I’m a pretty catholic wine drinker. I’ve been drinking predominantly reds for the past few years, since my girlfriend was(is?) a devout red wine person. Personally, I like both- good whites don’t give anything up to a good red, especially with the right type of food, or in the right atmosphere. After all, during a summer picnic, something like Gruner Veltliner, Pinot Grigio or Vinho Verde is appropriate, but eating steaks in a steakhouse in October calls for something more like a Cab, Chianti or even a Bordeaux.
That…is a very good idea. Except I don’t think we have any wine stores in town (probably up in Reno, but my car blew up this weekend sooooo).
Although, you know, I think the local liquor store has wine tastings every Friday. Maybe we’ll make an evening of it. Thanks for the suggestion!
~Tasha
I like sweet wines - wines that would make other people gag and aren’t considered sophisticated or cultured. I love them. Gewurztraminers and rieslings and ice wines. (I have a bottle where they poured maple syrup into the mix. Before I tried it, even I thought that was going too far, but no. It’s wonderful.) Thank goodness I live close to ice wine country.
Sweet red wines tend to not taste good. And for me, most reds are very bitter, and not in a good way. So, I usually drink white, no matter what I’m eating. I’ve heard that champagne goes well with greasy food (burgers & pizza) so I’ll need to try that once.
I have a problem with sparkling wines. I’ve never really liked them, but would drink them on special occasions. Then I got violently sick after having champagne for New Year’s one year. That’s it for the whole category. Even the thought of champagne makes me ill. Strictly psychosomatic, I know. But I’ll stick to my zins.
You don’t have any wine stores in Carson City?
(upon a yahoo search) Damn, girl, you may be right. Here’s 2 anyway:
Aloha Discount Wine & Liquors
(775) 882-5544 4555 S Carson St
Carson City, NV Map
Ben’s Fine Wine & Spirits
(775) 885-9463 Write a Reiew 444 E William St # 5
Carson City, NV Map
And:
Adhoyee Internationals Inc
(775) 841-3500 Write a Review 1511 N Carson St
Carson City, NV Map
I found a few discount liquor places, but I doubt if they have any tasting. What kind of small town do you live in anyway? I mean, Sin City’s right over there points and you have no wine stores?
8goes off, shaking head*
It may have to do with liquor laws. Some states have really funky ones. I remember searching a grocery store on Long Island once, mystified that the only wine they sold was Boone’s Farm. Then someone clued me in that grocery stores can only sell alcohol that’s under some certain percentage (like 3 or 4 percent) in NY, and that I’d have to go to the liquor store around the corner to find wine. In VA and NC, the state stores sell hard liquor only, and leave the grocery stores and gourmet stores to sell beer and wine. And you still can’t sell alcohol before noon on here Sundays. But at 12:01, it’s on, baby. 
I drink what I like, followed by what I can afford… 
I doubt it’s the sulfites, since whites tend to have more than reds. It could be the tannins or histamines found in the red wine that don’t like you, particularly if it’s a headache you suffer after drinking a red. There was some new research study out a few months ago about another substance that might be thr trigger, prostaglandins, either in the wine or produced by the body after consuming it. Along with the possible cause, a ‘cure’ was also issued. Take an aspirin or ibuprofen. For a headache, whouda thunk it!? 
(OK, to be fair it was suggested you take them before you drink. I guess it’s worth a shot.)
My husband and I watched that John Cleese video last year. Neither of us are big JC fans, but we did enjoy the video.
My favorite whites are dry and light. Hard to find a good one. One I like lately is 20% pinot grigio and 80% garganega (apparently Italian for “mouthwash”; the stuff’s only about $6 a bottle). No prize winner but chills up nicely and is damn refreshing. Wish I could remember the label (I’m out midwest and not in a liquor store at the moment).
Smokey-oakey-vanilla-magilla chardonnays are OK for a chug on a hot evening but I can’t take much of them. For some reason I get more sulfite headaches from whites than reds. Hey, I’m Italian myself.
But that’s not the reaosn for the sulfite headachers. It’s the sulfites.
Wines are now my favorite alcohol. (it doesn’t hurt that the carbonation of beer now makes me throw up) My favorite way to discover which wines I like and which I don’t is by visiting a local vineyard and indulging in a wine tasting. Start dry, spit out anything you don’t like, take a bite of cracker in between, and eventually you’ll find one or two you like.
Probably the histamines - it’s not headaches so much as waking up with stuffed sinuses after sharing a bottle of something red the night before. Whites don’t seem to cause the problem.
And to expand on my last post. The general consensus among scientists and doctors seems to be that sulfites do *not *cause headaches, and are only dangerous to about 5% or less of the population. People with a true sensitivity to sulfites, usually asthmatics, would most likely suffer breathing problems (or possibly a headache as well I suppose, IANAD) after ingesting a food or drink containing sulfites.
I am an asthmatic myself, and I drink the hell out of wine (and beer), and I also eat things like raisins, prunes and dried apricots, that could potentially have more sulfites than the wines I drink. I’ve never had a problem, which just means I don’t fall in that 5%. (Thank the lord.)
And Mrs. Cake, I know exactly what you are talking about. I get the sniffles something awful the mornings after after my husband and I have a few beers at our local brewpub.
If it’s got Sauvignon in the name I generally like it.
I prefer prefer reds, though. Even with poultry I will often drink a Beaujolais or Shiraz.
I like both red and white (dry) wines, but have finally stopped drinking white completely, because I get a terrible headache the next morning after even one glass. I can drink several glasses of red wine (say, Campo Viejo Spanish tempranillo) without any trouble at all.
Lol. Ben’s is the one that has regular wine tastings. Aloha does for special events (fundraisers, etc.) but not not on a regular basis. And Adhoyee closed a few months ago. >.<
Vegas is actually an eight hour drive from here. We do have Reno, but like I said - my car blew up this weekend so I have no way to get there at the moment. Bens it is! 'sides, the guy there is a really cool old hippy.
When I lived in PA it was like that. But Nevada has probably the most liberal liquor laws in the entire country. If you’re 21 or over, you can get any kind of alcohol at any time of the day or night from liquor stores, convenience stores, grocery stores, and casinos. Carson City is just kind of small, despite being the capital of Nevada.
~Tasha
I rarely drink white wine, it goes straight to my head and I get quite uncontrollable. Red wine is fine, I like it and it agrees with me. In moderation of course. It’s also given me some quite vicious headaches! All self-inflicted, of course.
Convention, be damned. I drink what I like. Why should I drink something I don’t want to, just because someone says I “should”?
sin
If you ever find a Spanish wine that says “Vino de aguja”, “vino pescador” or “vi d’agulla” on the label, try it. They’re dry and have the slightest suggestion of bubbliness.
Red wine+Nava=migrained Nava
White/rosé wine+Nava=ok…
Champagne+Nava=headachy Nava. A cup of brut is ok, but don’t get the sweet ones anywhere near me.
So the few times I have alcohol, it’s rosado or white. I don’t think Mom will ever understand the concept of “I don’t want to have sherbet because it’s 50% cheap champagne and that gives me a headache”.
Convention be damned to a certain extent, but I do think there’s a general wisdom in it. Still, if you really want a certain wine and food combination, it’s your stomach and your wallet.
If I break the conventions, it’ll be in favour of red wines and not white. I’ll enjoy a light red with fish, say, but I can’t think of having white wine with steak. For a big, juicy steak, you can’t beat a robust, in-your-face South Australian shiraz. Maybe a shiraz-cabernet if you’re feeling wussy.
Definition of factoid: An invented fact that is taken to be true because of its appearance in print.
I don’t know if that applies here, but I will tell you one thing. . .I’ve done numerous blind tastings and I’ve never been confused about which is the red and which is the white. I’ve HEARD that it can be tricky, but at least for the reds and whites I’ve done it on, it’s not even close.
Although, I’ve never had someone give me a white wine with red food coloring in it. I’m really having a hard time figuring out if anyone could be fooled by that, and if this is anything more than a factoid, I’d be interested in seeing a reference.
It’s not outdated. You just can’t take it as gospel. Give yourself time, and a lot more experiments. For one, you’ll find that it’s often true that “two great tastes DON’T taste great together” when it comes to wine and food.
There are some things that just don’t make sense. . .if you’re eating acidic food, sometimes a wine that relies on it’s acidity will be completely lost. If you’re eating beefy, rich food it doesn’t make sense to drink a thin wine (white or red).
Besides, if you’re drinking really nice wine (for some that might mena a $20 bottle, for some a $250 bottle), you might not want your mouth filled with garlic, and salt and meat before you take a swig.
Wine and food pairings and conventions weren’t just made willy-nilly.