BajaNomad

Wine question

bajalera - 6-26-2005 at 08:04 PM

Quite a while ago, somebody [maybe Gull, but I can't remember for sure) posted a lot of good info on wine, but I've been unable to find it.

Steve doesn't drink beer [somewhere I obviously went wrong as a mother and am sorry about that, but on the brighter side, he never races me for the Negra Modelo). So I'd like to find a couple of reasonably priced wines--preferably, but not essentially, made in Baja California--that go well with Mexican food.

The random sampling I've done has led nowhere, and I hope someone with wine smarts can give me some advice.

Lera

Dave - 6-26-2005 at 08:29 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by bajalera
So I'd like to find a couple of reasonably priced wines--preferably, but not essentially, made in Baja California--that go well with Mexican food.


There are no reasonably priced wines from Baja. There are some good to excellent wines that are very expensive and more that are of poor to average quality which are 30-50% + overpriced.

IMO here are the best vintners:

Casa de Piedra

Monte Xanic

Chateau Camou

Santo Tomas (reserves & Duetto)

BajaNomad - 6-26-2005 at 11:00 PM

Dave pretty much hit the nail on the head in my opinion.

I will however note that at the Baja book authors' event recently, I sampled (and bought the last bottle - sans label) of a Nouveau/Novello-style wine that I thought was pretty good... and cheap.

Since I don't remember the name of the winery, and the bottle I bought was sans-label, I would need help from others that were there with better recollection. Keri?

Nouveau-style wine: this refers to a particular style of red wine that is fresh, youthful and fruity and designed to be ready to drink within weeks of harvest. Nouveau wines will rarely improve with age, but will instead lose much of their appeal if kept too long. A festive atmosphere surrounds the annual release of France's Beaujolais Nouveau, the most famous wine of this type, on the third Thursday of November and there are races to bring bottles of the new wine to places around the world. Similar wine is made in the U.S. under the same name, and also in Italy, where it is called vino novello.

Definition from:
http://www.fogwells.com/webworks/glossary/m-q.html#nouveau

Dave is right

The Gull - 6-27-2005 at 03:49 AM

Low cost is not what I would call Baja wines.

If you are looking for a $15 Cabernet, it is hard to beat Los Vascos from Chile. It is made by Rothschild.

I suspect that some amount of importing takes place in Baja. If not, then Mexico City must have a distributor of international wines. You might just ask your nearest liquor store who specializes in wine or the restaurant (Le Bistrot Francais or La Pazta) who has a larger wine list where they can get quality and value wines for you.

bajajudy - 6-27-2005 at 08:43 AM

We have a book on the wines of Baja...if you are interested

Bruce R Leech - 6-27-2005 at 08:59 AM

I use Goto Negro Merlot for my every day table wine. if you shop around you can find it for about 50 pesos. they have a nice Cab. also. it goes good with most anything . I don't drink much white wine so cant help you there.

elizabeth - 6-27-2005 at 09:02 AM

What is the book?
I actually have had some decent Baja wines for around 7-8 dollars...but of course I can't remember what labels right now!!!

wilderone - 6-27-2005 at 09:25 AM

The LA Cetto winery has three wines (a red, white and "blush") which sell for about $3.25. They are all adequate table wines, and depending on what you consider "Mexican food", would pair well with many meals. For instance the white would be fine with fish tacos or any fish; the red with carne asada or quesadillas with salsa and guacamole; burritos; the blush type with chips/dips, certain appetizers-nuts, cheese. I can appreciate a great wine and have had plenty to know the difference, but if you're heading south and want to stock up for the duration, these inexpensive wines shouldn't be overlooked.

My tastes run towards big, bold reds......

Hook - 6-27-2005 at 10:12 AM

.......consequently, I like Zinfandels with mexican food especially if you are doing beef or red sauces.

In fact, I just put a bumper sticker on the truck that reads

"No vinos sin huevos"....someone sent it to me because of my penchant for colossal reds.

I have also been getting some really tasty Malbecs from Argentina that go pretty well with mexican food. The Famiglia and the Terrazas on the list below are very good. There are also good ones from Argentina for under 10.00 like the Altos Las Hormigas.

http://www.winex.com/cgi-bin/ducs/display.pl/o__winesearch/a...

But, let's face it, mexican food is the one international food I can think of that pairs better with beer.

Has he tried the "beers" that don't taste like beer like Coors Light and Michelob Ultra?

PS-I'm with Dave, most all Baja wines are overpriced and/or underachieving. Argentina and Chile are kicking their collective arses.

[Edited on 6-27-2005 by Hook]

[Edited on 6-27-2005 by Hook]

BajaNomad - 6-27-2005 at 10:22 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by elizabeth
What is the book?
I actually have had some decent Baja wines for around 7-8 dollars...but of course I can't remember what labels right now!!!


http://www.bajabooksandmaps.com/index.html?cp=http://www.baj...

http://tienda.bajanomad.com/cgi-bin/tienda.cgi?item_id=18912...

[Edited on 6-27-2005 by BajaNomad]

movinguy - 6-27-2005 at 10:36 AM

Quote:

PS-I'm with Dave, most all Baja wines are overpriced and/or underachieving. Argentina and Chile are kicking their collective arses.

[Edited on 6-27-2005 by Hook]


De acuerdo - try these guys too:

http://www.conchaytorousa.com/wines/diablo.html

Inexpensive and widely available . . .:cool:

Vinisterra Domino

sylens - 6-28-2005 at 06:23 PM

Winetasting at Pyramid was Vinisterra wines, I believe.

Check out www.vinisterra.com

The Domino (red, white and rosada) is their line of wines to introduce non wine drinkers to the joys of wine. They also make a wonderful Tempranillo.

BTW Santo Tomas has also come out with a new, simple wine, called ST, supposedly for the novice wine drinkers...

Lili

yankeeirishman - 6-28-2005 at 06:33 PM

http://www.chiff.com/wine/n-america/baja.htm

Nice descriptions here of the wine suppliers of Baja.

bajalera - 6-28-2005 at 11:10 PM

Great! This is just exactly the kind of info I was hoping for.
My thanks to you all.

Lera

Dave - 6-29-2005 at 06:32 PM

Well, I was going to write that I found Cetto Nebbiolo at COSTCO for 82 pesos and that's a fair price but...

I just tasted it and it isn't. The 2000 vintage isn't worth half that.

Price and storage issues

Gypsy Jan - 6-29-2005 at 07:21 PM

I have been privileged to taste high end wines in many settings where they were kept in optimum storage situations.

But, when it comes to buying an enjoyable and tasty wine from a mass market retailer, whether it is Costco, Gigante, Comercial Mexicana, Calimax or (in the U.S.) Trader Joe's; my advice is to buy the lowest cost bottle available (unless you know from experience that it is terrible).

The reason is that the lowest price bottles go out the door the fastest and are replenished the fastest, so you have a better chance of a pleasurable wine experience.

[Edited on 6-30-2005 by Gypsy Jan]

[Edited on 6-30-2005 by Gypsy Jan]

[Edited on 6-30-2005 by Gypsy Jan]

bajalera - 6-29-2005 at 09:58 PM

And if they don't pan out, at least is wasn't an expensive experience. Sounds like good advice.

movinguy - 6-30-2005 at 09:10 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Gypsy Jan
I have been privileged to taste high end wines in many settings where they were kept in optimum storage situations.

But, when it comes to buying an enjoyable and tasty wine from a mass market retailer, whether it is Costco, Gigante, Comercial Mexicana, Calimax or (in the U.S.) Trader Joe's; my advice is to buy the lowest cost bottle available (unless you know from experience that it is terrible).

The reason is that the lowest price bottles go out the door the fastest and are replenished the fastest, so you have a better chance of a pleasurable wine experience.



Unless obtained direct from the winery, most Baja wines have been transported/stored under, shall we say, unpredictable conditions. You can cook a bottle of red pretty quickly in the summer.

I cringe when I see people buying $100 bottles of Bordeaux at Costco - don't know where that's been stored either . . . :no:

dono - 7-1-2005 at 06:36 AM

Lera do you ever go to Costco in Cabo? they have alot of good Mexican and chilean wines aroud $5 to $10 that are very drinkable also City Club has some good wines at a good price