Wife and I drank a bottle of this last night. Her new favourite on my dads recommendation. Only $20 CDN a bottle here and quite good IMO

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PT, what about a chateauneuf du pape? Blended so not so meaty. I've found most white wine drinkers object to the tannins. They want more fruit and a du pape can deliver that.

 

Chateauneuf du Pape is a great area that produces some great wines, but I'm not sure if I'd say it's a red wine newbie wine.

It's still a lot more earthy than your average California Pinot that has a lot more fruit and generally more newbie friendly.

 

Shifter I see your point. I freely admit despite being from Santa Barbara I'm not a huge Pinot fan. Don't tell the chamber of commerce or I'll have to hand in my Santa Barbarian card.

 

I disagree but that's why we all have tastebuds. I think Rhone blends are highly approachable, I'd just not steer newbies or the price-conscious to Chateauneuf necessarily.

California is indeed pushing the fruit of Pinot, but not everyone. Even the difference right here in the SRH AVA or within estates shows the full swing, from Burgundian to California fruit bombs. A big problem with Pinot is that it is pretty easy to do it poorly since it is one of the hardest grapes to bring to fruit properly, and then you can't dance all over it like you can Cab or Syrah or Tempranillo.

Kelly, how do you like your Chardonnay, Cal-stupid or Chablis-nice? Other whites -- Viognier (Rhone or domestic), Sauv Blanc. As for reds, Sangio, Grenache or Rhone-varietal blends, Pinot.

 

In your experience, how is the wine advice you might receive at a major liquor shop? I'm going to pick something up to give it another try tonight. I had two small glasses of the bottle I bought last night, and I just couldn't stomach a third. I really wanted to like it but I didn't. I also have a splitting headache this morning.

 

Kinda an unanswerable question since I've never been to where you shop and you ain't driving to northern Santa Barbara County. By "major" if you mean a big chain like BevMo, good luck. I've found that locally owned liquor stores with significant wine offerings do have someone who knows wtf is going on. I'd imagine that is the case where you are. (On the "mart" level, I've talked to some smart folks at Lee's in Nevada.) Do not underestimate Costco. You might not find someone in the store who knows -- though being in wine country here we do tend to get that -- but if Costco sources it, it's generally a safe bet (I'm talking on the level of the displayed wines, not the stacks of national or super-regional brand stuff, which of course isn't necessarily shit). We blind-bought some Right Bank stuff a few months back and we had no qualms serving it to others. (And we've ended up at times with stuff that went down the drain. But that can happen at any price point.)

P.S. Don't worry about "wanting to like" something. Wine, food, people -- sometimes stuff doesn't resonate.

 

This is going to be one of my favorite threads on this board. I really like wine, specifically red wine. Zins are one of my favorites and we are currently aging a winery whose wine club we get shipments from twice a year. While I haven't had the opportunity to try some of the pricier wine I have tried a number of cheaper bottles that are available locally. Unfortunately I'm nowhere near wine country but we do have a few regional vineyards but I haven't tried them yet.

 

Also in the more well know category are the nebbiolos. I had one of my favorite bottles on a recent trip, a 2011Gaja Costa Russi.
Very, very tempremental grape.
And if you really can cellar and show years of patience, then go Barolo for a more red meat type wine.
I do know my nose and palate have nowhere near the sensitivity they did 25 years ago.
Which makes things simpler sometimes.
But the Gaja was fine.

 

I drank half a bottle of some nebraska sweet red dessert wine of some sort, and also most of a bottle of some peachy moscato crap, but it tasted good and my husband's aunt was happy - that's a wine win, particularly since it put my sarcasm at super high tonight.

I do love doing wine pairings with tasting menus in Vegas though just wish I could remember half of them (ok, any of them) when I get home. But IMO it's a fun way to expand your horizons and even learn a little if you are paying attention. Or, if you are like me, just enjoy the spice of life....variety!