Any Wine Connoisseurs?

[CivicLx]

I'm considering getting wine as a Christmas gift for my mom and stepdad and wanted to study up a little bit. Does anyone know anything about wine or have any tips to offer? I'm going to inspect their little collection tomorrow to get an idea. I'm actually trying to get a little info out of my mom by telling her it's for a secret santa thing at work. We live in Northern California so a place like Napa or Paso Robles isn't too far away. They belong to a club type thing from the Beringer winery if anyone has heard of that.

Thanks in advance.

[dr_dohc]

i'm not a wine guy nor have i ever been but it's not because i don't like it, just that i've never really been exposed to them...

after studying consumer reports, some columbia brand wine is suppose to be the absolute winner for the best bang for the buck at like $11...go to the lib and check it out...

[CBags04]

wine in a box...you cant go wrong.

[Anomoly]

just get soem apple juice or grape juice, open the top then put it back on, let it sit in the fridge or out of the fridge....your choice give it a week and it tastes just like wine....rotten juice

[DRVIC]

For my second job I work in a liquor store so I know a little bit about wine, even if I don't like to drink it. You can but a book in the $20 range and have a guide for life (I have the Wine Bible, 1,400 pages of wine crap) or you can just goto the store and jump right in. If you are not sure if they like red or white, go with red, not only is it more widely consumed, a high quality bottle can mature for years, even a decade and still be as if not more delicious. If you want to go right to a store, goto one that specializes in wine, and ask some questions! these guys do this all day! they know a ton about this stuff....

In a pinch? French Burgundy!

[hotsauce_gm]

Fat Bastard

[CivicLx]

thanks for the replies. DRVIC, I think I saw a copy of the wine bible at Cost Plus World Market today but I think this one might have only been 900 pages.

Hotsauce, I did happen to see that brand at Cost Plus today.

Have you guys heard of a brand called Dracula?

Since it's so close to Christmas, I think I may just go with something from Beringer since I know they like it. I could take a trip up there but it's a bit of a drive so I might just buy it from a place like BevMo. Anyone know how good the wine is at BevMo?

[chelude]

I used to manage a very nice upscale resteruant, and there some very nice wines you can buy for pretty cheap. rosemount shiraz, rosemount cab are very good wines in the 10-15 dollar range. if you are looking to spend a decent amount of money look for cakebread, leonetti, reynella or rosemount show reserve. some of those wines are in the 80-130 dollar range. I did not know a whole lot about wines before working there but, def learned and tryed numerous wines after about 6 years there. BTW owners were always opening bottles, def had fringe benifits there. good luck

[DRVIC]

I used to cater near greenwich CT, def. got to open a few nice bottles and try them on the boss... but what chelude said is right on, you gotta just get out there and start drinking to find what is good. I wish you and your liver luck...

[1BadGeeSeR]

Originally Posted by CBags04

wine in a box...you cant go wrong.

Werd!!! Get some of that Franzia Red and it's on....My friend worked for a shipping company and he always would drop off some boxes of Franzia to me, it tastes pretty damn good for boxed wine......