New to Wine

[miles]

Hi all. New here, and to wine, and would like some advice. I would like to get into red wine. I don't want to spend too much, but don't want to go back to cheap wine as in my high school days. I really appreciate this. Thanks in advance.

[tandkvd]

There are alot of good knowledgable people here, that can give you some advice. But some more information will be needed. Do you plan on having wines with food or on there own, do you like sweet or dry wines?

But you can also search the Australian and Spanish threads. They have a lot of good wines at lower prices. I had one today from Australia, Rosemont Mudgee Hills of Gold Shiraz. A very good wine for less than $15, and there are some good wines for less than $10.

[miles]

Thanks for the reply. Hmm, you know I hear "dry" a lot, but can only assume that it's basically the opposite of sweet. I am not into sweet stuff, so dry it is, I suppose.

I will probably most often have it with food, but would like to have some non-food wine on hand too. I eat a lot of seafood and chicken at home, if that helps.

The $10 to $15 price range is just right, but wouldn't mind going higher every once in a while. Not broke, just cheap. Thanks again for the reply.

[Innkeeper]

Some people get turned off by the term "dry wine." They confuse it with drying, as in dry mouth. All that is meant by dry wine is that all the sugar that was in the grape juice has been fermented into alcohol. In other words, there is no sugar left. Most wines actually do have at least a tad bit of sugar left, even though they are referred to as dry.

Most people drink white wine with seafood and chicken, but it is not necessary. Light reds such as Beaujolais, some of the ligher pinot noirs, Bardolino, and Valpolicella are some to look for and had for less than $15.

[hotwine]

An inexpensive dry white wine we're enjoying is the Picpoul de Pinet, from the Languedoc region of southern France. Very nice indeed with chicken and fish. Serve the wine chilled. Have paid as little as $6.99 for it, but now it's $8.99-$9.99 locally. It's in a tall green bottle with a pale greyish & green label. I try to keep a case on hand, but think I'm down to the last bottle.