So as suggested I am going to post some reds I’ve liked in hopes that the knowledgeable folks here can give me suggestions on wines to look for. I posted a short bio on my wine experience (pretty much none) thus far. Here’s the link if it helps .
When I first started enjoying wine I didn’t bother to keep track of what I did and didn’t like, so this list of reds I’ve enjoyed is very short. I’m being more attentive going forward.
Bodegas AAlto Ribera del Duero (Tempranillo)
Altovinium Evodia (Grenache)
Maison Arnoux & Fils Gigondas Vieux Clocher “Nobles Terrasses” (Red Rhone Blend)
Bodegas de la Marques Rioja Valserrano Reserva (Tempranillo Blend)
Chateau Roques Mauriac (Red Bordeaux Blend)
Smart Cookie (Red Blend) this one I liked the first bottle, not so much the second bottle a few weeks later. Both were 2011?
Hi Annette, might help to know what part of the country you live in, and what kind of access you have. If you live in California, for instance, your choices are much more available!
Since you like Zins, you might want to look for a Joseph Swan zinfandel. While not as big in style as the ones you have been drinking, they are delicious and distributed more widely than some.
Anette, that is a menagerie of wines, as it should be! It might be easier to tell is what you don’t like in a red wine and we can tell you styles, regions, and wines to avoid. As for what do drink, anything and everything you can get your hands on. Wine is the best kind of journey because the point is to taste everything. Last bit: drink what you like, not what others say you should like.
I wouldn’t immediately buy a bunch of wines to cellar… give the hobby a year or two before you start packing away large quantities of anything. The one consistent thing with wine is invariably tastes change.
If you’re spending $30-35 on Zinfandel (The Prisoner), you might like Turley Zinfandel (they can tend to be bigger). I’d really encourage you to try Ridge Lytton Springs. It’s often pretty ripe and accessible, but also really nuanced and balanced. A bottle contains both a lot of delicious juice and a great education.
So checking out the Spain section of your Total Wine I find the six below (3 temps, 2 Grenache, 1 Mourvèdre) that I have liked in prior years but don’t believe I have had any of these recently. All are $25 or less.
Thanks all, I updated my profile to show my location (Atlanta GA area).
As it stands I only have about 40 bottles of wine to my name. I’m thinking at least 5 of them need to be tossed in the trash. They were gifts that I got years ago and I think they needed to be drunk already. I think I can go on CT and look into that.
I’m laughing at the Zins on my list as I had no idea I had tried that many and actually kept track.
I’m trying to stay under $25 for the most part. I don’t mind spending a bit more and having some bottles on hand to open with some of my wine savvy friends as I’m sure the bottle will get finished. I would never open them when it’s just me as I end up pouring some down the drain every time. I limit myself to about 4-5 glasses of wine per week so if I don’t end up being able to get back to whatever I opened then out it goes . I just poured about a glass worth of the Oak Ridge out last night, sigh. I have a few bottles on my rack that I’ve put little red stickers on the bottom so I will remember that I spent a bit more and to save those.
At this point I don’t plan to cellar anything. I’m hoping down the road I will get to that point but for now almost everything I get needs to be drinkable pretty soon.
One piece of advice you’ll hear frequently when starting out is to find a good local wine shop that has weekly tastings. With any luck, you’ll develop a relationship with some clerks who can help you, and over the weeks (and months, and years) you’ll have the opportunity to taste a lot of wine. Just remember to buy something when the free tasting is over!
I’m sure there are some Atlanta-based Berserkers who can point you to some good spots.
The Jon Bonne article is very timely. You might really enjoy many of those wines.
Your enjoyed wines skew heavily to Zin and Grenache - those two varietals can share a lot of similarities. In this country Zin has tended more recently to be a heavier wine, where as Grenache is really medium bodied with light acidity, but many Zins often have great acidity and a medium body as well. (see Jon Bonne article) It might be interesting to see if the reason you tend towards those two wines is because you enjoy the strawberry/raspberry combined with the sweet spices that can be present in both.
When I first started in wine I always tried to identify what I liked in the wine and what I didn’t like, so that I could describe it and then find similar flavors in other wines. Start writing small notes about your wines and looking for other bottles that have similar characteristics. It’s a fun journey!
I highly recommend that you visit Patrick at Atlantic Wine on Roswell Road in Buckhead, John Passman at Cellar 13 next to Johnny’s Hideaway a block from there, Eric at Le Caveau in Chamblee, and Michael Bishop at Green’s on Buford Highway. While each store does tend to be fairly Eurocentric, they each tend to focus a little differently. If you can develop a relationship with a good retailer (which describes each of these guys), the retailer can get to know your preferences and help steer you to things you are likely to enjoy. They also have more interesting wines in your price point than you generally find at Total Wine or similar stores.
N.B., I have no relationship with any of these stores other than as a customer who has given each more of my money over the last 20 years than is probably wise, and as friends, with whom, collectively, I’ve enjoyed thousands of bottles.
I see that you are in good hands with my fellow Berserkers. I think the consensus is correct that you are still in the “taste everything” stage of the game. At this point, developing general preferences between big, forward wines, like a Turley Zin, versus something very Old World (or at least on the more-reserved side of the New World, like many of the Ridge Zin bottlings) is key.
And it sounds like you are easing into the hobby gracefully and cautiously – many of us did not, hence our warnings against buying too deep or putting too much stock in conclusions made early in the adventure. If the current version of myself could espouse wisdom to my younger wine-collecting self, it would look something like this:
Don’t buy deep for your first year or two. Too much will change in a short period of time. Keep your buying light, and diverse.
Go to as many tastings as you can. Taste everything you can get your hands on.
Keep tasting notes. They will come in handy later. Your own written impressions, while they might feel “amateur” compared to the flowery descriptions you read elsewhere, are so much more valuable than what any professional scorer writes.
Read a few informative wine books. I have gifted Mark Oldman’s “Guide to Outsmarting Wine” to many new wine enthusiasts. Cheesy title, but a fantastic book and an easy read. Early on, it was so helpful to me to read, say, a section about Sancerre, as I enjoyed a glass. Reading about the history and the place, seeing it on a map, as you taste, helps tremendously with memory retention.
You are already using Cellartracker as a reference. Very, very good practice.
This is extraordinary advice from Mike. It will be one of the best things you can do for yourself.
I live in Atlanta too. When I was first starting, Mike Evans (above) hooked me up with Patrick when he was at his old location. John Passman worked there too at the time.
It really helped me focus my trial and error. I developed a long term relationship with them. Also, they introduced me to like minded wine lovers.
It is true for Eric too and Michael. They are first rate.
These guys have the goods and can steer you towards things you will enjoy.
One of the things I would recommend is that you get a few empty half bottles, when you open a wine you want to drink divide it into the 2 bottles and put one in the fridge immediately(this should hold all week and seem fresh when opened later) and leave the other on the counter to drink. That way you would limit the amount of wine you would be tossing. The half bottle in the fridge can also last up to 2 weeks, so you can vary your consumption and not be limited to one type of wine a week.
I use this trick myself. I find my memory of what is in those half bottles fails is more likely to fail before the wine becomes oxidized. I guess I could label them, but why spoil the surprise?
Someone is talking about this half bottle technique all the time yet I’ve never done it. Really need to start now. I usually just use a Vacuvin (which seems like pseudoscience) and throw it back in my wine fridge. It’s fine the next day, but doesn’t last nearly as long as the half bottle technique.
Hello Annette and welcome to Wine Berserkers! Hope you enjoy this place as much as I have.
Re your questions, I don’t have much to add that hasn’t been said already. But if you’re just starting out, probably the best thing you can do is get to as many tastings as you can–wine stores often put them on, and you may find others as well. That way you can discover what you like without having to search out and buy whole bottles, or drink enormous quantities of wine. It’s a good way to get an overview of what there is, and (more importantly) what pleases you. You’ll learn something about the wine store as well. Wine comes in a wide variety of types, tastes, and price ranges, and only you can tell what you like (and, as people have mentioned, your tastes will almost certainly change as you drink more).
Oh my gosh, so much great information here, thanks everyone!
I have added the Bedrock to my cart on Wine Library and see that Total Wine has the Ridge Zin in stock although it doesn’t say what year so guess I’ll go take a look when I’m near there this week. One thing I do like about Total Wine is the shopping list, which I can add to and refer to when I’m in the store.
I read the Jon Bonne article, very informative. Luckily I don’t have easy access to most of what he discussed so will just stick with buying the few I have already found.
I was going to start a new thread on storing open bottles but since y’all already mentioned it here maybe I’ll just stick with this. So where would I find empty half bottles, or should I buy a half bottle of something and just keep the bottle when it’s emptied? Should I look for a screw cap or am I better using my vacuvin in this instance?
I went to a wine store yesterday that isn’t far from my house called Hinton’s, they do tastings on most Saturdays so that could be helpful.
As to the other Atlanta stores mentioned, they all seem to be in Buckhead. I do get there a few times a month so will carve out some extra time and go to the stores mentioned. The mention of Green’s on Buford Hwy made me smile as that was where you went when I was a kid to get beer (this was way back in the early 80’s) .
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Wine is the best kind of journey because the point is to taste everything. 
. I just poured about a glass worth of the Oak Ridge out last night, sigh. I have a few bottles on my rack that I’ve put little red stickers on the bottom so I will remember that I spent a bit more and to save those.
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