Let's talk wine

[Tobus]

For some reason I can't fully explain, I have started preferring a glass of wine in the evening instead of beer, ale, or spirits. My taste buds prefer red wines, from pinot noir to cabernet sauvignon, but centered in merlot territory.

I am not a wine connoisseur, and wouldn't consider myself very educated on wines in general. But I'm interested in trying different brands and types. Got any recommendations on decent brands?

My favorite so far is Mark West, but it's a little pricy for everyday consumption at $17 per liter, and the bottle only lasts two days with my wife and I both drinking it. We've been subsisting on a boxed wine (eye roll for effect) that's $16 for 3 liters. It's not that great, but it's drinkable.

[Kiltboy]

As a high level response.... pinots from Oregon, California cabs, northern CA merlots, and Zins from Lodi CA are a good start in US wines, which generally provides good bang for the buck. But don't stop there, sample many other countries. Ive learned my favorite regions, then my favorite labels within.

[KMCMICHAEL]

Trader Joe's, I like their 2 buck chuck merlot as well as most of their other stuff. My wife prefers their cab. I like the idea of box wine but never the taste.

Wine advice really means nothing no matter the expert experience. One likes what one likes. I am picky about temperature. My wife is not. I think white wine should be taken out of the fridge 30 min before drinking and reds should spend 30 min in the fridge. What the hell does room temp mean? Maybe if you live in the alps.

[Tobus]

As a high level response.... pinots from Oregon, California cabs, northern CA merlots, and Zins from Lodi CA are a good start in US wines, which generally provides good bang for the buck. But don't stop there, sample many other countries. Ive learned my favorite regions, then my favorite labels within.

I'm fortunate to live in the middle of a rapidly-growing wine region of Texas. I don't think my palate is refined enough to be able to tell the difference between regions yet, and I'm hoping that over time I'll learn to taste the subtle differences. I guess it helps that I just quit smoking a few weeks ago (after 25 years of being a smoker). Already I can taste and smell things I haven't been able to for decades. But anyway, I'm thinking I might do some of the winery tours around here (lots of them in Fredericksburg TX, just a few miles away) where I can do a lot of sampling. It might be fun to join a wine club, but that has always seemed a little high-brow for me.

All I know is that when I look at the wine aisle at the grocery store, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of wines to choose from. And I feel like a calf staring at a new gate. It's just more than I can process.

Trader Joe's, I like their 2 buck chuck merlot as well as most of their other stuff. My wife prefers their cab. I like the idea of box wine but never the taste.

Wine advice really means nothing no matter the expert experience. One likes what one likes. I am picky about temperature. My wife is not. I think white wine should be taken out of the fridge 30 min before drinking and reds should spend 30 min in the fridge. What the hell does room temp mean? Maybe if you live in the alps.

As for boxed wine, I agree. I haven't found one yet that I'd say I really like. Some are truly awful. The one I can tolerate is Black Box, which supposedly won some awards. I tried Franzia, and now I understand why it's so cheap. Blech.

I do keep my wine in the fridge. From what I've read, "room temperature" for wines is the equivalent of coming out of a wine cellar that's something like 60 degrees F. My house in the summertime stays around 78 degrees F. That's way too warm for wine, for both storing and drinking. If I pour a glass from the fridge, it warms up in just a few minutes to a good temperature where the flavors come out.

[Stoff]

My wife and I have also aquired a preference for wine. I personal prefer an inexpensive North Carolina scuppernong/muscadine in white or red. And I personly prefer those from a local winery, Duplin Winery (https://www.duplinwinery.com/).

Try them, if you can get them, you might like them. On top of that they are very affordable at $7-$8 a liter.

Christoph

[Tobus]

I'll look for it, Christoph. I can't say I've noticed any North Carolina wines at the store, but I might get lucky.

Going with boxed wines has been an attempt to keep costs as low as possible while still enjoying an after-work drink. But the thought has occurred to me that maybe I should stick with bottled wines, since I might be able to write off the cost in the future as a property improvement expense. See, the previous homeowners were apparently big wine drinkers as well, and they used the bottles as borders for landscaping as shown below (this is in my front yard). If I keep the bottles and do more of this, perhaps I could call the wine purchases "construction materials". Think that would pass muster with the tax man?

[Stoff]

I'll look for it, Christoph. I can't say I've noticed any North Carolina wines at the store, but I might get lucky.

Going with boxed wines has been an attempt to keep costs as low as possible while still enjoying an after-work drink. But the thought has occurred to me that maybe I should stick with bottled wines, since I might be able to write off the cost in the future as a property improvement expense. See, the previous homeowners were apparently big wine drinkers as well, and they used the bottles as borders for landscaping as shown below (this is in my front yard). If I keep the bottles and do more of this, perhaps I could call the wine purchases "construction materials". Think that would pass muster with the tax man?

Probably not as the tax man is notorious for not having a sense of humor. I woulds also guess that the previous property owner was a Star Trek fan seeing as the shape of the landscaping is very similar to the badge on Star Trek.

Also good luck with finding the Duplin Wines. I find it here at most grocery stores.

Christoph

[Macman]

I won't give much wine advice since what's available to me is probably different than you. My wife and I find that there are really good values in Chilean and Argentinian reds. I did want to congratulate you on quitting smoking, though - well done!

[bdkilted]

Tobie;
My advise is to go to HEB and just start buying a few. I try what they are sampling, and if I like it I buy a bottle. Then I get the 6 pack box and just walk the isle seeing what is in my price range, (and remember you get a 10% discount when you buy 6!). I try to buy under the $10.00 mark and there are a lot of really good wine in that price range. Some are US, some South America and even some from Spain and Italy. When a bottle only costs 7 or 8 bucks, it isn't too painful to pour it out if we don't like it.
(For those of you not in Texas, HEB was formally known as the Herbert E. Butt grocery store. I guess they thought HEB sounds better than I'm going to Butt's.)

[Tobus]

Yeah, I've eyed the price tags where they show you how much it is if you buy 6 or more. I've kinda felt like if I'm buying 6 bottles of wine, people might judge. But it is attractive pricing, I'll give 'em that!

Interesting side note: HEB started in Kerrville, and we have local parks and buildings named after him. In fact, the HEB that we shop at was the very first one. It's not nearly as fancy as the newer stores, but they still manage to keep a great selection of everything. I did try a bottle of one wine that I got from an in-store sample, but unfortunately I can't remember what brand it was. I'd love to buy the little one-glass samplers that I've seen, but they don't carry those on a regular basis.

So what good wines have you found under $10 that you'd recommend? We're close enough that I'm betting I could find them here if they have them up in your area.