I suppose I'm a Philistine

Full disclosure: I enjoy good beer and a nip of booze now and then. Wine? Not so much. Oh, I like expensive Champagne, like Moet & Chandon. A nice Asti Spumante is also good.

And I like Manishewitz Concord Grape, and related, sweet and fruity wines. Just…nothing in between? And, please, anything brut is horrible to me. As are tannins (can’t stand IPA’s either).

But I’d like to develop a taste for some wines so that I can expand my drink choices at restaurants. So this is a cry for help, of sorts.

What varietals of wine can I try to see if I’ll like them, given that I only like sweet, fruity wines but I’m willing to go down the road of less sweet and less fruity, but maybe not all at once?

Thanks for any and all suggestions!

Steven

Maybe a high-octane Zinfandel from the Central Coast?

Riesling, which is a white grape. It ranges from bone dry to extremely sweet. The best examples are from Germany. Delicious, especially with some age.

^^^this^^^

The test that I used back when working the tasting room was

  1. Do you drink coffee or tea? If so do you add sugar, cream, honey or drink it black?
  2. Do you drink hoppy beer. You already answered that as no.

Generally, if the answer to both is no, then tannins are a real issue and no amount of trying will change it. Big tannic reds are probably off your list forever. Start with the Riesling already mentioned and then when wanting to try a red you need to find one with as little tannin as possible. I would consider starting with Beaujolais. Some of the cru Beaujolais has more tannin than others so I would start at the lower level first before working up to the crus if you wanted and then do a little more research on the crus before jumping in.

Lastly, age often subdues the tannin. But finding aged wines to try to figure out if this helps your appreciation can be difficult and more expensive.

Thank you, everyone, for your suggestions. I’ll go with Reisling for now. Brian, I do take cream and sugar with my coffee, as a preference, but I drink it black, occasionally.

I’d also suggest looking for red wine with age on it. The tannins will soften over time; just last week my tannic-averse better half enjoyed some 2007 California Cabernet Sauvignon.

Don’t forget that world class examples are still very affordable compared to their peers in the Chardonnay world of Burgundy and Northern California.

Maybe Malbec? Most Malbec from the new world is just absolutely lacking in any structure (acid, tannin, etc) which is why I usually hate it. I’m an acid freak and love some tannin in my red wines, so maybe you might like some Malbec!

I’d second the suggestion for CA Zinfandel, I hate it for the same reasons as above.

Note: the above are simply my preferences and not a judgment about people who like lower acid lower tannin wine than I do, the best wine is the wine you like best, everyone is entitled to drink what makes them happy!

Also, riesling is awesome and I love it, drink lots of off-dry riesling. It’s the best. If you’re buying German riesling, the word “Auslese” on the bottle increases your odds that the wine will be sweeter, though “Spatlese” wines are frequently sweet as well and are easier on the wallet.