A fine wine, or a bottle of vinegar?
June 15, 2011 8:53 PM Subscribe
Don't know much about wine, but occasionally receive bottles as presents. I'm thinking of re-gifting an '04 Shiraz with a Monterra label to an acquantance, a bit of a foodie and a wine-drinker. Will this gift be welcomed, my reputation as connoiseur confirmed; or accepted with nervous laughter and then discarded, unopened?
Don't re-gift anything you wouldn't drink yourself--which means, specifically, a bottle of wine that costs under $10 retail.
posted by Ideefixe at 9:45 PM on June 15, 2011
posted by Ideefixe at 9:45 PM on June 15, 2011
Depends on what you mean by 're-gift'. 'Happy birthday!' and putting a bow on it? Hell no. 'Something to go with a pizza?' Sure. Just steal the review from hal_c_on's link:
'Here's one for the grill. It's nothing special, sorry, but I think Wine Enthusiast said some kinds words about it.'
posted by obiwanwasabi at 10:21 PM on June 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
'Here's one for the grill. It's nothing special, sorry, but I think Wine Enthusiast said some kinds words about it.'
posted by obiwanwasabi at 10:21 PM on June 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
Most wine isn't really intended for extended cellaring (and I bet you didn't cellar it so much as lose it in the back of a cupboard), maybe you can present it as an experiment "hey let's see if this is still ok", but it's probably 2 or 3 years past its best, so take a better bottle as well.
posted by The Monkey at 10:26 PM on June 15, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by The Monkey at 10:26 PM on June 15, 2011 [3 favorites]
I have no idea about the bottle you are asking about. I was hoping someone else knew!
That said. I believe wine folks love a good vintage bottle, but we love a good drinkable inexpensive bottle just as much. Maybe I'm wrong, but my understanding is that there is not much difference between an unknown wine that's super cheap vs. a bottle that's in the $20 to $30 range. So if we have something that rocks and is cheap - yay!!
Was your 2004 stored upright or sideways, and does it have a cork? That's your big concern, along with temperature.
Start worrying about stuff in the $50 range - cuz that's where you'll feel badly. There isn't much difference between a popular $30 bottle and a unknown but awesome $6 bottle.
Open your wine with confidence and find out where it lies on the spectrum. It's all good.
posted by jbenben at 12:28 AM on June 16, 2011 [1 favorite]
That said. I believe wine folks love a good vintage bottle, but we love a good drinkable inexpensive bottle just as much. Maybe I'm wrong, but my understanding is that there is not much difference between an unknown wine that's super cheap vs. a bottle that's in the $20 to $30 range. So if we have something that rocks and is cheap - yay!!
Was your 2004 stored upright or sideways, and does it have a cork? That's your big concern, along with temperature.
Start worrying about stuff in the $50 range - cuz that's where you'll feel badly. There isn't much difference between a popular $30 bottle and a unknown but awesome $6 bottle.
Open your wine with confidence and find out where it lies on the spectrum. It's all good.
posted by jbenben at 12:28 AM on June 16, 2011 [1 favorite]
For God's sake man, take the bottle with you, be honest about it, and drink it!
I have the luck of being friends with people that work in the wine business and participating in a lot of gatherings. It is very very common that someone appears with a wine bottle saying "Look, I don't know if this is any good or if it tastes like shit, come on let's try it." If it's not good to drink, you can use it for cooking.
You can also make things more interesting by asking your acquaintance to taste the wine blindfolded (i.e. without knowing what he's drinking) and ask for details: year, region, cast, etc. That's always fun.
posted by dfreire at 2:08 AM on June 16, 2011 [1 favorite]
I have the luck of being friends with people that work in the wine business and participating in a lot of gatherings. It is very very common that someone appears with a wine bottle saying "Look, I don't know if this is any good or if it tastes like shit, come on let's try it." If it's not good to drink, you can use it for cooking.
You can also make things more interesting by asking your acquaintance to taste the wine blindfolded (i.e. without knowing what he's drinking) and ask for details: year, region, cast, etc. That's always fun.
posted by dfreire at 2:08 AM on June 16, 2011 [1 favorite]
Don't re-gift anything you wouldn't drink yourself--which means, specifically, a bottle of wine that costs under $10 retail.
Are there really people out there who would refuse to drink wine because it cost less than $10? How ridiculous.
No one is going to laugh at or discard your gift. As others have said, people enjoy having readily drinkable wine in the house, regardless of its pedigree.
As for confirming your reputation as a connoisseur, if you're really worried about that then you'd better just buy something specifically for the occasion.
posted by hermitosis at 6:37 AM on June 16, 2011 [1 favorite]
Are there really people out there who would refuse to drink wine because it cost less than $10? How ridiculous.
No one is going to laugh at or discard your gift. As others have said, people enjoy having readily drinkable wine in the house, regardless of its pedigree.
As for confirming your reputation as a connoisseur, if you're really worried about that then you'd better just buy something specifically for the occasion.
posted by hermitosis at 6:37 AM on June 16, 2011 [1 favorite]
I'll agree with everyone else, and say that I don't really think it'd make a good gift. But to bring to a dinner as your contribution, it could be acceptable. "Hey, Foodie-Aquiantance of mine! Someone gave me this bottle of wine, and I wanted to try it with you. I figured you'd appreciate it more than me, or maybe you could even teach me a thing or two about wine."
posted by shesaysgo at 7:45 AM on June 16, 2011
posted by shesaysgo at 7:45 AM on June 16, 2011
I once saw a gift tag (attached to a ribbon that was slipped over the neck of the wine bottle) that said something like, "luckily my taste in friends is much better than my taste in wine". As someone who knows nothing about wine, I thought it was kind of clever.
posted by halseyaa at 8:00 AM on June 16, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by halseyaa at 8:00 AM on June 16, 2011 [1 favorite]
Possibly not very tasty- unless it was stored properly I wouldn't bring it to someone's house, and even then it might not be good. Not all wines are meant to age.
posted by oneirodynia at 8:19 AM on June 16, 2011
posted by oneirodynia at 8:19 AM on June 16, 2011
Response by poster: I was hoping to hear from people experienced enough to know something about Shiraz, I red type I'd never heard of. So now I know it's nothing special, a step up from the the two-buck-Chuck Zinfandel I drink, but maybe too old. Thanks for the responses!
posted by Rash at 8:25 AM on June 16, 2011
posted by Rash at 8:25 AM on June 16, 2011
I believe wine folks love a good vintage bottle, but we love a good drinkable inexpensive bottle just as much.
Agree 100% with this. Don't feel intimidated gifting an inexpensive wine you've heard good things about. There's a time for that 25-year old bottle when you have time to appreciate it, but there's equally a time for a good, but modest wine with a backyard barbeque. My friends and I have gone through phases where we've tried to find the best wine for under x$ in the store (X used to be 6, now it's about 12). We've had some very drinkable wines that way.
A syrah/shiraz is a really big wine, one of the strongest tasting wines, that's best paried with strong flavours like red meats or mushrooms or even chocolate. It won't go as well with chicken or fish or bean dishes, for example. Your particular example (Wine Enthusiast, one of the review sites) sounds like a good patio wine, great for a casual meal with a friend, exactly as obiwanwasabi says.
posted by bonehead at 8:48 AM on June 16, 2011 [1 favorite]
Agree 100% with this. Don't feel intimidated gifting an inexpensive wine you've heard good things about. There's a time for that 25-year old bottle when you have time to appreciate it, but there's equally a time for a good, but modest wine with a backyard barbeque. My friends and I have gone through phases where we've tried to find the best wine for under x$ in the store (X used to be 6, now it's about 12). We've had some very drinkable wines that way.
A syrah/shiraz is a really big wine, one of the strongest tasting wines, that's best paried with strong flavours like red meats or mushrooms or even chocolate. It won't go as well with chicken or fish or bean dishes, for example. Your particular example (Wine Enthusiast, one of the review sites) sounds like a good patio wine, great for a casual meal with a friend, exactly as obiwanwasabi says.
posted by bonehead at 8:48 AM on June 16, 2011 [1 favorite]
Don't re-gift anything you wouldn't drink yourself--which means, specifically, a bottle of wine that costs under $10 retail.
If you're not drinking sub-$10 bottles of wine, you're wasting your money. Multiple large-scale studies agree that not only can laypeople (wine connoiseurs are an exception) not tell the difference between sub-$10 and $80 wines, they actually tend to prefer the cheaper variety. (For example). That's assuming it is tasted blind, without knowing the price.
For maximum pleasure from all concerned, bring along the wine and just pretend it is expensive. Cost is the one aspect of wine scientifically proven to make it taste better.
posted by dontjumplarry at 8:49 AM on June 16, 2011 [4 favorites]
If you're not drinking sub-$10 bottles of wine, you're wasting your money. Multiple large-scale studies agree that not only can laypeople (wine connoiseurs are an exception) not tell the difference between sub-$10 and $80 wines, they actually tend to prefer the cheaper variety. (For example). That's assuming it is tasted blind, without knowing the price.
For maximum pleasure from all concerned, bring along the wine and just pretend it is expensive. Cost is the one aspect of wine scientifically proven to make it taste better.
posted by dontjumplarry at 8:49 AM on June 16, 2011 [4 favorites]
I'm a bit of a wine person, and I hang out with wine people. We've all read the studies that dontjumplarry is referring, and we basically live for finding awesome sub-$10 bottles of wine. I have multiple cases of terrific sub-10s and sub-15s in my house now; all of which will be consumed within the year.
If the OP's friends are anything like the "foodies" I know, they will know that your bottle isn't expensive (or at least they'll know the moment you leave when they look it up online). Please don't try to present your '04 as an expensive bottle unless you want them to think that you're either a) an uninformed person who pays WAY too much for mediocre wine, or b) a person that knowingly tries to pass off past-its-prime mediocre wine as expensive vino to their friends.
A sub-$10 Shiraz is almost always intended to be consumed within a few years of when it was released. Keep in mind that the review that hal_c_on and bonehead linked to was from '05, so that mediocre 84 point review was likely from this wine's prime. I personally think "over-aged" California Shiraz tends to taste like oak-y grape kool-aid with some sort of overbearing finish.
I would present the bottle to my foodie friends as a challenge. I would say "Hey, here's this affordable '04 Central Coast Shiraz. How do you think it aged? Let's give it a go!". If I received it as a gift, I would stick it in a decanter at the start of the night and see if it improved.
posted by foggy out there now at 3:52 PM on June 16, 2011 [2 favorites]
If the OP's friends are anything like the "foodies" I know, they will know that your bottle isn't expensive (or at least they'll know the moment you leave when they look it up online). Please don't try to present your '04 as an expensive bottle unless you want them to think that you're either a) an uninformed person who pays WAY too much for mediocre wine, or b) a person that knowingly tries to pass off past-its-prime mediocre wine as expensive vino to their friends.
A sub-$10 Shiraz is almost always intended to be consumed within a few years of when it was released. Keep in mind that the review that hal_c_on and bonehead linked to was from '05, so that mediocre 84 point review was likely from this wine's prime. I personally think "over-aged" California Shiraz tends to taste like oak-y grape kool-aid with some sort of overbearing finish.
I would present the bottle to my foodie friends as a challenge. I would say "Hey, here's this affordable '04 Central Coast Shiraz. How do you think it aged? Let's give it a go!". If I received it as a gift, I would stick it in a decanter at the start of the night and see if it improved.
posted by foggy out there now at 3:52 PM on June 16, 2011 [2 favorites]
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One option is to go to a wine retailer where the staffers know the products, and ask for advice. It would help to start with some expectations of the style of wine and the price you're willing to pay. Then, be upfront when giving the gift that you sought advice to guide your purchase. I think this approach makes it more likely you'll learn something about wine, from both the store and your acquaintance.
posted by germdisco at 9:36 PM on June 15, 2011 [1 favorite]