I drink very little wine. Rose is my typical request. I prefer beer.
Red wine is supposed to be good for our health. I plan to follow the recommended 5 oz a day.
There are some good cites in this article.
A google search indicates pinot noir is a very popular and tasty red wine.
What are good brands easily found at grocery stores, Target, Walmart?
I’d like to keep the cost under $16 a 750ml bottle.
IIRC I read that 5oz a day empties a bottle in 5 days? Thats about $60 a month for 4 bottles.
Barefoot and Yellowtail are almost never more than 5 bucks a bottle.
It may be unrefined but I’m a sucker for when Apothic comes out with a new wine aged in whiskey barrels and they sell around here for 10 bucks a pop. Does trader joe’s still have that 3 buck chuck?
Otherwise, I would say just head on down to your local liquor store and pick up a bottle of something that looks good and is less than 6 bucks. If it’s terrible, you’re not out a lot and if you like it, woohoo!
Try La Crema
I think Kroger sells Yellowtail. That would be convenient.
btw, I converted ml to oz, 750ml is 25.36 oz. That’s 5 servings according to the webmd recommendation.
I will try several brands. See what fermented grape juice tastes the best. 
Moderator Note
Thread relocated from IMHO to Cafe Society.
I like this one as well
I see Target sells La Crema. Probably cheaper there than a liquor store.
I think if I were you, I’d do a survey of box/jug wines and see if you can stand any of them before looking for a good Pinot Noir. Or if you live somewhere with Trader Joe’s, try the red Two-Buck Chuck (Charles Shaw winery) wines- they’re something like $3/bottle outside of California.
The thing is, as far as I can tell, you’re more likely to find better, cheaper Cabernet Sauvignons or Merlots than you are similarly priced Pinot Noirs. That’s not to say that Pinot Noir isn’t good, but rather that good examples are pricier than good examples of the other varietals.
And I might do some more Googling before taking up wine drinking; ISTR that recent research has shown that it’s not as good as they originally thought for you after all to drink wine every day for health reasons.
Not necessarily. But it’s not going to be enough of a difference for you to care, maybe a buck or two a bottle. The places I shop, usually the mega liquor store will have it for cheaper than the generalist store/supermarket.
Black Box: 3L = 4 bottles, about 15 bucks anywhere.
I agree with bump that other varietals are more likely to have good values at lower price points. My advice is to try Black Box Malbec. I think a good boxed wine is a great option for someone who wants to have one glass a day of a tasty wine.
ETA I agree La Crema is good, but it’s in the mid-20’s, at least where I am.
I understand there’s no guarantee red wine helps your health. Drinking too much alcohol is definitely bad.
That’s why I will only drink the recommended 5 oz a day. I’ll restrict it more by only having it 5 days a week. Taking a break from any alcohol 2 days.
I’ll look at the box wines.
I need to start with a tasty wine that most people like. Develop a taste for it. Then I’m more likely to enjoy a less expensive wine.
I may not like any of them. I’ve always preferred beer. But, I’m going to try and develop a taste for wine.
I’ve never had a problem drinking responsibly. Way back in college a couple parties resulted in bed spins. That taught me a life long lesson. I hate being out of control. Two beers and that’s it for me.
I’d do what DC in DC recommended, and try Black Box (or another reputable boxed wine) brand. Though as bump points out, the purported health benefits of red wine, thought to come from among other things a kind of compound called resveratrol, seem to have been overstated. Still, if you believe, then Malbec is a wine grape variety whose wines have high amounts of resveratrol, especially if the grapes come from cool climates. Something to do with resveratrol concentrations being proportional to the skin thickness of the grape, and cool climate Malbecs having thick skins. All else remaining equal. Accordingly, try the Black Box Malbec mentioned up thread.
I am also a fan of the Big House boxed wines brand. Nothing amazingly complicated, but tasty and will wash down dinner fine. Boxed wines are going to give you a much more consistent product glass by glass, than opening a bottle at the beginning of the week and finishing it by the end. Usually much cheaper on a per glass basis than bottled wines of equivalent quality.
Do red wines require refrigeration after they’re opened?
Black Box is 3L. 101.4 oz. That would be about 20 servings at 5 oz each.
A once a month purchase. That’s less hassle then buying a 750ml bottle weekly.
I find they taste better with a bit of chill, depending on the variety and your ambient temperature. By bit of chill, I mean like 55-65 degrees. When dining out, I may ask the server for an ice bucket if they have it. If dining outside, in a Texas summer, I find that red wines need a bit of chill too. But tastes vary.
I don’t like wine straight from the fridge. Though a glass poured from a bottle or box kept in the fridge will warm up quickly. It’s not rocket science.
Black Box claims their product won’t spoil if not refrigerated, and will remain fresh for up to six weeks after first being opened: Black Box Wines | Rewards FAQs
Generally the big enemy of red wines is oxygen- bottles tend to taste noticeably different on the second day, and go downhill fast from there. Refrigeration slows it, but refrigerated red wine isn’t too awesome (some varieties like a slight chill, but nothing even so cool as white wines).
Box wines are really a mylar bladder/bag within a box that contains a one-way valve, so that as the wine goes out into your glass, the bag collapses and no air is let in to spoil it. They keep a good long time as a result.
Ok, thank you for your help.
I’ll purchase a box in the next few days.
I have been thinking about trying wine for quite a few years.
Bogle Pinot Noir is my favorite.
https://www.totalwine.com/wine/red-wine/pinot-noir/bogle-pinot-noir-california/p/110211750
If you like rose wines, try an Alsatian Pinot Noir. They’re a very light red wine and are delicious with lamb.
Don’t buy the cheapest rot-gut wine. You will get entirely the wrong impression. Buy a decent wine to start with. If the cheap wines are $5 a bottle, spend $10 to $15. Remember that the costs of the physical bottle, cap, label, non-international shipping, and so on are the same no matter the wine so the difference in price is the wine inside. Would you rather a $5 bottle of wine where the wine component is 50 cents or a $10 bottle where the wine component is $5.50?
Something you might consider is buying a number of half bottles of wine at a variety of price points so you can try a variety. I tend to have all of a half bottle with a meal - I don’t drink without food unless I’m wine-tasting - but at most once every few days.
Huh?
No.
Find a wine YOU like.
Don’t assume there’s such a thing as a wine “most people like”. It’s SO subjective.
I know a lot of people who find Pinots too bitter. Others that would say the same about “Cabs” (yes, I have a pretentious friend that talks that way).
Same with “a tasty wine” – there’s not even a consensus, let alone a hint as to whether such a thing objectively exists.
And what if you find this elusive most universally acclaimed wine, and never develop a taste for it? Then you’ve got a box of it you’ll feel obligated to finish.
Over Thanksgiving, I said the same thing you did: I really should drink a little red wine each day. So a couple family members (knowing that I’m a beer guy) brought their favorite under-$10 bottles, and we did a blind taste test.
The blends, often labelled “Red Wine”, won hands down. The Apothic blend beat out their Pinot and Merlot (we liked the Zinfandel too), and something called Carnivor scored well. A couple of really cheap ones from Trader Joe’s rounded out the top 5: Blue Fin, Old Vine Zinfandel, and Grifone ($4.99).
Oh, a Zinfandel is NOT a rosé like White Zinfandel… it’s red, and very smooth.
So I’d tell a wine person at a store what you’ve told us and try a bottle or three. Then buy a box… or another bottle (I’m not a snob, so I can drink a red all week, and even if I notice it’s not quite as “excellent” as it was… I don’t care.