In Search Of . . .

[Luv_ Reds]

Hi,
I live in Alberta, Canada and am in search for a comparable wine that is available here in Canada. The wine I tasted was the Gecko Ridge Cabarnet Sauvigon Special Reserve 2001--this is a to die for one--from South Africa and is a wine of Western Cape. I have been in search for a comparable one and am having no luck. I hope you will be able to help me. I have tasted the Meerlust Rubicon from South Africa which is available here but it is too expensive. What I am really looking for is a wine that you do not have to be eating food with. A smooth wine, light in color (red of course - Yellow Label-Australia is too heavy), with no vinegary taste. Thank you kindly.

[This message has been edited by Luv_ Reds (edited 09-02-2004).]

[hotwine]

You only need to post a question once. If anyone knows the answer, you'll see it come up on that posting. I've deleted your other five iterations of the same question.

[Innkeeper]

Hi Pam, and welcome to the Wine Board. I guess you spammed us, but for argument's sake, I'll assume you did it innocently. An inexpensive Cab from SA that I've enjoyed and found in both Canada and the U.S. is Excelsior. It goes for $9 U.S. here, and around $12 Canadian.

[dananne]

Innkeeper's suggestion was a good one. Addressing another part of your question, you should never have a vinegary taste. If you do, the wine's bad.

[Luv_ Reds]

Hi, I did not mean to "spam" you. I did not know how this worked. Sorry if I offended anyone. By the way, Excelsior is unavailable here in Alberta. Any other suggestions? Thank you kindly.

[Innkeeper]

Don't know of any more from SA, and also don't know what is available there. Here are some wines from Oz (Australia) that just might be there, meet your criteria, and that I have posted favorable TNs on this year. All are priced less than $15 U.S.

'99 Brancott Reserve Merlot
'01 Yalumba Merlot
'01 Devil's Lair, Fifth Leg (a blend)
'99 Wynn's Coonawara Cabernet-Shiraz-Merlot
'01 Water Wheel Cabernet Sauvignon
'01 Nugan Family Cabernet Sauvignon

[Luv_ Reds]

Hi Innkeeper,
Thank you for being so helpful. Gecko Ridge is described as follows: rich ripe berries, elegant cassis, roasted nuts and warm spice, wrapped in subtle oak and carried by silky tannins. I don't know a lot, I'm still learning and you seem very knowledgable about wines. Is there any wines that come close to this description? Since I am not too familiar with the ones you told me about. However, the ones you did tell me about, are they good just by themselves? Thank you kindly. Your input is very friendly and knowledgable and is very much appreciated.

[Glass_A_Day]

The descriptin on the bottle is an advertisement. Never go buy what you read, just by what you like. The problem is everyone who tastes a specific wine may not like it, but if you do, then go for more. The bad part of this is that you need to do much trial and error to find what you like. The good part about this is you need to do much trial and error to find what you like. [img]http://wines.com/ubb2/wink.gif[/img] Taste and enjoy. No one tastes any one wine the same. Wine is the toughest thing in the world to reccomend to anyone. It's all personal taste.

[wondersofwine]

Wynn's wines are widely distributed and might well be carried in your local Canadian wine shop. (See IK's recommendation). I like the Wynn's Coonawarra Shiraz and am thinking about purchasing the Cabernet Sauvignon. As to drinking them alone, I usually prefer wine with food, especially red wines. There are some exceptions. The lighter rose wines or light-bodied Pinot Noir or Gamay wines might be nice for before or after dinner sipping but again it does come down to personal preferences.

[Zinner]

You have a writer in Canada (Toronto) who puts out a guide called Billy's Best Bottles Insider's Guide Top 100 Wine Picks. Believe he specializes in choosing inexpensive wines.

He has a dot com at billysbestbottles and I believe you can get a free sample copy of his newsletter there. I thought his descriptions were lots of fun.

It might give you more help with what's in your market.