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

[Mushypeasandchipstogo]

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!

The amount of people who "hate Chardonnay" but happily drink Chablis always amuses me somewhat.

Personally I think Villa Maria is fine for a party (and some of their varieties are pretty good). Your chicken will be lovely!

You are very very rude, op. Very very rude.

I've not found a single NZ Sauv that I can't drink very happily :) agree that Villa Maria isn't the greatest export, but there are several worse cheap French varieties.

I do live in the Marlborough region, so am probably spoiled :)

I've only found one NZ chardonnay that I liked (it was unoaked) - the others are too woody really.

Of course the answer to "AIBU to expect the hostess to open the bottle of wine I bring when visiting?" is YABU if you're going there to eat.

The host will have chosen wine based on what food they are serving so you can't presume that whatever bottle you bring should be drunk there and then - it's just a gift.

Yabu. It's a decent bottle of wine. New world wines are generally very good. There's some shit french wine about. I take each bottle on its own merit.

Best wine I had over xmas was Sainsburys house white at MILs, surprisingly drinkable.

Oh I like French, Spanish and Italian wines too but I absolutely love Chilean red wines and I have had amazing Californian and South African wines heck it is becoming apparent I drink too much wine.

elmers why does that amuse you? I used to drink Chablis (haven't had any for a few years though) and I don't generally enjoy Chardonnay. What wine faux pas have I committed?!

I prefer Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio and normally just buy whatever is on offer.

I know absolutely nothing about wine.

Because Chablis grows mainly Chardonnay grape varietal, admittedly mainly but not all unoaked so it's a contradiction in terms.

osmi, thank you, I think you may have answered my question!

Missing out big time by never drinking anything apart from French, Italian and Spanish.

Drink a bottle of Ridge - Geyserville or Lytton Springs - a beautiful Californian Zinfandel. I dare you not to love it!

I dislike French, Italian and Spanish wine so I am happy to take your wine off your hands

I go through phases with wine too. Before Christmas I didn't seem to like hardly anything everything tasted vinegary to me. Now I seem to like everything again.

In the summer I like a cool crisp Pinot Grigio but I don't like the taste in the winter it's too vinegary.

I have been drinking lots of sparking wine over Xmas, NZ Sauvignon Blanc and mixing soda with wine if I'm not keen on the taste.

I find (as someone whose vast volumes of drinking qualify me to have a degree of experience if not expertise) that there is a lot of bad Chardonnay about that is terribly oaky. There is also good Chardonnay which is less like paint stripper and more like Chablis. However the chances of getting the good stuff at a house party or even a bar without going all Jancis Robinson about things or being a wine wanker and asking to inspect the bottle is very, very slim.

Often I will turn down Chardonnay because the chances are it is cheap and very oaky undrinkable piss and Chablis is rarely so awful IME.

I'm not fond of very oaky wine. Obviously

ENormaSnob Sun 04-Jan-15 21:07:00
I like whatevers half price in tesco

Yy!

You are definitely not a wine snob, you can only be one of them when you actually know something about wine.

We have a bottle of Grange 1999, which is an Australian red.It currently retails at about £400 a bottle.

TBH, I do like a lot of Spanish red wines, although the fact that I do makes me feel a bit embarrassed about my plebeian tastes.

Yabvu, not everybody can afford expensive wine, at least they brought something. Use it in cooking such as beef burginon, or spag bol

The Chardonnay / Chablis example is pure wine snob bollocks. No one I know doesn't know that they are the same and certainly people that bring Chablis know that it is. And actually given Sancerre in this day and age most prefer it to Chablis ( Sauvignon blanc).

Villa Maria isn't cheap or crap.

Big brand single varietals probably are but just save them for a fete or whatever. Mulled wine or punch is also perfect with not to pyour taste wine.

I like my reds oaked, but not my whites. 'En barrique' are the magic words behind a good Chardonnay. Steel barrels rather than wood keep the flavour crisp and light.

You've just demonstrated you don't know much about wine if you 'only like wine from France, Italy and Spain'.

Ignorant, snobbish and rude. Charming combination.