Anyone here regularly spend more than £10 on a bottle of wine?

Raider

Raider

Raider

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
4,576
Location
Leamington Spa / Oxford
Having recently watched that James May program on wine tasting in California it got me wondering about "fine" wines. When me and friends have a bottle of wine at a meal or at a small party we normally spend around £6-£10 on a bottle. I enjoy it, but i'm curious to know if I could be appreciating a finer bottle.

The question is, if you spend more, can you definately tell a clear difference between a £7 bottle and a £20 bottle? I'm not talking about £50+ wines here, but the £10-£30 range.

I don't spend a lot on alcohol, and I don't drink to get drunk, so i'd like to think that spending that little bit more would make the whole experience that much more pleasurable. I guess the only way to find out is buy a couple of more expensive bottles and see what people think, but has anybody else got experience in buying slightly more expensive wine? :)
 
I was wondering about this too.

I recently bought a bottle of sancerre for about £15 that was great. Most I've ever spent on a wine that wasn't fizzy :)

A good wine store near where I work has a couple of knowledgable french guys running it, but I feel a bit of a binge drinker saying "not interested what food it goes with - I just want to neck it by itself"
 
Last edited:
I tend to find that once you hit the £7-8 mark, things start to get better very quickly :)
 
Carzy said:
All the £20 wines I've had have been a lot more complex and better than £10 wines.
Click to expand...

Because they cost £10 more? With some wines I defy to you to tell the difference (quality wise) between a good bottle of saint emilion wine and a bottle costing £10 more.

A good friend of mine (63) who has a masters in French, has traveled all over the world, all over France and is an avid wine drinker admits that after a certain price the quality is damn good.

Personally I think I'm too young to pass such judgment as there are far too many different bottles to try. Also how are you gauging price? Are you comparing to restaurant prices or supermarket prices?

Either way I wouldn't say that ALL £10 bottles of wine are inferior to £20 ones.

Oh and I must apologise for any typos as I've just been on the red stuff myself :p
 
Last edited:
Robert said:
Because they cost £10 more?
Click to expand...

No...

Robert said:
A good friend of mine (63) who has a masters in French, has traveled all over the world, all over France and is an avid wine drinker admits that after a certain price the quality is damn good.
Click to expand...

What does having a masters in French have to do with anything?

Robert said:
Also how are you gauging price? Are you comparing to restaurant prices or supermarket prices?
Click to expand...

Supermarket price...it's almost impossible to get a bottle for £10 in any half-decent restaurant.

Robert said:
Either way I wouldn't say that ALL £10 bottles of wine are inferior to £20 ones.
Click to expand...

Neither would I....
 
If you find something you like then price can be anything really as there's so much out there. Taste is a personal thing so if you're serious about wine then you'll find something particular in a certain one you like. In the UK its very hard to find anything I like for much less thn £10 in a supermarket
 
Last edited:
Carzy said:
No...
What does having a masters in French have to do with anything?

Supermarket price...it's almost impossible to get a bottle for £10 in any half-decent restaurant.

Neither would I....
Click to expand...

RE: the restaurant I guess it depends on how expensive the place is.

I thought I'd throw in the part about his masters to show that he knew what he was on about :p

Voltar said:
Finding a good bottle of St Emilion will cost you... So one for £10 more is probably not going to make a difference at all in this case.
Furthering this excellent idea, I'd recommend St Emilion as an area for you to explore. You can spend anything you want on one really for example you can buy an ok one for £7-11 or you can buy a wine from an experienced and famous grower (not making it better tasting necessarily due to fame i will hasten to add) like a Grand Cru Classe eg Chateau Angelus which will retail at over £100.
£20-30 will find you some excellent examples of this region. Take note of the years too as no doubt you want to drink it straight away.

Do you have the large wine glasses/ tasting glasses or
a decanter? A nice idea if you are going to be exploring "fine wines"

Pinot Noirs will be easy to find for your price range, there are some excellent Burgundies to be had eg Volnay or Fleurie.

Depends a lot on your taste to be honest though mate.
Click to expand...

Recently I tried a lovely Rioja. I can't quite remember who it was by but I loved it. I also had a lovely barolo on Christmas day...hmm :)

I think the rioja was reduced from £11 to £5 in one of the mad super market sales. Also they had Madiron(sp), which I've had whilst in Biarritz. It was around £6 (again down from the teens).

Voltar said:
In the UK its very hard to find anything I like for much less thn £10 in a supermarket
Click to expand...

I find that very hard to swallow. There are plenty of good reds available, you just have to look.
 
Last edited:
Carzy said:
Pretty much the same as saying that because someone has a masters in German, that they'll be an expert on Bismarck!
Click to expand...

Or sausages ;)

Yes, I know - it was silly. Would you rather I pretended to type all funny?!

Sorry...I'll go to bed now.
 
Friend of mine bought a 40 odd quid bottle of red wine and it tastes horrid.

One of the worst things ive ever tasted.
 
I have never been able to tell the difference between a £5 bottle and a £10 bottle let alone a 20 quider. For that matter it is easy these days to get a bottle of wine for £3 that is very drinkable and more importantly enjoyable. I know this because I spent £2.89 on a South African Cabernet Sauvignon this evening and it was bloody lovely. :)
 
I often wish that I could aquire a taste for wine. I've tried countless times, but it still tastes horrible to me?! I don't know what it is. I love trying new ales and also new whisky (which I would have thought is a harder taste to 'learn to love') but wine is always a no go.

The only wine which I don't mind drinking is Blossom Hill White Grenache, but even then I don't like it much. I know this is a thread hijack, but can somebody tell me how to love wine? Should I go on a tasting day, buy a book or something else?

Thanks :]
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom