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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to expect visitors to bring a decent bottle of wine with them.

277 replies

Mushypeasandchipstogo · 04/01/2015 20:40

We have had lots of friends and relatives over to stay and for dinner over Christmas. It is lovely to see them all but why do they always bring a totally crap bottle of New World wine with them?
I have in my kitchen 10 bottles of vile red and white wine. Should I pour it all down the sink, use it for cooking or give it back to them next time I visit? Any other options would be considered!

OP posts:
Trills · 04/01/2015 21:48

If they were bringing Jacob's Creek I might have some sympathy.

Villa Maria Sauvigon Blanc is a very decent example of a particular kind of wine.

Personally I don't like Pinot Noir, but I don't say that people have brought "crap wine", if that's what they bring. I say they have brought wine that is not to my taste.

"Only liking French Spanish and Italian wine" just sounds moronic. I highly doubt you would be able to maintain that particular claim in a blind test.

IgnoreMeEveryOtherReindeerDoes · 04/01/2015 21:48

Just as well as I don't get invited to dinner parties as I would just take Pinot Grigio or Blossom Hill, I'm not a wine drinker but one glass and I'm sliding under the table so expensive wine is wasted on me much to the horror of my father

YoureAllABunchOfBastards · 04/01/2015 21:49

Having said that, I would drink The Ned every day if I could. Have stretched to Cloudy Bay a couple of times and that is lush.

Rivercam · 04/01/2015 21:50

I'm a wine-chav then, because I usually spend around £5 for a bottle, and usually look for the half price wine ( so,the wine actually costs £10). I love Mcguigan wine so double-pleb for me.

The op's attitude is very snobby. Mmaybe the guests can't afford more, or like the wine they brought. Also, it's a gift, so should be received as such. They didn't have to bring anything.

If you don't want the wine, send it to me!

HaveTeaWillSurvive · 04/01/2015 21:50

Yanbu to moan a little (privately) if it really all is shit but YABU to restrict yourself to those three countries. Some of the NW wine is outstanding - personally I now always go for Chilean, very French in style but without the overpricing. Damn you dry January...

ADishBestEatenCold · 04/01/2015 21:50

"Yep think I must be a wine snob as I only like French, Italian and Spanish!"

You might well be a snob, Mushypeas, I really would not know, but I rather agree with those posters who suggest that you don't seem to know an awful lot about wine.

MsVestibule · 04/01/2015 21:50

I am totally Confused that you call yourself a wine snob, and yet judge a wine on which country it is produced, rather than the grape, region, year, etc. There's nothing wrong with a preference of one type of wine over another, but don't pretend it means you know anything about wine.

PineappleLump · 04/01/2015 21:52

Passmethecrisps I completely agree that OP might not enjoy the New World style of wine making, and NZ sauvignon blanc is generally of a quite distinctive type. I am kiwi and my English father in law never drank NZ wines before I came along, but now he grudgingly admits some can be quite good!

Enjoying a particular style of wine or a particular grape/blend is totally fine and quite normal. Dismissing all New World wines as crap, is not and shows quite a degree of ignorance.

RokensWife · 04/01/2015 21:54

My absolute favourite wine is Black Tower (I'll take Liebfraumilch at a push).

PineappleLump · 04/01/2015 21:54

Or what MsVestibule said!

MarjorieMelon · 04/01/2015 21:54

Has anyone tried Jacobs Creek
sparkling Shiraz? I really like it even if it is considered naff. Very Christmassy taste.

KenAdams · 04/01/2015 21:55

Haha you clearly don't know much about wine if you think all New World wine is shit! I've had the most fantastic Chilean white before that blows anything from Spain out of the water.

ChillySundays · 04/01/2015 21:56

I drink wine but do not know what is good - all I know is what I like. Will serve the wine people bring unless it's not cold.

I don't drink Chardonnay purely because I have bought some nasty bottles in the past. Now go for Pinot Grigio as I have found that even if I have chosen a not so good bottle it is still pretty drinkable compared with the not so good bottle of Chardonnay which I was unable to drink at all.

WE will be drinking a range of wine over the next few months as DH gets bottles for Christmas. I always forget to write down the ones we like

Passmethecrisps · 04/01/2015 21:56

Does the queen not serve Blue Nun?

That would be quite the etiquette dilemma!

Passmethecrisps · 04/01/2015 21:57

Or actually, rokens it might be black tower

noseymcposey · 04/01/2015 21:57

ah ok thanks re McWines.

Well, obviously YABU OP. But I hope you are at least gracious to your friends faces.. !

Mrsstarlord · 04/01/2015 21:58

i know-nothing about wine but always avoid european wines and go for New World, some lovely chilean wines out there and cloudy bay for a (very) special occasion!

Passmethecrisps · 04/01/2015 22:00

And trills I adore Pinot Noir and consider it my treat wine but I know that my fil really dislikes it so I wouldn't take it.

Thankfully I am indiscriminating in my wine drinking for the most part. Old world, new world, sparkling, frizzante, still, red, white, pink. Saves everyone's feelings

MarjorieMelon · 04/01/2015 22:00

I was at a family gathering recently and was enjoying the wine on offer. I was surprised to discover that it was Black Tower! It was going down very easy. A little too easy..

BaronessBomburst · 04/01/2015 22:05

Pinot noir can be fantastic slightly chilled. Perfect with good solid Alsace or German cuisine. dumplings

Passmethecrisps · 04/01/2015 22:07

Hmm. That should have said "indiscriminate"

Too much wine. South African by chance

JackShit · 04/01/2015 22:09

I always opt for New World wines!!

I find European wines far too dry and acrid tasting.

YABU

Trills · 04/01/2015 22:09

I am fairly omnivorous when it comes to booze too - I'd drink Pinot Noir if that was all that was on offer but I'd never ever choose it :)

fredfredgeorgejnr · 04/01/2015 22:10

I await the posts from your guests

"AIBU to expect the hostess to open the bottle of wine I bring when visiting?"

BTW, you're just a SNOB, not a wine snob if you are choosing wine purely on location rather than taste.

stupidgreatgrinonmyface · 04/01/2015 22:10

*MarjorieMelon

Has anyone tried Jacobs Creek
sparkling Shiraz? I really like it even if it is considered naff. Very Christmassy taste.*

We love this, goes well with our Christmas dinner (we don't have turkey).
I generally like the Oz and NZ reds. Lovely flavours, just the right level of dryness for me. Worst wine I ever had was a French one that I bought for a very special occasion. I went to a well respected wine merchant and after a lot of discussion about the food I was intending to serve, likes and dislikes etc, was persuaded to part with £25 (over 10 years ago). Can't begin to describe the awful disappointment of it. I would have been better to serve the wine I had used in the meal and to have plonked the so called quality wine into the food.

I trust my own instincts now and am rarely disappointed and certainly am not £25 down on a crap bottle of wine.

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