Wine recommendations...

[Innkeeper]

Hi Teach, and welcome to the Wine Board. There is nothing wrong with your starting point. Not a bad wine by any means.

With the hundreds of thousands wines available, it is a little difficult to depart from your starting point.

To start in the same region for still wines you might want to check out the Gavis or Corteses for whites, or Barberas or Dolcettos for reds.

Our favorite day to day Italians are Vermentino for white, and Monteulciano d'Abruzzo for a red. The latter has a long name, but "Montes" can be found at many price points starting at the $5-$10 pp.

Though you are more than welcome to peruse the various threads on this site, I find books easier to read that computer screens.

Recommend Andrea Immer Robertson's "Wine Buying Guide for Everyone." The '08 edition will be out in a couple of weeks and can be reserved at amazon.com. These editions give detailed information on over 700 best selling wines at all price points.

You may also want to check out "Wine For Dummies" and "Italian Wines for Dummies", both by Ewing-Mulligan & McCarthy. I use the latter all the time including just now to spell out the Monte!