I rarely drink anything with alcohol in it, but I want to start trying wine. In the past I seem to like the sweeter wines. My mom gave me some sangria...but I imagine that's what nail polish remover would taste like. Does anyone have suggestions on wines to start me off? I don't really have a preference of white vs red. And my limit would me $20 a bottle.
Posted Jan 9, 2013, 2:17 AM UTC
Go to tastings! If you are in a decent sized city, there should be at least one a week. Taste everything you can.
Moscato is my favorite sweet wine and I know a lot of non-wine drinkers who like it too.
IMO wine can sometimes be an acquired taste. I used to think red wine tasted bitter and weird but the more you drink it, the more you'll start to like and appreciate it.
If I was starting with red wine, I would start with Pinot Noir and I would drink it almost exclusively for 6-8 months (almost excusively, but maybe occassionally introducing 1 bottle of syrah, cab, or merlot now and again for brief comparison in months 4-8). It wouldn't matter what bottle or what price. $4, $8, $12, $20... Just drink pinot and learn what you like about the different bottles and what you don't like about them. And then once you started to get comfortable with the Pinots and understand the differences between the different bottles, I'd start introducing the "heavier" grapes - Syrahs, and Cabs, and Merlots... and then decide which of these you'd like to dive into next... and repeat the process with each for the next 4 months each. Within about a year and a half, to two years, you should have a very solid foundation and be able to start appreciating the $20-$40 dollar vintages... And in many cases you'll find that these vintages don't stack up against your old familiars.
Pinot Noir is a great place to start because it is the most "transparent" of the wines. If you don't now, you'll understand what that means eventually.
Edit: don't start with the white. People are going to direct you to "sweet" and that's (I'm sorry) bad advice. Wine isn't about "sweet." It's about "bouquet." Start with the pinot and use it as the trunk of your wine drinking expreience to branch off of. And read about the wines you're drinking. Read about the boquets you should be detecting and search for them. I wish I had this advice 15 years ago when I stared my wine oddyssey. Also, pinot, in my opinion, is the sweetest science in wine because of its transparency, so you're starting a proper love affair by starting at this square.
I disagree with this wholeheartedly.
I'm not trying to say that MorningLtMtn doesn't have some ok points, but I completely disagree with their comment that
Wine isn't about "sweet." It's about "bouquet."
While I won't say that that's not what wine is for some, or possibly even many, people, you should be drinking wine because you enjoy it not because of its "bouquet". There's plenty of time for that down the road if it turns out that you enjoy wine and that sort of thing interests you.
I wouldn't tell someone who's never drank to start their liquor experience by drinking scotch, neat. They won't enjoy it, it will ruin their first experience with alcohol and will probably turn them off to drinking liquor for good.
Same goes for wine. Don't start in an area that you're not sure you'll like, start with something that you'll enjoy and will bring you back for another glass the next night. I spent years trying to find a red wine that my friends wife would enjoy (she doesn't like the general aftertaste of red wine) and when I finally found something, she was not only thrilled but slowly started drinking other reds.
All of this said, I agree with the other posters that if you like sweet (mostly whites), start with a Moscato (my favorite is Castello Poggio Moscato D'asti - slightly sparkling - about $12-18/bottle) or Riesling (don't have a favorite), and if you can find it, there is a sparkling red called Rosa Regale (pretty sweet - about $15-18/bottle) that would be a good place for you to start. All of these can be had for at or under $20, especially the Riesling.
Other white wines to try would be Sauvignon Blanc or Rijoa Blanc (tend to be citrus-y - think grapefruit - and on the cheaper side). My favorite is Dinastia Vivanco's Rioja Blanc ($8-10/bottle).
Also, go into your local wine store and speak with the owner. You have a general idea of the direction you want to go so just tell them what you are looking for and a price range and they will be more than happy to help you find something (if they aren't, find another store!).
I would also experiment. Don't just drink one type of wine for 6-8 months. You're not trying to become a Sommelier, you just want to enjoy a glass of wine. So, try different kinds. See what you like and don't. When you do venture into red wine though (beyond Rosa Regale, to non-sparkling, true reds) I would agree that you start off with something lighter like Pinot Noir as it will be a much more enjoyable experience than something like a Cabernet Sauvignon (at least in the beginning).
edit: prices
"Pinot Noir is a great place to start because it is the most "transparent" of the wines."
Pinot Noir is probably the last place I'd start someone off on a wine learning experience. Pinot Noir is the most "un-transparent" of the wines.
It's one of the few wines were price can have a big influence on the quality of wine. Pinot Noir, as my girlfriend & I, have been tasting it over the last 2-3 years is the most chameleon of wines. I've had wine sellers tell me that it can be like a cherry lollipop. I've tried Pinot Noirs in Napa that smelled like a cow ploop in a pasture but were as exquisite as a full bodied Cabernet Sauvignon.
The OP should try more consistent wines like a Cabernet Sauvignon, a Red Zin, a Malbec, a Sauvignon Blanc, a Torrontes, etc.
These are all wines that have very consistent characteristics whether by the varietal or the region and the quality isn't as influenced by their price in regards to their quality. The consistency of these wines will help the OP learn about the nose & palate of wines which will help them get used to identifying the smells & tastes of a wine.
Finding consistently good Pinot Noirs for under $20 is hard. This is one of the few Pinots we've have found so far that's a great value and better than many bottles 2X or 3X as expensive
My girlfriend & I are constantly finding great value wines for under $20 in the styles I recommended that are often better than $25, $30 or $40 bottles.
Pinot Noir is the most "un-transparent" of the wines.
Completely disagree with this from my own experience, but also based on just about every wine review I've ever read.
"A grape chemist can explain to you why Pinot is a more transparent wine than Cabernet... But Pinot is more transparent than Cabernet. Cabernet is a heavy wine. It’s tannic and full-bodied, and often very oaky, and sometimes, when I’m tasting a Cabernet, I imagine a large, furry animal in my mouth." -Steve Heimoff http://www.steveheimoff.com/index.php/2011/09/09/pinot-noir-vs-cabernet-sauvignon-the-smackdown/
I've already read that article. To be honest, it's just an opinion piece and has no weight or influence on me.
A Pinot Noir, especially less expensive ones, are all over the place as far as quality, nose, palate, finish, etc is concerned.
If I'm going to teach someone about wines, especially how to notice the smells & tastes of a wine, buying a couple Pinots under $20 is a waste of time & money for the experiment.
However, I can buy good French & New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs for about $12-$14 each.. The NZ one will have noticeable grapefruit, lemon, passion fruit, guava, etc. on the nose. The French one will be grassy, drier, maybe some white flowers and less tropical. The newbie will be able to notice this pretty easily.
Red Zins are the same. I can buy a couple of good Zins for about $14. The newbie will be able to smell raspberries or strawberries if it's a red fruity Zin. If it's a darker fruit Zin the newbie will be able to smell cassis or tobacco or leather. The contrast is easy to notice.
You can't do this with inexpensive Pinots. I would only recommend Pinots for a newbie only after they got some experience with smelling & tasting wines. Pinots can be very subtle. It takes an experienced nose & palate to be able to enjoy Pinots fully.
I completely and wholly disagree. I think low end Pinots are a great trunk to build wine experience and then branch out for the reasons that I already stated.
Personally, I would go somewhere that you can do tastings. Not sure where you live, but even chains like Total Wine and More, and Beverages and More do very inexpensive wine tastings. You could also go to wine shops, they usually have tastings as well, but they tend to be a little pricier. This way you can figure out what your palette for wine is, and they can help you choose one you like.
If you live near a winery, GO! Wine tasting at a winery really enjoyable. Make sure to get a tour.
So do you guys ever use a wine aerator? Not sure if I spelled it right.
My thoughts on the initial question of where to start are as follows:
start inexpensive and work your way up. There are a number of inexpensive wines with plenty of flavor - no need to start dropping $20 a bottle right out of the gate.
find your own way - don't listen to others because they don't know YOUR palate. Besides, like anything else in life - one man's junk is another man's treasure.
go to wine tastings. Doesn't have to be private vineyard tastings either. Our local Total Wine stores have good Wine 101 classes and they're actually pretty decent. Perhaps your town has something similar.
have fun! No need to be uptight or pretentious about wine - there are too many snobs out there anyway. :-)
post back here. When you find something that works for you, give us an update. That will help us learn what you like and your preferences.
Happy wineing - cheers!
Stace Berkland Leaf and Grape
Sweet red? Stella rosa is made by il conte, who also make a decent moscato and is reasonably priced. Also from northern Italy, there is brachetto di aqui, which is similar, but more refined than Stella rosa. Both are sweet reds with a little bit of bubbles (but not nearly as many as champagne) & low in alcohol ( about 5%). If the low alcohol isn't doing it for you, there's always port, which weighs in closer to 18-20%, but is much heavier, and noticeably "hot" (smells like alcohol) on the lower end. If you're looking for something in the middle, try a dornfelder from Germany-- just know that they are often not very good with food, and taste noticeably "cheap" (to me, at least)
Bam. This is your answer right here. Stella Rosa is a reliably easy drinker that you can find pretty easily at least in my area (Southern Calif), where it's sold in Costco. But if you can't find Stella Rosa or are looking for something that will allow you to explore a little bit more, Brachetto is the way to go. It's definitely sweet, but there's a little bit more to it and you can find some variation in different labels. I'm a newbie and started out with Rieslings and brachettos (whereas cheap moscatos can be sickeningly sweet for me oftentimes, these wines tend to have a little bit more behind them than their sugar content), and when you start to get used to the flavor of wine it will become easier to move onto less sweet wines such as dry rieslings, pinot noirs, and the like.
Not an expert, but hopefully an opinion from a fellow relative newbie can be helpful too!
Reisling, but what flavors are you looking for? "Sweet" in the wine sense isnt like "Candy" sweet. A great wine to start out on would be a sauvignon blanc because its like and kind of tart like sour apple. A good starter red wine would be any kind of blend/syrah
My mom gave me some sangria...but I imagine that's what nail polish remover would taste like.
Lets leave imagining besides, did you try it?
Anyways, $20 / bottle is probably too high to start with, that is, total waste.
Far from a wine expert, but I am an enthusiast. Maybe you could kick off your red wine adventure with a good dinner pairing or wine and cheese night with friends. I always liked red wine, but I never really loved it until I started to pay attention to what I was eating it with. First time I had a three course meal with three different wines was eye opening. I'm sure someone could suggest some good pairings to get you started.
Edit: I know my comment did not mention any single wine, because I'd rather not tell you what I like and then you feel like you should like it too. I'd personally get a few of the different reds mentioned here and buy some different cheeses / meats / fruit and go to town :).
This is a fantastic Cabernet Sauvignon at a bargain price - 90+ Wines, Cabernet Sauvignon Gran Rerserva from Argentina. I can get it for about $12.99 in my area.
Try it with a barbequed steak topped with Gorgonzola cheese and you will have an explosion of flavors in your mouth that will show you why people like wine so much.
Please don't forget one key to drinking wine. Often we hear the expression "room temperature" for serving wine. This refers to CELLAR room temperature, not typical US Household room temperature (68-72 degrees). Your bottle needs to get cold, but not 32 degrees cold.
Solution: Make sure whatever you buy, you throw it in your refrigerator for 20 minutes before serving. That will get it to the proper temperature - give or take a few degrees and you will enjoy it more.
Oh, and for added benefit you can let the wine breathe a bit. Open the cork before throwing it in the refrigerator. There are people who believe in this and some that don't - but I have found wines that are drunk immediately after opening aren't as pleasant as wines that are given a chance to open up by exposing them to the air.
most medium to full bodied reds need a good 1/2 hour to 1 hour of breathing before being drunk.
It's amazing at times how much a wine changes with breathing (or decanting).
I think certainly a higher quality wine - decanting is a way to go. But when we are talking about $20 and under kind of wines - pop the cork, throw in the fridge and have at it.
I drink about a 1/2 bottle of wine a night (two glasses). I'm always on the lookout for good wine in the $15 price range. Matthew Fritz 2011 Pinot Noir I had the other night was good at that range. It's a twist off cap - so if you don't already own a wine pump you should pick one up. Keeps a bottle good for a few days.
I started with Pinot Noir and Merlot. Both very easy, light and usually less complex to drink.
I think a good starter red is Beaujolais-Villages. It's light bodied and not very astringent. I've read that a Beaujolais can pass as a white.
Generally, it's easier to find a sweeter white wine, so you might want to try Moscato or a German Riesling.
I'm afraid I'm not much help with sweet reds, since I don't tend to drink those. I do find that you'll tend to find sweeter wines from cooler climates, so for example I'm in the northeast and find a lot of the local reds to be too sweet for my taste. I doubt most if those wines are available outside the region, though.
In my experience, it's difficult to recommend a brand because most of the better liquor wines tend to be relatively small batch, a d are not universally available. I would suggest talking to your local wine sellers, tell them that you're starting out, think you prefer sweeter wines, and ask for recommendations. They're there to help. You can also use google, try to find tasting notes on bottles that look interesting. And don't be discouraged if you find a bottle you don't like. Part of the fun is exploring new brands or new grapes from new regions. Not every one will be a winner, but your patience will pay off.