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  1. #1
    Northern Hermit
    friscofrankie's Avatar
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    Good (OK, decent) drinkable cheap wine

    Read my Sig;
    Here i'll make it easy on ya.
    "For art to exist, for any sort of aesthetic activity to exist, a certain physiological precondition is indispensable: intoxication."
    Now the mother-fucker wrote that; he was smart, crazy, but smart.

    What I do is about 50% technology 50% creativity. And lately I've been feelin that latter side dryin up. Now I know too much sobriety can dry a fella out quick. Make him get serious and solemn-like. Nothin' wrong with that. When it comes time to express that serious solemnity it just comes out all up-tight and choppy for some reason.

    having given this some deep thought I realized I need to spend lees time completely sober. Going out and drinking with the "fellas" (My ol' lady reads this shit ya know) a couple times a month is just too dry a goddam life for me.

    The beer in this country is shit. I mean you can drink it. It does, after all, have some buzz factor but it goes best with ice, and what kinda beer is that? Cheap whiskey makes me mean Tequila, plain damn ugly. Wine. Now a fairly drinkable red wine goes down nice lubricate the mind and it's made from fuckin' fruit; gotta be healthy, right?

    Box wines? Fucking wine in a box? At 30 fuckin US goddam dollars a box? I ain't goin' for it. Always had good luck with Dago red by the Jug. While I was out shopping for this week's falang groceries I came up on this 5 liter jug o red from ol' Italia:


    At 153 Baht a liter it ain't bad. Certainly ain't "fine wine" but it is damn drinkable. Thing about Jug wines is they get opened and not finished. I've always been one that believed you open a bottle of wine it gets drunk. That ain't gonna happen. Figger this ones gonna take a week, maybe more, to finish. We'll see how it goes near the bottom, if I gotta throw the last liter out I figure it's still a damn good deal. At first blush,though; it's a helluva deal if I paid 765 baht for a 750 ml bottle of wine and it tasted like this I probably wouldn't moan too fuckin much. It's not overly light, nor is it a heavy wine, yet it is robust enough to stand up to a hearty meal (as you'd expect from an italian wine), or alone.

    After this jug is gone I'm pretty damn sure I'll be looking for a change and if anyone else's got a recommendation, I'm listening.
    When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty -- T. Jefferson


  2. #2
    The Pikey Hunter
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    I prefer similar lubrication to aid the thought processes while I'm working. However, I've never been a wine buff and I find beer makes me a bit too lethargic.

    I prefer to start the 'working day' (which for me generally commences around 2-3pm) off with a nice pot of freshly brewed coffee, or a couple of cups of Earl Gray, depending on my mood.

    A few hours later I'll normally have a G&T and refill as necessary until its time to finish for the day.
    You, sir, are a God among men....
    Short Men, who aren't terribly bright....
    More like dwarves with learning disabilities....
    You are a God among Dwarves With Learning Disabilities.

  3. #3
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    What size is your box SF (of wine you clown) ?

    Problem with wine is not to let air in.

    (An Aussie colleague once explained to me that you made little girls by not letting any light in but that's another subject).

    Open a bottle and the game is lost.

    Box wine I used to buy in France had a tap at the bottom of the box and the vino came out by the force of gravity without air getting into the placcy bag inside.


  4. #4
    Northern Hermit
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    Yeah I know the thing about air but hten folks want a fuckin wine to "breath" so What I gotta wait for each goddam glass to "breath"
    Box = 3L
    Jug = 5L
    3L =1585
    5L = 765
    so
    if(2(5L)=3L)
    {
    drink faster.
    }

    we'll see how it goes if the wine gets undrinkable I'll make some Beef burgueon, burgenuon - Burgundy Beef and keep buying the 300 per bottle stuff.
    Saw this box o' wine California stuff (we do good wine there like it or not) at 1585 baht. Now I have walked past that same damn box back home (my username was not picked at random) at $5.95. There is NO fuckin way they are getting 8 times what refused to pay back ther for the same crap.
    This jug wine is pretty good. Added plus? Kinda reminds of the days we'd pick a galon of red Mountain Burgundy up with spare change ($1.59) drop eight - ten hits of acid in it give it a shake or two and pass it 'round the camp fire (last hit was a bonus)

  5. #5
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    The "breathing" point is valid but solvable.

    In a previous life , when I had money and we used to have dinner parties , it happened that I was serving a wine about 30 stories above box/jug wine but had forgotten to open the first bottle. You need two decanters and chug one into the other two or three times. I call this the "hyperventilation technique" and it worked quite well.

    On the price factor , when I left France last year there was a small supermarket chain which was selling a generic Merlot and ditto Cabernet Sauvignon which were quite drinkable and 1 euro 50 a pop (<70 bhat).

    One (I forget which) was from the pays d'Oc (a vast and vague area which theoretically stops at the French frontier) and one was from California.

    In Thailand the equivalent would prolly have the price multiplied by 10.

    Come back Toxin , roll on the FTA's


  6. #6
    I am in Jail

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    Had a couple of flagons of both the red and white stuff.It's drinkable....Gives you a hangover that you could hang your hat on though....

  7. #7
    Thailand Expat
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    Reckon the Casks ar more reliable. And cheaper.
    I can't know the ones- wife stuff. They are not from Oz, prolly Chile.

  8. #8
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    Tesco and Makro sell 5L wine boxes, red and white for 950B. That's 190B a litre for the mathematically challenged. Not one I'd serve to royalty but pretty drinkable, especially after the first glass.

    Packaged as 'Mont Clair Wine from coastal regions'.

    You can also buy 75cl bottles by the same distributor but labelled Bin 5, Bin 9, corresponding to Cabernet, Merlot and so on. These are 280B a pop and taste better.
    Lord, deliver us from e-mail.

  9. #9
    Thailand Expat
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    This ain't a bad drop, 5L for 440 bt at the lao duty free, I really brought it so I could slag off our yankee freinds on what crap wine they make, but changed my mind after the first Glass. Its not half half bad.


  10. #10
    Thailand Expat Texpat's Avatar
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    I have two bottles of Issan's finest on rack -- from Sakon Nahkohn. A bit sweet. Waiting for Peter to visit.

    In the off-chance it's putrid, a case of Issan Beer to tide us over.

    Is the challenge evident here?

    I welcome the best of anything ... especially friends.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by peterpan
    Its not half half bad.
    Is that better than half bad then?

  12. #12
    Thailand Expat
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    No Jizzy, was on my 4 th Leo amd I tend to stutter a bit after a few.

  13. #13
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    oh no, boxed wine is not good.

    wine by the jub?



    I shudder.

    BF should be outraged when he reds this thread.

  14. #14
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    There must be a 300% tariff on wine, I saw the dirt cheap Banrock station Cabernet/Shiraz for sale at 3 times what it goes for overseas. I see jug wines that are little more than for cooking or budget minded teenage girls having a party being sold as if it were prime vintage. I bought a bottle of French wine for 375 bahtthinking I couldn't go wrong, It's French. It tasted horrible. There are Thai wines in the store that are quite inexpensive but I have yet to try them. Where the heck do they grow wine in Thailand, on the mountain tops in the north? There is no Mediteranean climate zone in hot humid Thailand, I'm surprised grapes grow at all. One thing I've found though, few Thais like wine and those that do seem to prefer whites, I like reds myself finding whites to be a bit sour for my taste.

  15. #15
    Thailand Expat
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    Quote Originally Posted by nightowl2548
    There must be a 300% tariff on wine
    312% for beer, so I guess wine is somewhat similar. you can get some decent stuff here if you'r willing to buy wholesale though, as Timber has proven.

  16. #16
    Thailand Expat
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    We buy Carlo Rossi by the dozen from Laos. Works out at, I think, 125 Baht bottle. It is slagged off as a red equivalent of an Asti Spumanti or a Laski Riesling but I like it. I chill the bottle - nah I don't chill it - I freeze the fukah for 2 hours and then sit outside and drink it with fish, red meat, white meat, meat not yet sure of its hue, desserts and cigars.

  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by nightowl2548 View Post
    There must be a 300% tariff on wine, I saw the dirt cheap Banrock station Cabernet/Shiraz for sale at 3 times what it goes for overseas. I see jug wines that are little more than for cooking or budget minded teenage girls having a party being sold as if it were prime vintage. I bought a bottle of French wine for 375 bahtthinking I couldn't go wrong, It's French. It tasted horrible. There are Thai wines in the store that are quite inexpensive but I have yet to try them. Where the heck do they grow wine in Thailand, on the mountain tops in the north? There is no Mediteranean climate zone in hot humid Thailand, I'm surprised grapes grow at all. One thing I've found though, few Thais like wine and those that do seem to prefer whites, I like reds myself finding whites to be a bit sour for my taste.

    I found this

    E-MAGAZINE -- A NEWS ROOM GUIDE TO THAI WINES by Laurence Civil


    A Thai friend of mine who lives in Phon Phisai, buys Chinese red wine/ paint stripper from the duty free shop in Laos. It comes in huge bottles with two glass rings below the neck of the bottle. He serves it up just like the beer with lots of ice. The ice does take the sour edge off slightly.
    Last edited by Udonite; 16-06-2008 at 05:18 AM.

  18. #18
    charls
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    i have link about drinkable or cheap wine

  19. #19
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    I use that very same bottle for my cooking wine FF, its definitely drinkable but kinda goes down hill after its been open for a few days. If you ever make it down to Bkk I can set you up with a few cases of decent cab, merlot or tempranillo from my supplier for around 300B/bottle.

  20. #20
    Thailand Expat
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    5l only lasts me a few days
    it's ok

  21. #21
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    I think red wine is shite. Give me a Hock anytime.

  22. #22
    hartim
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    A classic scene, and one that I’m getting quite used to: I’m in the liquor aisle with less than 10 dollars in my pocket looking for a wine. Complicating things, I was expecting 3 other people for our Sunday dinner. I’m usually the one to bring the wine since most of my friends know I review wine for a living now. Ok, so I still have a day job, but one can hope! Okay… whitefish for dinner. Now, I’m not big on strict pairings of wine and food, but I personally enjoy Chardonnay with white fish. It is also hotter than hell today, so let’s find the way and we can. After searching for a few minutes, guess what the cheapest was? The label was very plain but the “3/$10.00” sign in front of the wine what caught my attention. Yeah, Crane Lake again. 3 bottles for $10.00. Awesome.

  23. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by nightowl2548 View Post
    There must be a 300% tariff on wine, I saw the dirt cheap Banrock station Cabernet/Shiraz for sale at 3 times what it goes for overseas. I see jug wines that are little more than for cooking or budget minded teenage girls having a party being sold as if it were prime vintage. I bought a bottle of French wine for 375 bahtthinking I couldn't go wrong, It's French. It tasted horrible. There are Thai wines in the store that are quite inexpensive but I have yet to try them. Where the heck do they grow wine in Thailand, on the mountain tops in the north? There is no Mediteranean climate zone in hot humid Thailand, I'm surprised grapes grow at all. One thing I've found though, few Thais like wine and those that do seem to prefer whites, I like reds myself finding whites to be a bit sour for my taste.
    There is a massive vineyard just outside Pattaya near a stretch of water called Silver Lake (fresh water) They sell grape juice at the roadside but not wine. Without the benefit of and interpreter I got the impression that the enterprise was reletively new.

  24. #24

    R.I.P.


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    ^nope, been there at least 5 years that I remember.

  25. #25
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    Most I know drink red once they've tried it.

    ..but they WILL drink anything as long as you are paying for it.

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