Start trying anything in the import section of your liquor or grocery store that isn't straight merlot or cabernet. You also shouldn't have to spend more than $10 ($15 at the absolute most) for great bottles of wine. If you are just looking for some wine for an event or something, just pick a normal looking sangiovese, chianti, crianza or malbec and it should be fine. Get two bottles just in case one has problems. French wines are great, but choosing a good one can be complicated.
What have you tried in the past that you like? Unfortunately, "red wine" is nearly as broad a term as "wine" itself. Do you prefer something dry, something with a lot of fruit, something with a high alcohol content, spicy/peppery...?
If you are totally new to wine drinking I would recommend one of several wines.
The first is any French wine from the Beaujolais region. These tend to be gentle wines that are easily drank with or without food. Louis Jadot and George Duboeuf are two of the most prominent houses that make this variety. You should be able to find a good Beaujolais for $10-20.
Second are California Merlots or perhaps an Australian Cabernet/Merlot blend. Two well known brands are the Blackstone Merlot out of California and Rosemount wineries from Australia. Again, these should be in the $10-20 range.
As Giant said, you shouldn't have to spend much to get a good bottle of wine these days. The more expensive stuff is usually wine with a pedigree.
Wine is a growing passion for me. There is so much more that I have yet to learn. The hobby is a lot of fun and nearly limitless in scope and potential, especially when paired with cooking. I also started to get into wine when I was in college. I recommend you find a wine speciality store somewhere near you and walk in someday and tell one of the sellers exactly what you posted here. Any good store will have people who are passionate about wine and who will be happy to lend you advice from their own experience. If they are snooty and arrogant, go find another store. Keep an eye out for stores that do tastings (usually on fridays and saturdays). You might taste something you really like. Good luck and enjoy!
My advice: buy anything that comes in the big bottle, and drink it from the bottle. If that's not good enough, or unless you're trying to impress some chick, is the only time to consider the fancy-schmancy wine section.
Here's another good one for you: If you find yourself with an old bottle of white wine that's been sitting it the fridge for a long time, you can cut it with 50% 7-up and it works OK. If it's red wine, then you can use coke, and it's something the Spanish call calimocho.
Getting back to the original condition, let's say you're trying to impress some chick. There are plenty of good california and oregon wines, and they're cheaper, so I say start there. You can also ask the folks in the liquor store what they like. They are usually tremendous drunks and can really help you out here.
There is a lot of great wine in the world. Red wine are great. I know mainly french wine.
There is the two big appelations :
- bordeau
- bourgogne (beaujolais is a subpart)
Bordeau and bourgogne or beaujolais (cheaper) are very different. Bordeau are more tannic and bourgogne are more transparent. Bourgogne are very difficult to buy, even for me, because there is so many differents wine maker in each appelation. White bourgogne are the best white wine for my taste.
Now there is tons of good french wine that are not bourgogne or bordeau.
There is wine from the pays de Loire. For a beginner (because a strong red wine can hurt) saumur champigny may be great.
There is tons of good wines, the difficult problem, is excepting very expansive wine like the Cheval blanc 61, you never know in advance what will be good wine and what will be bad wine
The Cheval Blanc bit was a joke, and more specifically an exerpt from the movie Sideways. I didn't even know that it was a real vineyard.
Cheval blanc is one of the best bordeau that you can ever drink. It's also quiet expansive : 150 $ the bottle. I only drink a lesser cheval blanc(1984), but it was still very good.
My current favorite red is Beringer Cabernet Sauvignon. My taste varies too much to stay with one all the time. Remember everything taste great with friends.
Twin Fin is an amazingly good bottle for $6.99 a pop. You would think I'm pulling your leg because it has a screw top, but it's as good as most recognized name $20 bottles.
for my wedding, i bought a decent bottle of wine for everyone in the wedding party, and the price/quality ratio there is very decent, plus they have some reviews and stuff on-site.
my favorite wine that i've had from there was a 2002 Spanish Red. I don't remember much else about it, nor do i know much about wine.
now that i'm living in Macedonia, I can pick up a top wine for about $4.50 a bottle, and everyday stuff for about $2 a bottle and mixer stuff for about $1 a bottle. woo-hoo! Needless to say, I drink a lot more wine now than i did when i was in the states. Check out some Macedonian (not the Macedonia region of Greece, but the Republic of Macedonia, the country) wines if you run across them. The export market is starting to ramp up, and i think there are some good values out there. However, exports may only be going to the EU right now.
My advice is to forget what everyone else has said. Wine is very personal and everybody has different tastes. To find the best wine for you need to try a few to find the wine that suits you. That is the beauty of wine - and every year you need to start again!
I could tell you the wines that I think are the best, but they are my favourites. Try a few wines, and find your favourites.
thanks everybody! i'm a relative newb to wine, as i've never really paid attention to what i was drinking (or could remember the next day.) I ended up buying some bordeau at $16. I don't feel like going over to look at which brand it is. I'll probably post back here in a couple days with questions about more wines.
Comments
If you are totally new to wine drinking I would recommend one of several wines.
The first is any French wine from the Beaujolais region. These tend to be gentle wines that are easily drank with or without food. Louis Jadot and George Duboeuf are two of the most prominent houses that make this variety. You should be able to find a good Beaujolais for $10-20.
Second are California Merlots or perhaps an Australian Cabernet/Merlot blend. Two well known brands are the Blackstone Merlot out of California and Rosemount wineries from Australia. Again, these should be in the $10-20 range.
As Giant said, you shouldn't have to spend much to get a good bottle of wine these days. The more expensive stuff is usually wine with a pedigree.
Wine is a growing passion for me. There is so much more that I have yet to learn. The hobby is a lot of fun and nearly limitless in scope and potential, especially when paired with cooking. I also started to get into wine when I was in college. I recommend you find a wine speciality store somewhere near you and walk in someday and tell one of the sellers exactly what you posted here. Any good store will have people who are passionate about wine and who will be happy to lend you advice from their own experience. If they are snooty and arrogant, go find another store. Keep an eye out for stores that do tastings (usually on fridays and saturdays). You might taste something you really like. Good luck and enjoy!
Here's another good one for you: If you find yourself with an old bottle of white wine that's been sitting it the fridge for a long time, you can cut it with 50% 7-up and it works OK. If it's red wine, then you can use coke, and it's something the Spanish call calimocho.
Getting back to the original condition, let's say you're trying to impress some chick. There are plenty of good california and oregon wines, and they're cheaper, so I say start there. You can also ask the folks in the liquor store what they like. They are usually tremendous drunks and can really help you out here.
Originally posted by ShawnJ
I hear the '61 Cheval Blancs are peaking.
Darn tootin'
Everything I know about being a disfunctional single I learned from the movie Sideways.
There is the two big appelations :
- bordeau
- bourgogne (beaujolais is a subpart)
Bordeau and bourgogne or beaujolais (cheaper) are very different. Bordeau are more tannic and bourgogne are more transparent. Bourgogne are very difficult to buy, even for me, because there is so many differents wine maker in each appelation. White bourgogne are the best white wine for my taste.
Now there is tons of good french wine that are not bourgogne or bordeau.
There is wine from the pays de Loire. For a beginner (because a strong red wine can hurt) saumur champigny may be great.
There is tons of good wines, the difficult problem, is excepting very expansive wine like the Cheval blanc 61, you never know in advance what will be good wine and what will be bad wine
Originally posted by Splinemodel
The Cheval Blanc bit was a joke, and more specifically an exerpt from the movie Sideways. I didn't even know that it was a real vineyard.
Cheval blanc is one of the best bordeau that you can ever drink. It's also quiet expansive : 150 $ the bottle. I only drink a lesser cheval blanc(1984), but it was still very good.
reg
chianti ruffino
i think the last bottle i had was from 1999 or 2000
& was resonable at 12 or 14$
& for some reason i really liked it
for my wedding, i bought a decent bottle of wine for everyone in the wedding party, and the price/quality ratio there is very decent, plus they have some reviews and stuff on-site.
my favorite wine that i've had from there was a 2002 Spanish Red. I don't remember much else about it, nor do i know much about wine.
now that i'm living in Macedonia, I can pick up a top wine for about $4.50 a bottle, and everyday stuff for about $2 a bottle and mixer stuff for about $1 a bottle. woo-hoo! Needless to say, I drink a lot more wine now than i did when i was in the states. Check out some Macedonian (not the Macedonia region of Greece, but the Republic of Macedonia, the country) wines if you run across them. The export market is starting to ramp up, and i think there are some good values out there. However, exports may only be going to the EU right now.
I could tell you the wines that I think are the best, but they are my favourites. Try a few wines, and find your favourites.
Look out for the following producers and varieties (reasonably priced and good quality)...
Wolf Blass Cabernet Merlot 2001
Rosemount Estate Grenache Shiraz
Hardys Nottage Hill Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz
McGuigans black label red
Lindemans Bin 50 Shiraz 2002
These should get you on the right track although I would agree with Omega... try a few different varieties/countries and see what you like.
If you can, get to a tasting session and give 'em all a try.
Wine can be an acquired taste and it can take time to find your favourite though you will have fun sampling all those bottles
Originally posted by DanMacMan
Two Buck Chuck.
that stuff isn't bad. it's three bucks in ohio, though.
Originally posted by MiMac
Rosemount Estate Grenache Shiraz
YES YES YES. I picked up four bottles of the stuff when it was on sale last week.