Since I live in wine tasting country now, I’ve had a few really good Cabs, but I generally don’t like them, especially generic mid-level supermarket Cabs. I love a good super-tanniny Tempranillo, and I wasn’t able to explain what it was about Cabs I didn’t like, but you expressed it perfectly. I like a lot of tannins, but I don’t like just a lot of tannins.
ETA realized I was talking about Cabernet Sauvignon, not Cab Franc, but whatever. It still works.
Port. O port. It tastes like you’re drinking raisins.
Chateau Michelle Cabernet Sauvignon, even if I shouldn’t tempt fate.
Moving to CS for you.
I tend to like Cabernet Sauvignon and shiraz but I find so much variance between different types that for me it’s not that simple to be able to say I like one over another. A shiraz from one vine yard can be nothing like a shiraz from another.
I am also a port drinker. If I want to go the cheap route for light summer drinking, I buy a sangria and squeeze two ruby grapefruits into a pitcher and pour the bottle over top. Hm. So, I guess Spanish reds would be my choice overall.
Am I the only Merlot lover here? I’m partial to rich, leathery, smoky ones like those from Washington state’s Chateau Ste. Michelle.
I go through phases as to my favourite, but I regularly go back to the same grape blend that gets fortified as port (Touriga Nacional and a few friends), Shiraz and Malbec. Sometimes a Petit Verdot when I can lay my hands on it unblended.
Some people have a problem with the sulfites many vintners add to accelerate the fermentation process.
If your wife is trying to have wine exclusively for health reasons, look for sulfite-free and/or organic wines. There are also alcohol-free wines out there. Unfortunately, in my experience, these processes tend to suck the life out of the wine.
My personal preference would be a big jammy Zinny or Shiraz, or NW USA Pinot noir, when drinking wine for wine itself. With rich/red meat food, a barolo, with seafood, a refreshing sauvignon blanc or dry reisling.
It’s not even 8AM here and I’m thinking about wine…
Does she like coffee and chocolate? Because if so, South Africa’s homegrown varietal Pinotage might be right up her alley.
I always want big, fruity, jammy reds. Shiraz, zinfandel, or cab sauv for me, please.
My favorite is Brouilly, which is a type of Beaujolais. If you’ve had Beaujolais Nouveau or Beaujolais Villages, imagine a wine that has the same amount of fruity weight (i.e. tannins and acids and solids) but with twice the flavor of the skins.
But really, I will drink any other type of Beaujolais before any other type of wine. But my second favorite is Pinot Noir, both in its burgundy and straight up types. But Merlot will also do in a pinch.
Unfortunately many places only have cab as a red wine. In which case I’ll also drink that in preference to mixed drinks. But I will secretly resent it, because you can see a good tasting drink in the cab but it falls juuuust short. At least if it were a mixed drink I wouldn’t get tantalized.
Given the parameters in the OP, I’d say Pinot Noir. It goes with almost any food, and treats you better the next day than lots of other reds. Not that one glass is going to give you a hangover or anything, but who knows-- if she likes it, your wife might have another glass or three!
But the problem with just listing a varietal like this is that there is always tons of bad wine and tons of good wine within that varietal. If you live in the US, and want to try a really nice Pinot for not too much, go to Safeway and get a Talbot Kali Hart Pinot Noir. It’ll cost you about $15, but is very good. If you want something closer to $10, try the Kenwood. Still good, but not as complex as the Talbot.
Sulfites aren’t really added to accelerate the fermentation. They’re added to kill off unwanted bacteria and yeasts (if you add them before adding a cultured yeast) and at the end to arrest fermentation (and kill off any residual yeasts). They occur naturally in some level in all wines, but their primary purpose is to preserve and prevent spoilage by killing unwanted living organisms.
For example, my experience is more with cider. When I make cider and want to use a cultured yeast, I generally add Camden tablets (sodium metabisulfite) to the juice, wait a day, and then pitch my yeast. Sometimes I’ll let the juice naturally ferment. Sometimes, I’ll pitch without killing the natural yeasts. Sulfiting gives the most predictable product. If I want to finish the cider a little bit sweet, I may also sulfite or sorbate it at the end, otherwise it goes completely dry.
If she doesn’t like alcohol I’d give her something with a fruity flavor like a red Moscato or Zinfandel.
Dude! Really?
If you want to overwhelm the natural yeasts, pitch more starter. If you want a sweeter, fruitier finish, let it ferment out, rack and add concentrate before bottling. Campden tablets are evil.
Nah, they ain’t. I don’t see the big deal about sulfites. And I don’t like to backsweeten. To me, that makes it taste more like soda pop than real cider. I do, however, tend to like my ciders very dry, with just a little bit of residual sweetness.
Truth is, though, the only yeast I will ever use for cider is Wyeast Weihenstephaner. A few years ago I did about 40-50 gallons of cider with a wide array of yeasts, and that was the only cultured yeast I really liked. Otherwise, spontaneous fermentation all the way. My best batches of ciders have always been spontaneously fermented. There’s a lot of literature about it being unpredictable and easy to spoil and some such, and I’ve always had the best product doing it that way. All the cideries I’ve toured (and granted, it’s only been a handful), have all told me they just crush the apples up and wait.
Oh, FGIE is going to throw his weight around in another wine thread!
OP, if its for the SO, I agree with John Mace about Pinot Noir (and to a lesser degree, Beaujolais). Pinot Noir typically yields a wine of lighter body, lesser tannins and a black cherry/smoky/earthy/plum flavor profile which skeins towards elegance over power. I would try her on a Willamette Valley Pinot as these are far more accessible than the French Burgundian counterparts (which are either the most amazing or frustrating wines in the world, by the way).
I’ve never really liked Beaujolais. Some of the place-named Beaujolais wines (like Brouilly) approach good quality to me but the Gamay grape just isn’t my favorite. It tends towards flavors of bananas and strawberries, flavors I do not enjoy in my red wine. Beaujolais Nouveau is just liquid candy. Blech.
As for me? Red Zinfandel is my favorite American red wine…big forward black fruit, brambly, spicy tones…the shit is for reals, yo. Cab has jumped the shark (thanks, Napa Valley) in popularity and pricing. My favorite European red wine is Barolo. Big, powerful taninns, leaves, violets and dark fruit…beautiful stuff…but PRICEY!
Some of the best deals in red wine right now are coming out of Argentina, Chile and Spain. Malbec for the former two, tempranillo and grenache for the latter.
Some of my favorite producers:
Catena Malbec (Argentina)
Seghesio Zinfandel (Sonoma)
Turley Zinfandel (CA)
Ridge Zinfandel (Geyserville)
McKinlay, Erath, Torii Mor Pinot Noirs
…eh, I won’t be able to stop, so i will now!
Merlot is my go-to, but really any dry red will do. My peculiarity is to finish any bottle that gets opened.
Oooh, homebrewer geek fight!
grabs popcorn and lawn chair