"Fishy" smell?? And some questions

[lcwatewine]

Hi, I'm new to this board and pretty new to drinking wine. I've been trying lots of different wines over the last few months and so far like Pinot Grigio, Souvignon Blanc, Beaujolais, and Cabernet Sauvignon. I've never tried Merlot but have bottle of Castle Rock Merlot. I like their Cab and SB but noticed a fishy smell in the SB. I also noticed the same smell in a bottle of very cheap red wine a friend brought over. It's a chilean wine by CONCHAyTORO. Not sure if its called Frontera or Carmenere but its red, tastes weak and just not very good. It has the same fishy sort of smell like the Castle Rock SB but the difference is, I like the taste of the Castle Rock SB, it has a nice peachy/citrus flavor to it. But, what is this smell? Has anyone ever experienced it? Is it just the smell of poor quality wine? Most people I've heard say Castle Rock is a good winery and I really like their Cabernet and the taste of the SB, just don't like the fishy smell. Am I crazy?

Also, how do I recognize the various tastes, like "oak", the berries, etc. I can pick up a general fruity taste to red wines, but its' difficult to descern between blackberries and rasberries, for example. Does this just come with time? So far, if I'm descrbing the tastes correctly, I like rich flavored wines that do not taste too terribly sour (dry?) or too sweet. I guess I prefer dry over sweet though. I like some white wines but tend to prefer the reds so far. Any suggestions on which types/brands for a novice to sample? I tried a Beaujolais-Villages by B&J at the suggestion of a friend and really liked it. Then I bought a bottle of cru beaujolais called Flourie. I liked it too but not really more than the other one. Anyway, I'm rambling, sorry! Thanks in advance for any help.