I think I've found a red wine I can handle.
Red wine is tough for me for a number of reasons. For one thing, anything I drink, I like to drink it ice cold. I can't imagine the looks I'd get if I sat down in a restaurant and asked the sommelier to please chill the Merlot in a the sub-zero for a half hour. Secondly, red wine is usually just too "strong," tannic, heavy, alcoholic, bitter, and/or smelling of wood.
However, I tried the Ravenswood Vintners Blend 2003 Zinfandel on a whim, and I didn't hate it. It is, by no means, a "light" wine, but something about it made it okay. It was a little bit spicy, and slightly more acidic than other red wines I have tried and not liked. Not too bad, since it was only $10, too.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-15-2006 @ 7:42PM
Ryan said...
If you like more acidic, more fruity, less tannic wines, you might actually like the wines made from hybrid grapes (see http://en.wikipedia.org/Hybrid_grapes) such as a Baco Noir, Marechal Foch, Chambourcin, De Chaunac, etc. These wines are good a bit chilled, too, because of the higher acid.
Note also that many red wines are served too warm. Most red wines are ideal at around 18C (and sometimes cooler), not the 22c or 23C room temperature that many restaurants serve them at.
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5-15-2006 @ 7:51PM
sarah said...
ah, ryan! what a sweetheart you are for making some suggestions. i will most definitely be looking into hybrid grapes.
but don't worry, i will never ever ask for my Syrah on the rocks. ;)
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5-15-2006 @ 9:48PM
Nivedita said...
Sarah, my tastes in wine are the same. I had completely given up on red wines, especially Merlot after trying Barefoot Merlot. But recently someone got me a bottle of Bear's Lair Merlot and I am hooked! It is available for under $4 at Trader Joe's in SoCal. A sangria might be the way to go if you get a hankering for a chilled red wine quaff.
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5-16-2006 @ 12:40AM
Joe said...
Y'all might want to try some Granache as well. The tannins tend to be on the light side and they tend to have a lot of floral tastes.
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5-16-2006 @ 9:06AM
amanda said...
Don't know if anyone else ever noticed this but in Six Feet Under, they're almost ALWAYS drinking Ravenswood wines. I wonder if it was intentional. They even sell them in my local wee Tesco which is shocking considering it's a Californian wine.
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5-16-2006 @ 1:14PM
theresa said...
i tried a red called 'il bastardo' the other day, i'm really not a fan of red wines (way too many 4 l jugs of carlo & rossi when i was younger) but i thought this was fantastic. not sure how it would be chilled, though.
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