Poll: What kind of wine do you like?

Any wino-philes here?

Personally I love German whites, Spanish reds, Merlots. I also know my barrels, and prefer French Oak or Australian stainless steel.

Here's a previous poll about this topic.

I knew there had been one previously, but I couldn't find it (was looking in forums, not polls). Still, any discussion on wine is a good thing. :)

I'm a wimpy girly wine drinker!

What's your definition of a girly wine?

(points to the subject line) I think he was saying he likes blushes, and that they're girly. :)

*blushes*

Got into the Spanish reds after a 17 day visit there in '01... I wasn't much of a wine drinker before that. I think that the wine world is so big that you really need to pick an area and concentrate and learn about it, so that you can make somewhat educated choices when you need to choose a wine... so Spain is my choice. I just got back from another trip over there. Visited one winery in Rioja (Bodegas Muga) and 4 port houses in Porto (Sandeman, Calem, Croft, and Royal Oporto).

If you want to try some Spanish red wines I'll give you all some suggestions & prices, ones that I know you'll be able to find at a good wine shop.

Riojas...

Marques de Riscal Reserva (around $12)
Bodegas Muga Reserva (around $20) .. (or splurge for the Torre Muga label at around $36)
La Rioja Alta Vina Ardanza Reserva ($20)
Sierra Cantabria Reserva ($15)
Faustino VII crianza ($8)

Ribero del Duero...
Hacienda Monasterio crianza or reserva ($10-15)
Condado de Haza ($14)
Emilio Moro ($20

Learned a lot about Port when I was over there but didn't get to try enough different ones to make a good recommendation. Tried a nice 40 year old tawny port though, and tried white ports for the first time (very nice)...

I like Tawny ports personally. Aged or not, I like the nuttier flavor. I recommend Clocktower Port for an inexpensive, yet good tawny port.

I haven't tried white ports though.

Also... if you want just about the best value ever in a spanish red... Bodegas Borsao is the way to go.

At my favorite wine shop in town it can be had for around $6 a bottle, which is just absurd given the drinkablity of the wine.

The Muga is also wonderful... but man, for the price of the borsao, you just can't go wrong.

I've had the Borsao Tres Picos, is that the one you're talking about? Despite its 87 WS rating I wasn't too fond of it.

naw, not the tres picos.. that I haven't tried, actually.

I'm talking about the borsao that has the black label.... I wish I could remember the rest of the "title" but I don't have a bottle in the house right now. We've always just referred to it as "borsao". :)

Last year I spent a semester in Rioja, so I thought I'd throw in my 2 cents.

Marques de Riscal is possibly my favorite, though younger Riojas (for example, crianzas) are also good.

For a cheaper option, look for wine from Hoya de Cadenas. A friend who was abroad with me recently discovered it - it's not an official Rioja, so it's not as expensive, but it is made with tempranillo grapes and is very similar to the Riojas I know and love. :)

Also, Riojas are still the best for mixing calimocho because they're so subtle. Unfortunately you need something really cheap if you're going to put Coke in it...

Well if it doesn't have the Rioja DOC seal it's probably not going to be getting much import volume. We had a lot of wines when I was over there that were just "house" wines.. bottles didn't even have labels on several of them... vino de mesa, essentially...

Sorry, I wasn't clear.
That Hoya de Cadenas was discovered here in the U.S., at the liquor store in tiny little Middlebury, VT. I imagine if we can find it others will be able to as well. :)

That about says it.
:)

I'm not a faux-wine fan.

Pretty much the same here, with the clarification of blush meaning mass-produced sweet white zins and the like. There are some mighty fine wines that look like them, but are still good. A lot of Pinot Noirs are very light colored because of their thin skins. There are some French blushes that are produced by taking quality red wine grapes and removing the skins before color and tannins have developed.

Not all sweet wines are girlywines, either. Icewines are awesome. Germany makes unbearably good sweet Rieslings. And Sauternes are some of the world's most expensive wines.

On the other hand, the true girlywines are the ones that use wine from grapes grown from massive yeilds, some of them over 10 tons per acre (quality wines should be under 5 at the high end). They ferment them, sometimes with added sugar, and stop the fermentation early to leave residual sugar. Some of the worst actually water them down from there. I'll pass on those, thanks.

Interesting tidbit:

If you got to a EU country and order "Icewine" you are getting a Canadian wine. If your order "Eiswein", you are getting a german wine.

Ah, the wonderful world of wine appellations. :-p

I prefer red wine, but occassionally I like a white wine. Where I tend to prefer some of the more spendy red wine bottles, I tend to prefer the cheaper white wines.

so you love you your acetone, huh? ;)

I'll take a riesling, please. A little sweet doesn't hurt either. I seem to be all about the wines that have a bit more fruit smell to them as well.

As for reds, I'll take some that go a little easier on the tannins.

But that's just my taste. Edit: I just found this on wine.com: Q: Hello! I have never been someone to enjoy the taste of wine until a few years ago. I have noticed that since my best friend who does like wine and knows about it has began to teach me, I have enjoyed it more. I like the sweeter wine and the less dry champagne. Is there anything I can do to try and better my liking and understanding of wine? A: Your tastes sound like they lean towards dessert wines and Brut Champagne of sparkling wines. If you're looking to expand your palate, you might consider trying some German Rieslings for a new white wine -- they're typically fruity and sweet. If you want to expand into red wines, you will probably want to start with a Pinot Noir or Burgundy -- these are lighter red wines with more fruit and lighter tannins -- a great place to start!

ARGH!

rieslings only have a tendancy to be sweet over here.

they can actually be fairly dry.

THE MISREPRESENTED WINE!

*grumbles and stomps off*

exactly :)

The dryest ones are usually the ones from Alsace/Elsass ...� *hearts*

And thanks for the correct spelling ;-D

hee, and i was only a stone's throw from there ;)

there's a german riesling we get here called bishop's, it's the wine that started me appreciating white wines, even before i went to germany.

bishop's has a nice crisp flavour, it's on the dry side.

at work, i had a woman ask for a nice dry wine to go with her order, i suggested the bishop's... she said "no. rieslings are too sweet, i want something dry, i'll have the "blah blah chardonnay". a wine which i find sweeter and blander than the bishop's.

but i decided not to argue with her about it and give her what she "wanted" besides, just means more bishop's for non-snotty people who will appreciate it.

Like Dracula, I never drink...wine.

You posted that last time this poll came up (see Josh's link above) :-P

-- Pauley

At least I'm consistant. This is one of my automatic responses, we had a forum about that too.

Point taken. :)

-- Pauley

I'm quite partial to the desert wines... ya, gimme a Mojave red, sil-vous plait! :D

I'll take a bottle of Inniskillin icewine. Care to send a carepackage? *lol*

but pinot grigio makes me happy. and i like white way better than red, tho that's a switch from five or six years ago.

Reisling and grigio's are all very nice wines and people just getting their pallet would do well starting on whites but. Red wines offer so much more. For my money a great syrah is the way to go. I really enjoy the spice and the fruit finish. Also I have had some very nice pinot blancs. Reds give you so much more flavor you can really taste all the things that go into the process like oak vs. steel barrels. But like I said whites can be nice too. Though I would recommend staying away from california reislings. The ones I have had were too sweet and do not represent what the germans try to do with the grape.

hey, i'm whiter than� white...�� i'm pretty complex!

;)

You tell'em, Jen! :-D

-- Pauley

I think the teacher at our wine tasting class that my wife and I went to put it best.

"The best wine in the world is the one you like best."

I am not a big fan of whites because they do seem one-dimensional to me. I agree that syrahs are marvelous -- as are good pinot noirs. Anything full and lush and not too tannic/puckery makes me happy.

There's a varietal called Carmenere that is becoming more common in California, although it is still mostly used by Chilean vintners. If you like syrahs and other lush soft red wines I really recommend giving it a try. Sometimes it's blended with Cabernet or Merlot, but I like a pure Carmenere better.