Need a red wine with almost no tannins, buyable in Florida or shippable to Florida

For my brother’s client in Miami. I think he’s allergic to tannins, but maybe a no sulfite no tannins wine would be best. He likes the Columbia Crest Horseheaven H3 blend, my brother would like to get him something fancier. The best store in his area for him to shop is Total Wine.

maybe consider a trousseau? Pax, arnot Roberts, and Eyrie make pretty good ones that should be pretty widely distributed. pax and arnot should also be pretty low sulfur. not sure about eyrie but also probably pretty low

Its gonna be pretty hard to come close to Columbia Crest without tannins.

What about something from Sicily? Susucaro Rosso from Cornelissen is pretty low tannin, definitely low to no sulfur. Same with just about anything made by either Occhiphinti. Arianna Occhipinti makes delicious Frappato and Nero d’avola. The Nero may be closer to Columbia crest than frappato. Guisto Occhipinti at Cos also uses the same grapes. Cerasuelo may be a good bet for a Columbia Crest drinker.

2017 or 2018 Daou Paso Robles cabernet should be available at total Wine. About $20 and very drinkable, no tannin good fruit/ Better IMHO than the Columbia C H3.

Mistakenly or not, when you say low tannin red wine, I think of Pinot Noir. I am going to suggest 2018 Patricia Green Pinot Noir Reserve. Any tannin present are so fine and smooth as to not be notable. May not even be in the ballpark of what you seek, but it will be a delicious wine. B-21 online has it in stock and has low shipping costs.

Allemand Sans Soufre is definitely a step or 50 up from CC H3 blend!

I have to say, most of these suggestions sound crazy, wide of the mark, except for the Paso cab or maybe a Nero d’Avola. Cornas, particularly, is tannic.

If he likes a mass market Cabernet, I can’t imagine him gravitating toward Pinot, or other Sicilian wines or Allemand. Mass market wines are low in acid as well as tannin, and most of the suggestions have good acid levels.

Try some merlot from a smaller producer who might not be making their wine to sit open on a counter (and hence with lots of sulfates). Merlot became popular precisely because of its soft tannins, and few are high acid. That seems like the obvious thing to try.

Don’t know what is available in Miami, but here is a helpful article.

http://blog.jnwine.com/2018/01/24/low-tannin-wine/

Beaujolais is low in tannin because Gamay is a thin-skinned grape.

Lower tier Chianti, meaning not the Riserva version, is fairly low in tannin also.

Conn Creek and Kenefick Ranch are the two most lush wines I’ve had that are widely available but not sure if they are no sulfite. I think Benzinger might be a good bet but again not sure on sulfites.

Im here in Miami and there are some better options than total wine. Wolfes wine shop on Miracle Mile has a lot of natural wines and gamays that are dense and dark fruited but with little to no tannins. There’s also sunset corners a little further south, and El Carajo closer to downtown. I’d look for cru Beaujolais. If you don’t mind a 30 minute drive to ft. Lauderdale, Wine Watch Boutique has a bottle of Lapierre Morgon in stock. Highly regarded, sparsely allocated, and super delicious; makes for a perfect gift and fits the desired profile.

Allergic to tannins…I’ve heard that before, and done some reading. The only “information” I can find online seems to be based on the assumption that one can be allergic to tannins, without any facts to confirm that idea. There are usually phrases like this (a quote from one of the official-looking pages proclaiming such things):

Those who are allergic to tannin are sensitive to sulfites.

Then when I hear no tannin, no sulfite, I really start to wonder why he thinks these things are to blame.

Don’t overthink it. If he likes Columbia Crest look for something in the same style and availability. Chateau St Michelle Indian Wells Cabernet Sauvignon is made is the same generous style (it’s the same company!) and it should be available at numerous shops in Florida, assuming they are open. If not it’s easily found elsewhere and can be shipped.

Tom

Yes, I agree. Anytime someone says they are allergic to tannins I roll my eyes. It doesn’t seem like it’s a thing, but then again I’ve never definitively understood why it’s not a thing.

How many tea drinkers do you know that are allergic to tannins?

If he’s drinking Columbia Crest cab, my guess is he has no problem with sulfites!

(Why does the Apple spellchecker insist on changing “sulfites” to “sulfates”? No wine drinkers in Cupertino?)

Exactly! I don’t see cru Bojo being a good bet. Not the same flavor profile or structure at all — way more acid. If someone came into a store and said they liked Columbia Crest cab and wanted something similar but higher quality and the sales person steered them to cru Bojo, we’d all say, WTF!?

Is the Indian Wells a step up quality or price-wise? That was the goal. That’s why I thought maybe a moderately priced merlot.

the problem with this post is, if he’s drinking CC cab I doubt there is a problem with sulfites OR tannins. unless of course he’s drinking it despite the fact that he reacts to it, which is just silly. I don’t understand this whole post. its like “I have a friend who hates high acid wines and is looking for low acid suggestions. his favorite wine is donnhoff estate riesling trocken.”

wines that are similar to Columbia crest almost never are gonna be low tannin. I suggested a bunch of stuff above that is actually low tannin and sulfur, but like your first post implied, they’re obviously nothing like CC Cabernet. I don’t think you can have both.

John, I believe it is $20.00 dollars so a small step up and made in a style to please. No hard edges, not a style we would love but exactly what George is looking for :slight_smile:

Tom

Charvin or other unoaked, mostly Grenache CdP.
Chianti/Sangiovese
Tempranillo
Barbera

Stay away from wines aged in new oak.

Right. Or tannins, really. I understand that the style is relatively low tannin for Cabernet, but it’s still quite extracted, and it’s still Cabernet. This is not a low tannin combination. And that’s not to mention the significant amount of oak tannins that are probably in there. I say that being quite familiar with the wine.