Go to your nearest supermarket (unless you're in Utah or Idaho) and buy a bottle of Gewurztraminer (pronounced Geh VURTS truh meener) or Riesling. Sweet wines are a good place to start for beginning wine drinkers. If you're feeling brave and don't want sweet, you might try a Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc. Stick with the whites if you're just starting out. Then, when you think nothing could be tastier than a glass of white wine, try a good red like Zinfandel or Pinot Noir. If you're really brave, try sipping Cabernet Sauvignon.

I am very brave...considering I walk around Mormondom with my coffee and have been spotted by so many who now will not talk to me [as if that would make it more difficult considering]

Okee dokee I talked to the wine guy, very nice chap...I want my debut to be great.

I don't know about pairing and such. All I know is I like my meat rare. So I believe red goes with that.

And white with fish IDK!

Ohhhh I will go impress him with my German...Geh Vurts Truh MEENER [he will know that that is correct]!

I have tasted wine before... but i wasn't like too keen on it.

I like this thread because I do know anything about wine....I guess I did it all wrong, my first bottle was a Cabernet Savignon! :0



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/07/2011 11:18PM by tiptoes.

Try some cheese along with it... Smoked or blue cheese. Goes good with Sauvignon Blanc or a Merlot.

I like blue cheese...I had french companions and the cheese was quite the treat once you got over the stench :)

Red wine is served closer to room temperature and is often served with meat or spicy foods. It usually needs to "breathe." That means you need to remove the cork 20 or 30 minutes before serving. Pouring it into a decator speeds up the process. Cheaper wines usually to need breathe longer in my experience.

Be careful because too much red wine and not enough food with it can cause headaches.

Don't drive if you're feeling tipsy.

Ohhh this is good!

So like a tuna sandwich and a glass of white is good

Lamb curry and a glass of red is good!

Google wine & cheese pairings. The wine brings out the taste of the cheese, the cheese brings out the taste of the wine. It's win/win and CHEEEEEEEZ!.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/06/2011 09:16PM by wine country girl.

If you're feeling tipsy, just drive home really fast, that way you aren't on the roads as long, so it's much safer for everyone!

Just kidding, I never drink and derive, you should only figure derivitives at home, especially if you have a buzz on.

=D

It is not easy to pair wine & curry-beer is the traditional (or mango lassi to be more correct). One for Timothy!!!!!.


Red wine & curry would not be ideal but a mildly dry white-pinot gris,verdhlo or semillon would cut it.

I love a good mango lassie for sure!

Well we are learning here!

So I LOVE wine.....it is teh bestest! I am sittin here this evening having some Savignon Blanc with some Fetta cheese - YUMMY! My fav is probably for a white - Chardonnay, for a red - Merlot.

If you choose to drink reds I highly recommend this aerator - it is AMAZING!
http://www.winesoiree.com/

I have one and I totally love it!

:)

Thanks!

So much info...not sure how I will do it, but I got the rest of my life...I just don't want to be making up for lost time :)

Riesling it is!

Pairing is easy.

White wine with white meat, like chicken and fish.

Red wine with red foods like steak or spaghetti.

That way if you throw up, your vomit doesn't clash.

=D

Ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Like you care when you are vomitting if its colour coordinated!

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Nice of you to chime in!

Just a nasty run with a nut job!

You put a smile on my face!

Truly sophisticated, that's me!

Smoother foods are good for the same reason, lasagne, not chips and salsa. Chips snag in your throat.

=D

Australian Shiraz is great with steak!

Rule number two, wine can be an acquired taste.

Rule number three, head to a good wine making region and go wine tasting. This is the best way to taste lots of wine, learn about the characteristics of wine and have a good time doing it.

Then as a general rule, white wines go with white meat and lighter flavored dishes, red with red meat and the more savory dishes.

I suppose one has to start somewhere to know what they like and don't like!

Trying bottle after bottle to find what one likes gets expensive. If there is a place to go wine tasting near by, one can try lots of different wines for cheap or free.

Yeah they do have one!

Well I am just coming out of the church...so I think wine tasting in the open would be a very definite signal don't you think!

And if there are Mormons at the wineries, well, they wouldn't say anything because they would be admitting that they were at the winery as well. Oh, you are going to have to buy the whine someplace, so what is the difference between a winery or a store?

Well yes!

I just want to take it one step at a time.

You know often I wonder who cares?

I also know Members are crazy like I am sure you know since you are here and not at church trying not to stab yourself with the bulletin!

Well here's to AIC for starting this conversation.

A little wine is good for the stomach!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/08/2011 04:56AM by abish.

I left the Truman Show about a year ago.

I went to Portugal on my mission and they are crazy about wine (Port and cork are Portugal's main exports). I hastily went to the store and bought the cheapest red wine from Portugal I could find. That was a bad mistake. I hated it and went the next six months thinking that wine wasn't my thing. Then I went to a wedding with an open bar (it was so much more beautiful than getting married in a chef hat while an old man with bad breath gave worse marriage advice like pay your tithing to ensure marital bliss). The open bar was awesome and the bartender took care of me. First she gave me white wine. It was delicious to the taste and of good rapport. Brother Joseph would have loved it. Furthermore, it was not so much of an "aquired taste" like the stronger Portuguese red wines. After a few glasses of that the bartender moved me to the red stuff. I was feeling so good she could have been giving me ketchup and it still would have been delicious. That is a long story for me to say, "start with a good white wine."

I echo what others have said. Start w/ a good white. I am a nevermo. I grew up in Indiana, where if you didn't raise it in the barn, we didn't eat it. Pizza was an exotic food for us.

Anyhoo, Joined the Army, got stationed in Germany. (Thinking beer, aren't you?) Ya, but got stationed in the Neckar region. Where the Reislings grapes are grown. Started with those....Loved, Loved Loved me some Reislings. Branched out to some Zins, then to Pinot Gri's. Finally started on some Cab's. Still (20 some years later) not really crazy about the reds.

It's a personal choice. But have been to MANY wine tastings. BEST THING EVER! You get to try many wines that you other wise wouldn't. Here in FL, the ABC liquor stores has wine tastings all the times. There are several wineries in northern FL that host tastings too. It's a great time! Just don't get hung up on the "I am a wine snob, and only drink XYZ" attitude.

What's the word? Thunderbird!

Wine can be an acquired taste. My hubby took to it right away, it took me a lot longer to like wine. Being a exmo now, most of my friends drink. Some hate wine and with some it is the only thing they will drink. So if you decide you like it great, if you don't that's okay.

Taste in wine varies. You have to find what wines you like. I prefer whites. Hate heavy reds. Cabernet? No thanks. I know some people who hate whites and think I have terrible taste in wine. I don't care. You drink what you like.

You need to do some tastings, because buying all different types of wine gets expensive. I am very lucky, in my husband's job it is common to be taken to very fancy dinners by the managers and vice presidents. Wine is always free flowing. I have tasted wine that cost a couple of hundreds of dollars a bottle. I have found I do not usually like these wines. I also found that sommeliers (not sure how to spell) are really invaluable when it comes to pairings and choosing wines. The best wines and pairings I have had have come from just a few questions about my taste and what I am eating and they bring me a glass I have always loved. They've also told me that the ONLY thing that matters about a glass of wine is if you like it. If your ever at a restaraunt that has one one staff take advantage!

It sounds like you may live in morgdom, which is unfortunate. If you have access, wine stores will let you taste. In some states I lived in there are stores like wines and more or bevmo that do daily tastings for free. This is the best way to go if you are able.

Wine is a journey of discovery. Over the years you will develop what you enjoy and do not enjoy. I enjoy whites from germany and spain like reisling and abarino. I also like reds from spain like rioja. Not a big fan of french wines, which makes me weird in wine circles, but it is what it is and I'm not going to drink wines I don't like. Enjoy your discovery.

And when the student is ready to tackle a kick-ass recipe for Sangria then this teacher has a great one.

I just got a great recipe for white sangria at Falkner Winery in Temecula a couple weeks ago.

I have recipes for both, but I'm speaking of the red one at them moment. I only recently discovered white sangria, so I wouldn't consider my recipe to be mastered quite yet. You're welcome to tackle the white sangria if you'd like. I'm planning on trying one with a combination of riesling and light champagne as a base (champagne added last minute, of course). I'll let you know how it goes.

So here I sit in a wine making region of the country, Columbia Valley, Wa, and know nothing about wine. Even in my pre-mo days I was more of a beer drinker. But I find now that I prefer wine, I just have no clue about what's good. So I really appreciate this guide.

Onr question, I was out with coworkers and had a local white that I really liked and was told it was "PVG". I thought maybe that was a classification or type of wine but I haven't come across that term anywhere since. Anybody know what "PVG" might be?

I just looked it up on the restaurant's web site: Thurston Wolfe PGV. Would still like to know what "PVG" means though.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/08/2011 12:48PM by onlyme.

I know it stands for Ponte-Vino-Giro... Which is a winery somewhere outside of wine country. Ohio, I think...?

Funny what you can find with google. Once I found the name of the wine I went to their web page and there it was: Pinot Gris & Viognier.

I also recently had champagne called "cupcake". Really good in my novice opinion.

Funny, someone recommended a Cupcake Chardonnay in the other wine thread. I might have to search that brand out.

pate

cheese

crackers

wine

mmmm

don't know a thing about the wine as DW usually buys.

http://www.winedin.com/Pate

TMI...will now deconstruct!

THANKS, a bunch y'all!