]http://www.willamettevalleyvineyards.com[/url]
http://www.paschalwinery.com/

Coppola's Black Diamond Claret, a blended red, has been pretty good the last few years.

We just drank a bottle of Seghesio Zinfandel 2006 last weekend when my in-laws were in. That was very tasty.

For every-day, we have been drinking Penfolds Shiraz and Chateau Soverain Chardonnay.

If you really want to learn about wine, go to your local wine store and talk to the folks there. They should be able to give you some good recommendations in yor price range. Also, my in-laws gave me subscription to Wine Spectator several years ago. Their editos taste literally hundreds of wines every month. They publish voluminous ratings. In ever issue, there is a list of Best Buys, which are wines rated very good (85 or higher) that are widely available and inexpensive (most $13 or less).

Sheesh, why can't I get a job like that? I'd taste anything too... wine, beer, vodka. Yep a full time taster, I finally have something to aspire to!

Chateau St. Michelle Riesling is good and so is Robert Mondovi Riesling. I know they sell both of those in LA, and much cheaper than it is in MS!

Surprisingly, a LOT of wine producers have a great sense of humor. You'd think with as snooty as some wine drinkers can get, the wine makers would be too. But no, we get brands like Fat Bastard, Scrapping the Barrel, Bloody Good Wine, Cardinal Zin, Marilyn Merlot, Leep Frog Miltch, Joe Blow, Oops, etc.

I used to have a link to a guy who used to review a new strangely named wine every week.

7 Deadly Zins.

You don't have to leave your state for wine. There are (at least) six to choose from:

http://www.weekendwinery.com/Wineries/Wineries_LA.htm

That being said, one I really liked was Dah Red at $14.00 (pre-Katrina) from the Ponchartrain Vineyards across the lake from New Orleans:

http://www.pontchartrainvineyards.com/

Katrina did not hurt Dah Red as the grapes come from Lodi in Northern California.

Sunday, we're going to the Pinot (Noir) Days tasing in San Francisco. It will be tough to choose which to taste as there will probably be > 200 open to pick from.

In vino veritas!

Al