How do you pick wine?

Question

I want one that is really sweet. I had one at a dinner party once and forgot to ask the name. It was a white wine. Can anybody help me?

Answer 1

If you like sweet wine, you might want to go with a German white, such as a Riesling. If you see the words "spatlese" on the wine, that means that it's really sweet...the grapes have been left on the vine for awhile to ripen. Stay away from wines that say "trocken" (dry) or "halb-trocken" (half-dry). Hope that helps.

Answer 2

Usually the price tags for wines will contain a sugar content number ranging from 0 to 5 or 6. The higher the number, the higher the sugar content, therefore the sweeter the wine. There are exotic varieties, like icewines and dessert wines that are far above this numeric standard, but generally for a meal, you won't want to go above about a 3. Keep in mind that you never want a wine less sweet than what your eating (hence a 15 or above to match say, a chocolate cake). The rest is up to personal preferance. Most people who enjoy sweet wines like a White Zinfadel (Ernst and Julio Gallow make a great one) or a Riesling (there's a great new one called simply RELAX that I'd recommend). Best bet is to try a few different ones until you find what you like.

Hope that helps!

Answer 3

Are you sure it was sweet, and not just assertively "fruity and lively" (I found it interesting that two of the other answerers recommend pinot grigio/gris which is actually a dry wine - but assertively fruity when young. [Another answerer correctly tells you it is a dry wine]). Perhaps it was a mead which you enjoyed. Mead is always very sweet. In any case, as other answerers tell you, ausleses, most spatleses, all trockenbeerenausleses and icewines are sweet (and expensive); almost all white zinfandels are, too (but cheap). Many late harvest, botrytis-infected Bordeaux white wines are also sweet, and luscious! The most famous is sauternes - expensive - but there are many other more reasonably priced ones. Muscats are also usually sweet, and inexpensive, but with that distinct muscat taste and aroma, and these days it is all but impossible to find muscats at retailers outside of California.

Then, of course, many dessert wines, like cream sherry, many ports and oportos, some madeiras and the French pineau des charentes are sweet (and more highly alcoholic).

As per some of the other answerers: if you live in a state that permits tastings
go to your preferred wine retailer, tell a sales employee what the wine is to be served with, or for, and ask for a taste. Or the same if you are located near actual wineries. A secret: many wineries, especially those in business only a few years, that have or wish to have reputation for producing classic dry wines and only expensive sweeter wines (if they make any sweet wines at all), in order to have cash flow quietly make inexpensive sweet wines they sell only at the winery, where of course tasting is de rigeur.

Answer 4

The first question is what are you and your guest(s) eating. If it's a variety of dishes you might ask if anyone has a particular preference, i.e., red or white. You could also suggest that everyone order by the glass, although that tends to be more expensive. Generally, red wines will go well with beef and white with seafood. Be careful on seafood, though, because if it has a heavy sauce, e.g. a tomato sauce, a red may do better. For chicken, veal or pork, red or white will do depending again on the sauce. I like red wine with pasta, although white wine goes well with cream sauce. There are many other esoteric combinations, but these simple rules should do for most beginners.

Even in good restaurants, I am reluctant to ask a waiter for a recommendation. They will tend to steer you to more expensive wines and are not necessarily experts. If you must ask, I suggest you ask them what the most popular wines are. This is usually a good indication of what the restaurant's frequent patrons are drinking and they usually know the best wines on the list.

When trying to make a selection, remember that restaurants charge two times the retail price for most wines. So a wine that costs $10. retail that you might get on sale for $8. will likely cost at least $20. in a restaurant. While I've heard various explanations for this mark up, none of them make any sense to me. The bottom line is that you don't have much choice.(Yes, you can bring your own bottle to some restaurants and pay what's called a "corkage" fee, but they will expect you to bring an expensive bottle that is not already on their list, which is not an easy task for most beginners.)

But there are certain relatively inexpensive California wines (under$25) that frequent many wine lists. These are Kendall Jackson, Columbia Crest, Estancia, Souverain, Benzinger, Meridian, and Mondavi Woodbridge. Their chardonnays and cabernets are consistently well made and the prices are reasonable.

If you are looking to splurge, selections can be much more difficult. For Bordeauxs, the best years are 82,85,89,90,95 and 96. Expect to pay over a $100. a bottle for the older vintages and over $50. for even a recent vintage. California cabernet or merlot vintages to look for are 85,86,87, and 90-97. Some names are Mondavi, Mondavi Reserve, Caymus, Caymus Special Select, Beringer Knights Valley, Beringer Reserve, Dalla Valle and Montelena. These wines can be found on better winelists in some of the more upscale restaurants and are consistent overachievers. As for whites, while french white burgandies tend to go better with food than their Calironia counterparts, the better bottles tend to be more expensive and more difficult to select because of vintage variations and the wide variety of brands. California whites are generally, consistently good. Some of the top end chardonnays are Beringer Reserve, Kistler, and Matanzas Creek.

I hope I've made your task easier and remember the most important rule: just relax and enjoy your meal.

Answer 5

Was it at dessert? The best really sweet wine I've had was Riesling, which is German and a dessert wine. I've had it at a fondue party and it was really good. There are so many different types of wine, that it is hard to answer your question.

Answer 6

White wines work like this

From dryest to sweetest.

Chardonay
Pinot Grigio
Savingon Blanc, aka Chenin Blanc
Riesling
Piesporter
White Zinfandel (this is a pink colored wine.)
Muscat (Desert wine. Extremely sweet. Drink in small amount with dark chocolate)

Answer 7

German sweet wines are called spatlese (spayt-laysa) and the really sweet ones are auslese (ous-laysa). Both are white.

The reisling is good, but I prefer the Kerner grape, it has a more fruity taste and fuller body.

For really sweet desert wine, get the eiswine (ice wine). VERY sweet.

Answer 8

Well the best way to pick wine is to ask the wine seller.
He will show you around with all different wines. And he will help you with any questions that you have.
GOOD LUCK hon.!

Answer 9

Try a Pinot Grigio it is a white wine kind of sweet and fruity I like it

Answer 10

go to a wine store and do a taste test, then pick one you like. They usually let you taste up to 5 wines. Have fun!!