Wine Question

IS there a place to go wine tasting aound you??? I honestly know that there are wines that regular wine drinkers drink...who seem to know their wines...and when I try what they get, it is personally not my favorite. I like the sweet Muscat...if that is how you spell it..I went to a wine party and loved it. Forgot it's name for years until a friend of mine got some at an amusement park...it was delicious...sweet. Some do not prefer the sweet. Many slam the white zin...but many still love it. I think it is a personal preference...Can you pick up a couple different kinds? Again, try going to a wine tasting before...they can usually tell you what is preferred...it is like the Millers vs Coors vs Bud preference...everyone has a favorite...(although many because they distribute it...:)) Go wine tasting and by the time you are done, you will not care what you get....Ha !!! Have fun !!!

Not sure where you live, but if you are in the city try going to a Sam's wine shop. I gave wine as a gift to some acquaintances who were wine fanatics, yet I didn't know anything about wine. When I went to buy the wine, I got someone to help me, told them I knew nothing about selecting wines, but let them know that I wanted both a red and a white (something interesting, yet palatable to the general population), and something that was middle of the road as far as price was concerned. I said "can you pick out two bottles that make me look like I know what I'm doing when buying wine?" and they were incredibly helpful, knowledgeable, and polite. You can google Sam's wine to find the website. Good luck to you!

For a sweet white wine, Reisling is a good choice and my favorite for this is the St. Michelle. On sale it can be found for less that $10.00 a bottle and is quite good. White Zinfandal is another good choice. Vendange is an o.k. brand and inexpensive. For a red wine that a variety of people like and goes with different foods, I would get a Pino Noir. Not as heavy as a Shiraz or Cab. Nice for summer, too. Mirrasou brand pino noir is around $8-$9 a bottle. Each bottle should figure about 4-5 glasses and most wine drinkers will drink about 2 glasses. Hope this helps and have fun.

Hi!
Have you tried WineStyles? They have some great wine for like $10-15/bottle. They will also help you pick out what you need! I like some of their Reislings(sweet wime) and their New Age is Awesome and it's only like $10!!

Have Fun!
L.

I would go somewhere that has a good wine selection (a Binnies, someplace like that) and explain what you're looking for and your budget. In my experience, they're very helpful and they understand not wanting to spend a lot.

I agree with the pinot grigio recommendations. Also, if the party's in the warm weather I'd buy more white than red (just based on a recent party we had, where no one wanted red.)

If you are in the city, check out The Wine Discount Center on Elston. They are fabulous, extremely helpful and knowledable. I think the wines you select would really depend on the menu. Also, not everyone likes the same thing, so a couple of choices in both red or white catagories would be good. If you go the Wine Discount Center, they have reviews of wines and tell you what types of food go well with them. This place makes wine shopping easy. I have thrown many a dinner party with their help when we lived in the city. Good luck!

My husband and I love wine and just built a wine cellar, however, you have to know your crowd. Do a lot of your guests drink wine or are they more beer drinkers? For white wines, someone mentioned Costco and that is a GREAT place to buy wines! I know you are saying sweet but, if you have guests who are wine drinkers they probably aren't HUGE SWEET wine drinker for a whole evening - occasional-yes. White varietals...Reislings and off dry Reislings are fruitier, Chardonnay (Chateau St. Jean winery-at Costco) - good price for the value. (Yes, it's crisp and dry, but popular.) You can even buy some white zinfandel and turn it into a spritzer w/ a little 7 up for those who want "sweet wine". For reds: Costco Carries "BV" (label) Cabernet Sauvignon - again, it is a dry wine. You can expect to pay $12-$15 for a half-way decent wine. "Turning Leaf" (label) has Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. You can find those at any grocery store. You'll pay about $100 for about 6 - 8 bottles of wine. Any that is unused, can be returned, or stored in a cooler area of your home, for future date.

However, going back to wanting a "sweet wine" why don't you consider a recipe for Sangria? (Costco had one of those beautiful, large glass beverage dispensers w/ the spout (hopefully they still have it!) and if you make your own Sangria, it will be sweet, fruity and inexpensive! I found a recipe on-line and it has a short video of how to make it. Doubling this recipe would be so easy and summery.

http://video.about.com/wine/sangria.htm

Good luck. Hope this helps.

Costco is a good place, and believe it or not, so is Dominicks when you buy what's on sale. Personally, I find Dominicks has a better selection. If your looking for better taste/quality, I would go with Dominicks as well. Costco can get pricey with wine. A bit of advice when purchasing wine, is to check the back label for the taste description. If it mentions anything about what fruit or flavor is involved, such as a note of strawberry, or cherry, pear, raspberry, chocolate, usually will tell you if it is a better wine. Generally the generic stuff will say nothing of the sort other than it goes good with fish, steak, etc. or something similar to that. It should say taste specific. Just something I was told by an independant wine distributor. It seems to hold true. I would go with a cabernet/merlot blend for your red, to make all the red wine people happy. With white your usually safe with Pinot Grigio. As for the brand, take my advice and look at your prices. Ohhhh I remember hearing from a friend also that there is good cheap wine at Trader Joes ....I think its called something by a mans name, Charles Shaw or something Shaw...it is good and like under $5.00 a bottle. happy shopping :)

For a white wine Reisling is delicious and not super expensive.I would get a couple of bottles of that.St Michelle runs about $12 a bottle but you can find a Schmits Sonhe (blue bottle)for about $8.For red I would get a couple of bottles of Merlot and maybe a Red Zinfandel.You could also get a basic big bottle of white zinfandel for the light wine drinker,maybe a Beringer.This is a good selection and should cover the bases.Some people will bring a bottle so that will suppliment your stock. Have a great time!

You already have great suggestions! I use Sam's Wine Club online, they are so helpful and I believe you should have a store nearyou. Also the Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio is my favorite. We have finished off countless bottles of it and order it in restaraunts too. Also I love a Moscato. It is a very sweet sparking white wine. It has a great peachy flavor for summer.

Good Luck!

stay away from white zin, its usually cheap pink stuff and tastes the same. ewe. we like pinio grio (sp?), we just get stuff at trader joes : )

For a sweet wine I like lambrusko they do not sell it at Costco though..Have fun at the party...

The people at trader joe's are great and their 'charles shaw' wine isn't that bad. Some people prefer sweet wines and some people prefer dryer wines. The ideas to have pinot grigio or fume blanc are good. White wines, chilled and crisp, are great during the summer. Get a few bottles of those and a few of white zin and you should be set.

hth

My hubby and I are big wine people - we used to belong to a few wine clubs...with that said, you should determine the wine off the menu (you shouldn't just decide sweet and not dry). To be safe though, a good Pinot Grigio (white) goes well with a lot (chicken, italian, pork, etc.) and a White Zinfandel is a little lighter and sweeter for some of the ladies. As for reds, you can try a Red Zinfandel or a Shiraz (or Cabernet Shiraz) - they are not sweet, but will go over big with the men and most red wine drinkers. As for brands...the cheaper you buy, the less the taste. Jewel sometimes has excellent deals on Santa Margharita Pinot Grigio (the cheapest I've seen it was for $17/bottle - but at a restaurant it's $40 or over a bottle). If price is an issue...do not go with barefoot wines (yes they're cheaper...and they taste that way too), try Sutter Home - I like them better than Berringer for the cheaper selections.
For how much - a bottle usually gets 4 full glasses out of it...so if you're having 40 people I would do like 3 red & 3 white (most people have 2 glasses & not everyone is going to drink wine if there is beer available & then I'm sure there will be some DDs), if you don't think that's enough, I wouldn't do more than 8 bottles.
If you want more info...let me know.