My doctor (who is European, which may have something to do with her oenophilia) has asked me repeatedly to take up drinking red (or even white) wine for its health benefits. (I have very high cholesterol and a family history of heart disease.) I rarely drink anythink alcoholic and all and when I was a much heavier drinker I preferred liquor (particularly whiskey and rum), so I’ve never developed a palate for wine of any kind (though I do know that I don’t like Merlot- too dry).
Could you please recommend a wine (red or white, but she says red is much better healthwise) that-
1- is inexpensive
2- will last for a few days in the fridge or tightly sealed on a counter
3- doesn’t taste like liquid sawdust (in fact, the closer it is to tasting like Welch’s Grape Juice, the better)
Either specific brand name or just type of wine is fine.
Thanks.
A few easy-to-drink varieties: semillion sauvignon blanc (white), riesling (white) and cabernet merlot (red). There’s also pinot noir (red), which is a red wine nearly suited to a white wine drinker’s palate (but I personally detest pinot). Unwooded chardonnay is also commonly favoured by people just starting to appreciate wine.
It may be better to avoid wooded/oaked chardonnay and shiraz (or syrrah or hermitage, whatever it’s called where you live) until your palate develops.
Another thought–considering you drank spirits–is to try dessert wines (which tend to be very sweet) or port (fortified red wine).
Because liking or disliking a wine is a totally personal issue, I’d recommend going to a wine store and asking for a good red or white wine for the amount you want to spend. They’ll give you one (maybe one they have a lot of) and you’ll take it home and try it. If you like it, BINGO. If not, try another. No one’s recommendations will make much sense to you given your situation. You’re not trying to please anyone but yourself, so widely enjoyed wines mean nothing. That is, trying to find a “popular” wine is not particularly useful. Just because 1000 people like the wine doesn’t mean that you will. I say, take $11 to the store and see what you can do, and try to get change. (now watch the oenophiles weigh in!) xo C.
try cline vinyard’s red truck. it does have kind of a grape juice taste. it is available in the wine department of our local grocery store for about nine or ten bucks a bottle, and will last a few days at room temperature. i don’t know what it would taste like if refrigerated.
IIRC, it’s the big red wines (Cabernet Sauvignon, etc) that tend to have the most health benefits. Those will tend to keep a little better once opened too. Sounds like those aren’t the ones you like though. I’ll weigh in with a couple reds that may meet at least some of your criteria. Someone else can jump in with the whites. I rarely go near 'em.
Try some Beaujolais. It’s among the fruitiest, lightest bodied of the reds, and you can most likely find some good ones in your price range.
If that doesn’t float your boat, maybe try some Chianti. It’s fairly light bodied and you can slug some down with most any food and it won’t get in the way.
also, friend cc has a great point: it is all about enjoying the wine you drink. i have talked to more than a few people who seem to enjoy criticsizing wine more than drinking it. i guess i may not know what i am talking about according to the oenophiles, but i really enjoy a glass or two of red wine in the evening. i have tried a couple dozen different wines in the last few months. some i liked and bought more of, some i didn’t like.
my current favoriye: francis coppola’s diamond series black label claret available at your local wine store for about fifteen dollars a bottle (i scored a case of it at ten a bottle on sale though )
I was going to suggest Beaujolais when I first read the OP but I got sidetracked. It is real red wine and it is not a dessert wine but it is very fruity, light, and tasty so it may be a good place to start.
same benifits, can be watered, and doesn’t taste like sawdust, and it’s cheap!
sidenote: doesn’t have to be welchs, that’s just the one that came to mind, 100% juice is the key.
However, if you want a good excuse to drink and think all red wine tastes like sawdust (a surprisingly common complaint), try a rose (pronounced rosay I don’t know how to do the accent mark) or blush.
I have friends who drink Beringer white zinfindel or white merlot as an alternative to reds, I can’t remember if it’s cheap though, and my gut says it isn’t.
I’ve taken to liking some of the higher-end (not Franzia, at least) boxed wines. They come in a variety of reds and whites (I’m partial to cabernet sauvignon, and am not a big wine drinker, though that may be too tart for your tastes). The airtight bag the wine is stored in keeps it lasting longer than bottled wines, which you should find useful. The Black Box Wines brand I’m drinking is $17 for three liters, much cheaper than bottles.
The better ones are very dense and full bodied, full of antioxidants, with lots of ripe fruit flavor. They may not taste like Welch’s grape juice, perhaps a bit more complex, but I think you will find them to your liking. Get something in a recent vintage with more residual sugar. Cost is very reasonable, many brands to choose from for <$10/bottle. I recommend Yellowtail or Wyndham Estates. Now that I think of it, you can get a 3l box from the larger suppliers that will not take up much room in your fridge <shudder>. If you go that Route, I recommend Hardy’s.
If you find wine is really not to your taste, you could try adding some sweetened spirit, such as triple sec or flavored brandy, to sweeten it up, or failing that, fruit juice or soda water.
I would suggest Beaujolais or Pinot Noir for a mild red wine. I would also highly recommend Port if you’re only going to drink a glass or two a day. Port is a fortified wine made by stopping the fermentation with brandy. The result is a heavy sweet wine, most often red, that is dense, rich and high in alcohol. I will usually go for a bottle of Sandeman Founder’s Reserve Porto (but not Ruby or Tawny, which are both fine but not quite as good in my opinion). It will likely run you around $16 to $22 dollars a bottle.
I would also recommend the light champagne-like dessert wines such as Moscato d’Asti. Very sweet and delicious. (I read in an interview with Quincy Jones that finishing a romantic evening with Moscato d’Asti and shortbread cookies is one of his favorite things to do.)
If you’re after a grape-juicy flavor, I recommend Arbor Mist Blackberry Merlot. This is not the kind of wine you want to order to impress someone, because it’s about half a step up from Boone’s Farm Apple Wine in quality. I am not a wine drinker, but I’ve tasted this and my first thought was “Hmmm. Very Kool-Aidish. I might actually be able to down a whole glass.” It goes well with cookies.
Real wine drinkers I know recommend Yellowtail Shiraz, for reds.
The overall trend is that folks here in the US like wine, and everything else, a little sweeter than the rest of the world does. The folks at Gallo and Inglenook cater to that preference. If you want to go sweeter than that, try Oliver Soft Red. If you want to go way sweeter than that, there’s always Manischevitz ;j (I have surely spelled that wrong.)
If there’s a Trader Joe’s in your area, you might want to give Two-Buck Chuck a try. It’s cheap as hell (guess where the name comes from?), comes in several varieties, and…well…isn’t completely undrinkable.
Definitely get down to your closest Trader Joe’s and pick up one of each variety of Charles Shaw (or “Three Buck Chuck”). It’s $3 a bottle, yet tastes wonderful and has a great rep. Get a Shiraz, a Merlot, a Pinot Noir, even a Beaujolais, and figure out which you like. I’m guessing the Shiraz.
Two buck chuck at Trader Joe’s. Merlot and Shiraz are a couple of big sellers, and they’ve won a number of awards for this and that. If you like one, stick with it. $2 instead of $11 or $25 or whatever.
