Wine making

what wines to stock as “house”?

I am building a small wine cellar and have four segments – today I am focusing on the “House Wines” segment. I want to have a decent supply of “house wine” – very drinkable, easily approachable wines that will not:
1. embarrass me when served to groups (think drinking wine party, not wine tasting),
2. bore me to death when consumed on a Tuesday night and
3. not break the bank or make me feel guilty for drinking it (on a Tuesday night) – <$15 a bottle is good, less than <$10 is great

I think that Australian and New Zealand wines offer tremendous value. If you like the Dryland Sav. Blanc, by all means try Kim Crawford’s Sav. It is wonderful and an astonishing value. We are in an area where wine and liquor is cheaper than some other states, but I pay around $12 or $13 a bottle, and it would be less if you buy it by the case or catch a sale.

For a house red, I am going to suggest a “near-jug” wine, Jib Jib Rocks Shiraz, another Australian and another great value. Although the price gets close to the Yellowtail range, Jib Jib has much more complexity and depth. In my mind, it compares very favorably to the Nine Mile.

If you can’t bring yourself to stoop that low for your house wine, you should explore some more of the malbecs, especially since you apparently like those. I don’t know the Pascual Toso, and to be honest I am just now getting into the Argentine wines myself, but overall they are great values as well.

You might want to consider doing the same thing we planning, which is to get the wine shop to recommend half a dozen bottles for a tasting. Get some cheese and crackers and have some friends come over to help you decide on your family’s house wine. (They’re going to be drinking it sometimes as well, right?)

Building Your New Wine Cellar

Wooden Wine Rack-Holds 44 Bottles-Unfinished Pine (Unfinished Pine) (40.5h x 17w x 10.5d) $51.69 Serious wine lovers will appreciate this streamlined, freestanding winerack designed to safely store up to 44 wine bottles (This rack will hold bottles up to 3.25″ in diameter.) Whether you have an extensive wine cellar or a modest collection of your favorite vintages, you’ll enjoy having easy access to your wines; the tall pinewood rack makes the most of your storage space (measures 40.5″h x 17″w…

J.K. Adams Hardwood Wine Rack …

Deluxe 28 Bottle Wine Cooler Refrigerator $141.00 Store up to 28 bottles of your best wine under optimum conditions in this EdgeStar Thermoelectric Wine Cooler. While your wine enjoys the optimal temperature and humidity conditions within this wine cooler, you get a wine cooler in one of the most stylish finishes available. This thermoelectric wine cooler features a premium metallic silver finish door trim with double paned tempered glass. The ti…

Sunpentown WC-20TL ThermoElectric with Touch Sensitive Controls 20-Bottle Wine Cooler $129.18 20-Bottle ThermoElectric Wine Chiller with Touch-Sensitive Controls 20 standard bottles capacity with removable shelves. Mirror glass door with black trim and cabinet reflects a contemporary look. Touch sensitive control panel with LED temperature display on door. ThermoElectric Technology (no compressor) offers a quiet operation with no vibration, environment friendly. Adjustable temperature bet…

EdgeStar 30 Bottle Built-In Wine Cooler Refrigerator $565.00 Store up to 30 standard 750 ml. wine bottles in the EdgeStar 30 Bottle Premium Built-In Single Zone Wine Cooler (CWR300SZ). A stainless steel trimmed dual paned glass door with stainless steel venting grate, wood trimmed wire shelves, towel bar handle, and blue LED light offer excellent presentation fitting flush with kitchen cabinetry. The CWR300SZ offers a temperature range from 40 – 65 degrees…

How to Build a Wine Cellar $24.95 Guides the viewer through an animated presentation covering every aspect of cellar construction….

Root Cellaring: Natural Cold Storage of Fruits & Vegetables $8.48 Anyone can learn to store fruits and vegetables safely and naturally with a cool, dark space (even a closet!) and the step-by-step advice in this book. …

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