Favorite Bottle of Wine
 

alright GCers i need some help. i have a few parties to go to this year and want to bring a nice bottle of wine. the problem is that i know nothing about wine or which is good/bad. what is everyone's favorite wine that will not cost an arm or leg?

Moscato will never do you wrong. It's a "cheap" wine but I've never met a person who didn't love it. It even comes in a sparkling kind though that's a little harder to find.

I think we have wine lovers thread somewhere, scroll through that one for ideas.

ETA: Yup. http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...ght=wine+lover

I'll second Christiangirl. I haven't met anyone who didn't like it either.

I don't care for Moscato :o. It's borderline dessert wine and a little too sweet for me. If I'm going to bring a bottle of wine over to a party, I stick with a basic, lighter wine. A $10-$20 dollar bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, or a Pinot Noir should do the trick.

Here's some of my suggestions for a lighter red.
http://www.bevmo.com/Shop/ProductDet...roductID=25493

And my personal favorite.
http://www.citywinecellar.com/store/...ir-2008-750ml/

a good red- pappillon or prisoner by orin swift. theyre zinfandel /cab/ petite verdot blends without the dry finish of a traditional zin. SO GOOD! even those who dont like red wine will like it.

EXCELLENT CHOICE! I LOVE Prisoner but it can get expensive if you buy it locally. I bought a bottle here a few months ago priced at $45.

Really? I usually don't like sweet, but I actually liked Moscato haha...but fair enough, you're right it is sweet. Didn't think about that.

Prisoner is by far my fav. The local whole foods has it for 32 I believe but it can get a bit pricey at certain places.

Excellent choice...
 

La Crema Chardonnay or Pinot Noir.

Depending on your state taxes -- these will run anywhere from $18 - $28.

I don't know if this is available everywhere, but Grand Traverse Sweet Harvest or Fall Harvest Rieslings are my two favorites. Auto Moto Riesling is very similar and, I believe should be available nationally. They aren't expensive. They are sweet for whites, but not that sweet.

Whatever you do, stay away from White Zinfandel. In my opinion, it screams novice/cheap.

White Zin is the Natty Light of wine.

I'm a big traminette and reisling fan.

I love Cakebread Vineyard, especially the merlot, but that's a bit pricey.

For around $20 a bottle, I like Concannon Pinot Noir, but I haven't tasted what's out there now, which is a 2009 that I picked up for $9 yesterday. I can't taste it until February. Kendall Jackson is usually safe. We really enjoy a Yellow Tail Shiraz.

These price points are all over the board, BTW. It might be easier if you say what price point you want to go for in order to recommend in that category.

i love our local wineries, so i try to take a bottle of Linganore's "Skipjack" as a hostess present if i can search it out.

in a quick bind, i'll take Ménage à Trois Red, its a blend that even my "oh i hate red wine" friends seem to like.

Any Marlborough (New Zealand) wine is usually good, especially Nobilo, great wine, around 11 dollars. (dryish white wine, very fruity)

LOL - this.

I'll second PiKA2001's recommendation of a Sauvignon Blanc. I'm not a huge fan of white wine, but if I'm drinking white is has to be a Sauvignon Blanc - not Chardonnay or Pinot Gris/Grigio, which seem to be more popular, but don't appeal to me at all.

Me too! I prefer whites over reds. My favorites are the more fruity blends, especially made by the local wineries around here and in Tennessee. The blackberry wines are so tasty!!

Muscadine grapes make FANTASTIC tasting wine as well.

GreekChat has by far, the funniest posts that I have come across on the Internet.

To be on topic, I enjoyed Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill in my youth.

aephi alum likes this. (This is the second time tonight I've posted this. Uh... John, can we get a "like" button?)

My personal fave is Rodney Strong Cabernet Sauvignon. It runs maybe $18/bottle and it goes very well with steak. DH and I were out on Cape Cod during the off season (many moons ago) and went to a restaurant in Hyannis called The Black Cat. The bar was doing a lively business, but we were the only people in the restaurant proper, so we had a dedicated waiter. When we ordered steak, we asked him for a wine recommendation. He suggested the Rodney Strong Cab, and it was perfect. :) Their Chardonnay is also the only American Chardonnay I will drink (most are far too sweet).

Another idea is vinho verde. You can get a good vinho verde for $5-8/bottle. It goes very well with Indian curries. It's really more a wine you'd serve in the summer, though.

A pinot gris is a good choice.

I'm not much of a big white wine drinker but a favorite white of mine is a Chamasil staneless steel chardonay. Its unoaked and fermented in stainless steel. Its a great transition between a really fruit forward sauv blanc and a minimal chard. I dont think it retails for more than 20.

Far Niente. I've had better brands, but that's generally the brand I'll drink if I'm drinking wine.

Has anybody done any wine tasting? My wife and I try to get out to do that when we can.

Yes, quite a bit over the last two years. I've enjoyed it a lot. I had never tried a Riesling prior to that and now I love it! The place I do it has beer tastings also, which are interesting.

Yes, I work in a restaurant and have to know how all our wines taste (no complaining there!) so we have a wine tasting every now and then

What? That is awesome! Talk about perks.

There is an excellent wine bar near where I live, and their wine tastings are great.

The traminette, reisling, and a spicey sangria (with lots of cut citrus in it) are my summer favorites. Sat in the wine tasting garden of Heinemans winery on PutinBay just this past summer and polished off a bottle of traminette, which was new to me. Very floral, but I liked it. Winter wines I'm partial to a petite sirach, shiraz, and any cab.

My mom and step-dad make their own wines. They haven't bottled any from this year yet, but they have carboys of reisling, delaware, pink catawba, table red (medium bodied), pear, and concord. Hopefully they'll bottle sometime soon.

I'm a big fan of Pinot Gris or its Italian cousin, Pinot Grigio.

thanks everyone! $30-$40 bottle is probably what i will spend for friends and alot cheaper for my drunken aunts as they don't care what the price is. i will check out our local grocery store tonight first. i know that tom thumb has a huge selection.

Haaa Boone's Farm is my favoriteeee cheap wine.
I sometimes buy myself a bottle for the night out if I know there will only be cheap beer that I don't feel like drinking.

Note to self...
 

Remind me not to drink wine with most GCers! LOL

(Raggedy Ann is an exception -- Cakebread is VERY good!)

Ackk! ptuiii!!! It was cherished by half the University of Arkansas campus back in the day!

I think Boones Farm is a rite of passage for any/everyone!

What about 2 Buck Chuck? Talk about a hangover!

I wont even lie, I thouroughly enjoy me some arbor mist at times. By the pool on a hot day is just fine :)

Rodney Strong and I didn't make NutBrnHair's cut. *pout*

I'll agree with you. Unfortunately wine is off limits for me due to migraines right not :( When I do get to drink, I LOVE Syrah, Pinot Noir, Reisling, Champagne and good desert wines. One of my favorite bottles, we discovered for my husband's birthday one year, is called Torbreck "Woodcutter's" Shiraz for about $25.

Menage a trois red wine is very good in my opinion and only $10 I think

Soh, so no love for Sutter Home? :)

I like riesling too. I'm not much of a red drinker, usually a fruitier one. I typically drink red for sangria.

I usually buy Yellowtail, but that's not an expert purchase.