We’ve discussed food here at the blog. We’ve mentioned beer preferences. We’ve recommended bourbons and whiskeys.
One thing we haven’t touched on here, though, is wine. How many of you are fans of the grape? Red, white, rosé — what do you like? What about the memorable bottle(s) you’ve tasted? Is there a wine that works at a tailgate?
Have at it in the comments.
Get The Picture 
I enjoy a nice Boone’s Farm Strawberry. Excellent for those keen on regurgitation
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I haven’t swilled that since high school, when I moved on to the classier stuff, like Mateus. 😉
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You Virginia guys, always the wine snobs. Congrats on the NC. I’m no UVa fan, but it’s hard for a BBall fan to not like Tony Bennett or the way his teams play
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I’ve followed UVa basketball for 45+ years. Never thought I’d see this day come.
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As a former C’ville resident, I too was excited about the win. Tony Bennett and his family are a classy as they come. Matter of fact we lived just a few houses down from him in a particular Keswick area community and got to know him a bit before moving. Great, great guy and was a nice departure from a few previous HC’s in particular.
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I heard Pete Gillen on the toob before the game and instinctively cringed.
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Don’t forget about Dave Leitao – very mediocre coach and not a particularly nice guy from what I heard from the locals.
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Great win for the Hoos! Proud to have the Bennetts in Glenmore CC for a brief stint.
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Yep, thats where we lived. Are you a Glenmore resident? We still have some good friends there.
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My parents live there, so my family and I make it up to visit them a couple times per year. Was just up last week and picked up Final Four shirts – may have to return soon to get some more!
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And yes, with my folks on Avebury Ln, it’s a small world indeed. As a huge Dawg fan and longtime reader of this blog, I never would have imagined that the famous 3rdandGrantham would have ties to Glenmore.
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This makes me feel better about watching nearly every UGA football/basketball game for the past 20 years. IS THIS YOUR YEAR?!?! (Heavily knocking on wood)
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Most people don’t like the way his team plays.
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Once, when I was 17…
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Boone’s Farm was the second choice for us high schoolers going to the 5th Quarter’s drive thru. Swiss Miss was number 1.
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Wow! Just reading the words “Boone’s Farm” brings back a flood of memories from about 50 years ago. I was 14 the first time a partook of that fine vintage. First time I vomited from too much alcohol consumption. Good times. By the time I was 15, I had “matured” and moved on to other forms of alcohol.
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Yeeeesssiiiirrrr! BF Strawberry Hill. Goes down easy on a hot summer day. Comes back up fast. A valuable learning experience at 15.
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Just hearing the name of that rot gut makes my stomach queasy.
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Indeed it was, Ranger. I stumbled into my parents bedroom, thinking it was mine and promptly threw up on their beige carpet. All that pink puke. My mom was mortified, my dad just said : “go to bed”. I thought I had gotten away with it until my dad woke me up the next morning and put me on the roof cleaning out the gutters. Not just getting the leaves and pine straw out, he made me scrub them with soap and water until they were clean and shiny. As hungover as I was, it was a miracle I didn’t fall off the roof. Definitely a learning experience.
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Obviously a lesson you didn’t forget. I stayed away from that asshole I called Daddy anytime I wasn’t working with him. Grew up near the Broad River and hid there when I was up to no good. Gurkha D, I spent a great deal of time on that river. Hehehe.
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Understood Ranger. For me it was the Savannah River. The big lesson I learned from all that is: Don’t get caught!
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MD 20/20…come and get you sum…..
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good one….but if you wanna get your money’s worth, try King Cotton, I preferred Peach. Hard to find these days, but you can always find Wild Irish Rose for a good buzz.
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Red Lady 21
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Was the perfect addition to the bucket of Kentucky Fried and the case of Bud floating behind the raft while floating down the Chattahoochee in the seventies.
There are actually some pretty good clips on you tube if you search Great American Raft Race. Good times.
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raft race was always good times
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Yep. And it wasn’t just the race weekend although that was iconic. You could rent a raft at Johnson’s Ferry and take it down to I think 41 and leave it with the rental company there. I don’t remember how many times we did that without a clue on how we would get home.
I love listening to the old WQXI recordings on you tube. You really can see how WKRP was created. And some of the old articles are great as well. There will never be another Creative Loafing.
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Ha… as an aside… anybody remember Good Times in Buckhead.
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Is that the place that served burgers in a flower pot?
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I see what you did there.
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I may have conflated a magazine with a restaurant… 40 years.
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That was actually Good Ol’ Days
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Why did they stop the Great American Raft Race?
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I think because of the crowds and all the crap left in the river. But yeah, it was a fun time. There’s a good article out there that summarizes it as well as the videos.
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A high school buddy dashed out of a convenience store with a bottle of Boone’s tucked under his shirt. A quarter of the way through the bottle I told him he should take it back, we finished it instead. Death would have been welcomed relief from my suffering the next day.
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The Missus is somewhat of a wine snob. If we open one and she doesn’t like it? Well, you can’t really put the cork back in can you…
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A nice MD20/20 complemented a bag of Cheetos quite well on a couple of 1980 trips to Loopers Bridge.
My pallete has since evolved to a good Rhône River valley Riesling Spatelase when and if I waver from WL Weller.
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I like my Reislings Trocken and prefer those of the Rhine region, Moe. I’ve enjoyed it on a warm spring day beside the Rhine with an amazing woman and I’ll tell you all this: Anybody who wasn’t me that day was sucking the hind teat.
Not too bad for a beat up farm boy from Banks County.
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And for the tailgate? Get a big bottle of an inexpensive Chardonnay and bury it in the cooler. Keep a second on standby. Your lady friends will thank you for it.
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I did a vineyard tour on the Saar River 85’ and learned that wine is better when not purchased at a gas station and it can leave you wanting more instead wanting to never again.
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MD 20/20 is best served during a full moon so when you are outside on the lawn howling it does not draw as much attention
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Mad Dawg 20/20 is a perfect substitute mixer instead of grapefruit juice for Smirnoff 100 proof if your goal is-
Puke purple on the shoes of a gorgeous redhead.
Wake up in a cold shower in the barracks latrine.
Another valuable lesson at the age of 20.
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These discussions bring up a whole lot of old memories (or at least what my friends told me happened). I think we can all be very thankful that cell phones with cameras were not everywhere during our time in Athens. The only way to record something in those days was a camcorder that was the size of a small suitcase. Ah, the good old anonymous days. Gave us all plausible deniability unless the cops were right there then “it” happened.
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You got that right.
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There are only two letters between howling and hurling you know. And about two swallows….
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In June of 1983 at Panama City Beach (HS Graduation trip), I went toe-to-toe with a bottle of MD 20/20. I lost.
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There’s no shame there. Mad Dog is a worthy adversary….
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I mainly drink Chardonnay. And yes, even bring it it to tailgates. My buddies mock me for it but the ladies in the group love me for it…….guess which one I focus on? 😉
I’m one of the rare dudes I guess who just doesn’t care for beer. Never have. There are some beers I’ll drink on occasion, but for the most part if I’m the one buying, I’m gonna buy what I enjoy, and that’s wine. My favorite is Cabernet, but the red wines give me a pounding headache, so like I said above, I drink more Chardonnay than anything.
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I don’t think it’s the grapes giving you that headache Reverend.
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Haha, it’s the tannins in the reds that get me, I believe. I like the bolder reds but the more bold, the more tannins. Drinking the same amount of red wine definitely makes me feel worse the next morning than the same amount of white does, even with similar alcohol contents.
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Them tannins is hell, ain’t they Reverend?
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I actually went on Amazon and tried some of the drops that you can add to red wine for that. Drop It is the brand I got, and it has helped a lot with the red wine headaches. I don’t feel like I have to start worrying about it after a 3rd glass. It’s nice, because I generally prefer red to white.
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Rev. Whitewall, have you tried any organic wines? An acquaintance told me that she doesn’t get headaches after drinking organic. I wouldn’t know. I don’t drink anymore because of the medications I take, but it might be worth trying.
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I have. They have less sulphites, which helps with the headaches. I’m just cheap and don’t like paying the extra for every day wine. 🙂
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A fine, six week old Mogen David XX/XX sets the tone nicely.
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For me wine is like music. I don’t care about the genre as long as it’s good.
But at a tailgate? Before a football game? Non.
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Agreed, we are Bulldog fans, not dogs as in Huskies. A USCw friend of mine always gave crap to Washington fans about the way they tailgate. I would like to see UGA travel to Washington, their stadium looks amazing.
I do however generally like my wine like I like my football, red.
Another family friend said I should get into win. I responded I do enjoy it but my beer snobbery has moved to a wine budget, I’d hate see what wine would be like. I generally pick up whichever Malbec catches my eye and am happily naive as to nuances that makes other choices better.
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Amen! Wine at a UGA tailgate (except for the ladies) is like a tuxedo at a tractor pull. Some things just don’t go together.
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Penfolds Grange remains the best wine I’ve ever had, and I’ve been lucky enough to have it on several occasions. The mrs. and I primarily stick to the heavier reds like Cabs and Syrah, though lighter yet dry reds also are nice on warm summer days outside, I must say. We definitely don’t like anything sweet, thus for white wines we stick to Sauvignon blancs; mainly the New Zealand ones.
As far as everyday stuff or decent yet cheap stuff to drink at tailgates, South American wines remain the best value IMO, and there are some really good Argentinian and Chilean wines out there in the $10-15 rage that are borderline outstanding. The red blends in particular are nice as they primarily are dry yet not too heavy, and they pair very well with your typical tailgate spreads. They also satisfy the vast majority of those looking for a casual, drinkable wine – aside from the occasional wine snob (but hey, who wants those types around at tailgates anyway?)
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Totally agree with your palette, red and white. Wife’s b-day was a couple days ago, and her dinner of choice was an 80 year old diner-type restaurant famous for their fresh fish–one of our favorite date night places. We stocked up on a couple New Zealand $12 sauvignon blancs (no wine on the menu, but byow), feasted on redfish and broiled soft shell crabs before heading home to crack open a few cheap beers on the back porch and watch the big UVa win.
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While the comments about Boone’s Farm brought back a flood of memories, I’m not much of a wine guy. I hate that I missed the whiskey discussion, though. Let me know when you have another one of those. 🙂
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My taste buds or olfactory receptors must be deficient. I just don’t get wine. I can drink it just fine, but it doesn’t taste that interesting to me. I never get a hankering for a glass of wine. On the occasion that I’ve had the chance to try a more expensive wine, I’ve decided that in a taste test I could not discern it from a bottle of Two Buck Chuck.
I regularly use wine for cooking, which means that the cheapest bottle from Aldi will do.
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This is one of my favorite Cabs.
https://www.totalwine.com/wine/gift-center/red-wine/cabernet-sauvignon/mascota-vineyards-unanime/p/130007750
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I’m a Pinot Grigio guy when I’m going with the whites. Ecco Domani produces a good product at a fair price, IMO. My favorite red is a sometimes hard-to-find Fluerie; a more complex Beaujolais.
Enough of that shit. Now, gimme some liquor….
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I prefer the red headache, usually, but a nice white headache or perhaps a blush headache can also be refreshing on a hot day.
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Croatian wines (Dingac) are amazing but hard to find in the states. They are grown at roughly the same latitude as Tuscany, so a similar profile, but I think they hav e more complexity.
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Joel, before the Croats and Serbs started shooting at one another there were a lot of very affordable wines being imported from Croatia and Yugolslavia. Not so much anymore.
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Wine has never seemed like a tailgate beverage to me. It’s usually a bit too hot to be drinking wine and football simply demands bourbon. At least, that’s the way my palate seems to work. I do like wine though. My wife and I have made trips through Napa, Sonoma and Tuscany visiting vineyards. I prefer reds. Primarily Cabernet, Pinot Noir and Malbec. Occasionally a Shiraz. I like the Silverado Cabernet. We stayed at the vineyard once and really enjoyed ourselves. The Stag’s Leap Cabernet Artemis is also excellent. This very good with a medium rare standing rib roast from my smoker. On the more affordable end of things, Both Cloudline and La Crema Pinot Noir are $15 to $17 a bottle and are very enjoyable.
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Nice. Wife and I visited Silverado last fall and still have one of their wins in the pantry at home. Learned while there that it’s owned by the Disney family and everyone was frantically running around b/c the they were visiting that day for the harvest.
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That reminds me of a story from my honeymoon.
My wife and I did a B&B tour of California and spent a couple of days in Napa. We visited Sterling, which at the time was owned by Coke. Somebody heard our accents and asked where we were from. You should have seen the backs in the room straighten as soon as my wife said, “Atlanta”.
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Olema cab is always great. Really digging the Paso Robles stuff. Harvester cab is a solid choice.
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You do know Terry Houge has a winery in Paso Robles, right?
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I’m a cheap beer guzzler, but can turn into a wine snob so fast I even surprise myself. Having said that, I prefer cab’s and syrahs–dark, rich, “thick” tasting wines. Orin Swift is doing some amazing things and got lucky to stumble upon his tasting room in St. Helena last fall. Otherwise, I usually play it by ear and surprise myself each time I’m at the store, mainly because we live in one of those few states that don’t allow shipping from your “wine club” back in Napa.
**side story– a friend was a member of one of those wine clubs and always had cases shipped to her office–a government office. Someone at the security desk finally had to confront her and ask her to stop before someone higher up would make them arrest her at work.
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Why would anyone ship to their work?
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Because federal law requires somebody over 21 has to sign for receipt. If there’s nobody home during the week, that doesn’t work.
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Ahh.. I didn’t even think about the 21 to sign thing. Sad it’s the porch thieves that came to mind first!
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Two reasons come to mind– threat of porch thieves, or your wine turns to vinegar sitting in the sun all day. Unfortunately, porch thieves happen in my area every now and then (or at least the rumor of them), so all my online orders/gifts/amazon go to my office.
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You did see the words “government office” in there, right 3rd? That should pretty much explain it.
BTW, I did see a chardonnay on the shelf last week called “Trump”.
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Living in a townhouse packages go missing all the time. I know realtors and other more quasi self employed people who ship to their office. So it depends on occupation. It is nice shipping to a place where your package is received by someone.
I can thankfully ship everything to my retired parents. I would never ship to my office or would recommend it for a government employee especially alcohol.
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That was kind of my point, Otto. Not everyone employed by tax funded entities are rocket scientists.
Not exactly tax funded, but Hugh’s UM issued cell phone is a pretty good example…
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My wife is a member of several wine clubs from wineries out in Napa and from the state of Washington. We make sure they get shipped to one of our offices because we’re never home to sign for them. Our mailroom just makes fun of me now because we’ve been doing it for awhile.
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I enjoy bathing in Kirkland (Costco brand) champagne. Very cost effective when filling a marble tub. When slumming in the Provence during the summer we stick with the local Rose’s.
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Bluto, it just occurred to me that I have a pic in my phone of when I met you at the first big group tailgate thing that you did – and I have a glass of chardonnay in my hand. 🙂
Red Cup and a couple of other guys gave me some hell about it, if I remember right. I was a little tipsy at the time. LOL.
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Too many to name — I usually go to Five Points and work with Svetlana to find new mid-range light-bodied reds (Burgundies, Bordeauxs, Pinots, Gamays, that sort of thing). That’s what I generally like in wine.
Since we’re talking Virginia, though, I will say that one memorable bottle I bought at Jefferson Vineyards – a cabernet franc – and held it so long I was sure it would be bad and it was fantastic. It had just been hidden in the cooler for something like 10 years (generally, I can’t hold anything that long – I’m too thirsty and I don’t have a deep cellar). it was amazing! So when I hear that Virginia is the new Napa, I’m not a skeptical as most.
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Has anyone tried Terry Hogue’s wine?
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I visited the winery last year.
If you like Syrah, he’s got some great stuff.
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and it it gets your girl in the mood quicker and it makes your demi thicker….never mind… that’s St Ides malt liquor. Terry Hogue’s “the hedge” is pretty much my go to for special occasions.
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How many of you have visited Georgia wineries? If so, which have you found drinkable? This is probably my favorite: https://www.yonahmountainvineyards.com/ Their chardonnay is pretty nice.
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I like Crane Creek in Young Harris. Their best is Hellbender Red, using Norton grapes.
https://cranecreekvineyards.com/
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https://sweetacrefarms.com is worth a visit. Dangerously close to my house….
Don’t let the muscadine and local berry label fool you. They have some very interesting wines.
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Anybody remember T. J. Swann? Easy Days and Mellow Nights
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I didn’t remember T.J. Swann until you reminded me. I think I had it once when I was 13 or so.
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Been on a Sauvignon Blanc kick lately…..
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Two tours of duty in Germany in the 70’s totally turned me on to German white wines. They are the best. A good German Reisling is the perfect dessert wine after a night victory at Sanford.
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We’re not crazy about Riesling (don’t really care for the the sweet white wines), but Zweigelt is a good red grape from Austria. Has a nice light finish.
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Audit, if you can find one local the (German) Riesling Trocken is very dry. It’s a very good wine and not at all like other Rieslings.
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Wife and I will have to give that a try when we’re in Germany this summer.
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My stepdad is a golf fanatic. He would love to visit Augusta National some day. I know Masters tickets are far out of reach. But does anyone have pointers on how to get a couple practice tickets or some other event where he can get up close to the course?
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WCD, your best bet is to sign up for the ticket lottery that happens annually. Register at masters.com.
Otherwise, try to find a scalped ticket for Monday or Tuesday.
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Thank you for the advice.
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To be honest, the course is the star there. Get some tickets to the Women’s Amateur and enjoy walking the course without the mobs. I’ve been to the Masters many times, and the past few times even the practice rounds are overrun. It’s still miles better than any other tournament but the crowds are pretty large.
Or, just pay a scalper and hope for the best.
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That’s a good plan. Since the stepdad is 85, the sooner I get on the course, the better. Thank you.
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As Russ said, the Women’s Amateur is your best bet if you don’t want to spend thousands. Final round played the Saturday before the Masters. ( Clifford Roberts is rolling over in his grave.) Also the Drive, Chip and Putt for juniors is the Sunday before Masters and is fairly easy to get tickets.
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Since it’s Par 3 Contest day in Augusta, who’s your pick to put on the green jacket late Sunday afternoon and why?
Head says Rory McIlroy … he’s just been killing it and if the putter is on, he can overpower Augusta National in a way we haven’t seen since 1997.
Heart says Kevin Kisner as a Dawg who lives close by. He’s playing well, but I’m not sure his game tee to green can hold up especially if rain makes the course play longer than the 7,400 yards.
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Here’s hoping all the recent rain has softened the greens…and they get the final round done before the big storm gets there Sunday.
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Don’t want the greens soft … turns the tournament into a putting contest. I think they have the moisture system that sucks the water out of the surface.
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It tastes so good…and costs so little.
Wild Russian Vanya wine.
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I’m not much on wine. My go to is Moscato. I like the sweet stuff.
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They have some solid wineries in the northeast portion of the state. Clayton, Helen and Toccoa are a few towns that come to mind with solid offerings.
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FWIWin a blind taste test, wine experts couldn’t tell the difference between red wine and white wine dyed red.
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If they were blind, why even bother with the dye?
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Correction. It was just a taste eat.
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Me prior to having ever visited Napa: “Wine is OK. Malbec is pretty good I guess.”
Me after one visit to Napa: “This Cab is trash. Doesn’t even hit the back of the pallet. I’ll bet the barrel was only a medium toast. Fucking amateurs.”
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This was my experience too Chili. I moved to California in 1995, with my previous wine expertise limited to Boone’s Farm Tickle Pink mixed with PBR – something she called a vo-de-o-do.
Living only 30 miles from downtown Napa, my tastes have become somewhat more sophisticated.
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It’s just unreal. You don’t even know that kind of thing exists until you get out there and experience it. Then everything else is ruined lol. And while I won’t say that the wine quality was the sole reason, I can’t say that it wasn’t a contributing factor when I decided to make NorCal my next landing spot. Looking at moving next Spring, actually.
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Favia, Cain, Terry Houge (really good for a football player…DGD) Jordan…..you get the drift. All acceptable at tailgate although I always have a TH…..i mean it is football.
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My wife loves the Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley in Oregon, which is an underrated wine touring/tasting experience.
Wine has become so consistently good that we’re noting the wines we hate instead of cataloguing the ones we love. But my wife will grab a bottle of Sonoma cutrere any chance she gets.
Best red we ever had was at a hotel in Switzerland in Zermatt. Italian red from Tuscany called La Madononina (sp?). First trip to Europe, and I refused to order wine the first night because I did not understand that the meal was already built into the room rate – I wasn’t paying extra for wine. The waiter practically sneered at me. The next night I knew the drill and knew we could afford a bottle, so I found that one as a reasonably priced red I knew Lisa would enjoy. He apparently liked the selection, because he gushed over it. And it was fantastic.
Never seen it over here.
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What’s the word? thunderbird, what’s the price? 40 twice!
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I am much more of a beer and bourbon lover, but my wife is big on wine. We went to Napa last summer and really enjoyed the whole catalog from the Whitehall Lane winery.
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King Cotton Peach Wine, it’s aged in the trucks
Mmmm mmm m!!
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Today’s playpen had been a fun stagger down fuzzy memory lane
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1964 Argentine Trumpeter bought in 1981 at a bargain bin for $5 at a liquor store on Peachtree Rd. in Brookhaven. Amazing bottle of red wine.
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Mad Dog 20/20 .. The best ever. In 1968 you could get a half gallon for $2.50
How could you beat that…
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This may be the most amicable playpen ever. Awesome!
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The most popular varietal around here seems to be the Players Should Be Paid wine.
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illini84, this is a response to your question from 8 Apr at 7:53 pm. I didn’t want to disturb the flow of this hilarious wine thread and I was giving the question a lot of thought.
Hated running in the military. Formation runs are too slow and constrictive. Jump School June ’80 was particularly miserable. Airborne shuffle for miles around that track in brutal heat and humidity wearing leg boots and that silly pickle suit pants with no shirt. Worth it to jump from a high performance aircraft while in flight (there’s no such thing as a perfectly good airplane).
Ranger School runs were in jungle boots at a blistering pace. Very tough. I always enjoyed running but the yankee Army took all the fun out of it.
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HA! That whine and a bit of cheese and I could have a little pity party. It actually fits in this Playpen thread. I hope this morning finds you well illini84.
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