Wine?

[disney junky]

I know nothing about wine. What is a good starting point if I were going to add wine occasionally to a meal at a nice restaurant? Is there a website or discussion group that can offer suggestions? Is more expensive better?

 

[Mickey Fliers]

I don't know about message boards, but if I were you, I would start by purchasing a few bottles and having a mini-tasting at your home. This way you can decide if you prefer reds or whites, which grape you prefer, drink them with or without food. A high price doesn't necessarily mean that you are going to get a great wine. A good wine is anyone that you like!

 

[Sandy321]

Go to a liquor store that has lots of wines - or go to a winery and do a tasting! Many liquor stores that have good wines will have tastings often! Talk to the workers there - they have a lot of knowledge!

Generally speaking you'll be best starting with the whites - pair with chicken, fish, the Pinot Grigio is getting great reviews as a nice balanced wine! Chardonnay's are so different, some are very strong in the oak flavor, some have a nice soft buttery flavor!

for reds a nice beaujolais (like I can spell) is a good start! My favorite is the Lois Jardot its so much better than the Nueveau wines that come out at the end of Jan, beginning of Feb - for the same price - its a light red wine, very good start to red wines imho!

You can get a good wine for under $10 and work yourself up! Australia has some good wines for around $5 - $6 in reds and whites...

 

[KSchwagg86]

Riesling!

 

[Sandy321]

Riesling!

LOVE Rieslings - you can get sweet Rieslings as well as dry crisp rieslings!

Sometimes a nice champagne is a good place to start!! Rosa Regale is popular in Disney - $19 a bottle here in Chicagoland - its a sweeter champagne, with a red color because it smells and tastes like berries, not overtly sweet, not heavy yeasty smell or heavy bubbles!

No, more expensive isnt always bettter! But at a restaurant you will pay double, triple or more mark up on a glass or bottle of wine!! (at Disney they know how to pour and they get 4 glasses per bottle, so its not better to buy a bottle vs a glass its the same!)

I have a friend that likes to show off and pulls out his $75 bottles of red wines - I talk to wine people and pull out one under $30 and he cant tell which is the more expensive!! (and that doesnt happen often mind you - just every now and again!)

 

[JessicaR]

I know nothing about wine. What is a good starting point if I were going to add wine occasionally to a meal at a nice restaurant? Is there a website or discussion group that can offer suggestions? Is more expensive better?

Do you drink wine at all now or just going to start? I like Wine Spectator.
http://www.winespectator.com/Wine/Home/

No, more expensive is not always better.

A few that I like are Jordan, Cake Bread, J. Lohr, Rodney Strong. They would likely be found on a nice restaurants wine list.

You can also have a look at your local liquor store. Browse the wines and ask the owner to make some suggestions. Most stores also have some wines with small write ups under them and a score. That could be helpful in choosing too.

95-100 Classic: a great wine
90-94 Outstanding: a wine of superior character and style
85-89 Very good: a wine with special qualities
80-84 Good: a solid, well-made wine
75-79 Mediocre: a drinkable wine that may have minor flaws
50-74 Not recommended

 

[JessicaR]

Sometimes a nice champagne is a good place to start!!

So whites are a good place to start, or reds or wait start with champagne! All great places to start!

Where we starting again?

 

[FireDancer]

Wine taste is very different so saying you'll like a merlot over a pinot won't help. While getting some bottles sounds like a good idea you are stuck with entire bottles of wine just for a tasting.

I would suggest going to a local winery or wine bar and ordering flights. Your get a couple of ounces of each wine you order in the flight and aren't stuck buying 5 bottles to try 5 different wines. You also have someone there you can get advice from. If you try a flight and like wines 1 and 3 but not 2, 4, and 5 you can get recommendations from the sommelier or bartender because they should know which of their wines will have the characteristics of the ones you enjoy.

 

[Muushka]

I started out with a white zifendel. Then I grew tired of that and moved on to chardonnay. So far I am happy with that. I cannot do most reds (shariz! Ugh, like drinking sand...too dry!).

 

[PinkRhombus]

First I started with this....

Ahhhh...

I like whites...husband likes reds.

Ooh. There are actually wine tasting classes here locally at UofL. For college credit! Ha!

Sometimes you can go to a restaurant where they will have wine parings.

Reunite Lambruso is a very inexpensive sweet red wine that, as my brother in law says, "just needs to be drank". Good over ice.

I actually like some English meads (sweet, fruity).

And I used to buy this Gewurztraminer (sweet) at Sam's (great prices there ) but my closest one doesn't have it now, so I'll have to find it another place.

The Kroger up the road has a separate liquor store (different suite in the same plaza) and they always have someone in there on the weekend sampling something.

The different companies will have representatives visit some of the other large liquor megastores. Our local one is called Liquor Barn. They'd be a good and free source. And if you stroll through one of those, they have little signs next to the different wines that have ratings. They'll have shelves on the end of the aisles that has displays of management picks.

If you want to start out with a good red though...we like Black Opal. It's Austrialian. Looks for the blends. Mmmmmmmmm.

or just read through wine.com You have to put in a state that the can ship to though. LA works.

Top wines under $20 ----> try this link http://www.wine.com/v6/90-Rated-Win...&Ns=p_Savings|1&iid=ws_90rated20All_text_link

 

[Sandy321]

So whites are a good place to start, or reds or wait start with champagne! All great places to start!

Where we starting again?

isnt that the truth!!

you start where you want to start! Some people dont get into champagne, some dont get into reds - some prefer red meats and want to start with reds...

Guess that's why DisneyJunkie asked the question!!

sure didnt mean to muddy the water- wine!!

 

[Caradana]

First I started with this....

Ahhhh...

Aaah, Boone's Farm brings back memories of high school ... misty watercolor memories ... ha ... I will never forget how that and Arbor Mist could pickle my stomach lining overnight ...

Australian or New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is a great place to start with wine. Very light, somewhat sweet, easy to drink.

 

[Sleepy]

I also recommend doing a wine tasting. There are so many flavors. Price means nothing. Some of the best wine I have had were the 3 Euro table wines that did not even have a label on the bottle. We never spend much more than 10 Euro, which is around $14. My fav is Moio 57 grown in the town close by and one grown by a friend on the side of Vesuvius.

If you find a favorite, don't have the expectation that a different year, you will get an equally pleasing flavor. Temps and precipitation makes a huge difference in wines. Last season was an exceptional year in our area. Most wines don't last much longer than 4 years.

For a good wine remember room temp and let it breathe for at least 30 minutes.

 

[Ohiodislover]

Our local wine stores have tastings, usually on Friday nights, and Saturdays. We have found several wines that we never would have purchased, otherwise.

About price, most of the wines we like are well under $10.00 Just experiment and read the bottles. Many will tell you what they are served best with. Like someone else said, talk to the employees. They often know.

DH and I just started drinking wine a few years ago. The key to us was to pair the wine w/ whatever you are eating. Wines that tasted like crap on their own, suddenly tasted great when served next to the right food.

A couple of our faves that are cheap. Yellow Tail Shiraz, or Shiraz-Grenache, and Kendall Jackson Chardonnay.

 

[dakcp2001]

My fav is Jlohr, but if you go to a resteraunt, your best bet is to ask the waiter for what will go best with your meal.

Order the house wine, it is usually pretty good if they choose it to be their house wine. If you get chicken or fish try a white, if you get beef try a red, but the waiter would def be able to get some good info for you, especially at a nice resteraunt.


I am a white wine kind of girl, Chardonnay is my fav.

 

[anniemae]

I would ask your waitress for suggestions when at a restaurant.

Go to a wine store and ask the people that work there, usually they are knowledgeable. There are some great wines in the $12-$20 range. I love Silverado merlot.

 

[GoldieSaysMeep]

Wine is a very personal taste. There are so many variations even between wines of the same type that you really just have to experiment.

Expensive is definately NOT better. Some of the best wines I have had were between $8.99-12.99 a bottle.

I have had a handful of wines that were $30-50 a bottle, and quite frankly, my personal taste enjoyed the $10 bottles better. I do find the cheap, cheap wines (Sutter Home etc.) to be kind of blah though. I have a few friends who swear by Barefoot but I've just had way better.

I find good starting points with white wines tend to either be the sweeter wines like Rieslings (Relax is one that even my non wine drinking friends like), Moscato (very sweet and often sparkly) or the Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigios. They just tend to be more fruity and go well with lots of things.

Reds are a bit harder to get used to if you aren't a wine fan. A nice Cabernet Sauvignon tends to be one all of my wine fan friends agree is a good starter. I personally like Spanish and South American wines for reds.

The only type of wine I have had that I did not like is Shiraz.

As for websites and guides, I don't know. I just pick up a different bottle once in a while and keep a journal of what I thought.

 

[suzannen]

I agree that one of the best places to start is a good local wine store. They will be able to give you great suggestions in your price range, and would also know of any local wineries that have tours, wine classes you could attend, and restaurants in your area that host special dinners with wine pairings.

As others have mentioned, most start with the lighter whites (Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc), or even a Rosé since it's summer, and then move on to Chardonnay (from California it's more oakey, from France - more buttery). Red wines are a little more complex and usually more expensive. Some of the more popular ones are Cabernet Sauvignon, Côtes du Rhônes, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Chianti, Barolo...the list goes on and on.

Just start tasting, asking questions, keep a journal of what you like and what you don't and go from there. Have fun!

 

[mill4023]

DW and I are not wine experts by any means, but we've started drinking a lot more wine in the past year.
I would stay away from the ultra cheap stuff (under about $6). I've tried a lot of those and most of them weren't very good.
But we've found a lot of wines we like in the $8 to $15 price range.
I like a wide variety, including a lot of reds.
DW prefers whites and generally likes something with a little sweetness.

Her favorites are:
Gewurtztraminer (specifically Fetzer)
Riesling
Moscato
White Zinfandel (exception here to the cheap rule, we liked the Beringer, which I think was about $5)

She did not like the Barefoot Moscato though. It was too sweet.

One of our favorites was a Woodbridge Mondavi 2007 Riesling. Very good and much better than the plain Mondavi 2008 Riesling we tried.

 

[dec5girl]

I guess I'm backwards. I started with red and I love red. I am only just working my way into whites. I much prefer red, but one of my best friends only likes white and she is over a lot so I have to drink white with her. If I had my way I would never drink white!!!