If you can't ask in your own journal, whose journal can you ask in?

[kitanzi]

Ok, I actually want to know. I do know that a great many people are fussy and particular and knowledgeable about wines. Me, I know what I like - much like art. Can you tell me WHAT you like in wines, and what wines you like, and why? I'm actually curious, and interested in learing more about it. Most of my exposure to "Wine tasting" has been through someone who I have trouble communicating with in the best of circumstances, and this all seems so nebulous and (forgive me) often pretentious that I just don't seem to get it. There are a couple wines I get fairly often, at least when I get wine, but I'm interested in trying something new and a lot of this seems absurdly expensive to me for taking a blind leap of faith on. (I was tempted to buy the Our Daily Red just for the name and label - I'm such a sad sucker for puns!) Are any of you wine drinkers? Feel free to pontificate, even lecture - how ever you can, give me information! Thanks!

EDIT: Cooking wines too, for that matter. I know several of you are accomplished cooks!

Comments

[teddywolf.livejournal.com]

I tend to have a preference for 'sweet' stuff. I will occasionally cook with semi-dry to dry, but for drinking I don't like it bitter.

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

Any particular one you favor?

[teddywolf.livejournal.com]

I'm quite partial to Carmel's King David for drinking, as a very smooth sweet wine. It's also good for cooking, but as I have to budget I prefer to use cheaper stuff, like Manischewitz Cream Red or Cream White. I also buy mirin (rice wine), usually hontero mirin, which is one of the ingredients in my peanut sesame sauce.

I am not a wine snob by any real wine snob's definition. On the occasion when there's a wine being demo'd at Trader Joe's I'm likely to try a sip if it's not a fully dry (ie bitter) wine. Dry can be excellent for cooking depending on the dish, but I really have no interest in drinking it.

I get no kicks from champagne.

[filkerdave.livejournal.com]

I'm fond of the bigger, more robust reds like merlots and cabs. My default "everyday" wine, though, would be one of the aussi shirazes (I'm fond of Black Swan, although I've heard good things about Lindemann's). For lighter foods, something like an Italian chianti classico (or, better yet, classico riserva) is good. For wine with a little spice, try a beaujolais-villages.

Avoid cooking wines; they're just cheap wine with salt added. Cook with the stuff you like to drink!

One thing you should do is find a store that has knowledgable sales staff; I know of three such within easy reach of me. Ask them what you can try.

Also, most of these aren't all that expensive; I rarely pay more than $10 for a bottle of wine, usually $7 or $8.

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

Thanks, that's very useful - especially good wines in a decent price range!

[zencuppa.livejournal.com]

Regarding cooking wines, don't buy the salted, pretreated stuff labeled "cooking wine" at the store . . It's gross.

Instead, use what you have that is *closest* to what the recipe recommends. I'd suggest actually buying a wine for a recipe, if it's an integral part of the taste (Burgundy stew, etc.)

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

Ok, that's pretty much what I've been doing anyhow, I just don't do it very often so I thought I'd ask advice. Thanks!

[persis.livejournal.com]

Ditto what Andrea says about cooking wines. The salt is there so the cooks *won't* drink them. They are very cheap wines to begin with... cheap as in the wines with screw tops. (Although I have heard that some of the better wineries are thinking of going to screw tops for their good wimes... hmmmm.)

You can also use something similar; I have used merlots and shirazes for Boeuf Bourgignon (Beef Burgundy) with great success.

[persis.livejournal.com]

On the same note, *never* cook with something you won't also drink.

[chirosinger.livejournal.com]

Agreed on that one. If I cook with wine it is generally the stuff left over from dinner of the previous night. You can make some superb sauces deglazing a frying pan in which you braise or cook an entre.

[teddywolf.livejournal.com]

Well, I won't drink a dry if I can help it, but I find that a good one can be very good for cooking. There are some flavors from some foods better conveyed through starting with a dry than a sweet.

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

I hadn't realized cooking wines had added salt - clearly, I've never tried drinking them. :) Mostly I've just gotten cheap regular wine and used that - and not all that often, even, which is why I'm looking for other people's expertise.

[cellio]

I usually cook with inexpensive regular wine, and never with the salted "cooking wine".

My level of granularity for cooking is to generally divide wines into four buckets, sweet/dry and red/white, and cook with whichever is closest to what the recipe calls for. Oh, get wines with screw caps for this, unless you're cooking so much food that you don't have to deal with recorking.

[sinboy.livejournal.com]

For drinking, anything by Bonny Doon.

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

Really? Any particular type they do that's best? Is this sweet stuff or dry or what?

[sinboy.livejournal.com]

They have everything I like, which includes desert whites, dry whites, yummy zinsfandel, etc...

If you want medium price (which is where they start) about 10-15 per bottle will get you one of the "Big House" red or whites. Medium price at 30-50 per bottle is the older Cigar Volant red, which is hella good, the Cardnal Zin is about 20 a bottle. As for whites, the pacific rim dry reisling is about 10 bucks a pop, and worth it. The Frambiose is 12 bucks, and also worth it.

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

Thanks, that's very useful!

[folkmew.livejournal.com]

I hope that trektone and jhayman will answer you as I know they are wine afficienados. I was going to pop them email directing them here but, alas, my stupid email is really screwed. ugh.

I pretty much don't know what I like. :-) That is to say I like sweet wine, I like not too dry but not too sweet wine...Aren't I educated!? (not!!!)
I like to try different wines and someday will probably want to learn more about them. For now I don't though partly because Ed ONLY likes really sweet dessert wines - plum wine is one of his favorites.

Good luck on your quest!

[persis.livejournal.com]

I am partial to reds, usually those with full body, tending towards dry, although dessert wines are really yummy (and sweet). I am currently drinking wines from the Southern Hemisphere; South American/specifically Chilean or Australian wines. I have yet to have a bad Syrah or Merlot from Australia, and I hear that the South African wines are good too.

Being on a tight budget, I am tending towards the 3/$15 bottles of wine at one of my local liquor stores. You should check them out, if there is a store that has inexpensive wines you can try.

As for whites, the most common these days is Chardonnay, which you should try, just so you know the taste. There are so many Chardonnays around that they get old really fast, in that you taste one, you've tasted many. Reislings can *tend* to be sweeter, unless they specifically say dry, but I really like some of the Pinot Grigios, lighter whites from northern Italy. You can find some from California or the West Coast; it's the grape used to make the wine, not the process of making the wine (Method Champagnoise, sorry, can't figure out the proper accents on the vowels) or the locale (as in Chianti's, from the Chianti region of Italy).

So far, just my 2¢... I am sure I will think of more later! *hug*

I'm no sommelier; I don't even play one on TV

[poltr1]

Here's what I've learned over the years, through wine tastings and friends whom I've been on wine tastings with.

1) The best thing to do is to go to a wine tasting that is led by a sommelier (fancy-schmancy name for wine steward) or a distributor who knows their stuff. They'll have several types available. Some wine stores have tastings on a regular basis.
2) The old rule is "Reds for beef, whites for poultry and fish". It's worked for me most of the time. ("Bottle of white, bottle of red; perhaps a bottle of rose instead...")
3) Good starting wines: As Persis said, chardonnay is the most popular white wine. It's somewhere between sweet and dry (not sweet). Serve it chilled. For red wines, I'd start with a merlot (great with steaks). Reds are great at room temperature.
4) Between tastings of different wines, nibble on a cracker to cleanse the palate.
5) "Bouquet" is the scent of the wine. Swirl it in the glass. "Legs" is its adhesiveness to the glass.
6) Watch out for sulfites -- preservatives in the wine that give some people headaches.
7) Also beware of wines with sugar added after fermentation. I think that violates some type of purity law.
8) As stated above, shy away from wines whose bottles have a screw top, are on the bottom shelf (Boone's Farm, Annie Green Springs, Ripple, Mad Dog 20/20, Thunderbird), or use a bag in a box (e.g. Franzia). They're OK for parties and filk cons, but not great -- kind of like Domino's Pizza.
9) If you're going to store the wine after opening, use a Vacuvin or a similar device to remove the air from the bottle. Wines get oxidized, and it degrades the flavor.
10) And then there's mead. Fermented fruit juices with honey. Yum!

Do you have a Trader Joe's around? They carry wines from the Charles Shaw winery. Bottles of "Two Buck Chuck" are inexpensive, come in several varieties, and aren't too bad.

Favorite Whites: Riesling, Gevurtztraminer, Pinot Grigio
Favorite Roses: White Zinfandel, Pink Catawba (warning: very sweet)
Favorite Reds: Merlot, Shiraz, Syrah, Burgundy, Chianti (hold the fava beans), Barbera, Pinot Noir, Sangria

Of course, I'd be more than happy to taste wines with you. 8-P

[annonynous.livejournal.com]

Not being a winer, This may not be much help but, when I was a boy...

Well, back in the '60s anyway, when I was a hippie, I used to drink something I'm not sure of the name of any more.
We used to call it Barely High.

See? Told ya it'dn't be much of a help. :) Fortunately it sounds like you've got some real advice already.

Ann O. (totaling her tea).

[dragontdc.livejournal.com]

I really like German "dessert" wines - very sweet white wines.

From worst )of the good) to best:

Liebfraumilch - A white wine that's made from the leftover grapes from the entire region (or maybe leftover wines?) after the others have been bottled. Basically odd lots thrown together. Blue Nun is least of these, Black Tower much better.

Reisling - A sweet, fruity white wine.

Spatlese - Late harvest wine, with the grapes touched by frost so they're sweeter.

Auslese - Out Harvest (whatever that means) - smoother than Spatlese but as sweet or sweeter.

I also like a nice sparkling Spumanti and Cold Duck isn't bad either (A blend of Champagne and Wine).

Sangria (orange and grape wine) mixed with 7-up is a great summer cooler.

Manescevitz makes a pretty good sweet blackberry dessert wine.

[msminlr.livejournal.com]

Every state in the Lower 48 has a wine industry these days.
See what googling on "Georgia Wineries" brings up.
Most US wineries have tasting rooms, where you can get just a sip of the product before you commit to a whole bottle (or several).
A lot of them have specialties in locally-grown non-grape wine (like peach or plum) which are fun to try. Mostly they are sweet-dessert wines. (I've never yet met a winery that can make a dry wine out of Muscadines.)
Buying at the winery is usually cheaper per bottle than from your local dealer, unless there is a special on.
It makes for a nice Saturday jaunt into the countryside, too.

I've got enough of a sweet tooth myself that Merlot is about as dry as I really can enjoy in reds. Shiraz/Syrah (different language names for the same grape) are in that same range. And yes, Australia has a HUGE inventory of that being exported to the US.
And Chardonnay is really too dry for ME in the whites. Niagara is more my speed (American variety: the same one Welch's uses to make "White Grape Juice").

Re cooking with wines:
I agree that "cooking wines" are overpriced vinegar.
For general usage, keep a bottle of Sherry on hand.
Another good tactic is to use some of the wine you're going to be having with the meal, IN the cooking, if there is a sauce involved, or a marinade.

[elgecko.livejournal.com]

I've grown fond of blended Merlot/Shiraz, but I tend to go for rich, oaky, heavier reds.

Incidentally, I have several issues of the Wine Spectator you can have if you'd like. =)

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

Yeah, if you don't want them anymore that could be useful! thanks!

[cellio]

I like sweeter wines and greatly prefer whites. I'm willing to grant the possibility that there exists a red as tasty as a riesling or a pino grigio, but I have not yet met it.

I don't know most of the official wine terminology. I like wines that are sweet but not too syrup-like in consistency. I think the thing I don't like about reds is the harshness that comes from fermenting the grapes in the skins. (But, on the bright side, some of that cooks out if you're mulling wine with spices. For that you definitely want a red.)

Oh, and one contradiction to my comments about sweetness and syrup: ice-wine is fantastic stuff, even if it's so sweet and syrupy that you should really drink it by the shot rather than by the glass. :-)

[bedlamhouse]

The most important thing that I have picked up over the years is to be able to identify what part of the flavor you like and then be able to describe it so that you can ask the Sommelier or Wine Shop Expert (or look up on the web, gasp!) what wine(s) contain those notes.

For instance, "sweet" can vary from "crisp" (leaving no aftereffect) to "lingering" (or "cloying", if you ask me :D). Richness can be in the mouthfeel or subtly in the flavor overtone ("buttery" is how I like to describe a good Côte du Rhone or Bordeaux).

I am not much of a wine drinker except with food, and I prefer a good peppery Shiraz or Red Zinfandel with steak. A rich St. Joseph or other Rhone regional is good with cheese (since I like strong cheese - contrary to some popular belief, white wine is usually too delicate for good cheese). Of course, one must have a decent Sauterne with one's Foie Gras.

I got a great book the last French trip that talks about the regions of wine in France and the general characteristics (as opposed to books that talk about specific wineries and years). You're welcome to take a look at it when you want, as it has some good general articles about tasting and food preferences.

We could also set up a little mini wine tasting at some point ... not that I am particularly knowledgeable but finding new wines as well as revisiting old ones could be lots of fun.

[maedbh7.livejournal.com]

I've only learned one two useful things about wine. What you eat and drink with it can really alter one's perception of the flavor of any given wine, and therefore it helps to be concious of one's over-all palet when picking a wine.

Oh, and never cook chicken in red wine, because then the chicken stays pink and it's hard to tell when it is cooked through. ;) -H...

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

Pink chicken? Hmmmm.... polka dots?

[maedbh7.livejournal.com]

In more direct reply to the question, I tend to be a Merlot drinker personally; I'm recently fond of the Australian spiced merlots, which is kinda like the difference between mulled cider and regular cider, effectively. I'm fond of champagne (esp expensive dry champagne). Beyond that, I haven't been too adventureful.

On behalf of cheep cooking wines, and to speak for a moment in favor of light and fruity desert type wines, for all that they come in a screwtop bottle, at 2/$5, Boone's Farm wines are actually quite tastey. They are Ernest & Julio Gallo wines, probably their Bargain Basement Best. Read more at: http://www.epinions.com/fddk-Wines-By_Name-All-Boone_s_Farm_Wine/display_~reviews
I'd recommend them as a cooking wine any day. Or if you just want to get a real good cheap drunk on....takes about 8 bottles, though ;) -H...