CAN ANYONE REALLY TELL ME THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RED's CAUSE I CANT FIND IT ANYWHERE

[Cowboyin Blake]

Can someone tell me the diffrence in red's and what makes a good one and a bad one? what should i be looking for in the test.

[stevebody]

One piece of good advice: Buy a copy of "Wine For Dummies", Right Now. It's great fun to read and doesn't cost an arm and a leg. And it's a GREAT primer that'll position you very nicely for further exploration.

[wondersofwine]

There are also annual wine buying guides (small paperbacks) that suggest value wines and give best vintages, etc. Various websites have vintage charts. Berry Brothers & Rudd (a well known British firm) has one on their website at http://www.bbr.com Click on "Vintage Charts" on the purple tabs near the top of the website. What red wines do you like? 2002 is a good year for Oregon Pinot Noir wines. 2001 may have been pretty good for Cabernet Sauvignon in California (pretty tannic to my taste though; will need some time in bottle). Follow Steve's suggestion about buying a basic book such as "Wine for Dummies" and come back to the board with more questions or comments.

[wineguruchgo]

Howdy Cowboy!

The reason that no one can answer your question is that taste is subjective.

Some people like liver and brussel sprouts...others don't.

Taste in wine is like taste in color...there is no right or wrong answer.

It's up to you. The only way to know is by trying them. If you have a good wine shop I would buy a few 1/2 bottles and start experimenting. Keeping notes is a great way to remember what grapes and regions appealed to you.

[Innkeeper]

We recently found a notebook from the early '70s when we started getting into wine bigtime. It was loaded with detailed notes on wines that mostly no longer exist. However the education has stuck, so now we know what we like, and what to anticipate when we try something new.

[wineguruchgo]

Another way to try wines is to keep your eye out for wine tastings. Not sure of NY laws, but here in Chicago they are held in restaurants and retail shops. Restaurants generally charge while the retailers serve for free.

[TheEngineer]

The Berry Brothers & Rudd (BBR) is now available through Avantgo for your PDA.

[californiagirl]

I highly recommend you purchase some good reading material and expirement on your own, with friends/family. Andrea Immer has a great book "Great Wine Made Simple". Enjoy!