Wine drinkers - what's your favorite? (red wine, best, tastes, grape)

[Macrina]

Joey, I don't know where you live but especially if it's outside of California (bec. then you wouldn't know about specific areas....) you will almost always get a really decent wine (regardless of price) if you look for a wine from Sonoma County. This is in Northern CA, and the wines are superb One can spend lots of money if you're going for the name brands like Clos Du Bois, or Kendall Jackson, or Fieldstone or the high-end of the Simi wines, and I'm naming only a fraction of the total number.

Basic bottom line, just look for Sonoma County on the bottle; you'll likely never be disappointed

If you drink just one glass of the Clos Du Bois Alexander Valley Chardonnay, I believe you'll begin to think very differently about chardonnays....


Disclaimer:

Spoiler

No, I don't work for the winery but yes, I live in wonderful Sonoma County.

[BCG8]

i like wine but lately i'm not liking what i get. maybe im moving on to different tastes/flavors?? i will look for Sonoma County wine next time.

[MoItaly]

I like many types of wine. It depends on the mood, the food, the moment.

One quick thing on the Sonoma Cty wines: yes, they are often decent wines, but tend to be overpriced. Some are worthy the money, some aren't. My suggestion for the serious (or not so serious) wine drinker is use a spreadsheet, write down wine name, winery, year and quick comment, so you will know for the future.

As an Italian born, I actually find many wines being overpriced in the USA, however it is what it is. Not all is bad though because the advantage in the USA is not too many people really know about wine, which creates good values.
In fact many who drink wines only occasionally are likely to buy California (Napa, Sonoma) and Italian for reds and Franch or still California for whites.
The result is that many Californian, French and Italian wines are overpriced. That leaves room for good bottles of reds from Chile, Australia, Argentina and whites from Australia, South Africa, New Zealand etc... at very low prices. Many of those wines priced at $ 9-14 are as good as some bottle from more prestigious origin priced at $ 20-25.

Now, I could write about wine forever, but need to get to the point of the original question, so:

I drink both white and red wine. At dinner or a glass before, definitely as glass after.

REDS

Most of times I drink cabernet and cabernet sauvignon. Not a huge fan of Merlot but surprisingly the cheap Merlot by Blackstone turns out to be a great value and a decent wine itself. Goes well with red meat, robust.
I love Pinot Noir, but problem is in the USA many Pinot Noir are way overpriced, many others are not too good.
I did find some good Pinot Noir reasonably priced but it takes a bit of research and some trials (and error, see my recent Louis latour 2007 from Bordeaux in France, that was a miss and I recorded in my spreadsheet with 2 points out of 5 and [SIZE=2]Strange wine, very strawberrish aftertaste. A bit too fruity,enough after a glass[/SIZE]
Now, for a good occasion, and without spending crazy money, try Barbera Fontanafredda 2008; costs a bit more than average $ 26-30) but very worthy.

If you want to just try and keep it low priced, a very good value are some reds from the Wyndham winery, south Australia. I gave their Shiraz a 3/5, their cabernet sauvignon a 2.5/5. Those wines are priced at around 9 or 10 bucks at the supermarket, often on sale for an extra 1 or 2 dollars less.

WHITES

Well, can't find the Italian Malvasia e the famous Tocai from the North-Eastern region in Florida, so I am stuck with Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio and Bianco (gray and white, but I don't think they are actually translated in English).

Pinot Grigio and Bianco are for me superior - overall - to the other two, the perfect choice for seafood (when I make my mussels and clams drown in Chardonnay you can stay assured that a bottle of Pinot is going to go and quickly).
Pinot Grigio and Bianco however are not easy to find at good value. I still think the Italian North-east is best for those but I find them in special stores at around 30 bucks. Okay sometimes, not to buy daily.

So, at more reasonable prices, there are some Chardonnay and Sauvignon that are not bad.
Cheap and good value:
Chardonnay Macon-Villages, France, 2008 $ 14.00 3/5
Chardonnay Blackstone, 2008, even cheaper is a very reasonable choice, but make sure it's cool.

Another good find is the white Vouvray, by Barton & Guestiere, France, 2007, at around 10-12 bucks, pretty good, bit on the sweet side. I used it as pre-dinner "aperitivo", cooled, with a couplf of olives and a piece of parmigiano. At dinner it fares well with veggies, some cheese, but would not suggest for serious fish-seafood.

Sometimes my problem with sauvignon is the intense acidity they can have. However I recently had a bottle of Sauvignon by Groth, california, 2009, and it was very nicely balanced, not too acid, slightly fruity but not in a "rich Chardonnay" style, and I think a bit I loved it because it has an aftertaste tkat reminded me a lot of some sauvignon from the Friuli Region in Italy, so it took me back home for a moment.

That's it, I'm outta here, this must be by far the longest post of my life

[OngletNYC]

Another person on a Malbec kick - having a glass right now - checking in!

[joey2000]

George, fan of the viogniers as well. Seem to tend to be low acidity, which I like, and strong fruit/floral thing going on.

Mac, my experiences have been mixed but yes have had many good wines from there

Originally Posted by MoItaly

I like many types of wine. It depends on the mood, the food, the moment.

...among other things, for me. Exactly. Seasons/temps matter to me too, that is I drink more red in winter, whites in summer.

My suggestion for the serious (or not so serious) wine drinker is use a spreadsheet, write down wine name, winery, year and quick comment, so you will know for the future.

Great idea, in fact I just started that last year.

good bottles of reds from Chile, Australia, Argentina and whites from Australia, South Africa, New Zealand etc... at very low prices

Agree - I'm cooling on the Aussie reds but am getting more into the S. American ones.

Most of times I drink cabernet and cabernet sauvignon. Not a huge fan of Merlot

Interesting, given how similar cabs and merlots are. I go back n forth between the 2.

but surprisingly the cheap Merlot by Blackstone turns out to be a great value and a decent wine itself.

It's hard to make a bad Merlot.

when I make my mussels and clams drown in Chardonnay you can stay assured that a bottle of Pinot is going to go and quickly).

lol

That's it, I'm outta here, this must be by far the longest post of my life

Oh cmon. You Italians aren't exactly known for being quiet. (kidding.......in fact I'm half Italian myself)

[smokingGun]

I don't drink during weekdays anymore after waking up with a HUUUUGE hangover from overindulging in a few too many glasses of an overoaked hedonistic fruit-bomb d'Arenberg bottle. But on weekends I like to try interesting wines that aren't the typical sweet berry/cherry/candied profile, like riojas with some age on them ('97 Lopez de Heredia) or large-botti-aged (non-barrique) nebbiolo's ('05 Produttori del Barbaresco or '06 Vietti Perbacco).

I tend to like austere tight mineral-driven whites like real Chablis, but with the weakness of the dollar it's a rare treat since bottles have climbed to the $40~$50 range & up. So I make due with unoaked bottles like NZ Sauvignon Blanc, German QbA/kabinett's & Spanish albarino's. I would love to drink more Cali whites, but the ones in the sub-$20 range tend to be unbalanced with lots of bright fruit & high alcohol & even some residual sugar. Not my cup of tea.

[FrmlyBklyn]

Prefer Cab. Sauvignon's - Sonoma over Napa, but drink both. Petite Syrah is an intense red.
Also like the Australian Cab/Shiraz combo from Rosemount. Whites - prefer Sauvingon Blanc - nice grassy tastes, great value from New Zealand wines. Not a fan of heavily oaked Chardonay.

[joey2000]

I'm getting back into the Spanish wines. As I say I drink largely whites in summer, but I've yet to have a bad Tempranillo and having another right now...

[Jasmine728]

I'm mostly a red drinker but now in the summer I've found a couple white's that I like.

One is called "New Age" squeeze a little lime in it and it is so refreshing in the heat. Its from Argentina and I get it at BevMo I'm not sure what the grape it, it's called "white wine" only on the label. It's $9.99 a bottle although it might still be on sale for $5.99 right now...

[Equal-Opp.]

My favorite is berenger's white merlot and berenger's moscato. Try it you won't be disappointed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!