Looking for some advice and info

[Innkeeper]

Hi EC, and welcome to the Wine Board. Glad you hear that you and yours are into wine. You have not mentioned whether you are just sitting around quaffing wine or drinking it with food. From your comments, it sounds like the former. If this is so, what you should look for is wine that is low in acid. More acidic wines such as Pinot Noir and Gamay (Beaujolais) really should be accompalnied by food.

You may have dismissed Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel too soon. Both of these are low in acid. Both can be found in low tannic versions. As a matter of fact Zinfandel is seldom very tannic, partiularly at your price points. You may be confusing high alcohol with tannicity. Merlot is usually more tannic than Pinot Noir and Beaujolais, but not very tannic in relation to bigger Cabernet Sauvignons.

The best way to sort all this out is with a good book. Look for Andrea Immer's "Great Wine Made Simple", now available in paperback. She walks you through tastings of many different wines in comparision with each other, and does a great job doing it.