Wine recommendations?

Question

I would like to try different wines, but am limited in experience. I do know, however, that I'm partial to very sweet wines. Rieslings and moscato d'astis are my favorites. Can you think of anything else I might like?

Answer 1

any dessert wine; just go into a dedicated wine store, look for the dessert wine section (ask an employee if one isn't marked), browse, and pick the prettiest label

there is no such thing as a bad dessert wine, so eventually just try them all for the sake of variety (barzac, sauternes if you can afford it, vin santo, banyuls, "late harvest" this or that, icewine, etc)

a semi sweet wine like some vouvray (chenin blanc from the loire valley), some (not alsatian) gewurztraminer, and anything german riesling rated "spatlese" or sweeter (auslese, berenauslese, trockenberenauslese; in other words, not kabinett) will also probably appeal to you

just say to hell with white zinfandel type crap; zinfandel is meant to be consumed as a RED wine, not pink with artificially added sugar

there are 4 ways of making a wine sweet, 3 of them natural:
- a fungus called botrytis cinerea (aka "noble rot") which is usually the source of anything called "late harvest"
- leaving the grapes on the vine into freezing weather in nothern regions
- letting grapes raisin to some degree (generally done in italy)

in all these cases, the water is being removed to concentrate the sugars

the 4th method, allowed for the production of "white" zinfandel, is simply ADDING sugar, which is essentially like making a soft drink, not a wine.

caution: many times consumers mistake simple fruitiness for sweetness, particularly in red wines (for example, the Menage A Trois mentioned above); and if that's what you're after, there is nothing wrong with that, but it's helpful to be able to distinguish what you're tasting for future exploration into other wines

you may also be interested in knowing that if you see a french wine that says "muscat" on it it's the same grape that is called "moscato" in italy; orange muscat and black muscat are other siblings to this grapes that also make good dessert wines (a good California winery for this type of wine is Quady, which produces sweet wines called Essencia and Electra, for example).

A "port" type wine made from something like pinot noir from oregon is an interesting wine to try, but just know that the "port" in the name is misleading; real port only comes from Portugal, from grapes like touriga nacional. In this case, "port" is used to indicate a STYLE of wine rather than regional authenticity.

Real port (both red versions and brown "tawny" versions), various types of sherry, and madeira are known as "fortified" wines (additional alcohol is added after the fermentation is over), and are made in a sweet style. Sherry and tawny ports are both brownish because they are intentionally allowed to oxidize a bit (normally oxygen is regarded as the main enemy of wine).

Also try mead, which is made from honey.

Answer 2

Gewurztraminer and some Semillion Chardonnays might be sweet enough for your taste. If you REALLY want sweet, try some late harvest vidals... available in the dessert wine section or any blend that has muscat (that's the moscato d'asti you're talking about)

Also you might try a Chenin Blanc - Demi sec will be a hint of sweetness... Moelleux will be more of a honeyed dessert style. Also maybe grenache...

Answer 3

Here's the list... Liberty School: 10.99 a bottle - used to be better but still made by Camus (a very good winery) Black Sheep 9.99 I little devil of a wine. nice tasting and a bit dry try any Malbec from Argentina - ranging from really cheap (5.99) to 15.99 you can also get some good deals on French wines at this time --- think Burgandy for something a bit different. Finally, always a good choice - Big house Red from Bonny Doon... great stuff for under 10 bucks

Answer 4

Lynfred Winery's Late Harvest Zynfindel (candy like sweet red) or Reisling (US, Moderately priced, sometimes hard to find)

Prosecco (it's a sparkling Italian white- Like a Reisling with bubbles)

Guwertziminer (Super sweet)

Play around a bit... Trader Joe's (if you're in the US) has a great selection of all types of inexpensive wines... Happy sipping!

Answer 5

a great wine for beginners is Menage a trois (Red). dont let the name fool ya..it is a blend of merlot, cabronet, and red zin. Its very smooth and delicious.. you can find it at World Market, Target sometimes has it or check your local wine vendor. wine.com has it if you cant find it and it cost about 10 bucks a bottle

Answer 6

Carmen Wine Reserva Premier.
Well Bodied Mature with a little zingy zest in her
Best time to enjoy this wine is when your doing an over Forex SCalping
session alone, gives you unbelievable energy :)

Answer 7

There are a number of Australian rieslings that are resonably priced and good. Please don't forget Strawberry Hill and MD 20/20 Grape. (sarcasm)

Answer 8

White zins are on the sweet side