What's a good quality red wine?

Buchanan0204 · 21 Jun 2012 at 23:33

Looking to buy a friend a bottle of red wine as a birthday present. Don't want to buy him three for a tenner from Asda, would like it to be a quality red wine, since it's a birthday.

Most expensive red wine I drank was chateu neuf du pape. It was quite nice.

Anything upto £25-£30. Flexible on price.

P.S. I know little about wine, I'm a fresh orange man myself.

jimmy321 · 22 Jun 2012 at 00:15

A random suggestion is to get the 'Dead Arm'.....

The Name, Dead Arm is a vine disease caused by the fungus Eutypa Lata that randomly affects vineyards all over the world. Often vines affected are severely pruned or replanted. One half, or an 'arm' of the vine is slowly reduced to dead wood. That side may be lifeless and brittle, but the grapes on the other side, while low yielding, display amazing intensity.

I copied the description from here

Google 'dead arm wine' and you can find it for under £30.

mysticsniper · 22 Jun 2012 at 00:18

Chateau Neuf Du Pape

DcD · 22 Jun 2012 at 00:23

Italian wines are great and really good value in my personal opinion.

Take a look at Sicilian reds - Cusumano are a good range. There's a bottle named Sagana, gorgeous!

http://www.goodwineonline.co.uk/acatalog/info-203.html

Can't vouch for the site though - there are very few retailers of Cusumano in this country (I've only ever drank it when in Italy). Worth the hassle though if you ask me! Going to buy a few bottles now that I've found a merchant!

Buchanan0204 · 22 Jun 2012 at 00:35

DcD said:
Italian wines are great and really good value in my personal opinion.

Take a look at Sicilian reds - Cusumano are a good range. There's a bottle named Sagana, gorgeous!

http://www.goodwineonline.co.uk/acatalog/info-203.html

Can't vouch for the site though - there are very few retailers of Cusumano in this country (I've only ever drank it when in Italy). Worth the hassle though if you ask me! Going to buy a few bottles now that I've found a merchant!

Sounds great, however... I'd need it for Monday. Ideally want to pick it up at a shop over the weekend.

Buchanan0204 · 22 Jun 2012 at 00:36

jimmy321 said:
A random suggestion is to get the 'Dead Arm'.....

The Name, Dead Arm is a vine disease caused by the fungus Eutypa Lata that randomly affects vineyards all over the world. Often vines affected are severely pruned or replanted. One half, or an 'arm' of the vine is slowly reduced to dead wood. That side may be lifeless and brittle, but the grapes on the other side, while low yielding, display amazing intensity.

I copied the description from here

Google 'dead arm wine' and you can find it for under £30.

Sounds a bit weird to me haha, I'll be open minded and have a look. Cheers.

P.S. is it just me or does all white wine virtually taste the same.

Rroff · 22 Jun 2012 at 00:42

Always been partial to Australian Cabernet Sauvignons - especially Wolf Blass (they make some nicely presented wines in the £20 ballpark).

DcD · 22 Jun 2012 at 00:51

Buchanan0204 said:
Sounds a bit weird to me haha, I'll be open minded and have a look. Cheers.

P.S. is it just me or does all white wine virtually taste the same.

Hahaha, I used to think the same til I said that to a friend of mine who runs a wine bar. Needless to say I got shouted at and forced to try a few different glasses. It's nice stuff, but personally I much prefer red.

If you need it by Monday - forget Cusumano.

Buchanan0204 · 22 Jun 2012 at 00:52

Seen majestic on telly, there's one reasonably close to me, worth popping in?

Buchanan0204 · 22 Jun 2012 at 01:03

Or oddbins?

Buchanan0204 · 22 Jun 2012 at 01:03

Rroff said:
Always been partial to Australian Cabernet Sauvignons - especially Wolf Blass (they make some nicely presented wines in the £20 ballpark).

Will have a look out for them, thanks.

jsmoke · 22 Jun 2012 at 06:45

Petrus.

Ahleckz · 22 Jun 2012 at 06:51

Buchanan0204 said:
Or oddbins?

Always a good bet, just pop in and explain what you're looking for. Try and describe what your friend likes in terms of flavour. I've found the staff in Oddbins to be relatively knowledgeable about their stock.

Ysmalari · 22 Jun 2012 at 09:47

Buchanan0204 said:
Seen majestic on telly, there's one reasonably close to me, worth popping in?

Majestic do some good wines but be aware that their licensing means that they can only sell a minimum of 6 bottles at a time; great if you're a regular wine drinker, not so good for just a one-off gift.

FTM · 22 Jun 2012 at 11:00

a good quality New Zealand Pinot Noir, nice and soft on the palette, but fruity enough to be pleasant for people who do not drink a lot of red

central Otago region I think is better then the more widely known marlborough.

but really they are all good easy drinking , good quality wines

TheDean · 22 Jun 2012 at 11:40

FTM said:
a good quality New Zealand Pinot Noir, nice and soft on the palette, but fruity enough to be pleasant for people who do not drink a lot of red

central Otago region I think is better then the more widely known marlborough.

but really they are all good easy drinking , good quality wines

A solid suggestion. It all depends what he likes really.

Big / Bold with tannins or soft / floral number with fruity notes?

Gis' a clue!

PapaLazaru · 22 Jun 2012 at 14:29

Château Potensac Medoc.

£27 in Sainsburys. Very good.

~Mike~ · 22 Jun 2012 at 14:47

Buchanan0204 said:
Seen majestic on telly, there's one reasonably close to me, worth popping in?

Highly reccommend Majestic, my local store staff are very knowledgeable and helpful. As already said its 6 bottles minimum purchase. Good excuse to stock for yourself.

A few red wines I like...

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vignoble Abeille 2007 Mont Redon
Cloudy Bay Pinot Noir 2009 Marlborough
Wynns Coonawarra Estate Vintage Release Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

FTM · 22 Jun 2012 at 15:11

PapaLazaru said:
Château Potensac Medoc.

£27 in Sainsburys. Very good.

they also have this in majestic at 19.99 a bottle

I like Majestic and tend to buy 12 a time..often if you buy 2 or more bottles the per bottle price drops a couple of quid, so stock up on wines you like, makes it easy to keep the rack topped up

Buchanan0204 · 22 Jun 2012 at 15:13

Would it be a bad idea to get him a case of 6 from majestic, obviously not £20 bottles? Perhaps £7 per bottle?

A nice mixture. I have no idea what he likes, just know its red.

The sainsburys one sounds convenient!