Cheap wine

[cjsmith]

Tonight I have learned why people will generally not buy a $3.50 bottle of wine.

I figured I'd go cheap. It was for cooking fondue; I'm not technically allowed to drink wine at all. I figured I'd take the last glass left in the bottle, after two cups of it went for cooking, and do the one-glass-of-wine experiment to see if white wine makes me feel like a truck ran over me.

Despite the fact I've been missing wine terribly, I may not finish this glass. I may, for possibly the first time in my life, throw away wine that hasn't -- by some definition, at least -- gone bad.

This stuff isn't even that good in fondue.

Comments

[takhisis.livejournal.com]

Oieeergh... if wine's not even good for cooking with that's EXTREME. I tend to go drinking -> fondue -> piccata -> marinating in terms of quality. Even the worst crap white is still useful over some chicken breasts in a gallon ziploc with some olive oil, capers, garlic, and sliced sweet onion. :)

I also discovered the hard way, NEVER use cheap reisling for fondue. You end up with horrid curdled glop. =( The waste of that much cheese will forever be a stain upon my soul...

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Marinating, hmm. That might have been a good use for this wine. Barely. :-)

Riesling -> yikes! This one was a Chard, and those *should* be okay. But NOT THIS BOTTLE. Ugh. Never again. The fondue is edible, by the grace of having a lot of expensive cheese in it, but this cheese deserved so much better.

[hitchhiker.livejournal.com]

if wine's not even good for cooking with that's EXTREME.

i find the taste of bad wine is quite noticeable in food. also, i'm more foodie than oenophile - throwing bad wine away just makes me regret the money spent, but having it ruin a dish hurts.

[takhisis.livejournal.com]

I guess it's because I'm such a boisterous marinater... I think the funk of a bad wine gets knocked out by the amount of onion, vinegar, cloves, white pepper and whatever else I'm throwing in that it ends up just being a cellular tenderizer and loses any chance of contributing to flavor. ;)

[hitchhiker.livejournal.com]

there's a lot to be said for that theory too, i'll admit :) i should experiment the next time a bottle of wine proves less-than-pleasant to drink

[ladyqkat.livejournal.com]

Not good wine also makes lousy wine vinegar. There is wine out there that is inexpensive and good, but cheap wine is worse than lighter fluid. And I am not much of a wine drinker.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Absolutely. I agree that there's wine out there that is inexpensive and good. I love it when I find some! It's a great discovery. This bottle was decidedly not in that category. ;-)

[wooddragon.livejournal.com]

For the last number of years, I've tried to live by the rule that if I won't enjoy drinking it (which you didn't know at the time), it shouldn't be cooked with, either. I think that was Julia Childs' credo..

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I think I'm a little looser about it than that, but I now know I have limits!

[kimatha.livejournal.com]

Alton Brown says that too!

[fyellin.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I better not tell you what goes into my brisket, then.

[tiger-spot.livejournal.com]

It didn't have to go bad -- it started that way.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Exactly!

[lisa-marli.livejournal.com]

Two Buck Chuck is usually drinkable, but after that my usual bottom limit is $5. And I'm Real Cheap.
Trader Joe's is my friend. :)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I happen to like Two Buck Chuck's chardonnay. (It's the only one of theirs I much like -- everyone has different tastes.) But $3.50 whatever-that-was is too cheap. :-)

[hitchhiker.livejournal.com]

i typically buy new-to-me wine on either (i) personal recommendations or (ii) having tasted and enjoyed them. this compensates for the fact that i don't really know much about wine :)

[abqdan.livejournal.com]

Oh dear - you wouldn't be happy at our house! I collect coupons, special offers, and bulk discounts at our local market that bring the per-bottle cost down to $1.99. It's a mind-game I play with Smiths. Though to be fair they all START OUT at $5 to $7 a bottle :-).

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Hey, I'll drink Two Buck Chuck (at least their chardonnay). Some $5 bottles of wine are perfectly nice. But this... wow.

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

I'm not fond of drinking two buck chuck, but it's fine for marinating.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I detest their reds. UGH!! But I happen to enjoy a tart acidic Chardonnay, so that one works for me.

[lkeele.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I did that, about a month ago. Picked up a $3 bottle of wine, thinking that, if nothing else, it would be good for cooking.

No. Would rather cook with dirty dishwater. Yuck.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Ewwwww!

[airporter.livejournal.com]

I need to get some of that for my Gram - she's got us bringing a bottle or two out each visit, and I've been buying locals that are about $13 - $16 a bottle.

Which is, apparently, much too expensive. Oy.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Hah! Okay: Forest Ville 2006 Chardonnay.

[ctgstr8.livejournal.com]

Remember where you are shopping! We do not have the choices available to buyers in the USA.

Reply to Airporter

[ctgstr8.livejournal.com]

My comment didn't show up in the right place. The west coast of Canada has less choice when shopping for wine than does Eastern Canada or the USA. (For instance, Alberta's liquor store wine offerings are more extensive than B.C.'s.)