My friend and I are trying to get a good taste for wine, but we really don’t know what to try? What’s a good inexpensive wine? I’m thinking something like a red wine, basically anything a girl would prefer. As for my friend what is a good wine for him? Anyways we live in a small town, please offer only wines that can be found anywhere. Please no arbor mist or boones farm.
Take a holiday to the Loire vally in France and split your time between wine-tasting and visiting the beautiful chateaux.
It has been my experience that girls prefer white wine for some reason. But, any kind of Beaujolais is a nice unthreatening red wine to start with.
Thing is, you’ve just have to taste what you can get, and see whether you like it. There’s no objective standard for the quality of wine.
Think of it in terms of food.
Is white wine better than red wine? That’s like asking whether beef tastes better than lobster. Both are good if prepared well, and some people simply detest one or the other. Matter of personal taste.
Is the $20 wine better than the $10 wine? Maybe. But not always. In food terms: I’ve eaten in cafes many times where I’ve thought - Hey this shit costs three or four times what I could’ve paid at McDonalds, and it doesn’t even taste as good as a McWhatever. 
I’m someone that takes wine (and food) very seriously. The bottom line is you have to eat and drink things that you like, rather than things people tell you that you should like.
The best advice I can give you if you want to learn what you like is to go to your local wineries. They’ll always have tasting rooms and in my experience are almost always chatty. It’s a good way to learn and experience different sorts.
For example, I get most (all, really) of our wines from local wineries and never buy stuff from elsewhere at the store. And just recently I ran across a brilliant concord up in Pennsylvania at Mt Hope winery. Next time I’m up there I’ll pick up a case because it’s kind of a trip.
Your location says ‘Kansas’ so I searched out a site for Kansas wineries:
http://www.travelenvoy.com/wine/kansas.htm
Enjoy!
This is a matter of opinion rather than fact, so I’ll move this thread to IMHO.
bibliophage
moderator GQ
My advice would be to go to the nearest liquor store (or even a grocery store with a decent wine department) and ask the guys there for advice. As long as it’s not a totally horrible place, someone should be able to point you in the right direction.
I don’t know what small town in Kansas you’re from, but Fields of Fair winery is one close to Paxico and run by an uncle of mine (it’s the only Kansas winery I know of). They have tasting tours. Their site seems to be down but here’s some info.
I totally agree with the above posters that tasting different wines is your best bet, but if you’re looking for a quick reccomendation, I would go with a Beaujolais-Villages. It won’t have as complex a layering of flavors as a full-out Beaujolais, but will have a nice fruity flavor and it will go well with a variety of foods. It will also be low in tanins which can sometimes put-off a newbie. Louis Jadot has a line of low-end frnech wines (including a Beaujolais-Villages) that are cheap, and have the major characteristics of the wine for the region without being so complex as to overwhelm someone trying them for the first time. From there you can (as I did) find what styles you like and branch out into more complex (and pricier) wines.
It’s a wonderful word of taste and adventure, enjoy!
I have to say I’m a bit 
at the “wines a girl would like” request. I haven’t really seen any correlation between wine type preference and being male or female.
I’m puzzled whether you drink with many women. I’m with Manduck thevast majority of women I know prefer white wine. Me, I’d recommend a rose for a beginner with reds.
I don’t know much about white, so I’ll skip directly to red.
I’m a beginner too (last year or 2, not seriously), but I’ve learned a few things already. My best teacher has been an Oz Clarke guide to wine. He recommends avoiding French if you’re on a budget, and I concur.
I don’t know what’s available in Kansas, but in Pennsylvania I had good luck with Chilean wines, especially Merlot. Good starters, no one really dislikes them. They’re inexpensive too.
Since moving back to Seattle I’ve discovered the wines of Washington state, which are marvelous. From the Columbia Valley come wonderfully buttery Syrahs and Cabernets.
Also give Zinfandel (not the same as white zinfandel…this one’s red) a try.
Considering I am a woman, I think I drink “with” women by default. 
I like white wines, but I also like red wines, and all the female friends I have seem to be split 50/50 on white/red preference (with many liking both). Hence my confusion.
[sub]Although honestly, if I have my choice, I prefer vodka (not in froofroo girly drinks). What does that say about me? :D[/sub]