Couple of value reds.

[moikel]

They ship to Canada! Can you get some from over the border? They crush 1000 tons a year from 2 separate vineyards both verified biodynamic. I don't know how many bottles that is.

They have won a lot of awards for sustainable practices,as well the female winemaker winning Rural Woman of the year.

I can bring wine with me when I come to New York in June but only what I can buy at the duty free store at the airport. Cape Jaffa not likely to be stocked ,its all big company stuff & marked up .

If you saw Spinifex wines they are a good alternative & bigger players but still family show.

 

[leah elisheva]

I'll keep checking all out and meanwhile will live vicariously via your great posts!!! Wonderful stuff!!! Cheers!! - Leah

 

[moikel]

Finishing off the 2nd half of the bottle now. It's an impressive wine I get a bit more cedar this time round .it does have great length.
I don't know about cellaring I rely on others for that sort of prediction.
If it's an indicator of how good the 2012 vintage is then I would be climbing all over the wines from the major South Australian regions. 2011 was terrible no matter how you look at it some winemakers skipped it altogether.
2012 looks like being off the scaleThumbs Up:yahoo:

 

[leah elisheva]

Fantastic!!!

I do not collect nor cellar wines; I drink them. Thus I love them very young, flavorful, full, and ready to drink that day!

This win of yours sounds off the charts and just amazing!!

Terrific shared sips!!!

Cheers!!!!! - Leah

 

[bkbuilds]

After having 1990s vintage with Judy Groth we were sold on aged wines.

Once my wine cellar is completed I plan to buy wines I like in bulk and age them, so I don't have to pay the inflated aged price down the road.

 

[leah elisheva]

BKBuilds, that sounds really great!!!

Indeed, I admire collectors of wine who enjoy that, and/or who want certain wines to be there years later etc.. It's definitely a coveted practice by many and that sounds terrific!

For myself, I change so often, that I may not love my "White Burgundy" in five or 10 years as much as I adore it now - as I was always a devoted "big red" drinker you see, bar none, and couldn't fathom that I'd ever drink so much as a speck of "white," let alone love it! Too funny. But yes, indeed, things change.

So for me, drinking wine "today" or right when the meal or mood is right, makes sense for me, versus saving it. (I have to wear something new the instant it arrives too, versus hang it in a closet for some other special day; or use a product as soon as it comes...not a good "waiter" I suppose).

But then for others, a maginficent cellar is really what makes the best sense, and I love seeing them, hearing of them, and of the great sips which people choose!

This group is such fun! I'm so glad you're a part of it!!!!

Terrific Groth stories too!!! 

Cheers! - Leah

 

[moikel]

I have a cellar of sorts but its in decline so far as numbers.Its really easy to buy wine in his country,to easy

I converted part of the cellar to a sort of larder for my smoking & preserving stuff.

Now I buy up in good vintages like 2012 because you never know when you can get a bad year like 2011.

We make great shiraz here which I have probably talked about enough already .It keeps on going for years in the bottle & now even more so with the move to screw cap instead of cork. Our climate is hard on corks.

Back in 2003 I was way out west in a mining town called Broken Hill on a job for 2 weeks.It is truly the outback ,I was getting a bottle from the local bottle shop & theres Seppelts Great Western shiraz from the mid 90s, marked down to $17 a bottle.I know this is iconic wine of the highest order & its easy $40 on release maybe $ 70 by now if you could find it. .But its Broken Hill its on the edge of the desert it gets over 45c" in the summer for days at a time it could easy be long gone. I can also see signs of a bit of leakage around the corks. The guy said the previous owner was a wine buff & knew his stuff but its hard to sell the high end stuff to the locals.You city types drink it but ...He had a cellar built out of rock from the mines(most of the old town is built out of it) walls were 3 foot thick."

OK I am in bought a bottle ,got it back to the Hotel its magnificent.Back the next day with a new bag loaded up 8 bottles wrapped them in newspaper as carry on in the little plane .I am 1200 k from home so it has to ride in the spare seat for the first leg before we change planes to a bigger unit. Need all my charm to get past carry on rules.

Drank them all in the next few months,said a silent prayer each time I battled with the corks but every bottle was 100%. 

 

[knuckle47]

I had this collector problem with my vintage motorcycles. I had quite a few all from the 1920's to the 1960's. How was I going to know what I might enjoy 10 years later. When I'd sold them all, I knew that my favorite was going to be just a single one. Although a real clue would be in a name. Yep, a stock original 1947 Harley Davidson knucklehead....

I still have about 25 bottles of the Zinfandel my grand mother and I made 20 yrs ago. They're in the "cellar" (basement) cool, rarely above 65f and lying down. I rotate them a few time a year but I am pretty sure, the color is faded and some the sediments may have settled out against the sides of the bottles. Is there a special way the wines need to be stored for long term survival?

 

[moikel]

Constant temperature without spikes ,up or down. Corks wet,bottles slanted down in the dark!
That's a very short summation of a lot of written articles.
I don't have the expertise to say what's going to last & what's not. I rely on the winemakers to tell me. Wines that do go longer distances have a plateau sort of a sweet spot where they are good but not necessarily at their best. They don't go from good to bad overnight.
Screw caps have helped here ,yes cork is traditional but there is no joy when a great bottle is crap because it had a crap cork.
I have a bit of a collection of antique corkscrews ,cheaper than motorbikes!

 

[bkbuilds]

Its a common misconception that screw caps are a sign of cheap wine. As the price of cork has gone up many wine makers have switched to screw caps as a cost savings measure. If all wines were screw caps, you wouldn't have to worry about humidity in your wine cellar. They only reason to control humidity is to prevent corks from drying out from the outside in and air getting to the wine and spoiling it. The reason to lay wine on its side is to keep the wine in contact with the cork and prevent it from drying out from the inside out. Every bottle of wine has some air in it. You don't necessarily have to slant the bottles down during storage, as long as you tip it back so the air in the bottle is body of the bottle and not the neck. I've toured many of high end wine cellar that store their bottles flat.

BTW: if you try to fill a bottle to the top and then try to put a cork in it, you'll end up blowing out the bottom of the bottle. Don't ask me how I know this.... ;)

 

[knuckle47]

Thanks Moikel. 

I would hope then by what you have told me that these bottles are doing well..... Not being a big wine drink AT THE MOMENT, but things change a t the drop of a hat...as they say, I have not tested any.

Some of those bikes could have financed a comfortable retirement as things stand today...you are correct.

 

[leah elisheva]

Wow do I love this group! Happy hump day to all!!!!!

A little late to the party here with the wine storage - motorcycle - screw cap chit chat; but what fabulous stuff!

On storage, just raising the neck some (use a phone book if need be) and keeping wine away from heat and light, is fine. If in an apartment one can do this on the floor of their closet with a book underneath the neck, so long as that closet isn't against the heater/dryer etc.

In any event, fantastic stuff here, from stories to stored favorites and more! Thank you for sharing such wonderful things!!!

KEEP ON!

It's always so interesting to read threads in this section.

AND, I'm so impressed with Mick not drinking during the week, that I am officially trying just 10 days, I'll have you know, (then my brother visits during that Easter weekend and there will be plenty of libation going around), but up until the 19th, I am "trying out" your system or not having wine until then, as to see how that feels.

I may need you to walk me through it mind you, but I'm up for checking out the allure! Stay tuned to see if my mood remains cheerful, right? I'm sure it shall yield an interesting report anyway.

But here's to that!

And here's to fantastic wine for all whenever they wish, and here's to today!!!

Cheers!!!!! - Leah

 

[bkbuilds]

My wife has us on the same setup, no wine during the week. We started this week. We'll start over again today... Wife comes home last night "Have a glass of wine with me"... It was her idea in the first place so I'm not going to stop her if she wants to violate her own rule. The Martini after dinner... well that falls under my rule of "In for a penny in for a Pound" =)

 

[leah elisheva]

You all are so good with this "no week time drinking" (despite last night's fun BKBuilds - which sounded great though)! But really, I'm so impressed with how you all do it!

I spoke to someone else the other day and they said the same - nothing during the week - just weekends. How does one do that?

Well, I'm going to do these next ten days, and see what it's all about! Although, being a tremendous rule breaker (not a law breaker mind you, but a rule breaker as I find rules silly) I have a hunch that I may have your wife's idea sometime during the ten days too, but I'm giving it a try anyway. So we'll see!!

Cheers! - Leah

 

[moikel]

I had to build my cellar above ground in the laundry ,my house sits ona sandstone shelf so going down wasn't on.
Its really an insulated locker,got that heavy duty cool room insulation between all the walls. I mounted a cooling unit through the wall,cost stupid $ made in France. Has had a issues, French cheese makers sure,fridge builders not so clear!
A bucket of brick layers sand kept wet solved the humidity problem.
I turned off cooling unit a while back & moved most of what was left under cork down the coast,way less electric bill!
We don't get the best corks way down here to begin with screw cap just became to obvious.
I don't do motorbikes myself to do like the passion that true collectors have.We get those cable TV shows American Pickers etc.
Lot of old British stuff here,Norton,BSA, Triumph, less Harley . Now & again you see some old guy with an Indian or 2 or 3. But he ain't selling!

 

[bkbuilds]

Just got the call from my wife... we must be on the every other day plan... "blah blah blah.... Pickup some wine on your way home we're having a glass when I get home".... Oooooooook then.....

 

[leah elisheva]

I just LOVE your wife!!! (BKBuilds).

This is my third day, of an "11 day" attempt to not drink wine, and then enjoy it again on the 19th when my brother visits.

However, I'm not sure I get the allure yet, am quite possibly turning into a Grouch, (smiles), and can only say that there had better be some fabulous outcome with this...

I suppose it's much healthier, and that even weight loss "should" happen with such a change, right? But I'm still not sure I love the idea...Grrrrr....

BUT, I'm so genuinely impressed that so many of you go all week without wine all the time, (whereas I drink a bottle of wine daily, over the course of many hours - while cooking, eating, finishing up e-mails etc.), but admittedly, I love it!

Ahh well, no WHINING either, and so I optimistically wanted to try this and see what it's all about, and am therefore doing so. Day three is rather interesting...and I applaud your wife, and her changing rules when she feels like it!

OK, back to my delicious water then!!!! CHEERS!!!!!!! - Leah

 

[moikel]

Just a little bulletin for the winemakers or children of winemakers on this forum who have delighted us with their memories of the home made wine.

Harvest is on here will run 10 weeks. 

At the big wholesale market about 30 minutes from me they will sell 500 tonnes of wine grapes to people making wine in their garages.Thats about 500,000 bottles.Thats just from that market not counting people buying direct from growers or the rest of the country.

You can buy shiraz,merlot,cab/sav,grenache,petit verdot & whites.

Currently you will pay about $20 to 25 per 20 kg box but it will get cheaper as the vintage progresses. 

Growers bring it up by truck some from interstate & make more money than selling to the big winemakers on set contract price.

There will be a lot of activity in my ' hood over the next few weeks. I might see if I can piggy back on somebody else's operation.

I will have to ask that widow about her garage

 

[leah elisheva]

Hey Mick! It sounds like a lovely time in your part of the world! Then again, it ALWAYS does! Smiles. Fantastic to hear of! Thank you for sharing!!! Cheers! - Leah

 

[moikel]

I thought it might interest no boundaries & others who have that Italian heritage & personal history of winemaking.
I love the fact that you can buy direct of the grape grower .
It's a bit of step up to have your own plant & equipment but wouldn't it begun to make your own wine with minimal additives?