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+--- Thread: Suggestions on first wine (/thread-19438.html)
- norcalscan - 03-01-2002
I would like some suggestions on what wine to try. Not too familiar with the whole basis of Red vs White and whatnot. Not much of a drinker but would like suggestions for those special drinks. 22 year old, getting married in a few months.
Chardonnay, Merot, etc. What are the main kinds? Hey, this group said Novice so here I am, as Novice as I can be. [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/wink.gif[/img]
Not too vineger tasting, not too sweet, at least not yet. Any suggestions? Thanks!
- ebunn40 - 03-06-2002
I have been trying several red wines, and am still not quite there (a little too dry).So, I tried (kind of cheap) a white merlot, and also one that is a blend of chardonnay and white zinfandel. They were both quite good for the casual drink. They had the sweetness I like, but a little drier than straight white zinfandel (the typical beginner's wine). Chardonnay is one of my favorite white wines, and you might also want to try a Riesling. They are both middle of the road enough to keep you from choking from it being either too sweet or too dry. I'm a novice too, so you judge.
- lkapell - 03-10-2002
I am a novice also, but a little further along than you. First, in case you haven't figured this out, wines are classified as sweet or dry. Dry means that all the natural grape sugar has been neutralized during fermentation; sweet, of course, means that some sugar survived the fermentation process. Note that even a "sweet" wine is usually not sweet in the same way that a soda-pop is sweet.
White wines are usually lighter in taste, red are more likely to be dry and 'rough' (to me, they feel like swallowing sandpaper). There are exceptions though, such as lambrusco, a very light and sweet red wine. The same wine can come in both sweet and dry varieties, so be alert.
There are two other categories to be aware of: one is sparkling wines, of which the most popular are champagne (dry) and spumanti (sweet). The other is dessert wines such as sherry and port. These are also called "fortified" wines because their alcohol content is higher than that of regular wine (about 20% compared to 10-15%). These wines are sweet but the taste is richer and stronger than dinner wines.
Hope this helps!
- Thomas - 03-10-2002
ikapell, you almost got it; but you need more information.
When it comes to wine, sweet and dry are not so, well, cut and dry. Many dry wines contain tiny levels of sugar--a lot of those Chardonnays spoken of above contain as much as 2% residual sugar by volume. While dry often means low sugar, it also means sugar relative to acidity--the higher the latter, the lower the perception of the former.
Re, sparkling wine and spumante; the latter is a word for sparkling wine; it does not necessarily refer to sweetness. Re, fortified wines: not all sherry is sweet, and not all Madeira either.
The main thing to think about is that wine is food. When you explore wine's relationship to food, its dry-ness or sweet-ness become important only in how they relate to the food. Also, when you have dry red wine with its best food counterpart, the so-called sandpaper feeling is not only diminished, it becomes something completely different and often pleasurable.
[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 03-10-2002).]