Pick me a wine for surf and turf

[howzit]

yeah yeah yeah, cakebread overated. STILL DELICIOUS! hopefully everybody will think it's overrated and the price will drop back down.

rundown, the adage of cook with what you drink applies for you.

start with wines that are easy to drink and pair off with simple dishes. this is generally young whites and reds...alsace rieslings, sauvignon blancs (NZ and burgundy vs. cali). pinot noirs and merlots from all over the world. then move up to viogniers, zinfandels, malbecs, cab francs chardonnays, and then the heavy hitters. new world cabernet savignon and the first/second growth bordeauxs, super tuscans, and barolos.

for cooking, i started by incorporating the wine into something i was making. a vinigrette with a splash of riesling or sauvignon blanc and work on distinguishing the different ingredients. mussels are v. simple to make and a good dry white wine is the way to go. pasta sauces are also easy to make with endless combos of wine/spices/ingredients. keep the heavy work load dishes like rack of lamb with reduced sauces, roasted duck, with demiglazing techniques for later. that way you'll be comfortable around the kitchen and confident with your selection. it'll also keep you from getting burnt out trying to make a 5-star 4 course meal every week.

i like to start with the food, then choose the wine.

[epdaws]

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yeah yeah yeah, cakebread overated. STILL DELICIOUS! hopefully everybody will think it's overrated and the price will drop back down.

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Agreed. And I fear I'm having the same issue with Darioush.

Mrs. epdaws knows how to Christmas shop: Darioush Cab, Shiraz (named as such for the Iranian owner's home town) and Viognier.

[howzit]

wine is marked up anywhere from 50-300% so that $55 merlot you're eyeing on the wine list retails arounds $18-20. the most ridiculous wine list i've ever seen was when some guy cartered out a ferrari-carano chardonnay for $200, retailing for around $25. the funny thing was i was pretty young when that happened so for years i thought ferrari-carano was one of the best wineries.

the actual "value" you get in restaurants is at the higher end where something like a silver oak/shafer can't be marked up as much as it's already expensive. so a $100/bbl at the retailer would go for something like $150-180. obsecure maritages (blends) and new world stuff (argentina, chile, australia) usually have good value in the restaurants cuz customers don't know the names of good producers. name brand = markup.

my wine retailer told me that cakebread allots a majority of their annual production to restaurants so it's kind of hard to find in local shops.

[howzit]

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Mrs. epdaws knows how to Christmas shop: Darioush Cab, Shiraz (named as such for the Iranian owner's home town) and Viognier.

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nice catch.

[milliondollaz]

ok, the wine i bought was not called los gascos.

it's called Don Miguel Gascon. 2004 Malbec from Argentina.

Samsonite...I was way off!

edit:this thread is out of my league...for now

[epdaws]

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edit:this thread is out of my league...for now

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Well, Diablo and howzit are out of most of our leagues. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] But just keep drinking and learning what you like. You will be amazed at how quickly your understanding will grow.

[Cubswin]

They had niether of the two wines. I ended up going with a cheapo Pinot (Blackstone) and the Clicquot. She'll prolly just end up drinking only champagne anyways. Thanks for the input everyone!

[MrMon]

Champagne is highly underutilized as a meal wine. I think it's perfect in this situation.

[milliondollaz]

Where do you guys buy your wine?

as for online, OOT mentioned K&L Wine Merchants before, but a quick search for 'Clos du Bois' only revealed one wine. So maybe I'm not ready to step up to K&L, unless I'm doing it wrong by seaching for stuff I know...

wine.woot.com is awesome, but where do you guys buy your wine? Local wine store? Trader Joe's? I like the idea of online, but only because I think it's cheaper. Am I wrong?

[El Diablo]

ep: "I'd imagine the markup is much higher in high-end restaurants." I think, on average, it's actually less markup at higher end restaurants and on higher end wines.

ep, howz: Darioush is one of my favorite wines, but imo one of the most overpriced out there. I rarely get it for that reason.

million: K&L is my local wine store, a couple of blocks away. I didn't even know they sold online. I buy all my wine from either there or Safeway or the winery. When buying lower priced stuff from K&L, I rarely look for anything specific and just have them recommend stuff or get their Staff Picks. I know a lot of folks order from bevmo.com. Not sure if buying online is any cheaper.