Need help choosing a red wine

[mabelc]

I would like to purchase a friend some red wine but not sure what to look for. This person likes Dry or Semi-dry white wine but would like to try a bottle of red wine. Nothing Sweet. I have no idea what to buy. What type of red wine would be best for this person's tast.
Thanks,
mabel

[mrdutton]

Funny you should ask at this time!

Welcome to the wine board and I'll try to give you some good suggestions.

Try the 2000 Beaujolais Nouveau if you are looking for a fresh, crisp (acidic) wine with lots of fruit and nary a bit of tannin. This is a dry wine but it has a lot of fruit to make-up for the dryness.

Or, try any of the 1998 Cotes de Rhone wines. They are not as light bodied as the Beaujolais, but are really full of some great fruit and acid and are well balanced.

Or, try the 1997 Rosemount GSM, if you can get it. It is a fairly expensive wine compared to some of the others I've mentioned. This wine is from Australia and is a really good one, made in a fashion similar to those from the Southern Rhone. One of my favorites from Oz.

Not as good as the Rosemount, but quite good and much less expensive is the Cline Cotes D'Oakley. This is one of my daily drinkers, when I have it in stock.

Or try to find some of the non-internationally-trended Italian wines from 1997. They will be dry, but they will also be very good. Drop a line to Roberto (a frequent visitor to this site) and he might be glad to give you some suggestions.

[Drew]

Rosemount has a Grenache/Shiraz that's very fruity and clean tasting for about $7 and they made a zillion bottles.

Drew

[mrdutton]

Right on Drew. It is just that the GSM is sooooooo much better, IMHO.

Price be damned, sometimes.