Its getting there at some SF Restaurants. I dined at Absinthe in San Francisco a couple of nights ago, one of the better French restaurants in the city. A year ago their house bubbly was Gloria Ferrer, and Veuve Cliquot yellow label was the one above that. Now their house bubbly is some cheap spanish stuff, the 'one step up' is a similarly cheap chilean sparkler, and you can only order the Gloria Ferrer by the bottle.

Not all restaurants have fallen into darkness though. I went to Fleur de Lys 3 weeks ago and their by the glass house champagne is still Dom Perignon. :)

There is so much crap wine going around these days people get turned off very easily. This is the result of the wine boom in the mid-90's which occoured partly because of the "french paradox" report. Everyone went after red wines, especially merlot, and producers started churning out gallons of swill at $20 + per bottle, hoping to fill the demand at ridiculous profits. Now, 5 or 6 years later, the people sucked in by that initial boom have either woken up or stopped drinking wine entirely, resulting in a glut of substandard, overpriced wine on the market. Much of it is from California.

At those prices it can be very expensive to taste through enough wine that you find something of decent quality that you like, so if you want to find something good, pretty much your only option is to either attend lots of store tastings, or to pick up an issue or two of Wine Spectator. Even better, subscribe to Robert Parkers "The Wine Advocate." They will point you in the right direction.

I was lucky enough to spend 3 years in the wine trade, so I got to taste hundreds of great wines, and alot of not so great ones as well, on someone elses dime.

That bottle of Merlot was fuckin awful - just don't do it - I'm off for some beer

anything with a box..the females love the box

verry untrue

red wine helps to lower your cholestrol and aids in thining the blood

:)

Silver Oak all the way...

Look for the '97 Alexander Valley.

But just about any vintage from either of their locations is an excellent bet.

-KC

who would have thought Kman had an understanding of wine? :)
Cakebread is great in all available vintages. I just had a friend ship back a couple cases from napa.
Cakebread is great for dinner and if you're going someplace nice, it should run about 120-150 a bottle.
Another goody is Heitz cellars (someone mentioned this too)
A bit cheaper than cakebread prolly 80-120 a bottle but very tasty.

Or even a BV tapestry. I had the 98 at a wine tasting last night and even though 98 is not a great year, the wine was very tasty and coming down in price.

Or go French with a nice Calon Segur from St. Estephe (bordeaux)
prolly 110-140 depending on the yr.
Its a great wine and you won't get a better bordeaux for under 150 in a restraurant. The 1st growths are all way more than that in a restaurant.

can't go wrong there either.

This is exactly what I was gonna recommend. Either that or an Australian Merlot or as someone else mentioned Jacobs Creek. Anything from the last 6 years or so has been nice.

Thing with restaraunts though is that you've gotta depend on what they've got in their cellar so you may want to take the waiter's recommendation. Red is definitely the way to go with steak. I like plummy red wines with steak but like I say, ask your waiter. If its a NICE restaurant, they should be trained in which wine compliments which dish best.

Also, if they don't hit you up for too much cash for the red with the meal, then consider getting a nice light white wine as well with dessert. Rounds off a meal nicely.

Have a good time and enjoy.

i'm pissed - the merot was shite

There's a vineyard in Seattle that produces some excellent red's. I can't recall the name at the moment, I'll see if I have a bottle or two in the rack.

I just located it; 1995 Chateau Ste. Michelle Cabernet.

Not true...if you're going out with a girl that's use to the 'high life'. If you can't give her what daddy gives her and more, you're fuct.

go with a classic
THUNDERBIRD

No no.. SHE'S fuct. She's giving away the opportunity of being with a fantastic guy like yourself. If you know what to do with a girl, money is no object to her, no matter what type of life she leads.

Ask your waiter what would go well with your meal. There is no shame in asking, just shame when you don't ask and your wine is definetely not to your liking.

DH

Anything Australian thats red... not one bad one yet...

Can't help you here as I'm not a connoisseur of fine wine.

We buy burgandy in a 5 liter box, and if it ain't $5.99 a box we turn our noses up.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

Hope Ya score VooDoo

Cavit Pinot Grigio - 12.99$ USD

I used to business adminsitrate a small wine company ron =)

better restaurants will have a sommenlier(sp! damnit), whose sole job is wine advising/fetching/pouring

aka Wine Bitch

You got AIDS man? I don't think wine will help that!?

Jacob's Creek Shiraz... I call it Redweiser.

About $12 anywhere in the USA :thumbsup

I cannot believe that everyone is leaving out the Italians, my favourite. With a filet mignon, a nice Chianti Riserva or a Barolo would be perfect.

so then what do you think of the rest of my suggestions? :)

Also, since its the next day, I'll tell you about *MY* dinner last night. dinner at the Palm, great lobster bisque, great scallop ap., and outstanding NY strip for 2. Grey Goose martinis, couple bottles of 99 cakebread. From there, we hopped over to 4 seasons for desert, coffee, and 25yr macallan and champangne.
needless to say, I had breakfast @ 12 noon today.

Lets hope our friend made out as well.:)

Hello all! :) Just thought I'd let you know how it went.
I ended up going to the grocery store before the hotel. Bought 2 bottles of wine. 1 bottle of $40.00 Merlot, and 1 Zinfandel, some scented candles and some other stuff.

The stupid hotel F*d up, and put my reservation down for next Tuesday, instead of last night. By the time I found this out, they were already booked, and were unable to give me a room. Needless to say, I got a refund. I then found 1 room at a different hotel a few blocks away. After the whole ordeal, we ended up just staying in the room all night, we ordered a pizza from room service, and lounged around, talking.

It was a great night, despite the hotel screw up. Today I spent the day with her family. :) It was quite a day.

Anyhow, I thought I'd give you an update. The wine worked just fine. I didn't go overboard, and we had alot of fun.

Thank you all for the suggestions!

I think in a couple months when we go to the hotel I really wanted to go to, we will end up at a really nice restraunt, and I'll have my notes with me. :)

When I wanna get romantic with Steffie I slip her a few glasses of Boones Farm strawberry hill or MD 20/20. If we're really getting wild she drinks it straight from the bottle.

Im pretty sure I got more pussy from Boones Farm than Screaming Eagle.

I hate to tell you this but you should have gone with the smirnof.It is cheaper would have got you some oussy and it would not have ruined your night as I imagine it did. What I usually do is bring my own wine, I know most of the restaurant owners in my area and they allow me to do so.