looking for suggestions

New to this website and wondering if there is a "if you like this, then you'll like that" type of feature here or on another website. You know, like on Amazon when you buy a book, they recommend others in that genre. I do not have hundreds and thousands of dollars to spend on wine and have found that a higher price does not guarantee a wine that I enjoy. A few wines I like are Marquis de Riscal Red Reserva 2004 Rioja, Santa Ema Maipo Valley Merlot 2007 Reserve, 2006 Rutherford Hill Merlot, Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio. Maybe some of you experienced wine lovers could point me in the right direction for others I might want to add to my list. I don't know a lot about wine and I'm hoping that this message board can help. Thanks!

There's lots to learn and discuss here but one option would be to go to a good local retailer and pose them the same question. We could give you suggestions but they may not be available in your area and you may not like searching all over the internet to have wine shipped.

I'm a bit of a bigot about wines - I like Sonoma County, particularly Russian River Valley and Dry Creek Valley wines, and I like to brag about them.

So here we go. Try Dry Creek Vineyards Fume Blanc or Chenin Blanc. Either of those is (in my arrogant opinion) better than Santa Margharita. Those might get you going on some nice tasty whites.
Dry Creek Vineyards Merlot is really good stuff, too. For a more assertive red, you could try a Seghesio Zinfandel or a Foppiano Petite Sirah.

I'm limiting myself to wines that should be generally available. There are so many wines that I have no hope of ever tasting them all!

John

I'd suggest you get a copy of the paperback "Wine Buyer's Guide" by Robert Parker, available at most bookstores like Barnes & Noble, etc., as well as online from Amazon.com. The edition that I have has chapters on all the major wine regions of the world, descriptions of the wines made and the grapes grown in each, and a summary of the good, better, and best producers in each, and then some tasting notes on recently released wines. That gives you plenty to look for, and a good overall understanding too, of each region and what goes on there....

Thanks for your suggestions! There are many books out there to choose from so I appreciate the recommendation. Right now I feel like I am limited to my local wine stores but I have a feeling I may be venturing out to the online possibilities soon!

Lissy,

I just had the Marqués de Riscal Rueda. It is a nice, food friendly wine. If you like Pinot Grigio you should like Rueda. For about $10 it is worth a try.

[Jenise]

Lissy, there IS a common thread to the wines you mention: lower tannins in your reds, low(er) acidity in your whites--basically, you prefer subtle, medium bodied wines with a gentle mouthfeel. You don't want to be hit over the head with gigantic new world fruit bomb flavors, unnatural sweetness, overripeness or flab--or to put it another way, you don't want your white wine to taste like margarita mix or your merlots to mimic a bluberry milkshake (thank god) as is the case with so many North American wines.

That's a very, very good starting point.

But as Rahsaan mentioned, not knowing where you're shopping it's kind of hard to be very specific in making reccomendations (though Bruce and John recommended two very good options should you be able to find them). However, to a man (or girl) I think everyone in this forum would reccomend you not spend $22 or whatever it's costing you for the Santa Margherita pinot grigio. It's tasty enough, but overpriced for what it is and there are many terrific Italian whites as good or better for half the price. Lining yourself up with a good retailer with knowledgeable sales staff who have the knack for understanding what YOU like (vs. simply reccomending what THEY like) as has already been suggested is a GREAT way to go. Don't think that just because you're not buying Lafite Rothschild you're not a good-enough customer, in fact good retailers love customers at all price levels, and it's very rewarding to help someone who's kind of the new side to wine and has a reasonable and trainable palate like yours broaden their horizons.

Shopping on line is a good way to go--where do you live? If the shipping laws are in your favor, you can create the same kind of working relationship with a real person over the phone who works in the kind of good wine retail store we're talking about but who will ship the wines to you. I live in Washington state, for instance, and buy a lot of wine from California. Yes, I pay shipping, but I don't pay sales tax or higher local prices so the shipping cost is more than offset by the savings. A retailer in California I like a lot who employs just the kind of sales staff we're talking about is K & L Wines, for instance.

[James Roscoe]

In addition to all the great advice from Jenise, I would add that you would probably enjoy a lot of the wines coming out of Spain these days. Look for a reliable importer like Grapes of Spain or Jorge Ordonez on the back of the label and you are generally assured of a good wine.

I also want to especially advise you to find a good shop. Retailers LOVE to help people find the hidden gems that don't cost a lot. Truth be told, those are the wines often being consumed by the people in the shop.

If you are willing to spend $$ for Santa Marguerita you will like Bottega Vinaia @ about $16. But I would try Kris ($10), King Estate's Acrobat ($10) or just about any other PG. Look for wines from Trentino Alto Adige (a region in NE Italy). I think you might also like Tiefenbrunner or try white blend Banfi's Centine Toscana Bianco. You would also like whites from Burgundy's Macon ( region in south central France), made from Chardonnay. Good Macon-Villages can be had for about $10-$15 and usually trumps PG. Keep us posted.

Welcome Lizzy, and I'd like to add to those who already said it. It would help big time to know where you are. We are not trying to track you down, but knowing that will help us very much regarding availablility. Among the reasons is that there are more and more local wines becoming available just about everywhere except in the Tundra.

Wow! This is terrific! I'm so excited to try these recommendations!
Jenise, what great info! Good to know there's a method to my palate's madness! Gives me a direction to look toward.
Richard, I have tried (and very much liked) Kris Pinot Grigio...Kris is my mom's name (spelled just that way)and for her birthday I picked up a bottle not knowing what it would taste like. We did a taste comparison with the Santa Margherita and we all agreed we liked the Kris a bit more.
James, I do find myself drawn to Spanish wines and would like to try more, any other suggestions?
I am in the Hudson Valley region of New York and there is a local wine store with a very helpful, knowledgeable owner. He has introduced me to some wines I liked very much but I hate to feel like a bother every single time I walk through his door.
Thanks again for all this info...I'm like a sponge sucking it all up! I'll try the wnes that have been recommended (as long as I can find them) and report back!

[Jenise]

I am in the Hudson Valley region of New York and there is a local wine store with a very helpful, knowledgeable owner. He has introduced me to some wines I liked very much but I hate to feel like a bother every single time I walk through his door.

Trust me, he wants to be bothered. That's why wine lovers open wine stores. And why the rest of us hang out on forums like this, where we can identify others whose palates are similar to ours, and both learn (you never stop learning) and teach others like you. That's how I got started about 20 years ago when I was about like you, joined what was then one of only two internet wine forums. I'd get excited by someone's tasting note about a wine and then go shopping and compare my own thoughts to what I read. Doing that, quite literally, taught me everything I know. And doing so was always much more useful to me than following critical reviews (with apologies to the critics amongst us), after all, these laymen reviewers are real people who didn't just slosh a spoonful around in their mouth and assign a number to it, they actually bought the bottle, spent the evening with it and wrote about the experience. And a bonus is that often they compare it to like bottles they've had before which tells you not just about the wine as it existed at a mere moment in time, but about who it's been and where it's going. There's a wealth of value in the kind of tasting notes you'll read here.

[James Roscoe]

Again Jenise is hitting on all cylinders. I would also advise going to every wine tasting you see, especially if the wines are ones you have never heard of before. Hopefully your shop does regular tastings. Get in there!!!! Try them! (Learn to spit. It is hard at first, but it will be a lifesaver on many levels.) Get to know the people in your shop. This will save you a lot of trouble and eventually some of these people will become friends. (You will get in on great deals too!) As you are near NYC a trip to Chambers Street would not be out of order either. It is the golden city, the Mecca, and Holy City of wine stores. I believe many people seem to take annual pilgrimages there.

Another option for wine tasting is to join, or start, a local wine tasting group of your friends/neighbors/coworkers. It really is best to taste before you buy rather than trust someone else's opinion on what you'll like.

A lot of good advice above, from Jenise and others.

There's no better resource, especially at start,than a good local merchant. No good wine merchant minds being asked for advice. Be clear your price range, and what you have liked (and disliked) before. Tell them why you liked or disliked something (and don't worry if you are using "proper" terminology, just get point across).

Does your merchant have wine tastings? Go!
If not, or to broaden horizons, sign up for emails for Hudson Valley at Localwineevents.com
Not sure where in Hudson Valley you are, but down here (Westchester and NYC) tons of free store tastings (mostly weekends)

Read here or other places for wines you think you'd like to try. If not available locally, you could try other merchants. Sherry-Lehmann offers free shipping in NYS on orders over $100 (not hard if you want a mixed case of things to try), Zachys sometimes has free shipping promotions, as does Wine Library (hey, NJ so no tax). If you want to try some stuff a bit out of mainstream, Chambers Street Wines has $150 sampler cases of cool (in my opinion) stuff.

I don't know upper Hudson Valley that well (though I picked a load of Prum at Viscount in Wappingers this week) but can offer opinionated opinions re most lower HV wineshops if that helps.

Tasting group idea is also very good (and something you could ask about at local store).

Very good advice. We are familiar with all of the stores mentioned. Additionally you are within a easy day's drive from both the Long Island and Finger Lakes wine regions. These two regions are highly respected at least by national if not international authorities; Long Island more for reds and the Finger Lakes more for whites.

Another idea: wine bars can be a fun way to try a variety of wines. While the Hudson Valley is a big place, if you are anywhere near Kingston you could do worse than to stop in at the Elephant Wine Bar. They have some nicely chosen wines by the glass and the food is pretty good too.

I am in the Hudson Valley region of New York and there is a local wine store with a very helpful, knowledgeable owner. He has introduced me to some wines I liked very much but I hate to feel like a bother every single time I walk through his door.

I agree with others that you most certainly won’t be a bother! I can’t emphasize enough the importance of your relationship with your local wine retailer. The more you go in and get to know them, the more they will learn your tastes and be able to recommend wines that you would like that you would may have never found on your own. You shouldn’t be driven astray, because they will want your return business, and thus both you and they will benefit from this relationship. It also pays to be “in” with the local wine shops, because they will usually let you in on unique opportunities that they may not share with the general public (ie, give you first chance at a special wine in limited quantities, share tastes of wines with you that are new or unique, give you “frequent buyer” discounts, or even take your recommendations on wines you want them to carry).

This has been a huge benefit to me, as my town is plagued with wine shops catering to the current style of wines that are en vogue here (syrupy, flabby, over-oaked Cali Cabs and the like). As I have gotten to know a couple of the local purveyors, I have learned that secretly they have tastes closer to my own (Old World), but just have to sell what sells to stay in business. I have also suggested several wines that they should add to their inventory with great success! They know my tastes and know I will come back to purchase more, and thus I am influencing their buying behavior.

You will be constantly learning the more wines you taste – and you’ll never run out of things to learn! I’d also recommend K&L wines for online purchasing – they have several wine clubs that are great for sampling new things, and very affordable. I would also suggest that you try to find a Carmenere from Chile, as your taste in Merlot and Spanish reds would line up pretty closely here. They are very affordable (most under $20) and pretty easy to find.


Good luck with your quest.

Cheers!

Thanks to all of you for this valuable information! I actually checked this discussion group before I checked my email this morning!!! So what I'm hearing from all of you is to just get out there and try, try, try. I like the idea of a wine tasting group (will check with my local guy) and will definitely sign up at localwineevents.com. I have recently heard of a wine store in Middletown NY that has their own wine guru named Albert. Apparently he's there a few days a week and does nothing but answer questions and talk about wine for hours...he also offers tastings. Sounds like a good place to start!

One other question...as I'm searching wine stores online I'm realizing the prices are about half of what I'm paying (for the same wines) at the local places. What's that all about?

Ok, I lied, one more...I really don't taste the things that most wine people speak of such as oakiness, berries, fruit, etc. Does that come in time or do I have inferior tastebuds?

One other question...as I'm searching wine stores online I'm realizing the prices are about half of what I'm paying (for the same wines) at the local places. What's that all about?

Ok, I lied, one more...I really don't taste the things that most wine people speak of such as oakiness, berries, fruit, etc. Does that come in time or do I have inferior tastebuds?

The pricing you are seeing isn’t far off from what I experience in my area vs. online pricing. There are several reasons for this. Often online retailers have lower overhead costs and can buy in greater volumes and thus get better wholesale pricing than smaller local retail operations. Don’t forget to factor in shipping costs when buying online, as this can make a big difference per bottle cost, especially when buying cheaper wines. Usually you will pay anywhere from $20-$50 per case (12 bottles) for shipping.

As to your second question, tasting different “flavors” in wine will come in time and with the more you taste. It helps me to try to categorize the different elements separately when I am evaluating a wine, so as to not get overwhelmed and to help me single out individual flavors. Try writing out categories like – Fruit (white – apple, pear, citrus, etc.; red – berries, cherry, plum, etc.), Non-fruit (ie, earth, vegetal qualities, grassiness, dust, leather, pepper, etc), Oak-imparted qualities (vanilla, cinnamon, cedar, etc) and then try to pick up on the differences, even between the broad categories. I would recommend the book “How To Taste” by Jancis Robinson. This is a great overview on tasting wine and should help you a lot.