I’m asking for help with a wine choice because I honestly have no idea. I like some wines, not others. No problems for me. My wife, on the other hand, pretty much dislikes all wine. She seems to not like the flavor of it at all, but has expressed interest in wanting to try other wines than what she has already because she thinks that it may just be certain wines. She has liked some fruit flavored wines before, which is fine by me, but we are just looking for something she would like. What she complained about before was the “rotten egg/vinegar” smell or taste of some wines, but what could she try? What is your favorite wine? What do you consider the best?
What are you serving it with? I have found that a number of people who “don’t like wine” just don’t like wine by itself. When they try it with food their opinions change rapidly.
Get yourself a nice Chianti or Sangiovese when you have spaghetti next time.
Same. My mother loves red wine, but when I try it all I taste is rancid grape juice. A couple months ago I had an opportunity to try a sauvignon blanc, and I immediately took to it. Rieslings and moscatos are also very palatable.
If all she’s tried are red wines, she may find white more suitable.
This may be more than you’re after, but I’ve been a fan of Billy Munnelly for years, since I first encountered his wine column in ‘The Globe and Mail’. He now has a website, and at that website he has an Online Wine School. I absolutely love his whole approach to wine.
My wife and I primarily drink sweet whites, like Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Niagara, etc. However, I enjoy an occasional red, and have tried to find a red that she will like. We’ve stumbled on the Spanish wines - tempranillo, grenache, and blends of the two. Very fruity, smooth, low bitterness, and pairs well with many foods.
I was going to suggest muscat myself. They’re usually on the sweeter side with a nice honey/raisin/grapey flavor to them. Riesling is another good choice. Also, if you can find Gruner Veltliner, that’s a fun, bright wine. I enjoy sauvignon blancs, but those tend to be a little rougher around the edges, with people describing the aroma as “grass clippings” and “cat piss,” so I’d be careful with that varietal. Though people who do take to it, really take to it.
There are some red blends out there that are excellent starter wines - they’re fruity and smooth, very slightly sweet, and mostly free from the sourness or vinegary taste that you sometimes get from specific varietals. Look for Folie a Deux’s Menage a Trois or Francis Ford Coppola’s Rosso. These run $10ish for a bottle.
There’s also some white blends that are very nice. Try the Menage a Trois white (yeah, it uses the same name; confusing, I know). For more money, get yourself either Evolution or Conundrum. Evolution runs about $17ish, Conundrum is pricier at $28ish.
And yeah, I might avoid the Sauv Blancs - I really enjoy them, but they’re something you should probably work up to. They can be very peppery (as in green peppery) and grapefruity, and might not catch her fancy. They are tasty, though. My favorite is New Zealand’s Nobilo. Yum.
Merlots and Pinot Noirs, on the red side, would be fairly accessible, I think.
White zinfandel is a joke because its so accessible, but it is a good starter wine - sweet without being cloying (like a muscat often is - and I like muscats and ports). Sweeter still than Reisling is Eiswein and Auslesse (and I’m spelling that wrong) and an entire range of German white sweet wines.
When my husband was learning to like wine (the best, and most expensive anniversary gift EVER - his favorite wine is $100 a bottle), we started doing a lot of wine flights in restaurants. That’s a good way to try different wines.
A little study of wine and a good wine shop can go a long way here
You said your wife dislikes the “Bitter” flavor in wine. The chemical responsible for most of the bitterness (or percieved bitterness) is know as tannin. Many popular reds (and one particular popular white) can be very high in tannins, and for many first time wine drinkers this can be a big turn off. The most popular wines in most places in america are Cabernet Sauvignon(red) and Cardonnay(white). They are usually made with some ageing in oak barrells. This ageing also imparts tannins to the wine. You are probably gonna want to stay away from wines described as “Big”, “Barrell-Aged” “Full-Bodied”. Other wines high in tannin include, Merlot, Malbec, (Red)Zinfandel, Bordeaux, and Shiraz.
Try lighter bodied red wines. Since tannin is the major component to a red wines body (other then alcohol) look for words like “Light”, “soft”, “approachable” on a wines label. The grapes to look for would be things like Gamay (Beuajolias) Grenache (Garnacha in spain, and in many blends from spain and the south of france like Cote-du-Rhone)Tempranillo (the major grape in the spanish wine Rioja) and some Sangiovesse (the powerhouse grape of central Italy, major grape in Chianti - althought the older and more expesive the chiant, the long it has likely spent in oak)
For whites, my one thought would be to stay away from the ubiquitous California Chardonnay. Most are made with long ageing in aok barrels and get a lot of tannins. Try things like actual Chablis (from france) or its cheaper younger brother Petite Chablis. Sauvignon Blanc is a good choice, but as someone said here, the New Zealand wines can be a bit intense with the green pepper and grass flavors. Try a california Sauvignon Blanc or something fromthe Loire Valley in France (Sancere or something fromt Touraine)
This is true – a lot of muscats are sweet, fortified wines, but not all. The ones I like are the Alsatian muscats (which are dry) or Hungarian muscat ottonell that are, at most, semi-sweet, usually more like semi-dry. I believe Spain and Chile also have some non-dessert varieties.
i am somebody’s wife too. and the way to liking wine for me was to add some pop to it. the benefits include: 1) you can get away with cheap wines, 2) your one-after-dinner is your desert too and 3) you can have two after dinner without getting drunk.
Many moons ago I only drank white because of the bitterness… now I know harsh, unripe tannins are to blame and there are tons of reds that don’t have them, but back then I thought that’s the way all reds were. Then someone gave me Rioja (which is usually a Tempranillo based blend).
Worlds different! Medium body, ripe and fruity without being jammy… lovely. Even now, years later and working in the wine industry, still one of my all time favorites.
Overall I’d suggest you start off with fruity wines. Not FRUIT wines (since you said you’ve already tried those) but fruity. People have been throwing some grapes out here already you should explore: Riesling, Gewurtz, Pinot Noir, Tempranillo (young ones). I’d also say a Cotes Du Rhone (a blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre) would do you well - get one of the $8-$12 ones and you’ll be walking out with a fresh, fruity wine, not a heavy oaked one. Others to look out for are Viognier, Torrontes,
CA Chardonnay can be a good choice if you stick with ones that are lightly oaked (enough oak to add a toasty, vanilla note to it but not so much it tastes literally like wood). Also keep an eye out for any that are described as creamy or buttery - these are clues the wine might have undergone malolactic fermentation, which is a second, optional fermentation that converts malic acids (sharp green apple) to lactic acids (like in milk). Many reds undergo this, but Chardonnay is one of the few whites that this is done to. Many people who don’t like the higher acid whites like this type.
BTW, “bitter is in the eye of the beholder” I don’t like the astringent quality of a lot of whites. But like the tannins in reds. My husband when he started thought he’d like “fruity whites” and dislike the tannin in reds - and both of us find reds yeasty and astringent for the most part, and he goes for tanniny reds.
Stores with wine tastings are a good way to try a lot of different wines for cheap. Case in point: I went to Trader Joe’s today to find a riesling because of this thread, and the wine tasting booth was offering a chardonnay and a merlot. To my surprise, I found I didn’t like the chardonnay half as much as I liked the merlot, and the lady recommended another brand of merlot for me. After popping the cork and having a glass, I can say that it’s the first red I’ve really enjoyed.