How’s the burn-rate on your wine rack during quarantine?

Tiki Tom · May 3, 2020

Just askin’. IF recycling were being collected, they’d probably raise an eyebrow in disapproval. But since I’m putting the empties in my neighbor’s bin, the problem is solved. But seriously, somebody has got to support the vintners in these troubled times. Umm, up by, oh, a quarter.
Be safe! Stay healthy! Wash your hands!

Edward Reed · May 3, 2020

lol! nice!
I have a liquor store across the street from my apartment... its a good thing I'm not really a drinker. I do love my red wine though.... but I've been a good moderation type during all of this. ... not sure why LOL!

belfastboy · May 3, 2020

In early March during our stocking up phase of the pandemic it looked like a run on our liquor stores so I stocked up on box wine....it stacks quite nicely. So it doesn't fit in the wine rack but the open one does fit nicely on the corner of our kitchen island. Very handy to top up the glass on the way by.

Haversack · May 5, 2020

Being able to work from home, we've been trying to support local business that are hanging on by doing take-away and delivery from them at a higher rate than previously. One thing that our corner of San Francisco has developed over the past 20 years are small wineries. They don't grow the grapes here but they age, and blend locally. One we have been particularly enjoying is a winery owned by a Georgian family, (as in Caucasus, not peach blossoms). They make a variety of types of wine both in the Western style aged in oak and in the Georgian style aged in large clay vessels. The later are robust but surprisingly light in tannins. They're not our every day glass but have become part of our fortnightly rotation.

GHT · May 5, 2020

The wine is made of grape, our nanny state government tell us that to eat healthy we must consume at least five vegetables or five pieces of fruit, every day. Grape is a fruit, therefore wine constitutes as a fruit, in other words, one of our five per day. Bring it on.

Haversack · May 5, 2020

...And traditionally vodka is made from the juice of the potato.

GHT · May 5, 2020

Haversack said:
...And traditionally vodka is made from the juice of the potato.

It just gets better and better.

redlinerobert · May 5, 2020

I've actually cut my drinking way back through all of this. I hardly drink at all. On the positive side I've lost about 18 lbs!

scottyrocks · May 6, 2020

Definitely an uptick.

Edward · May 6, 2020

Never been a big home-drinker. I think I did have a rum and ginger during the first week of lockdown, but not bothered since. I'm less likely to drink in the warmer weather as it gives me heartburn then for some reason. Herself can't drink for medical reasons, which probably makes me less likely to, especially with wine. Not opened a bottle of wine at home in years (though I have a few stashed somewhere); I only really like the occasional glass of wine with food, and it seems a waste to open a bottle just for one glass for me.

GHT · May 6, 2020

Edward said:
Not opened a bottle of wine at home in years (though I have a few stashed somewhere); I only really like the occasional glass of wine with food, and it seems a waste to open a bottle just for one glass for me.

We buy those, one glassful, quarter size wine bottles. Not very often, but just an occasional tipple. My missus rarely drinks alcohol, she seen far too much of the damage that over indulgence causes during her thirty years in the ambulance service. My weakness is a liking for Jack Daniels, so to avoid temptation, the bottles that I get as birthday and Christmas gifts, are hidden in her cabin well out of sight. I'm strictly rationed on alcohol consumption, not a bad thing really.

What, I wonder, do others think about wine snobbery? If there's a red wine like no other it has to be Merlot, yet I cannot get a taste for any Merlot other than that of the Bordeaux region of France. It might be because the French growers harvest their grapes earlier, this maintains acidity and produces a more medium-bodied wines with moderate alcohol levels that create a fresh flavour.
Apologies if you live in Long Island, Napa Valley, Sonoma County, Chilean Central Valley, Australia and Hungary, I just prefer the taste from France.

Edward · May 6, 2020

GHT said:
What, I wonder, do others think about wine snobbery? If there's a red wine like no other it has to be Merlot, yet I cannot get a taste for any Merlot other than that of the Bordeaux region of France. It might be because the French growers harvest their grapes earlier, this maintains acidity and produces a more medium-bodied wines with moderate alcohol levels that create a fresh flavour.
Apologies if you live in Long Island, Napa Valley, Sonoma County, Chilean Central Valley, Australia and Hungary, I just prefer the taste from France.

Having a subjective preference is merrely a preference - to me, that's what you describe. If you were to insist that your subjective preference was an objective fact, then that would be wine snobbery.

I tend to agree that the way alcohol is prepared is what makes the difference. My red wine preferences, such as they are, tend to be Chilean (Como Sur, label-wise - ironically, the official sponsor of the Tour de France, I recently discovered! Their PInot Noir is consistently good). Whiskey (spelt with an E, as we do in Ireland) I tend to prefer Irish. There's certainly an element of national pride in having the oldest legal distillery in the world (and it was there long before it was legal!), but for me it's about the smoother taste of the Irish malts that are distilled thrice. I enjoy a lot of the Scotchs, though I tend to prefer a smoother flavour, some of the Scots stuff can be a little rough on my palate. Of the Americans, JD is pleasant enough, though tbh I tend to find it overpriced in the UK (fashionable brand, I guess). Jim Beam I would prefer, though Monkey Shoulder is great, also Knob Creek. (Bonus ball: the latter's name still makes me laugh.) Away from Celtic origins (the original Jack Daniel was Welsh, you know), the Japanese are doing some outstanding whiskeys these days. Suntory I recall being particularly good. Not cheap by any means, but very nice for occasional use. On the other end of the scale, as aworkaday whiskey so to speak Supermarket own brand "Sainsbury's Irish Whiskey" is both remakably cheaqp compared to the brands, and a very legit product (I have it from a good source it comes from Jameson's distillery in the RoI, and they make a very nice drop. It's basically the J for a few quid less a bottle...). I'm also very fond of the Canadian Fireball Cinnamon Whisky.

MisterCairo · Aug 30, 2020

The reds continue to keep us sane in these insane times. Consumption not up, certainly not down! We support the relatively nascent Ontario wine industry, where possible. Some very nice Italian and Portugese reds enjoyed as well.

belfastboy · Aug 30, 2020

We have made the wise choice and switched to boxed wine. 4 litres, on the counter, easy access, no damned glass bottles that have to be driven miles to a specific recycling location. For us it is the perfect Covid response.

Tiki Tom · Dec 11, 2020

Holiday season plus lockdown does mean a merry bit of red wine consumption. Nothing out of control, but we live in a wine village on the edge of Vienna so it’s hard to avoid... not that I’d want to. I like that Austria has its own unique red varietals: Zweigelt, Blaufrankisch, and St. Laurent. Local producers are all in the local shops, so by keeping our eyes open for sales, we can usually get some really nice local wines for five or six euros a bottle. We often walk through the very vineyards that provide the wines that we drink. Think global, drink local!

MisterCairo · Dec 11, 2020

belfastboy said:
We have made the wise choice and switched to boxed wine. 4 litres, on the counter, easy access, no damned glass bottles that have to be driven miles to a specific recycling location. For us it is the perfect Covid response.

Our current stockpile (the error in d'ont is deliberate):

Cornelius · Dec 11, 2020

Consumption has definitely risen, though still in moderation. With no concerts, museums, nights down at the local pub, or travel for the past nine months, we've taken to making dinner at home more of an Occasion and try to have a few bottles of wine in the pantry at any given time to accompany more elaborate meals. Good stress relief for my girlfriend, who works at a public hospital in an impoverished neighborhood on Chicago's southside - a rough job in any year, but especially this one.

Her being a Pescatarian (that is, someone who eats seafood but is otherwise a vegetarian) has upped my dry white wine game; a now regular favorite of ours is the Stadt Krems Grüner Veltliner Kremstal, which can be had for USD$15 a bottle at a shop a few miles from us.

Otherwise we're big on red wines from Spain, which can be a tremendous value in the States as they don't carry the ubiquitous Francophile upcharge.

Tiki Tom · Dec 11, 2020

Cornelius said:
a now regular favorite of ours is the Stadt Krems Grüner Veltliner Kremstal, which can be had for USD$15 a bottle at a shop a few miles from us.

I salute you! We literally live about a half hour drive from Kremstal. Good wines indeed, if little known. We have acquaintances who have a winery out there, and we once went to their place for a grill party and wine tasting. Amazing whites, for sure.

Cornelius · Dec 11, 2020

Tiki Tom said:
I salute you! We literally live about a half hour drive from Kremstal. Good wines indeed, if little known. We have acquaintances who have a winery out there, and we once went to their place for a grill party and wine tasting. Amazing whites, for sure.

Small world! I'd happily sample anything else from the region, or that grape. Great stuff, and truly perfect for grilled fish or crab legs.

Harp · Dec 20, 2020

MisterCairo said:
The reds continue to keep us sane in these insane times. Consumption not up, certainly not down! We support the relatively nascent Ontario wine industry, where possible. Some very nice Italian and Portugese reds enjoyed as well.

This thread puts me to shame, since I'm a hick Mick on Chicago's southside
and Lancers Portugese red and white is my favorite poison.

Bye-the=bye, that Ontario radio station where Big Band fare is broadcast every Sunday nite-
I think its Zuma-is wonderful. Just wish the signal was always clear as a bell.

How’s the burn-rate on your wine rack during quarantine?

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