Please spec me a bottle of Red Wine

UrbanTerror · 14 Jun 2011 at 21:10

Just asked my Dad what he wants for fathers day and he said a nice bottle of red wine. He mentioned merlot.

Thing is im more of a can of Foster kinda guy, a VB if im feeling exotic

Dont really want to spend over £30, and it needs to be avaible in a High street shop as I've left it quite late.

The winner will have their username written on the bottle somewhere as a thankyou tribute for the suggestion

Thanking you please

Jimbeam3678 · 14 Jun 2011 at 22:10

Not a merlot , but a good Shiraz is Footbolt Shiraz. No where near £30 but yellowtail Merlot /shiraz are very good wines for the price.

To be honest I cannot rate footbolt shiraz high enough

Rroff · 14 Jun 2011 at 22:14

Without knowing his tastes its a bit hard.

I'm quite a fan of Australian red wines myself especially Cabernet Sauvignon or Shiraz always found them rich, full flavored but not too sweet or too sour - I tend to drink Wolf Blass or Banrock Station tho which are fairly average table wines and probably not quite special enough for a gift.

Paul11 · 14 Jun 2011 at 22:23

i would guess that he couldnt tell the difference between a £12 bottle and a £30 one

J1234 · 14 Jun 2011 at 22:30

Merlot - you could get an OKish Bordeaux for ~£30. I'd recommend a 2006 Château Laroque, Saint-Émilion, which you can find in Waitrose. It's pretty good, well priced and has a classic Bordeaux taste. Perhaps needed a couple more years on it when I drank it (early 2010) but is certainly drinkable right now.

http://www.waitrosewine.com/230200907/Product.aspx

SCMRubix · 15 Jun 2011 at 02:16

Used to work in a supermarket, and Yellowtail seems to be a very popular choice with middle aged men.
I'd say about 1/3 of all red wine sold was that stuff

Jaap74 · 15 Jun 2011 at 02:27

UrbanTerror said:
Thing is im more of a can of Foster kinda guy, a VB if im feeling exotic

Two of the worst beers on the planet..... oh my word :eek:

Jimbeam3678 · 15 Jun 2011 at 08:30

Vb raw is drinkable IMO

boxman2000 · 15 Jun 2011 at 08:46

Bordeaux or a nice bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape (got a few of those stored away for special occasions!)

You don't need to spend £30 to get a good bottle of wine by the way! I've had perfectly nice bottles at all prices, just depends. Probably nicest was a local wine when we went to France last year, worked out at £3 a bottle and was sublime!

I tend to go to my local independant wine retailer and ask sommelier their advice - been spot on each time!

FrenchTart · 15 Jun 2011 at 10:46

Wine snobs may hate me for this but I really love campo viejo rioja. It can be had for ~£7 for the bog-standard stuff

boxman2000 · 15 Jun 2011 at 11:24

FrenchTart said:
Wine snobs may hate me for this but I really love campo viejo rioja. It can be had for ~£7 for the bog-standard stuff

Can't stand wine snobs. One of my mates is a total wine snob is and I tricked him with a regional French wine that cost £2.30 in an empty Bordeaux wine bottle that originally cost £25 or so...... he didn't notice the difference until I told him after he finished his 2nd glass!

I quite like Penfolds, not too cheap but always under £10 a bottle and most pleasant.

TheDean · 15 Jun 2011 at 11:45

divaboy said:
Vb raw is drinkable IMO

Not at the beginning of the night, it's not

boxman2000 said:
You don't need to spend £30 to get a good bottle of wine by the way!

This. You should be able to get a nice St Estephe for under £30. But it's very difficult to recomend wine to a stranger imo.

FrenchTart said:
Wine snobs may hate me for this but I really love campo viejo rioja. It can be had for ~£7 for the bog-standard stuff

Not at all. I know some of them are very good at BBQs etc.

UrbanTerror · 15 Jun 2011 at 20:10

Thanks for the suggestions guys

£30 was a limit rather than a guide price. I know I've asked a bit of a hard question due to personal tastes, but your guesses will be much better than mine!

VB is the drink of the gods, only bettered by Carlton Draught. I agree Fosters is a bit iffy though

Going to check out YellowTail + Château Laroque, I shall let you know how I get on.

Thanks again :cool:

oli collett · 15 Jun 2011 at 20:45

Hmm, if he likes Merlot I'd probably steer clear of Shiraz/CNDP, I'd go with Justin's recommendation of a St Emillion. You might be able to get a bottle of Clos Fourtet within your budget if you're lucky and you can find anyone selling by the bottle

Jimbeam3678 · 16 Jun 2011 at 00:02

TheDean said:
Not at the beginning of the night, it's not

James boags premium now that is the drink of the gods!

Stupot_ · 16 Jun 2011 at 08:33

Get 2 or 3 bottles, don't splash out on one if you're not certain he will enjoy it. Waitrose is good for wine on the high street, they do a speciality (more expensive) section with bottles from about £10-30 or so. I'd just pick a couple of nice reds from there that you like the sound of

pspcpog · 17 Jun 2011 at 12:13

I second Saint-Émilion if your dad likes merlot. Try Californian or Chilean varieties as well.
For the price, you get better wine if you go America.

rainbag · 18 Jun 2011 at 00:05

FrenchTart said:
Wine snobs may hate me for this but I really love campo viejo rioja. It can be had for ~£7 for the bog-standard stuff

I also enjoyed this bottle last time I had it, it's pretty good for the price and much better than some of the crap I have drank thats more expensive, But then I find that wine is somewhat of a minefield in the price range up to £30, without being an expert on the matter.

jellybeard999 · 18 Jun 2011 at 00:49

FrenchTart said:
Wine snobs may hate me for this but I really love campo viejo rioja. It can be had for ~£7 for the bog-standard stuff

Lovely stuff IMO. The spice tastes remind me of christmas cake

If he's not particularly "into" his wines, don't spend £30. Better getting a case of 6 random wines IMO, as this can still get you some nice mass produced wines ie Wolfblass Yellow Label etc

Rroff · 18 Jun 2011 at 00:53

Yeah I'd definitely go with the reccomendations for getting 2-3 wines or a case.

Love Wolf Blass Yellow Label