Picking a good cheap wine/champane ??!
Picking a good cheap wine/champane ??
Hubby and I are having a romantic dinner this Friday since the kids will be gone for the night. I want to buy a really good wine or chanpane for us to try. I dont want anything real expensive (nothing over $15 probably) just something I can pick up at the grocery store. The problem I have when I go to look at them, is that I dont know which ones are good and which ones are gross. We tried Merlow on our honeymoon in Hawaii, and didnt care for it at ALL! Yet we are tired of the 'Arbor Mist' types. What do you drink with your partner at your romantic dinners? What do you like or dislike when it comes to wine/champane? (Please keep in mind that I want something cheap I can just pick up at the grocery store, nothing real fancy)
Answers:
From your question, it sounds like you don't really like wine. If that's the case why buy it. A bottle of wine doesn't make the dinner romantic, the people do.
Arbor Mist is cheap wine with flavorings.
I suggest you buy something that both of you like.
Sutter Home is one of the best cheap wines out there, It has a really nice flavor...Im sure you'll enjoy it
Look for a sparkling wine with a picture of a toad doing a can-can dance. The winery is Toad Hollow, and the name is "Risque". It is a nice, sweet type of champagne with a really interesting babypowder flavor. It is a little bit lower than other champagnes in alcohol content, but very delicious.
It might be just a couple bucks above your price range, but worth it.
A good cheap red wine would be the Bogle Vineyards Petit Syrah. Nice jammy lip-smacking flavor.
Very romantic flavor.
Merlot is a very dry wine and an acquired taste. I like Riesling - it is a sweeter white wine. Lambrusco is a sweeter red - very good with pastas. Chardonnays are dry and Cabernets are like Merlot. There is a white Merlot that is very good - more like a white Zinfandel. I usually spend about $10 on a bottle of wine. Not a fancy wine drinker but have some experience. I like Ballatore Grand Spumante (champagne) it is a little sweeter and not so dry like some champagnes.
Good Luck and have fun!
PS Mimosas would make a great breakfast in bed the next morning - OJ and champagne........
I like Korbel and Cooks "brut". The "bruts" aren't too sweet. If you like sweeter varieties of champagne go for the "spumante"varieties.
I have to say you don't really sound like the wine type . . .especially if you're calling it "merlow" instead of Merlot.
My favorite is a 2002 or 2004 Merlot by Beringer. It runs about $8 - $10 per bottle.
I highly recommend Yellow Tail red wines, particularly the Sauvignon/Shiraz blend. The regular bottle is about $8 or $9 and the larger bottle is $12-$14. The one white that I've tried by them is the Chardonnay, and it's pretty good, too.
Sounds like you are looking for something a bit on the sweeter side. I highly recommend an Asti Spummanti, they are generally on the cheap side, 7-15 dollars a bottle and are very romantic and you are popping a bottle of champagne. Martini&Rossi makes an ok one but talk to the people at your local liquour store to get their reccomendations.
Maybe you could try Toasted Head chardonnay or Beringer Third Century chardonnay,merlot or pinot Noir.
Try an Italian Presecco. Buy it at a good wine store - restaurants tend to mark up all wines/champagnes 125% so that $10 bottle at the liquor store will go for at least $20 at the restaurant. Ask the attendee at the wine store - they will surely steer you in the right direction for a good bottle of drinkable wine for $15 dollars. Your palate would most likely not be that distinguishable for the higher priced selections anyway. But I wanna almost take back that last statement. Buddy you ain't seen nothing until you have had an excellent vintage Cabernet. Splurge and get an Opus 1 to start. Believe me.
Korbel sparkling wine or something made by Robert Mondovi either red or white, Merlot or Chardonnay are great wine's. Enjoy your night.
Rather than buying one bottle of something you may not like, try getting a 4-pack of single servings and see if you can get a few different varieties.
The romantic part will be the dinner followed by a mini-wine tasting for 2!
(You can get real fancy and pick up crackers and cheeses for cleansing your palette between wines.)