Wines?

[Celluloidgal]

My favorite is Schmitt Sohne Riesling Spatlese or Auslese.

A sweet German white wine. Rieslings (Reez-ling) are recommended when you bring a wine to a host's home. They pair up with quite a variety of foods. I can find them for $10-12 depending where I go. My dh typically hates wine, but he'll enjoy a glass of Riesling with me Plus the bottle is pretty

http://littlegerman.com/german_lesson.shtml

 

[lil mermaid]

Okay, first off - the only fruit that is supposed to be in wine is grapes. No peach, mango, strawberry, etc... OH, and very important - zinfandel and merlot are supposed to be RED!!!

Don't confuse "fruity" with "sweet." Pinot noir is fruity, but not sweet. Fruit refers to the well..."grapiness" or "jammy" flavor of the wine. Sweetness is exactly that, the sweet flavor usually brought about by the residual sugars in the wine.

There's a great book, "Great Wine Made Simple" by Andrea Immer that's perfect for someone who wants to learn about wines without being overwhelmed.
Anne

ITA with Anne - it is a great book. You may also try Andrea Immer's (actually she is Andrea Immer Robinson now) "Wine Buying Guide for Everyone." She comes out with a new one every year. Anne has also given you some really good recommendations for specific wines. Also, if you do want a sweet wine, I really like Trimbach Riesling.

Good luck, let us know how it goes!

 

[ducklite]

My favorite is Schmitt Sohne Riesling Spatlese or Auslese.

A sweet German white wine. Rieslings (Reez-ling) are recommended when you bring a wine to a host's home. They pair up with quite a variety of foods. I can find them for $10-12 depending where I go. My dh typically hates wine, but he'll enjoy a glass of Riesling with me Plus the bottle is pretty

http://littlegerman.com/german_lesson.shtml

I don't know that I'd bring a Reisling, as it's far too sweet for many tastes (mine included.) I think instead I'd choose something a bit more middle of the road like Pinot Noir or a Pinot Grigio. The Pinot Grigio is a great cocktail wine, because it easily stands on it's own without food, and is light and crisp--perfect for summer.

Just as an FYI, the ONLY type of wine that goes with EVERYTHING is champagne.

DH and I feel that Vueve Clicquot gives the most bang for the buck of all the champagnes. It's actually better than *some* vintages of Dom Perignon. At about $40 a bottle it's no inexpensive, but if you enjoy champagne you're not going to do much better under $75-100. I also LOVE Jacquessen Brut but it comes in closer to the $75 range and can be quite difficult to find. And I'm fond of Perrier Jouet, although like with the Dom, the vintage means everything.

Anne

 

[bekkiz]

I (learning about wine in Napa) am a huge fan of sauvignon blanc. I too, prefer a sweeter, lighter wine, like a Reisling.

I've found that the sauvignon blanc is reasonably easy to pair with food, and often is a bit fruiter and sweeter than other whites. However, they are crisper, I think, than a reisling, so much easier to pair.

My absolute favorite is Cliff Lede, but my guess is your store won't carry it. It's a pretty small winery in the Napa Valley. Another great one, that you may be able to find, is the Honig sauvignon blanc.

Finally, I have found the more wine I drink, the more I like it and can taste the different flavors. Early on, most of the wine I drank was w/ my grandparents who are huge wine collectors. At first it was a struggle to finish a glss, especially some of the oaky Chardonnay or a big, heavy Cab (which is where their tastes lie).

Over time I learned to appriciate those flavors, and although they're still not my favorite, it's also helped me to find other wines that I do really like.

good luck! Oh, and keep a wine journal--it helps for when you're trying new things

 

[bekkiz]

And I though of one other thing. Most white wines should be served chilled, but if they're too cold, all you taste is the bitter/puckeryness (is that even a word?)

So, sans a wine fridge, go ahead and chill your white, but still pull it out maybe 30 minutes before drinking so it warms up to the right temperature. I recently learned this tip and it has made wine drinking SO much better!

 

[Tazicket]

Thank you so much for all the tips! You're correct in guessing that the wine budget is a little limited right now. I graduate from college in a couple of months, so then I'll be able to get a job that pays more and we'll have more to invest in this, my latest whim. I'm going to start copying all of your fabulous and very informative posts into one place and I'll start a wine journal, too!

Keep the tips coming! I'm loving them!

 

[Quinn222]

You don't have to spend a fortune! Our 'house red' is a $7 a bottle pinot noir. It's Georges D'Beouf (sp?). It's light, easy to drink and cheap, so you don't have to feel guilty about pouring a whole bottle into the beef stew or drinking it with a hamburger.

 

[magicmouse2]

I like white wines, not keen on Rose. I think chardonnays take some getting used to. I started off drinking sweet sparkling wines like lambrusco, then moved onto fruitier whites. I like pinot grigios for easy drinking, love chardonnays, they go so nice with a salad. I adore champagne also like sauvignon blanc. Its about getting a good brand though. For watching tv on a weekend with take I am happy with Gallo, with a nice meal I would like something nicer. I am not that good with red wine I find it more filling, but its something I'd like to improve my knowledge of to accompany nice steak dinners. DH prefers reds. At the moment we are having a lovely English summer and I am enjoying cider!!!! Its becoming the new trendy drink in the UK!

 

[Poohnatic]

OP, If you have a Cork and Olive nearby, GO THERE! They'll uncork anything on premises for you to try-and they've got some of the most patient staff working with you.

FYI, your palate develops over time. The wines I adored several years ago now seem too sweet. Our rep with PRP laughed when we were amazed at that-and told us it's very common.

I agree 100% with Anne's Conundrum and Veuve Cliquot recommendations. Veuve can go for 55 bucks retail, but can be had at Costco and Sam's for 38 bucks. (I bought a bottle for my bosses this week).

Suzanne

 

[salmoneous]

As a bit of background, wine is produced by converting sugars in grapes to alcohol. As a general rule, it should not be sweet. When people talk of a wine being sweet or fruity they are usually speaking in relative terms. In other words, compared to other wine it will be sweet. But you will be sorely disappointed if you are expecting fruit punch.

Let me be very careful not to offend anyone with this next paragraph: If you want a sweet, fruity alcoholic drink, that's great. Don't listen anyone who puts these drinks down. Personally, I love Port, which is sweet, fruity and alcoholic. But you should think of these drinks as a separate category of drink from "wines". Yes, people can make sweet wines. But put your sweet-Rieslings, ice-wines, white zinfandels, etc. off to the side and exclude them when trying to learn about wine. I don't like the "gateway" notion that you start off drinking these things and gradually working towards dryer wines.

Start with "simple" wines without a lot of complex flavors. In particular, you want to avoid anything with added flavors from the barrels where the wine is aged. (Just as a technical point, most affordable wine is going to pick up these flavors from wood chips added to wine aged in metal vats, but it's the same principle). No Chardonnay, Cabernet, etc.

What makes it tricky is that these complex flavors are desirable to wine-lovers. A "good" wine, a highly rated wine is not usually a good choice for people who aren't big wine drinkers. As pretty much a rule, avoid anything that brags about its rating from Wine Advocate, Wine Spectator, etc.

For a first wine, I'd highly recommend Beaujolais, in particular, the ubiquitous Georges Duboeuf. It's technically a red wine, but acts much more like a white wine (serve slightly chilled). Compared to other wines, it is sweet and fruity. But it isn't "fruit punch" in the style of some Rieslings, white zinfandels or desert wines. Easy to find, and fairly inexpensive.

And if you end up liking Beaujolais, you get to enjoy the silly-but-fun Beaujolais Nouveau mania every Novermber/December.

But whatever you drink, savor and enjoy!

 

[Tazicket]

Does dry=more bitter flavor when it comes to wines?

 

[ducklite]

Does dry=more bitter flavor when it comes to wines?

Weeeelllllll...

Dry wines usually have more tannins, and yes, I guess that could maybe make them seem bitter. Dry reds are IMHO an acquired taste, but once your palate is trained to distinguish different notes and layers you'll appreciate, and enjoy them.

Anne

 

[Tazicket]

Ahhh. This is slightly more involved than I thought. So, once you develop a taste for it, the little card discriptions that reads something like: "It exhibits an opaque purple color, as well as generous quantities of complex, smoky, lead pencil, mineral, and red and black fruit aromas. Rich with remarkable levels of sweet tannin, this layered, super-concentrated 1998 reveals supple tannin for the vintage." makes sense and are a little more helpful? Sort of like learning a new language?

 

[Tazicket]

What are good years with the pinot noirs and rieslings? Is it better to get a more recent year? I'm asking b/c I'm searching online through Total Wine to find the wines you all are mentioning and it has several options for years (I think ranging from late 90s to now). Does it matter a lot, or is that all up to personal taste, too?

 

[salmoneous]

Just to be a geek for a second... "dry" refers to the amount of sugar left in a wine. A dry wine has less sugar, and thus will usually taste less sweet and have more alcohol.

"Bitter" is not a lack of "sweet". Bitter is an independent taste sensation. But they do interact. Sweetness can cover-up bitterness, and vice versa.

Tannins are specific chemical compounds. They produce many flavors in wine - many of which are at least somewhat bitter. The most tell-tale sign of tannins in wine is a sensation, not a flavor - a tongue puckering astringency.. But also note that tannins don't have to be bitter.

Tannins and sugars are technically independent. You can have a bone-dry Pinot Grigios for example with almost no tannins. But in practice, a wine with a lot of tannin is produced dry, and a less-dry wine will have fewer tannins.

 

[ducklite]

Ahhh. This is slightly more involved than I thought. So, once you develop a taste for it, the little card discriptions that reads something like: "It exhibits an opaque purple color, as well as generous quantities of complex, smoky, lead pencil, mineral, and red and black fruit aromas. Rich with remarkable levels of sweet tannin, this layered, super-concentrated 1998 reveals supple tannin for the vintage." makes sense and are a little more helpful? Sort of like learning a new language?

Interesting description I don't think I've ever had a wine that had notes of lead pencil!

But yes, as you educate your palate you will be able to distinguish the various layers, textures, finishes, and notes, and even where on your palate each of these falls.

Anne

 

[ducklite]

What are good years with the pinot noirs and rieslings? Is it better to get a more recent year? I'm asking b/c I'm searching online through Total Wine to find the wines you all are mentioning and it has several options for years (I think ranging from late 90s to now). Does it matter a lot, or is that all up to personal taste, too?

Your whites are generally better young, and reds are generally better with age. I try to not let whites age more than three, maybe years at most with a couple of exceptions, and *most* reds are best after they've aged--generally five years or more. This will allow the tannins (the part you might find "bitter" to mellow.

My wine of choice for day-to-day "sipping" is J. Lohr Riverstone Chardonay, one of the oakiest of all the Chards. Right now I'm drinking 2004 vintages of that wine.

One of the keys is proper storage. I've got my wines on a rack in a closet which is seldom opened. It's a bit warmer than optimum, it tends to run in the low to mid-70's, but still a safe range for my current needs.

Anne

Anne

 

[Tazicket]

Interesting description I don't think I've ever had a wine that had notes of lead pencil!

But yes, as you educate your palate you will be able to distinguish the various layers, textures, finishes, and notes, and even where on your palate each of these falls.

Anne

I swear it's real! I copied it off of the website! It's a description of 1998 Chateau Lafite Rothschild Pauillac. I was going to ask if it was a good thing for wine to taste like lead pencil, especially when it sells for almost $400 per bottle!

 

[Tazicket]

Tannins are specific chemical compounds. They produce many flavors in wine - many of which are at least somewhat bitter. The most tell-tale sign of tannins in wine is a sensation, not a flavor - a tongue puckering astringency.. But also note that tannins don't have to be bitter.

So are tannins what makes your tongue feel sort of tingly after a sip of wine?

 

[Stacerita]

I agree with the poster who suggested the OP attend wine tastings. I am not a wine drinker, but this past weekend a group of friends went on a wine tour and did tasting at a bunch of wineries. It was a great experience and now I realize I like wine. I had just been drinking the wrong ones in the past. I know I like sweeter wines and wines that are fruitier as well. Fell in love with Muscat (sp?) from a few of the wineries and also with a yummy almond champangne. By going and doing the tastings, I tried a lot of things I normally would not have and found what I liked. Now I can say I drink wine.