this is a bad thread. belongs wherever morons insult morons. close the damn thing.

It's not a bad thread. It just goes to show that, like most things in life, we all have our own tastes & opinions. I quite enjoy the light reading.

Morons insult morons in OMNI. Now that place is loaded with bad threads.........

this is a great thread.

please continue it.

I was thinking it was a rather modest little thread with hints of sarcasm and light notes of condescension. It may be ready for reading in another 5-7 years.

I have found this thread more than a little over-oaked.

As my dear, late father-in-law would have said "You can't have had a good one." Lynch Bages '82 is one of the finest Bordeaux reds I have had the pleasure of drinking. It's exceptional.

I agree. For a long time, Shiraz was the only Yellowtail I'd had, and quite often. Then, my new area grocery store carried the full line, so I started trying other varietals. Few were awful, but most were nothing special.

The Picpoul 2002 was an excellent value wine. As a result, my family got hooked and kept buying the 2003, 2004, etc., which were simply horrible.

I think the Silver Oak Cab is WAAAAAYYYY over-rated.

Should you consider a New Zealand Savignon Blanc, I have one to be a little careful of. (ewww!)

Until today I'd have given almost all SBs from NZ's Marlborough region a ^ but this one was both a little disappointing and an example that generalising praise for a whole region and vintage is dangerous.

Should you have a preconceived idea of NZ Sauv Blanc, beware the 2006 Monkey Bay Marlborough Sauvingon Blanc- it has none of the fruity bouquet nor the fruity taste sensation of many others from the region.

I had a couple of other SBs tonight from the same region and they were much closer to my very happy experience with this excellent Kiwi export.

Yeah, it's a cheap, mass-market product, the bottom of the Nobilo barrel.
As such I doubt it fits in with the "overrated wines" topic, as I figure that
nobody's ever rated it well. A great pity, as I like monkeys.

Agree totally it was never ever rated, however I was still disappointed!

Even in this low price range, such a variety has the potential to be so much better. Selling for approximately USD$10, there are other wines in the same category that give some or most of the fruitiness and bouquet.

That's the upside - for the price, buy a few different options and if one disapoints, drink the others. ^

Moral of story: beware of some of the inexpensive wines with animal mascots.

I'd also like to hear if anybody has any experience being robbed in this category. They say the pricier champagnes are the best and a lot of them are just plain bad in my opinion.

Here is my nomination for an overrated and overpriced champagne, Salon. In a comparative tasting I held against Vintage Krug, Roederer Cristal and Bollinger R.D., the Salon finished dead last by a wide margin. I would also add that it was the most expensive of the four champagnes. At that tasting the Cristal came out on top with the Vintage Krug and Bollinger R.D. tied for second.

One champagne that I have always been unlucky with is Krug Grande Cuvee. It never wins comparative tastings when pitted against other luxury cuvees. I am not however suggesting that it is overrated. At a tasting in 1991, it came fourth out of six. Mind you, it was an honorable fourth as the order of placement was as follows:

1. Bollinger Vielles Vignes Francaises 1981 (Head and shoulders above every other champagne.) It was like drinking a sparkling Grand Cru white Burgundy.
2. Roederer Cristal Rose. Nose of fresh strawberry.
3. Bollinger R.D. 1979
4. Krug Grande Cuvee
5. Roederer Cristal
6. Pol Roger P.R. Reserve Speciale 1979. This champagne was the former top of line from Pol Roger. It was a 50/50 blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from 100% rated vineyards.

I have also come to realize that I prefer Bollinger Grande Annee with bottle age to Bollinger R.D. I find the R.D.s don't age in the bottle while the Grande Annees do. The only vintage where a found the R.D. Bollinger preferable to the Grande Annee was the 1979 vintage.

I'll put this suggestion out and would like to hear other's comments. Too much emphasis is placed on luxury cuvees of champagnes and their relative merits. One category that tends to get overlooked is straight Vintage champagnes. In twenty years or so of wine collecting and tasting, I have never seen a comparative tasting of vintage champagnes rather than luxury cuvees. Another tasting which would be fascinating would be one that considered the whole question of whether there is such a thing as a house style, let's say Pol Roger's house style compared to Roederer's or Bollinger's. Any thoughts?

Thank you FHM1964; a report on a vertical tasting of a maker's vintage line would be very useful and I'd expect family-run companies like Pol Roger would do this kind of tasting to emphasise that their products are made to a particular style. I think Pol and Bollinger do a few of these tastings.

What about the odd promotion in airline lounges? The new Qantas F lounges in SYD and MEL would be great venues for a vertical tasting show. ^