The Cohhilition

Cohh mentioned this morning that he would like to try more wine. We don't usually drink wine, and Cohh has no idea what type of wine he would like (not even red vs white).

I've tried several wines, and I find pino grigio or riesling, when very chilled, are most palatable.

Do you have recommendations on brands or years for us to try? We do have a Costco membership, and I know they have a huge selection. There's a Trader Joe's nearby, which I've heard has a decent selection. We also have a local co-op that carries a reasonable variety, as well as Whole Foods nearby. Suggest away!

There are a ton of great vineyards in Virginia. I recommend, if you can, that you do the Virginia Wine of the Month Club as they'll send you two bottles of your choice from a Virginia vineyard and its not very expensive. https://www.vawineclub.com/

I'd be more than happy to bring you all some good stuff next time I'm in NC. I'm from Roanoke, VA so you guys aren't far from me at all and I have a convention I volunteer for in Raleigh-Durham called HonorCon.

If you like sweet wine, try a Moscato D'asti chilled. Very tasty and is considered a dessert wine. Red wine is my favorite and I usually go for a room temp Petite Sirah.

I know mostly wine from France but well, if you find them...
For white wine I would suggest Apremont if you like dry wine (from the alps), Gewurztraminer if you prefer sweet wine.
For red wine Saint Places is quite good with Barbecue and wines from Bourgogne and Cote du Rhône (Grenache, Syrah...) are good with meat.

For South african wines, I tasted one quite good named "Marvellous" that was quite good.

Anyway, I hope it helped
Good day

I gotta say I'm a fan of Riesling myself. My favorite is an Artist's Valley Riesling, sweet with a touch of tart, was able to get this one from the grocery store nearby but it might be a regionally available thing Hints of melon, green apple and pear. Second choice is a Kingsbridge Riesling that I get from the liquor store locally, similar tastes. One of the others that should be more easily available would be the Relax Riesling. Not quite as nice but its my 3rd choice when the other 2 aren't available.

Hello,

For what its worth my preference is for "full bodied" Reds so I tend to prefer reds from the La Rioja region of Spain. I have a very soft spot for the wines from Marques de Riscal and serve it at around 18 degrees C. Their Reservas are specially yummy and very easily drinkable!

I also enjoy wine from the Châteauneuf-du-Pape commune in France.

As always it does need a few years under its belt to make it a pleasant drink and allowing it to breath for about 20 mins is also useful.

HTH

I can advise you guys in chilean wine (theres pretty good wines from that country).
There are several varieties that I can recommend, depending on your taste (each made with a different kind of grape).
Red Wine: Carmenet Sauvignion is a strong variety, deep flavor and mostly drinked when you eat red meats
Carmenere is a pretty tasty red wine, kind of hard to find in a lot of countries. Taste is softer but rich. Its the one I like the most
There are other kinds like merlot, syrah, malbec and tons of others, I personally don't get those too often.
Theres a variety called pinot noir, which is kind of special. It has red colour, but tastes similar to a white wine. I wouldn't drink a lot of it, but is not bad at all.

White Wine: Chardonnay and sauvignon blanc are the main chilean varieties of white wines. These wines are mostly drinked when eating white meats or sea food (cool it first)

Respect to brands, depends on what can you find in your city/country, but I really recommend trying out some when you have the chance

cohhCheers!

edit: forgot to mention, almost every reserved wine is good, hard to go wrong with one

I do occasionally partake in the big red instead of beer. I have fallen to liking "Campo Veijo" which is a Spanish Rioja. Very much recommended and have introduced quite a few of my red wine drinking buddies to it. All of them love it and now buy it as well. It is not too expensive and goes down very nicely. Can be found in all supermarkets in the UK but I have no idea about the US.
Has a darkish yellow main and neck label with red lettering.
(I have 3 empty bottles of it sitting next to me after my mates came over last )
Enjoy
cohhCheers!

One of the biggest misconceptions about wine is the whole pricing/top, mid, and bottom shelf thing. Yes some of the bottom shelf wines are going to be an inferior quality, BUT top shelf does not mean it is going to be better tasting to you than a mid or even a bottom shelf. Everyone has different tastes when it comes to wine. One of my favorites is Sledgehammer, bold red with a sweet ending. It is a mid/low shelf priced around $10 a bottle. Again do not let price and "shelf quality" deter you from tasting a wine!

Best of luck in your wine searching!! <3

Hi Laina!

I work with wine recommendations every day! I’m a server/bartender here in downtown Orlando. I find the best way to give a meaningful wine rec is to start just the way you did, by listing some wines that you enjoy. Since we’re in a forum and not a restaurant we can try to isolate a trend and translate that into some language that will help you to communicate what kinds of wines you tend to like. Of course, in a restaurant we wouldn’t do this we would just recommend something similar- because it would come across as a little snobby and a bit out-of-touch, like can you imagine “hey, you like pinot grigio, great lets try to develop some language to talk about why” I’m actually having a panic attack just thinking about that situation.

Wine language can come across as a bit snobbish, and there are certainly people who take it a little too far, and i suppose thats their right, too, but if you consider the terminology as it ought to be used, it is simply a tool meant to help consumers get what they like. There are so many different kinds of wine and taste varies so dramatically from person to person that its difficult for us not to rely purely on our own tastes when we recommend wines. Wine jargon can help mitigate some of that.

It sounds like you enjoy sweet wines that have ripe, maybe tropical or stone fruit, and not too much acidity. I agree with the Gewürztraminer rec for you as many people who enjoy riesling tend to like it as well. I would also recommend maybe trying a rose (not a white zinfandel *people don’t like white zin because it has added residual sugar because it is cheaply manufactured and its just not a very good representation of what wine tastes like) Rose’s often have more berry fruit to them, depending on where they are from, and are so awesome and refreshing in the summer, also served chilled like you like ‘em! I would venture Chenin Blanc is probably in your wheelhouse as well.

Sauvignon blanc is probably a little more acidic than you would like, but if you ever want to taste a HUGE difference between two wines. Grab like a Riesling, and a New Zealand sauvignon blanc and taste them side by side. It’s a good exercise to develop your palette in the beginning. I remember i used to think all wine tasted the same and then i tasted a super grassy, green peppery, acidic sauvignon blanc and my mind got totally blown. OH Also, a sparkling wine like Prosecco which will give you more of the sweetness and fruit you like than a Cava which is a bit drier and more yeasty.

Well, that’s a few to start. I could go on and on- I think this stuff is really fun. As for Cohh, he really just needs to start drinking it! Once he gets a handle on a few he likes the real fun starts! My last real bit of advice is to take full advantage of places like Whole Foods and Total wine, and probably your CoOp, too that have awesome selection and awesome staff. Happy Drinking, I’m off to the Total Wine!!

I can't really say that I know much about wine, and I probably won't be that helpful, but if you like Pinot Grigio and Riesling, I would recommend sticking to semi-sweet/off dry wines. I'm not a huge a red wine fan myself. I prefer sweeter white wines and rosés. I also really like wines made from various fruit. One of the best wines I have ever had was Rhubarb wine, and it was semi-sweet.

Sweeter wines are meant to be had with dessert and sweeter things, which is why I find them to be more enjoyable on their own. Most drier wines are meant to accompany a meal.
I think semi-sweets are best to drink without a meal for most people since they are balanced between sweetness and body.

Thank you all SO much! Lots of good info here. I think trying local wines is a great idea - VA isn't too far from NC, but NC has some great vineyards that Cohh and I should check out. Anyone tried Dublin or Biltmore or other NC wines?

When I was at the grocery store there were a LOT of Moscato, but no Moscato D'Asti. Is that a brand, a type, or the "long hand" name for Moscato? Are there brands of Moscato that are better than others? I have been warned that they are very sweet and can cause a headache.

Gewurztraminer sounds right up my alley, but I know I'll have to go farther than the grocery store to find that. Next time I'm at a store with a greater selection I'll look for it!

I looked for Rieslings at our grocery store, and found Relax so I'll try that soon. I'll look for the other brands recommended when I'm at a store with better selection... there's a theme here about our grocery store LOL. Thanks everyone who gave recommendations for wines from certain areas of the world. I'll have to get Cohh to join me at a wine shop so we can look through all your recommendations and make some choices. We definitely won't let price or "shelf" determine our selections, as I've heard that some very inexpensive wines have won some pretty prestigious awards.

I do think Cohh and I need to better develop our wine vocabulary so that we can go to a restaurant and try a glass of wine vs buying a whole bottle and deciding we don't really like it after a few sips! I would agree that I enjoy something that's fruity, sweeter, and lower acidity. Cohh has no idea, so once he tries more he'll get a better idea.

Wine pairing is another thing we should consider. I know that certain wines are meant to be served alongside certain foods. Maybe we'll start asking for recommended pairings when we're out to eat. My understanding is red wine with red meat, and white wine with poultry/fish. I don't know anything else related to pairing wine and food, and what I do know may be totally off!

At the store today I found two wines that were recommended here. Sledgehammer Cabernet Sauvingnon 2013 and Relax Riesling 2014. We'll try them soon and I'll report back about what Cohh and I thought about them!

One of the things my wife and I do is take a picture of the wine label when we try new wines. We'll tag the picture with what we thought about it. This really helps when out at a restaurant.
JP

Hello again,

Just thought I would add that I use the Vivino app on my phone to keep track of what I thought of what I drank and to also check on reviews of any potential bottles that I look at in the supermarket.

https://www.vivino.com/app

HTH

Goshil.