Wine...your favourite plonk?

I have this red zinfendale, I made about 2 years ago, it'll knock your socks off!! (5 gallons), made in WA, grapes from CA.

I enjoy the Australian blends for the occassional drip, and they are still inexpensive so that helps

I like Californian wines (white) but in Brazil for some reason they are more expensive than most overpriced French wines. So I'm waiting to get back to Cali for that.

I also like wines from Australia (price/quality) but Chili is closer so it's a better deal.

I like all wines except Portuguese wines. I think their dry wines taste like wood.

I even like the reaaaly bad sugary wines, but I don't drink those like wine, I put ice and fruit in them and make a punch.

I like Yellowtail from Australia. Their Chardonnay and shiraz are both consistently tasty and, best of all, cheap!

Been drinking a lot of Yellowtail recently, too. Very cheap by the magnum at Costco. If I want to strain my bank account (and it takes very little to do so), I grab some Lindeman's (me likey shiraz) or Big House Red from Bonny Doon Vineyards in California.

Whoa, youse guys is talking about my favorite stuff! Craven you are going to be disappointed big time if you think that CA wines will be cheaper when you get back Stateside. I find them expensive everywhere, from Ireland to North Carolina. I usually buy Australian, but I like Chilean, too, and Argentinian. Also, South African, but I haven't memorized the good vineyards yet and am a bit cautious in buying them. My favorite white is New Zealand sauvignon blanc from the Marlborough region; it is totally different from CA sauv blanc or fume blanc. The NZ style is crisp and citrusy.

My house red wine at the moment is $10.99 a bottle, a big price for plonk but I bought a case and got a 15% discount. It is Domaine de la Janasse, a 1999, I think, a cote de rhone. The wine guy at Wholefoods recommended it to me, said it was a real deal, that they don't get much of a supply and it always sells out right away.

So...I'm looking for the next house wine.

I wonder what Yellow-tail is in Australia - I've never heard of it. ( ?Yellowglen - make mostly bubblies)
Lindeman's assorted wines I know.

My favourite tipple at present (well not just now - but when i finish this batch of pills!) is a reisling from the Clare Valley, in South Australia, not far from dlowan.

I'd drink the sauvignon blanc from Marlborough, that Kara talks about, but it's a tad expensive here.

margo, I am not talking Cloudy Bay, for Heaven's sake! I can't afford that either. But Villa Maria and others are quite reasonable.

Yellowtail has only shown up here recently. I will have to check the label and see where it comes from in Oz.

Cavfancier would be better able to give specific examples, but I know that a lot of Ontario wines have been winning international awards lately. It's definitely not the rotgut of 1980's Blue Denim wine anymore.

The icewine is apparently unbeatable, with people coming from around the world for the (what's the word for the opening of the first bottle?)

Icewine
Icewine was originally developed in the cool-climate regions of Europe, some 200 hundred years ago, and is ideally suited to the climate conditions during Canada's winters. Icewine, is to Canada, what Shiraz is to Australia, Champagne to France, and Zinfandel to California. The general perception of Canada is snow, cold, and ice hockey…Hence Icewine is welcomed with open arms.

Grapes are cloaked with protective netting in the fall, and are left on the vine well after any normal harvest. During this time, grapes are naturally dehydrated, adding concentration of flavours, aromas, sugars, and acids, in the juice. The arduous task of hand harvesting and pressing, takes place at night, when temperatures have dipped below -10C or 15F. Yields are extremely low, 5-10%, as the natural water content (80% of the grape), is left behind in the form of ice crystals.

Rare and treasured, Icewine is characterized as winter's gift to the wine lover, luscious, highly aromatic with refreshed acidity, intense depth of flavours, and superb aging potential. Savour this unadulterated nectar on its own, or as a splendid accompaniment to foie gras, rich veined cheeses, spicy foods, and most fruit based desserts and sauces.

and the rest of the article is under this note

Well, Bethie, you've probably got the right climate for Ice Wine!!!!!!!!!

Plonk
hmmmmm....I also enjoy Oz and Chilean plonk, apart from the SA reds....

Unfortunately the liquor laws in Ontario prohibit us from buying wine
at Costco. However, we are reasonably close to Niagara where one
can visit an estate and buy wine.....eBeth....any names for good Ontario
reds?

I was in Niagara-on-the-Lake last Dec and visited a wine store
on the Main Street.....$15.00 to taste 3 ice wines.....The bottles were
expensive.....Very much a substitute for dessert....and very delicious....

ehBeth, that is very interesting about icewine. I had not heard of it.

Is the result perhaps similar to late-harvest dessert wines?

Hi All,

For inexpensive, everyday wine,..I usually end up in the Spain/Southern France/Italy section.
For whites, I lean more towards Albarino, Most of them are from around Galicia and parts of Portugal, a couple of the more readily available vineyards (at least in my area) are Burgans, and Martin Codax. These wines are clean and dry, light and bright fruit,..very pleasant., Usually hits somewhere from $7 - $10 per bottle. I was buying a white from the Languedoc (FR),..for about $5 per bottle,..it was good summer wine (Can't recall the name, will post), and from Italy I like Bertani's Due Uve,..(means 2 grapes),..it's blended pinot grigio and chardonnay, and was running about $10 per bottle,...I was also buying a WHITE pinot nero (noir) from the Oltrepo Pavese it was really good,..crisp and bright,..really cheap and interesting!
For Reds, I usually end up with a Rioja,..like Muga Reserva,..still reasonable around $10., or there are still a good few wines from the Ribero del Duero region, that are still reasonable. It all depends on your taste,..this time of year something a little lighter (for T-day), maybe a nice Dolcetto (you can pick up a nice one for about $10) or (since it's that time again) Beaujolais Nouveau.

I do like alot of American Wines, Aussie and South America wines,...but I still lean towards Europe when I shop

Kara, here's a link to the info on Ice Wine:

Ice Wine

Thanks for the link to Ice Wine JerryR I have never heard of it. I like red wines the best.

....My favourites are the reds....but in a pinch, a great summer
alcoholic punch is a bottle of your favourite white wine mixed with a tin of peaches and ice.....

This thread is really about....cheap wine.....My favourite....."Two
Oceans "(named for the confluence of the (warm) Indian and(cool)Atlantic Oceans at the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.....Its
an "easy drinking, fruity, medium bodied wine".....Alright, I'll stop....it used to be about $7.50 Cdn. dolllars.....Now every one
has discovered it and its now about $8.75 and climbing!

Ice Wine..thats very interesting
One of my favorite snacks during the summer is frozen grapes used like poppers straight from the freezer on the way by

Tasty, it is. The '06 is quite good, too. They have cheaper bottles that don't specify old vines -- and they're not as good. About $15 for the good bottles at the local bottle shop.

Am amused looking back a few years that that plonks I liked have gone into much wider circulation -- and have become undrinkable swill. The Bonny Doon especially makes me sad, because it was a great deal in its early days. And Yellow Tail has gone from acceptable table wine to something I wouldn't even cook with...