New to Wine

czz on 09/09/2019 - 11:35
Last edited 09/09/2019 - 13:14 by 1 other user

Hi guys,
I'm curious and interested in wine. I tried ocean eight pinot gris and really enjoyed the dry and smoothness of it, though abit expensive for my budget at $30 a bottle! I tried Jacobs creek riesling at $10 but found it abit to sour for my liking. Anyone can recommend me some cheaper alternative or any wines to try as I'm very open minded.

Came across these two deals, what you reckon?

$120 for hand crafted wines plus two free wine glass
https://www.virginwines.com.au/jsp/offer/recr/au/vir/offer_t…

$54 for 12 aussie wines
https://www.groupon.com.au/deals/just-wines-717842590

Poll Options

  • 1
    Virgin deal
  • 1
    Groupon deal
Food & Grocery Wine

Comments

  • DemocracyManifest on 09/09/2019 - 11:44

    Got to Liquorland and try the wines on special - half price to 40% etc, there's clearances as well atm. The Jacobs Creek Classic Range is pretty rubbish, what you tried is normally $7 a bottle on special. Try the Ned, Rapaura, Robinsons, The People's, AURA, Land of the Giants, Yalumba Y Series. All pretty good for the price esp when on sale.

    I'm not particularly impressed with most bottled reds, I'm a fan of the Yalumba Premium 2L cask. Pretty solid red for the price, $12 on sale at BWS normally.

    • czz on 09/09/2019 - 14:17

      Haha ok cheers mate :)

  • DemocracyManifest on 09/09/2019 - 11:46
    +1

    Those deals could be rubbish, Grays Online can sometimes have better deals. Been a while since a good wine sale. Got a nice box of well known Rose for export for about 30 once

    • salmon123 on 09/09/2019 - 12:29
      +1

      Grays Online

      You can pick up cases on Auction for <$30 delivered. They can be hit and miss though, but it's your best opportunity to try a bunch of wines.

  • boomramada on 09/09/2019 - 11:51
    +1

    If you NEW to wine, I would suggest you to go BWS/DM or something and get some wine as you needed and more varieties :)

  • Fergy1987 on 09/09/2019 - 11:56
    +2

    Check out Vinomofo - Not associated but always got great wine from them.

  • kingsville on 09/09/2019 - 11:59
    +2

    try a $7 nz sauv blanc from BWS/Liquorland - name is Koa / Wahu

    https://bws.com.au/product/777485/koa-sauvignon-blanc
    https://www.liquorland.com.au/white-wine/wahu-marlborough-sa…

  • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 09/09/2019 - 12:06
    +4

    Neither. Go to Dans or BWS. Buy a variety in different price brackets. Taste them all consecutively. Notice the differences. Find the style you like, buy a cheap, mid range and expensive bottle in that style. Taste them consecutively in the one sitting (with others to share!). Notice the differences. Read up and learn the differences. Welcome to the world of wine.

  • crentist on 09/09/2019 - 12:08
    +1

    El Toro Macho Reserva - $8 from Aldi

  • serpserpserp on 09/09/2019 - 12:13
    +4

    To be honest, the world of wine is so large and fickle from season to season that if I find something I really like I don't mind paying for it. At $30 a bottle I'd rather buy that and drink a bottle I will really really enjoy, then buy 2x $15 bottles of something which is okay to drink.

    Same theory applies to cheeses that you will eat with the wine ;)

    Keep an eye out and maybe your Oceans Eight drop might go on sale one day and stock up!

    • czz on 09/09/2019 - 14:26

      Cheers for the tip.

      If that day comes, someone is listening <3

  • HardlyCharly on 09/09/2019 - 12:27
    -1

    They all taste pretty much the same when they're poured into your cooking, the only good use for alcohol.

    • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 09/09/2019 - 12:29
      +3

      Well, they don't actually. Different varieties impart different flavours.

      …not to mention the alcohol part is boiled off.

  • brad1-8tsi on 09/09/2019 - 12:34
    +2

    The Jacobs Creek Classic Reisling is a fair value quaffer for the $6 it often sells for in Dan Murphys. Did you have the 2019?

    I buy from Naked Wines. I do their Wine Angel $40/month thing and buy a mixed case when I get to $160 in the "bank". I usually shop in the $10-$20 range. I like that you are helping young(ish) winemakers.
    I can thoroughly recommend the Army of Grapes Riesling (dry), The Rabbit & Spagetti, Made by Mobbs or Boy Meets Girl range, anything by Randal Tomich, R.Paulazzo, . Those are what I can remember. Keep in mind I mainly like chardonnay, dry riesling and pinot noir.

    I've had wines that weren't to my taste but no bad wines. I can probably get you a new customer discount code for $100 if you want to try them.

    If I'm at Dan Murphys then it's a bit of a crap shoot as I prefer not to buy house brands (and still don't know who owns what).

    Kirrihill Clare valley Reisling is nice (and half price for members at the moment).

    Elephant in The Room or Butterball Chardonnay are both nice.

    I can't find a good Pinot Noir in Aus for <$18

    Have a look at outstandingwines.blogspot.com He's my old wine guy I bought from for 20 years and then he retired. He still puts a few reviews up of "affordable wines".

  • orangetrain on 09/09/2019 - 12:42
    +1

    Go on a winery tour.

    Or pick any 6 in a bottle shop.

  • GG57 on 09/09/2019 - 13:07
    +2

    As OP has found, it is all about personal preferences.
    Some of the online deals are ok, but I think you need to know a little about what is being offered to determine if a deal or not.
    Visiting a winery at this stage for a cellar door tasting is not really going to help in identifying the style(s) of wine that OP likes.

    To determine your own preferences, I would visit some retail outlets that offer tastings (Vintage Cellars, Dan Murphy, IGA, etc.). Make a note of the style(s) or grape varieties of wines that you like and, equally importantly, the styles you don't like. And don't forget that a Shiraz from Heathcote will be different to a Hunter Valley Shiraz, etc. Note what you like and don't like (tannins, sweetness, etc.)

    Then delve into those that you enjoyed. Talk to the salespeople and ask for a recommendation or two. If there are local wines in that mix, get out to those wineries and taste some different vintages. Talk to winemakers.

    The best bit is probably in the journey.

  • DarthAntz on 09/09/2019 - 13:46

    Get a brita water filter and pour the wine through it first.

    • OBEY YOUR MASTERS on 10/09/2019 - 09:53

      That's an interesting idea. Does it improve the taste or filter out unwanted nasties?

      • DarthAntz on 10/09/2019 - 11:33

        improves the taste. Its been known to turn cheap awful liquor (wine and spirits) into something palatable. At the cost of the filter, as you can't go filtering different alcohols without it leaving a residual taste that contaminates the next thing you filter.

        • try2bhelpful on 10/09/2019 - 11:51

          I have one of the aerator thingies which seems to work reasonably well. You can also get a reasonable effect by pouring back and forth between a couple of glasses. I would be interested in the effect of coffee filters, rather than Brita ones, as well. Some food for thought.

          • DarthAntz on 10/09/2019 - 11:59

            @try2bhelpful: I've read the suggestion that the more you filter, the better the taste. So pouring it through a brita filter (off coffee filter, aerator thingy) two or more times will improve the taste.

            You will look weird if you have a brita jug full of wine in your fridge though.

            • try2bhelpful on 10/09/2019 - 12:11

              @DarthAntz: Some wines get some pretty nasty volatiles and/or crunchy bits in them. The aerating and filtering seems to help. Just tell people the Brita jug is a fancy decanter:). What might work, reasonably well, is to pour the wine into a soda stream bottle if you intend to use in the next couple of days, they have reasonable seals.

  • myusername on 09/09/2019 - 14:47
    +1

    try some chateau de carboard

  • czz on 09/09/2019 - 14:48

    Thank you guys, this is such a wealth of information I can get cracking.

    I'll be making a list of wines to buy from your suggestions and definitely will be going to outlets that offer wine sampling.

    Winery tours sounds like fun and educational. I'm based in Victoria? Where should I go? Yarra valley?

    • GG57 on 09/09/2019 - 14:54

      Where to go is the quandary; Yarra Valley wines are different to Mornington Peninsula wines, or Grampians wines, or Heathcote wines, etc.

      Tours are fun, and you can probably try 3 - 6 wines at each stop.

  • weezlebub on 09/09/2019 - 15:37
    +1

    If you don't mind drinking out of a box, I'd recommend the berri rose …

    Not quite as sweet as reisling, but quite drinkable (lolly-water on a budget)

    • Dave Id on 14/09/2019 - 03:20

      Not always easy to get hold of,compared to the rest of the Berri 5 Liter range.

      Well worth trying.

  • TheMindsetTraveller on 09/09/2019 - 15:52

    Wine can be an expensive hobby but worthwhile if you really get into it and enjoy it.

    There are thousands upon thousands of options out there and the best you can do is sample as many as you can and just stock up on the ones you really like. Many of us, in our lifetime, will only scratch a tiny sample of what the world has to offer.

    As mentioned above, buy and stock wines that you like rather than going to quantity. I started collecting and stocking up my cellar in the last 24 months, and have around 150 bottles at the moment but can honestly say 80% of what I have is cr*p.

    When we sample wine, we try to get 3-6 bottles of the same grape type (doesn't matter the region really) opened at the same time and tasted to see which one we prefer.

  • [Deactivated] on 09/09/2019 - 16:52

    Bowlers run, $2.99 a bottle

    • try2bhelpful on 09/09/2019 - 18:08

      You can do worse.

    • OBEY YOUR MASTERS on 10/09/2019 - 09:55

      I found that it was giving me headaches when I tried it a couple of years ago. Might be ok now??

      • [Deactivated] on 10/09/2019 - 10:59

        You may have been doing it wrong, its designed to be drunk on the bus ride home

  • try2bhelpful on 09/09/2019 - 18:15
    +2

    If you want to try a few wines, and get a bit of an education, I would suggest trying the Armadale Cellars twenty wines for $30. The wines usually retail for less than $20 and, if you buy a dozen, you often get a 20% discount on the wines. They also give you a bit of a chat on what you are tasting in relation to the variety. At worst you are out 30 dollars and have tasted 20 wines. We always take a tram and taste rather than drink. We tend to buy the dozen.

    https://armadalecellars.weteachme.com/classes/1020431-twenty…

    • czz on 09/09/2019 - 19:57

      Thanks that's awesome! What price range are the bottles?

      • try2bhelpful on 10/09/2019 - 08:45

        I haven’t been for a while but they are, generally, between $10 and $20. I wouldn’t rush in too hard, just attend, taste and listen and then buy something if you really like it. I’m not affiliated with Armadale cellars, I’ve just been to a few of their events. If you can lock onto it then the barrel haul sale for Giant steps, Innocent Bystander, can be good too. Also wineries will have cleanskins that are worth looking at. However, we did find with Rutherglen the local IGA seemed to have the best prices.

        Also have a look at the Armadale cellars Cru dinner. I haven’t been to the current restaurant but they are, usually, a hoot. Lots of food, and wine, for $59. The wines are their house wines, but sourced from decent wineries. This is, definitely, a don’t drive deal.

  • lainey13 on 09/09/2019 - 20:20
    +1

    You need to try different TYPES of wine first. Look up wine charts, they will rate types of wines by sweet, dry etc. Then you can go up and down the charts merrily trying all different things and eliminate types you don't like.
    Personally I hate wine but here are ones I've actually liked:
    Moscato - Innocent Bystander, Mad Fish
    Sparkling - Zibbibo by Brown Brothers
    Shiraz - Taylors Jaraman (with all the medals on it)

    • try2bhelpful on 10/09/2019 - 08:51

      You might want to try Sangria, as well. You put it in a jug with a bunch of cut up fruit. Terrific on a hot sunny day. The Innocent Bystander Moscato goes down way too easily. Before it became popular we went to the Barrel Haul sale and they were selling the 750ml bottles for $5, absolute bargain.

  • thereyougo on 10/09/2019 - 07:55

    You could try Naked wines https://www.nakedwines.com.au
    I've had some great wine from these guys for the last 6 months. I like that you can read about the wine before you buy, people leave reviews as well which helps to weed out the crap from the tasty. I still go to Dan's for a top up, can't beat their prices. I'm not affiliated with Naked Wines, I just enjoy their wine.

  • OBEY YOUR MASTERS on 10/09/2019 - 09:56
    -1

    You can't go too far wrong with Wolf Blass red or yellow label particularly if they are on special.

  • bluesky on 10/09/2019 - 15:06
    +1

    Dan Murphy has in-store tastings. This is a great way to familiarise with wines. And if you chance across wines you like, you can buy them. Make sure you also sign up as a Dan Murphy member, so you can get the wines at member discounts, when they are offered.

    For e.g., a few days ago at a DM tasting, I came across this Rabo de Galo from Portugal, which stood out for price, taste, and value ($9.99). The advantage of getting wines after tasting them is you already know how they taste, which reduces the chance of disappointment.

    Do visit Yarra Valley if you can, it is one of my favourite places. Just a few places I recommend:

    • Innocent Bystander - taste their Pink Moscato (free) and others.
    • De Bortoli - taste their Noble One and Black Noble (note these are sweet and dessert wines), and others. A $5 fee for tasting, which is refundable with purchase.
    • Yarra Yering - has free (cheaper wines) and paid (premium wines) tasting.
    • Ezard on Levantine Hill - you pay $10 for tasting, but the wines cost like $80-$200.

    A really fun day out, most of these have cafes, so you can get something to eat as well. Plenty other nice places too, like Oakridge, Rochford Wines, Domain Chandon etc.

  • HeWhoKnows on 10/09/2019 - 18:28
    +1

    Keep trying the fortnightly half price wine specials at Liquorland.
    In fact some of the half price $5 specials are quite good!

  • strikerzebra on 14/09/2019 - 02:41

    Look at bws online, sort by price and buy anything with 4 stars or more and you should jbe able to find something you like

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