Hi Everyone:

Do you have a FAVORITE type of wine?

If yes, what is it and why - is it about the TASTE or the PRICE (lol).

I don't drink any alcohol at all, but my boyfriend keeps some kind of wine in our refrigerator for when he gets home from work. On those days when money is plentiful, he does have a favorite - but don't ask what it is. I just know that the bottle is HUGE and usually reddish

Now your turn...

Thanks,

One of the delights of wine is there are so many styles and types...

I suppose mine are

RED
Fruity & flavoursome e.g. Pinotage

WHITE
Crisp and dry e.g. Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc

SPARKLING
Very dry and refreshing e.g. Brut Champagne

SWEET
unfortified e.g. noble late harvest & icewine

Peter, I like very dry whites and brut Champagnes.

Thanks Peter & Vannie for the feedback

I love Cabernet Sauvignon, I believe that sauvage means "wild" in French...I'm guess Wild grape. The style of this wine is strongly influenced by the ripeness of the grapes at the time of harvest. I've recently tried a Zinfandel. It is a more heavy red. crazy enough it is only found in California. In my opinion it is more of a dessert wine. It was so sweet but still had the fullness of a red wine. When I eat fish or just veggies, I prefer white wines like a pinot grigio. I can only have a glass or two. I don't really drink but if the occasion calls for a celebrating moment, I'll have a glass.

May Wine, without a doubt. Love that sweet woodruff.

So you know French. Awesome

Interesting - was the wine made in May?

Good catch, but we think the name actualy comes from its parents because it is a cross of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc.

But Sauvignon Blanc is a very old grape variety and the name probably refers to its wild origins.

Zinfandel can be made in many styles - from the popular off-dry White Zinfandel to sweet fortified port style wine.

Most red Zinfandels are dry, so I'd make sure you have a sweet one before serving it with dessert

I suppose May Wine should be my favourite -- but I hav eto confess I have never come across it!

Depending on my mood, pinot grigio, volpicella and ecco domani.

We like trying new wines and new grapes. I will buy a new bottle of wine sometimes just by the label, example is Wop Wop from Australia, a red fruity wine with a beautiful picture on the label, we love it. Our favorite white is from a local winery. Chaberton and its their 2010 Bacchus.

Pinot Noir is my favorite!

I prefer white -- my favorite is Riesling.

Bacchus can make a delicious crisp white wine. I must have been very close to Chaberton when I drove south from Vancouver airport to go to Okanagan in September....

So many wineries, so little time

Any particular winery? Or region?

Any special winery or region?

I prefer my Riesling as ice-wine -- see here

The one in my glass right now

Which is?

When I was younger I hated chianti, rioja - well reds in general I suppose but definitely Italian or Spanish reds (unless they had fruit floating in them!) - but after going to Italy two years ago I fell for Montepulciano wines - could be because of the holiday memories.

Wine just whispers to you of wonderful times away from home.

I too drink a lot of Montepulciano d'Abruzzo (Wine Society own label), it's perfect with pasta and tomato based sauces and also a pleasant drink on its own.

But -- Montepulciano is confusing because there are two different types of wine with the name Montepulciano, because Montepulciano is both the name of a town in Italy and the name of a grape variety.

Basically, if the word Montepulciano comes first, e.g. Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, then it is made from the Montepulciano grape variety grown in the Abruzzo region.

If Montepulciano comes last e.g. Vino Nobile di Montepulciano it comes from Sangiovese grapes grown in the Montepulciano region.

(they don't grow Montepulciano grapes in the Montepulciano region!!)

Ah - now I get it.

It was Montepulciano D'Abruzzo that I was drinking, as we were in Tuscany, and near Abruzzo.

I actually thought that was a cheapy variety of 'Montepulciano' wine, as when I bought some at home (ie in England), from the Co op, there was a brand called 'La Chianti' with a key on the label (unsurprisingly as this means The Key in Italian), it is really cheap, and yet tasted very good, and is D'Abruzzo wine.

Odd that they don't grow Montepulciano grapes in the Montepulciano region. Thanks for filling me in, Peter

The Co-Op brand Montepulciano D'Abruzzo is La Chiave (Chianti is a wine region whose predominate grape variety is Sangiovese)

Hi Peter,

I like the German Rieslings, for example, Carl Reh, Chateau St. Michelle Riesling from Washington State and Dr. Constantin Frank's Riesling - Salmon Run line as well from New York's Finger Lake region.

If I decided to drink red wine again, my all time favorite is Gevrey Chambertin -- pinot noir. Heavenly.

Thanks for the post. There's some very good Rieslings from New York. I don't think I've had the Washington one.

I knew it was too late for me to post anything coherent! And what a prat I sound 'unsurprisingly as this means The Key in Italian' Hah!

La Chiave - of course. And jolly nice it is too

It was my son's 17th birthday yesterday. I got some Fairtrade Chilean Carminere from the Co-op - really nice, very blackcurranty.

I don't know anything about Chilean wine - do you, Peter?

Well, yes, actually

Carmenere is a Bordeaux grape variety that is one of the six allowed in the red blends from that region, but virtually none is grown there now.

Cuttings were taken to Chile just before phylloxera destroyed Europes vineyards. Because Carmenere vines look like Merlot is wasn't realised until the 1990's that many 'merlot' vineyards in Chile were actually Carmenere.

Carmenere is Chile's 'trademark' variety now. In taste its close to Cabernet Sauvignon.

Chile is a source of excellent quality wines as a reasonable price - its hard to go wrong buying a Chilean wine.

I remember reading some time back that Chilean Reds had a very high content of anti oxidants. My mum began to buy them for my dad, well I couldn't say if he saw the benefits. He's in his mid-80s now, and not so good, though mum is still alive and kicking! Just as well she helped him drink them, maybe

I wonder how much of your 'taste' in wine is psychological. I really liked the Carmenere, though would have said I was not so keen on Cabernet Sauvignon (my dad's favourite wine, incidentally). It seems to me to have a slight back taste of fermenting fruit. I know, I know it's wine! But even so, I don't think that 'fermentation' flavour is always obvious. I would not have likened the Carmenere to Cab Sav - but what do I know? Nowt. I suppose there are lots of different types of Cabernet Sauvignon?

And obviously I was being ironic when I asked you about Chilean wine, Peter. I knew you would be the (proverbial) fount of knowledge, and I thank you for the information.

Cheers!

Of course Carmenere was mistaken for Merlot for many years. Hundreds of thousands of people drank Carmenere thinking it was Merlot!

What makes wine so interesting is the variety of flavours and that they are always changing.

Lets take Cabernet Sauvignon. That's the name of a grape variety but all the thousands of wines labelled as Cabernet Sauvignon don't taste identical. It depends on many variebles. Cabernet grown in a hot climate will taste different to that from acool climate for example.

Older wine will taste differently to young wine, those aged in oak barrels will taste different from those that are not.

Do you live near a Morrisons? If so get a bottle of 'Cover Drive' (�10.99, from Jim Barry winery in Australia) for your dad and try a glass yourself. Tell me what you think !

Ooh yes - Morrisons is our local supermarket.

I shall see if they have any 'Cover Drive' and get my dad some as we're going there for Christmas, then I'll report back

Sutter Home White Zinfandel is my favorite.

Sutter Home pioneered and populised that style of wine -- and it came about by accident !

Indeed sometimes serendipity produces wonderful results!

Moscato...especially the one that comes in the blue bottle. A lot of people think that it's too sweet but I love it.

For white I enjoy pinot grigio, for red I like chianti.

I like pinot grigio also but it's a little bitter for me. My preferences are Moscato, White Zinfendel and then Pinot if the other 2 aren't available.

I've never tasted red wine.

Peter, how do the varietals of icewine compare? I've only had white, but recently saw a rose on a shelf. My favorite icewine actually comes from the Niagra region. It's sweet but not overpoweringly sweet. I was excited to try one from Germany only to discover it tasted like pure sugar with a twist of apricot...very unappealing.

Oh, my favorite champagne....Veuve Clicquot.

My favorite red...Raymond Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon

My favorite white...Willamette Valley Vineyards Pinoit Gris

In Niagara they're making icewine from Cabernet Franc which gives a gorgeous pinky-red colour.

I think Riesling is considered as making the best quality icewine but probably the best variety for making ice wine is Vidal.

I haven't had too much German icewine. A very expensive Riesling I had (bought in Frankfurt duty free) was sweet but had so much acidity .... Less expensive ones from German varieties such as Sheurebe and Sylvaner have been beutifully unctuously sweet.

My favorite is champagne and pinot noir :) Also I want to pair my champagne with cheddar cheese

How about Champagne made solely from Pinot Noir?

But since Pinot Noir is grown across the world, do you have any particular favourite source for your Pinot Noir?