My sweet ever lovin' asked me to put together a little wine advice for some folks she works with. I wrote the below for fun.
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It is usually easy to buy good expensive wine (though
this article may disagree with that statement). You go to a big name (Mouton Rothschild, Caymus, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti), spend a couple of hundred dollars per bottle, store it for a couple of years, pop it open, let it sit open for a couple of hours, pour it carefully into expensive glasses, swirl, sniff, sip, and then make some important sounding pronouncement about dried currents and leather, and enjoy.
Buying a good, cheap wine (often, in the wine world referred to as good QPR wines "Quality/Price Ratio") is usually a little more challenging. But if you are willing to learn some very basic rules, you will be the hit of the party.
As with buying anything, the key is to find the wine that is either trying to break into the market, and therefore selling below their usual price, or is not popular at the moment, and therefor cheap because people are rejecting it for its more popular competitors.
Another thing to keep in mind is that all inexpensive wine (say, less than $25 or so) is meant to be consumed immediately. So you want to buy the most recent vintage you can find.
The last thing to remember is that California is almost always over priced, over oaked, and over alcoholic. Don't buy it, unless you have had it before and know you will like it.
All that being said, remember, too, that your taste is the most important thing of all! If you like big, buttery, oaky chardonnays, for goodness sake, buy them, drink them, and enjoy them! They are pretty cheap these days (see the "popular" rule, above) Wine is to be enjoyed, not worshiped.
So, first you need to decide if you want a red or a white wine. Believe it or not, there are good reasons to drink white wine with fish (see
this) but most other food matching rules can be thrown out the window.
Rather than naming individual wines, I would suggest regions.
You can get most of these wines at almost any grocery store in town. The Fiesta on Alabama has a strangely great selection. Of course, Whole Foods and Central Market have an outstanding selection (and very helpful staff) I hate to say it, but stay away from the Spec's (a very big Houston liquor store) downtown unless you know exactly what you want. They will up-sell you every chance they get. That being said, if you DO know what you want, they have a good selection.
For white wines:
French - White Burgundy - in particular Macon. You can get these for about $10. If you want a substantial wine, just buy one of these. You will enjoy it.
Spanish - look for Albariño (that is a varietal) from Rías Baixas or a Verdejo from Rueda. They are crisp and dry - something light you can have with appetizers.
New Zealand and Chile - a Sauvignon Blanc. There are plenty of these at good prices. The best will smell like fresh cut grass. Buy cheap, and buy young! You don't want old Sauvignon Blancs. (France also has good, cheap Sauvignon Blancs - Sancerre if you can find it. Bring this to a party to impress people. They will all love it)
For red wines:
Argentina - one word: MALBEC. Good, big, bold, almost chewy. Used as a blending grape in France, this can be just great. Again, look for young, cheap wines.
France - Seek out Bordeaux small names. Their wines are usually quite good, and reasonably priced. Don't worry about knowing which ones to buy. The "First Growth" wines are hundreds of dollars a bottle. The "Second Growths" are usually at least $100, the non-growths can be as cheap as $8. Get a couple of $8 bottle and see if you like them. I bet you will.
Chile - Cabernet. Very reliable
Oregon and Washington - Pinot Noir. Look for cheap ones. They are usually quite good.
Spain - most Riojas are good values. Look for Crianza (that describes how long they have been left in the barrels) I always like them the best, but look for the Reservas (more expensive, more oak) or wines with no designation (younger)
For sparkling wines:
Spanish - Cava. Try to avoid the one in the black bottle (it is not bad, but the lesser known names are usually better). Buy plenty, as you will need it.
Italian - Prosecco. The nice thing about prosecco is that it is usually farily low alcohol. So you can drink plenty.
If you want to learn more about wine, watch
Wine Library TV. It is very entertaining and very informative.
But the only thing that really matters is what you like. Get a case of $8-$10 wines and drink them with a bunch of friends. But keep in mind that you will not always be able to find the same vintner again. Look for regions and grapes.
Many of these wines come with screw-caps. Do NOT be turned off by screw caps! They make a lot of sense for inexpensive wines. (one exception to my No California Wines above would be anything from Bonny Doon. They always use screwtops)
Salud!
