What's the deal with wine?

[jet]

For a best-buy in red wine, I go with Rex Goliath Pinot Noir at less than $8. I've had better wines but not for less than 3 times the price. One caveat though, they recently reclassified this wine, and I have not tried the new stuff.

[jennifer75]

Ahhh. I miss Gelsons. I do have a Fresh and Easy opening up by my house however, and just a little further down is a Trader Joes....so I'm content.

[roadfix]

Where is this new Fresh & Easy opening? The only one I've been to is the one in Hollywood, close to where I work.

[coookies]

Originally Posted by sadievan

We tried the Cavit Pinot Noir and really liked it a lot too. Another red wine we recently tried and liked was called Menage a Trois bottled by Folie a Deux winery. It is a blend of 3 wines, Zinfandel, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Carol

My aunt bought this last summer when my boyfriend and I visited... she and the BF had some, I had a beer, and we all made fun of my uncle for not knowing what "Menage a Trois" means. :)

I remember the BF being fond of it so if he likes it (usually strictly a beer guy) I'll give it a go.

~Katie

[sadievan]

Originally Posted by coookies

My aunt bought this last summer when my boyfriend and I visited... she and the BF had some, I had a beer, and we all made fun of my uncle for not knowing what "Menage a Trois" means. :)

I remember the BF being fond of it so if he likes it (usually strictly a beer guy) I'll give it a go.

~Katie

Everytime I hear "Menage a Trois" I can't help but think of George and Seinfeld.

Carol

[tzakiel]

you may enjoy Pinot Noir, as my friend does who does not care for other wines.

[oneoffour]

Another way to experience wine$ you wouldn't buy is to go for the tasting menu at a five star resturaunt and have the wines they pair to each course. You then get the wine the that enhances the food that enhances the wine. We don't pay for two wine flights or it would have us drunk. We get one and pass the glass. We don't always finish the glass either as they do pour a generous amount.

[Claire]

Cookies, I'm coming into this line rather late, so haven't read all the entries. I grew up in a culture where we had sips of various alcoholic beverages early in life. The wine thing? I think most younger people I've known like light, sweet wines. I'm no expert, and don't have a discerning taste for it (liking very dry reds in the winter, whites in the summer). BUT when I was a young woman living in DC I had a couple of friends who wanted to be able to have a glass of wine at an important banquet and learn to taste and what to like. So we'd go to supper at some half-way nice restaurant (our budgets would not cover expensive!) and I'd get them going. Start with a light, sweet-ish (not super sweet) wine, and gradually "work up" to dryer, sometimes heavier, reds. (not in one night, mind you!). Blue Nun, Lambrusco, and Rose (I cannot remember, what were their names .... Oh, Lancers and there was another) were the fun "starter" wines. To this day I'll occaisionally buy one of the roses for a picnic! We had a lot of fun, and my gal pals (I was a whopping 23, but was ancient to my friends, and vastly more experienced) felt much more comfortable when thrown into social circumstances beyond their ken.

[Maso Canali]

It looks like you're looking for some nice whites with a little more "bite!" I also enjoy a bit of oomph, and too many Italian whites go down smoothly providing little to no aroma. That’s part of why Maso Canali is such a great buy -- we use the Passito method (which is to take a percentage of the late harvested grapes, drying and vinifying them separately to add to the final blend). This results in a Pinot Grigio with enhanced tropical flavors. I like to pair it with lighter fare, like fruit salad-topped toast, or Asian cuisines. It especially goes well with coconut milk based dishes.