[thechat] calling all winos...

[DESCHAMPS Stéphane DSI/SICOR]

> Howdy,
> 
> For the average joe, these are great times to drink wine.  
> Pretty much any 10
> US$ bottle of wine will be a good drink.  And it just so 
> happen there's a
> current article in Forbes FYI on that very subject.
> <http://www.forbes.com/fyi/2003/0915/037.html>
> 
> A few reds I recommend...Black Opal (australian), Luna di 
> Luna (italy), Stag's
> Leap (california), Fat Bastard (france), Ecco Domani (italy), 
> Yellow Tail
> (australian)...

Say, do you still find french wines in the US after the anti-french wave?

Because if you're into red wines, there's an awful lot of jolly good things to drink over here. I'm no specialist in off-europe wines, except an Australian wine I tried once that was quite good, although you can feel that it has matured a bit too fast because of too much sun, thus making for a strong but not rich enough taste IMHO.

I don't know the state of exportations, but you can try, in no particular order:
- Bourgogne: very round taste, very smooth aftertaste, my favorite wine
- Loire Valley wines: quite cheap as they're not as strong as, say, Bourgogne or Bordeaux, yet very interesting, fruity (Bourgueil, Saint Nicolas de Bourgueil) and some are more round and "full" (Chinon)
- Bordeaux: a little bit too much spoken of in my humble opinion, although some old Bordeaux (like, 20 years old) are awesome.

If you like to vary and try different wines, although it's white, try Sauternes or Loupiac, very sugary wines that go along very well with Foie gras or on their own before dinner.

For almost-everyday use, try Cotes du Rhone or Chinon. And tell us what you liked :-)