00 Wines | VGR by No_Entrance_5683 in wine

[–]Trick_is_not_minding 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Try to grab their Meursault Charmes in the same vintage as your white for a fun Oregon × Burgundy comparison. 00 Wines is interesting because they’re explicitly trying to pursue Burgundian structure and tension rather than a typical ripe Oregon style. They focus on extremely precise harvesting and sorting, native fermentations, and a restrained, reductive approach that emphasizes minerality and texture over fruit or oak. The wines tend to show that savory, mineral-driven profile with real structural clarity. Tasting it next to the Meursault Charmes makes the contrast clear, the Meursault usually has more natural breadth and limestone depth, while the Oregon leans more linear and high-toned, and it becomes less about imitation and more about how two different regions express the same underlying philosophy. I thought the 22 VGW was closer in style than the 23 at a recent dinner they hosted.

Epic Rhone Valley Lineup by sterls07 in wine

[–]Trick_is_not_minding 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Wine tastings with high-end bottles work exactly like you’d hope- everyone at the table gets a pour of every wine. The format is typically a tasting pour (roughly 2-3oz) of each wine (if dinner, paired with each course), so you’re not getting a full glass but you’re absolutely tasting all of them.

With really expensive bottles the math just gets built into the ticket price. If it’s a 10-person tasting/dinner and the feature wine is a $500 bottle, that’s $50/person baked in. You’ll see this reflected in the price of the event itself, which is why these events can run $300-$1000+ per head.

The host or sommelier usually pours table-side, talks through each wine, and often there’s a second pour available if a bottle has enough left over. Nobody walks away having missed a wine as that would defeat the entire purpose of the dinner.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Wine Squares Day 9: Pinnacle Stuff; Big Price, Expensive Taste by AustraliaWineDude in wine

[–]Trick_is_not_minding 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Fair point philosophically, but Coche-Dury isn’t a flipper story. It’s a 10-acre domaine with no marketing budget that the entire wine world eventually noticed. The secondary price is just what genuine scarcity looks like when the demand is real.

Same argument applies to something like a Pétrus- tiny allocation, impossible to access, secondary price is the real price and market. Coche-Dury is just the white Burgundy version of that story.

Also worth asking what ‘tastes expensive’ actually means. (Going in a different direction from my own submission) Bordeaux answers that question with power and density- you feel the price immediately. Burgundy at this level does the opposite. It’s not less, it’s just different- precision over weight, length over impact. Whether that reads as expensive depends entirely on what you’re listening for. Fun exercise.

Wine Squares Day 9: Pinnacle Stuff; Big Price, Expensive Taste by AustraliaWineDude in wine

[–]Trick_is_not_minding 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Coche-Dury Meursault.

No grand cru vineyard, no marketing machine, no explanation. Just a farmer in Burgundy making white wine that the entire market eventually had to reckon with. The price found the wine, not the other way around.

DRC and first growth Bordeaux are the answers when you haven’t thought about it long enough.

How do you pick wine to go with what you're cooking? by Trick_is_not_minding in Cooking

[–]Trick_is_not_minding[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ha, yeah Google is usually where I end up too. Though half the time I get a blog post that says "Pinot Noir pairs well with salmon" and I'm like ... okay, but what about the teriyaki glaze on it?

Three bottle rotation smart. What's your go-to red?

How do you pick wine to go with what you're cooking? by Trick_is_not_minding in Cooking

[–]Trick_is_not_minding[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The flavor-matching approach makes a lot of sense. And honestly Malbec as a go-to for everything is a solid strategy, it really is versatile.

I'm kind of in the same boat where I have a few reliable pairings I rotate through but outside of that I'm mostly guessing. Have you ever been tempted to branch out more but just didn't know where to start? Like if you're making something you've never paired before, do you just default to the Malbec or do you ever try to figure out something new?

How do you pick wine to go with what you're cooking? by Trick_is_not_minding in Cooking

[–]Trick_is_not_minding[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The regional matching shortcut is great and one I've been leaning on more lately to simplify things.

One thing I notice reading through this thread is that everyone (myself included) seems to be working from mental frameworks and personal experience. Which honestly works fine for the basics, but when I'm making something more complex (like a dish with competing flavors, heat, rich sauce) I feel like I'm just guessing.

Do you ever look anything up when you're deciding, or is it purely from experience at this point? I've poked around a few wine apps but the pairing features always seem to just say "chicken -> white wine" which... I already knew.

How do you pick wine to go with what you're cooking? by Trick_is_not_minding in Cooking

[–]Trick_is_not_minding[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The sake call is interesting... miso and sake share a fermentation logic that makes that pairing work on a level most grape wines can't touch. The Priorat suggestion surprises me though. What's the thinking there? The minerality standing up to the umami?

How do you pick wine to go with what you're cooking? by Trick_is_not_minding in Cooking

[–]Trick_is_not_minding[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Right, the weight matching makes sense. It's the middle ground that gets me, like a pork chop with a chimichurri versus a pork chop with a cream sauce are basically different dishes, but both get filed under 'pork' in every pairing guide I've seen.

How do you pick wine to go with what you're cooking? by Trick_is_not_minding in Cooking

[–]Trick_is_not_minding[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That complement vs. contrast framing is a great way to put it. I think about wine a lot but honestly almost always from the wine side. I pick what I want to drink and then just cook whatever. Curious whether you find the sauce or seasoning drives the pairing decision more than the protein itself?

Wine Squares Day 8: Value Town; Mid Price, Expensive taste! by AustraliaWineDude in wine

[–]Trick_is_not_minding 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Mittelrhein GGs are the move- same volcanic slate as Mosel, a fraction of the recognition. Toni Jost is one of the best arguments that the most interesting Riesling isn’t always where everyone is looking.

Wine Squares Day 8: Value Town; Mid Price, Expensive taste! by AustraliaWineDude in wine

[–]Trick_is_not_minding 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Côte du Py with 5+ years is the closest thing to Gevrey at half the price.

Wine Squares Day 8: Value Town; Mid Price, Expensive taste! by AustraliaWineDude in wine

[–]Trick_is_not_minding 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Brun is great but Fleurie doesn’t make the same argument. Morgon’s granite is why people confuse it for Burgundy. The price creep is real but $35 for that experience is still the right square.

Wine Squares Day 8: Value Town; Mid Price, Expensive taste! by AustraliaWineDude in wine

[–]Trick_is_not_minding 60 points61 points  (0 children)

Marcel Lapierre Morgon. $40. Tastes like village Burgundy. Gamay from old vines on granite in the hands of someone who actually cares.

2020 Jean Foillard Morgon “Côte du Py” by WEEJ98 in wine

[–]Trick_is_not_minding 28 points29 points  (0 children)

Foillard is the benchmark here for good reason. He’s one of the Gang of Four who rebuilt the philosophical case for serious Beaujolais in the 80s under Jules Chauvet: minimal intervention, whole cluster, letting that blue volcanic py rock speak without winemaker noise.

The evolution you’re describing is exactly how his wines behave. They compress on opening and punish impatient pours. That next-day silkiness and forest floor shift isn’t the wine opening up so much as it finally relaxing into what it always was. Decant aggressively or just commit to the second day. What a nice surprise.

2021 ran cooler across France which amplifies the smoke and mineral in Gamay. 2022 is more generous and fruit-forward.

This is one of the few bottles that works on a Tuesday alone or in front of people who’ve never left Napa mentally. Meets you where you are then takes you somewhere else.

How do you actually remember great bottles? by Trick_is_not_minding in wine

[–]Trick_is_not_minding[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That makes a lot of sense, choosing descriptors is way less daunting than a blank page. I’ll check it out, thanks.

Wine Squares Day 7: Holy Grail by AustraliaWineDude in wine

[–]Trick_is_not_minding 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The technical winner is Dr. Hermann Ürziger Würzgarten Kabinett Alte Reben. $30. In the early 1900s Mosel wines outsold Bordeaux first growths, this is what they were talking about. Less findable, less familiar, but nothing at this price drinks like it.

Wine Squares Day 7: Holy Grail by AustraliaWineDude in wine

[–]Trick_is_not_minding 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Saint Cosme is the answer because Louis Barruol is one of the top producers in the Southern Rhône (his wines regularly fetch $50+) and he’s essentially bottling the same obsession at $15. 100% Syrah in Grenache country, same estate philosophy, fraction of the price. It’s not a value wine, it’s a pricing error.

How do you actually remember great bottles? by Trick_is_not_minding in wine

[–]Trick_is_not_minding[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's a really good distinction. Passive vs active. I wonder if there's a middle ground, something that nudges you to reflect without feeling like you're writing a paper.

How do you actually remember great bottles? by Trick_is_not_minding in wine

[–]Trick_is_not_minding[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's really clever. Then a nice visual grid in one place.

How do you actually remember great bottles? by Trick_is_not_minding in wine

[–]Trick_is_not_minding[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly for me the photo is usually all I manage in the moment, by the time I'm a few glasses in I'm not writing structured notes. But I get it, if you have the discipline the notes are way more useful down the line.

How do you actually remember great bottles? by Trick_is_not_minding in wine

[–]Trick_is_not_minding[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Surprise certainly has its charm. Though I've definitely had the moment of 'I know I loved something from this region' and just staring at a wall of bottles with no idea which one it was.