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SpoilerWomen Talking
Has anyone else seen the film Women Talking? What did you think of it, if so? For the most part, I thought it was an interesting take on feminism (and feminist separatism) in response to the abuses of patriarchy.
I used to drink any kind of wine until I started dating my husband. His parents were REALLY into wine, were members of a very classy wine group, and lived about 1 1/2 hours from Napa. For years, until they had to stop due to health issues, I drank only the best wine and now I can't drink cheap wine. My favorite is a merlot from a winery in Napa that we used to visit every other year or so. It was so good.
Ah spoiled by riches. I’m the same way with honey, chocolate, and fruit. Once you’ve tasted remarkable quality, it is very hard to go back
https://www.robertsinskey.com/product/marcien
My favorite wine, hands down. We went to Napa and Calistoga several times a year and would always swing by here to pick up a bottle of the Marcien (OK, two) and a cab franc and a merlot for my husband.
Where's the rosé?
Oh my I keep thinking rosé is a subset of white 😅
Right, what about the pink wine lol
Reds in cooler weather, whites in warmer weather. Not too sweet or fruity unless I'm in the mood for a dessert wine, ice wine, or port.
There’s a thing I recently discovered that Italians take a dessert red wine and make it into a wine float with thick gelato. I recommend that
what what? New treat unlocked!
Yes and you also add a neutral unflavored seltzer or sparkling water to it to make it slightly fizz!
oh, this just gets better and better.
What flavor of gelato works best? I'm thinking something berry-ish, or a simple vanilla, but I'm so open to recommendations.
So your best bet will always be a true vanilla. Though if you want to get a bit funky, you could go for chocolate or cherry
mmmmm...oh, the possibilities
Oh do tell me if you manage to do so! Now I’ve gotten the bright idea to take a citrusy white wine like a Chardonnay or classic Prosecco and put it with limoncello gelato 😁
A prosecco with limoncello gelato would be divine. Or maybe a sauvignon blanc if you want to lean into the tart factor.
Ok, I'll report back after I actually put one of these together!
I just can't get into reds, though everyone around me seems to drink more red than white.
I just love a crisp, fruity white. "Crispier" the better and chilled very cold. Yum.
I think there was a white I had one time that had notes of honey crisp. You can’t get any more crisp than that!
Yummy! I had an Australian once that had such strong notes of grapefruit you could have drunk it for breakfast! And it was delicious. I very rarely drink, but thinking of this, I might pick up a couple of bottles soon.
One of my best wine experiences - try it if you can:
Oh wow! Another reason to visit Austria. Thank you Dee!
Years ago I went to visit an old friend who'd moved to Austria - she literally drove me from the airport to the heurige, where we spent the afternoon. Awesome.
Did you get to visit any places of art history merit too? That pairs well with wine ha
Oh sure I've spent a lot of time there over the years. Recommended: Schoenbrunn Palace and the Venus of Willendorf :).
I don't dislike any wine by it's colour. I don't like sweet wines unless they are dessert wines (eg, a TBA or icewine), but don't like completely dry (0) reds.
faves...
Gewurztraminer Gamay Droit Method Traditionnelle Brut
But I also like retsina, which is definitely an acquired taste
I am concerned by the high proportion of users who are vampires, here. Why do we not already have a vampire circle?
I think collecting all the vampire users in one circle would give them too much power haha 😆
There's a man in my city who gives occasional lectures on 'wine science', and one he recently gave was on wine fraud! Did you know one in six bottles sold in supermarkets is not actually what it says on the bottle?? Yellowtail is the most likely to be fraudulent. Top tip - you can buy empty bottles of very expensive wine on Ebay - fill them up with whatever and then sell them, the buyer isn't going to open it right away.
Cheapskates…anything to make a quick buck. They do the same thing when they sell olive oil. A lot of cheap store found olive oil is actually watered down vegetable oil, or a blend, and thus not pure. It’s really important to know what you’re buying! America land of the free has always been more so about land of the “let’s be cheap as much as possible and scam our customers because we can and they’re too stupid to know the difference”
that oil fraud thing is a very big deal! For all kinds of oil! The best thing is to know your producer and that they're reliable and buy directly from them. It helps a lot if you're in a country that produces the oil. Another tip is when you look on the back of the olive oil nutrition information panel, if it has a line for trans (fat content) then you know it is oil that has been mixed in with a bunch of other oil/s and is not just olive oil so give it a miss. I think that might be legal to do if it's below a certain amount, but it really shouldn't have anything else in it and should be from a single source for decent quality.
One brand that I experienced oil fraud with was Spiral Foods. They tout themselves as suppliers of organic food products with organic certification all over them. But once an oil of theirs was suspicious to me so I followed up to verify if it was legit organic and no they had not cleared certification at all, they just went ahead and labelled it organic! I have never bought any of their products ever again after that. They always sell at the cheapest price to all their other competitor products too..
Organic items come at a premium. It being lower in price was the first red flag.
This is also why I only buy olive oil that has been certified to be a product of Italy. Italy has strict laws in place about olive oil fraud
they always priced it just 1 or 2 cents lower (maybe 5 max?) lower than the next lowest priced organic item in all their products so it was believable to me. But they have broken my trust in them so they're over for me now.
I researched it a few years ago and the best thing for me in Australia is to get it from a reliable producer that I know as well as I am able to and get it as fresh as possible. I am very fortunate, Australia produces some very good quality olive oil. I heard the US has some good quality olive oil too (presuming you are in the US). Get the first harvest which is all cloudy! So healthy!
Europe has those PDO and EC stamps though which is something. I did hear that the mafia were involved in olive oil fraud though. I mean if they're getting that through, how do you know if it's all the real thing?
I didn’t know Australia made its own olive oil. That’s news to me!
And yes I’m from the US. Most American olive oil comes from california, and these places are usually frauded with mixtures to just make a quick buck. Good old American ingenuity 🙄
Italy cracks down on anything dealing with food, and there’s a lot of small business vineyards that also create olive oil, so they must adhere to olive oil standards or they risk being shut down
I always feel like red wine people look down upon us pesky white wine people (I like sweet things damn it)
Same, only red wine I ever drank was muscat. I liked good old Spatlese Lexia for my annual drink.
Damn sommelier purists! I’m joking though haha
Ha, that’s how I felt when my wine educated cousin went to New Zealand and she wasn’t fond of their wines (their best are their whites!)
I love myself a New Zealand Sauvignon blanc
I like a good dry red and never before the poll considered variral vs blend. I can drink any wine if it's good, but dry red is my favourite.
ETA the reason I like red wine is because it has a strong flavour and yet it is not sweet. I don't want a sweet drink with my pizza. Sometimes I buy pomegranate juice for the same reason.
If I drink red, it's usually Malbec. I have had a bottle sitting in my sideboard for about two years, so I guess I'm not that into the reds.
White, I like Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio. Those are both on the drier side but not too dry.
I like Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio too! They are a very classic white
White wine for me! Preferably something a little sweet and fruity, but any white is okay - can’t stand red, on the other hand, even though I want to like it 😂😭 Although I’ve heard some people are more sensitive to the taste of the tannins, so for some (me, probably) it literally tastes way more bitter and gross. Kind of like how some people like cilantro and for some it tastes like soap! (Love cilantro, fwiw lol)
I don’t mind a nice red every once in awhile! But I do favor the whites more.
If I had to pick a red, it would have to be a more fruity one like a Pinot Noir or Shiraz, though there was a particular Cabernet Sauvignon I had one time (I think?) that tasted very delicious.
I also eat (and love!) dark chocolate (even up to 100% dark) so bitterness is not a problem for me, haha!
I find I enjoy a variety of white wines more though all the same 😁
Ooh I love dark chocolate too! Funny how the bitterness there is okay lol, it’s just different to the bitterness of red wine, I suppose
I love dark chocolate and red wine! I love dark chocolate WITH red wine! I also like black coffee with no sugar and to me coffee with sugar is not even coffee!
So funny, I’m the exact opposite. I love red wine but hate dark chocolate because it’s too bitter. Tongues are weird!
Dark chocolate doesnt have that “sucks all of the moisture out of your mouth” ability that the tannins in red wine can do. So I understand!
I prefer whiskey and beer myself, but I can enjoy a nice wine from time to time. I probably tend to prefer a moderately sweet wine, but I can enjoy a dry red too.
All good wines are great ! It really depends on the occasion and what I am eating.
But I have to say my favorite white wine would be a good crisp chablis (Chardonnay), specially with Shellfish, or a light summer dish. I also like demic-sec Riesling for spicy food.
For red, Malbec is usually good when the sauce is strong in favor, a good Pinot Noir is great option with tomato-based sauce or cheese (and Merlot as well), but otherwise you can never go wrong with a Saint-Émilion.
Mm I don’t think I’ve tried a Riesling before! I prefer the Italian and New Zealand wines over anything else! I love how a tasty white goes well with fish and chicken, which is primarily what I go for when I’m out to eat.
I don’t think I’ve had a Malbec, but I’d probably like it!
I like dry whites and low-key reds. A little tannin goes a long way.
I pick wine based on the label design, lol
I've never met an alcoholic drink that I didn't like. Somehow I'm not an alcoholic.
lol I'm kind of similar in that I don't know very much about wines, but I can remember what some of the label designs look like. the Beaujolais I like, I think of it primarily as "the wine with the flowers on the label" instead of by the brand name. there's another brand of wine that I think of as "the wine with the little face on the label"
I saw a wine with an interesting label, an illustration of a woman on a bicycle, but I haven't tried that yet
what are your favorite label designs for wine?
There’s a pinot that’s extremely reasonable and good for the price point that I literally bought for the name and label. Le Fat Bastard and it had a hippo on it and the tag line “fabulously full bodied.”
It was ten bucks. I bust some out occasionally on pasta night and we had it for Thanksgiving and Christmas because my extended family aren’t wine drinkers, so if we don’t finish it, I don’t feel too bad.
As a joke, I say I’m a functioning alcoholic in spirit
Lived in California for 27 years.
I am not a fan of white wine, except for bubbly. Champagne, prosecco, cava, sparkling wine. I’m down for it all. I love a demi-sec. I always have a couple half bottles for when I feel like a couple glasses and there’s no one to help me drink a full bottle.
I definitely enjoy red wine, mostly with food. If I’m just sipping or having something light, I like a pinot. My fave with anything red meat/heavy is a cab franc.
One vineyard in Napa makes my favorite red proprietary blend. It’s so gorgeous and expensive and I wish I could afford a case.
My parents went to Napa and they brought home many bottles of wine that have since been drunk. I’m quite jealous that you were able to visit I take it when you lived in Cali.
I sadly couldn’t tell you what they brought back. They show me bottles for two minutes and I completely forget what type it was
I can't drink at all anymore for health reasons but I do fondly remember being able to occasionally have a glass and my preference was always for single varietal reds. I liked that brand of multipucchiano d'abruzzo that has the little bit of grape vine tied to it a lot.
I’m not fond of overly fruity or sweet wines. Very buttery chards I kinda don’t like either. Now that I think about it I like red blends buy mostly only get white single varieties.
I haven't drunk wine or any alcohol for well over twenty years. Don't have any desire to, and with GERD it would be an extremely bad idea anyway.
Thats understandable! I’m not much of an alcohol drinker entirely myself, but every once in awhile I’d like a taste
I only started drinking when I had a friend group who'd have birthday dinners at restaurants. Never drank much at home - the one bottle of muscat in the pantry would last a year or so. That was in the 90s. Now I have a different friend group, don't eat out at night, and don't have a pantry, lol.
I exclusively like sparkling wines 🥰 especially sparkling reds. Trader Joe’s has a bottle of Lambrusco for $6
I adore wine, mind you. But I don't have my favourite listed here, which would be the "new" wine. It's specifically good in the springtime. A hopeful flavour! New, and green, and a bit sparkly.
If not that, it'd be a floral white wine or an earthy red.
And for dessert, some Port or Madeira
“New” wine? Do say more
Here's a bit more info :)
Ooh that is fascinating. I’m all for expanding my palate to Portuguese wines
I haven't actually tried this wine before, but I saw an empty bottle in someone's recycling bin and it caught my eye. Gatão vinho verde. It has a cat on the label.
I’ll have to be on the look out for that one too! Perhaps this is enough incentive to take a little adventure to my local wine store.
I don't know that much about wines and haven't tried a wide variety of them. I have had some red and white wines, as well as some rose type wines.
For red wine, I've liked Beaujolais. For white wine, I've liked Chardonnay and champagne. I like sangria too. Generally I like wine that's more on the fruity side, although I will drink some wine that I don't consider "juice wine" i.e. the sweetest wines where it basically tastes like juice with the barest tinge of alcohol.
I lean slightly towards the Beaujolais because I've had it more times than the Chardonnay, but overall I wouldn't say I have a clear preference between red and white wine.
I’ll have to see if I can find a Beaujolais to try as that’s a new one to me.
In Italy, certain regions have speciality wines made from fig, black currant, and plums, and I wonder if that’s what you mean? I’d love to try those
by juice wine, I don't really mean specialty wines, just any wines that are very sweet/fruity and don't have a strong dry or alcohol taste to them. Beaujolais seems a little hard to find where I am. A number of stores near me don't carry any Beaujolais, even if I look in the French wine section. I've only found it at some places that have a wider selection.
I did have a fruit-based wine from a winery in my state (in the US) and it had a unique flavor that was strongly of the fruit it was made of. I think it was blackberry? and I think they had other wines based on other fruits, but I didn't try those. I won't publicly mention the name of the winery here for privacy reasons, but you can PM me if you want to know. I'm not sure if you can buy it outside of the winery's local area though, I don't think it's widely distributed.
Oh I see. If you find you can’t get your hands on Beaujolais, it’ll probably be hard for me too, but it’s worth a shot since now I’m curious.
Blackberry wine sounds delicious if that’s the fruit it was! I want to try Mulberry wine as well, it’s similar to blackberry.
I’ll send you a PM since I’m in the US as well.
I don't know if it'll be super hard or impossible to find, just that you might have to go looking around for it. I'm not that familiar with the wine retail industry, so I don't know if it's typical that Beaujolais is somewhat uncommon or not popular. I haven't seen anyone else mention it here, so maybe it is a less popular wine in the US?
if you have a big wine store like Total Wine nearby, it has a much larger selection than other stores would.
I have wine stores that are similar to Total Wine that may have it! I’ll have to go on a little adventure
I can enjoy wine, but I never know whether I'm going to until it's on my tongue. I don't bother with tracking varietals because my taste is so variable. More than once I've tried a bottle, gone, "Hey, this is delicious," bought the same vintage again, and blech. The only useful pattern is that I'm more interested in red wine when I'm on my period.
None of the above. I like a medium dry full bodied red, and I make it myself. Home made wine doesn't have to be slop in a bucket, I make a very good country wine. My favourite red recipe is made from blackcurrant, blackberry and black grape.
The best country wines are usually made from blends of fruits since most of them lack one attribute or another (aroma, flavour, acidity or tannin); the exceptions being huckleberry which makes an excellent red, and green gooseberry for white.
I was wondering if anyone would comment saying they make their own wine! I once read about making wine at home with fruit or even store-bought fruit juice, but I haven't tried it myself.
here there are "u brew" places that will allow you to make your own in on their premises, using their equipment. They'll also sell you the juice, bottles, corks, labels, etc. My mom and I do a batch, usually from Chilean juice, every once in a while
Wow! I'd love to try making wine in such a place!