New to WineLovers

Am new to the group. Lived in Germany and developed a liking for wine.
Had a book that recommended five wines to keep on hand as a basic wine cellar. They were: Sherry, Champagne, Port, a Chardonnay and a Beaujolais.

On a special occasion I opened the Beaujolais. It was rotten!! Turned me off of reds entirely! I didn't know anything about temp or anything. Could I have been corked? My celebration was a disaster!

Questions: 1. Is my list above about right to start?? I like whites, but can't take high sugar. 2. Am buying a small,6-12 bottle, wine cellar. Is this a good starting point?? Seven (7) bottles I think is about the right place for me.

Looking for suggestions, info and help.

Welcome to WLDG, Horton.

I have to suggestions: continue to post here with your questions and discoveries -- talking with other wine lovers is a great way to learn about wine.

Second, get a copy of Great Wine Made Simple: Straight Talk from a Master Sommelier, by Andrea Immer

I think this is the best single book for a beginner to learn about the tastes of the major types of wine. The tasting exercises are very well thought out -- I do them once or twice a year and always learn something.

Again welcome -- keep posting and have fun.

Regards, Bob

Welcome to the gang!

Where to begin? It's easy to develop a liking for wine, and I don't think you should let one bad experience turn you off. Beaujolais is pretty much a wine to drink shortly after you buy the bottle.
Wine is easily damaged if it gets too hot. If your bottle of Beaujolais got up to 90 degrees or so, it might have been ruined.
Frankly, I think that book's recommendations aren't the best way to get into wine. Sherry and port aren't wines most people drink every day, and most people drink champagne or other sparkling wines for more or less special occasions.

I'd suggest a couple of bottles of white wine in the $10 to $15 dollar range and two or three bottles of red wine in the $20 and under range.

Whites could be a sauvignon blanc, a chenin blanc, a riesling or a gewurztraminer. Riesling from Germany, sauvignon blanc from New Zealand or California, and I have a favorite California chenin blanc, Dry Creek Vineyards "Dry Chenin Blanc" that costs around $10 and you can find it at Safeway or BevMo.
For reds, try another bottle of Beaujolais. Put it in the refrigerator for an hour or so before you open it - it should be just a little bit chilled, sort of like English ale. There are Zinfandel, Merlot and Cotes du Rhone (from France) that are in the price range I'm suggesting, and that can be tasty.

I'm sure you'll get more suggestions, and I hope I may have started a controversy here. <g>

Beaujolais is not a wine for long-term aging. Nouveau Beaujolais should be consumed between release in November of the vintage and January or February of the following calendar year. Beaujolais-Villages may retain freshness for a year. A Beaujolais Cru (from a named commune such as Moulin a Vent, Julienas or Brouilly) may last 3-5 years. Perhaps your Beaujolais was too old or exposed to high temperatures. (Best to store at 55 degrees Fahrenheit if possible or no more than 70 or 72 if keep in an ordinary room. )

Sherry does not seem to have the widespread popularity of past years. I would suggest experimenting with the following wines, perhaps following the guidelines of a book such as the one by Andrea Immer that has already been suggested: Beaujolais-Villages or Beaujolais Cru, Pinot Noir/red Bourgogne, Chardonnay/white Bourgogne, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling (dry or Kabinett level), Syrah/Shiraz, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon or red blend with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot or others, Chianti (from the Sangiovese grape and others in a blend), Valpoliclla, Zinfandel, Viognier, Chenin Blanc. Note which wines you enjoy and look for others from that region and/or grape.

Hi Horton,

Randy Mason makes a consistently good savignon blanc in the $15 price range and should be easy to find.

Karen

[David M. Bueker]

Beaujolais is not a wine for long-term aging. Nouveau Beaujolais should be consumed between release in November of the vintage and January or February of the following calendar year. Beaujolais-Villages may retain freshness for a year. A Beaujolais Cru (from a named commune such as Moulin a Vent, Julienas or Brouilly) may last 3-5 years. Perhaps your Beaujolais was too old or exposed to high temperatures. (Best to store at 55 degrees Fahrenheit if possible or no more than 70 or 72 if keep in an ordinary room. )

Good general advice, though recent, riper vintages of Cru Beaujolais look like they will have more staying power.

[Jenise]

Questions: 1. Is my list above about right to start?? I like whites, but can't take high sugar. 2. Am buying a small,6-12 bottle, wine cellar. Is this a good starting point?? Seven (7) bottles I think is about the right place for me.

Looking for suggestions, info and help.

Oh Horton, Horton, Horton, you have been led astray. (big sigh)

Where to start. Okay, let me try this: there is no "one size fits all". I don't know what book you had but it sounds like a very old book, the kind of information they gave out in the American 50's. Port and sherry, for instance, are not basic at all, they're specialty drinks not widely appreciated by the general populace and if you don't drink heavy, high alcohol wines (which port is) or dessert wines, there's no reason to have either around.

Champagne, to a certain extent, ditto--if you like it, own it, otherwise....

As for Beaujolais and chardonnay, well, others have explained to you that Beaujolais is a very good light red wine not usually made to age. There are a number of things that could have happened to your bottle (you live in a very hot area, if it rode around in your car while you did other errands, it could have cooked!), and without knowing more one can't conjecture, but suffice to say that your bottle is not an indicative experience--you need to forget about that and start over.

How do you begin a basic cellar? Well, it sounds like you're thinking of getting a little cooler and having several bottles on hand and open from which to help yourself from one day to the next. Not really a bad plan, but impractical because wines don't hold indefinitely like distilled spirits do. You open the bottle, and from there they degrade. That's why most of us open a bottle, and whatever we don't drink on Day One we finish on Day Two or Three. You should plan likewise.

But first you have to find out what you like--then make THAT your basic cellar. My recommendation, in addition to buying a better basic wine primer like Bob Ross suggests, would be to send you to the store to buy one each of a number of different grapes. Some will think this is heresy and it's true I wouldn't normally recommend these brands for high-end consumption, for the purpose of establishing your palate preferences inexpensively I'd suggest you confine your choices to the Gallo Sonoma and Kendall Jackson lines. For about $10/bottle average, you can sample some of the most popular grapes made in a reliably consistent, and approachable (no aging required) manner, wines we ALL understand, and I would recommend you buy: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Zinfandel, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris/Grigio (same grape, but different producers choose one word or the other). Taste each over two days. Make notes about what you like or don't. Give each a letter grade to document your experience--how much you liked the wine--wherein A is the best, C is average and F stands for Flush Down the Toilet. Then report back and we'll have more reccomendations.

You're in good hands here.

Welcome to this site Norton. Lots of good advice eh. Not sure of your location but there has to be a tasting bar somewhere! Most good winestores will have a few wines open on the counter, and along with Bob`s book rec, you are off and running.

[Jenise]

Not sure of your location but there has to be a tasting bar somewhere

You've obviously never been to 29 Palms, California.

Welcome! (If I may say so; fairly new here myself.)

Beaujolais is not a wine for long-term aging. Nouveau Beaujolais should be consumed between release in November of the vintage and January or February of the following calendar year. Beaujolais-Villages may retain freshness for a year. A Beaujolais Cru (from a named commune such as Moulin a Vent, Julienas or Brouilly) may last 3-5 years.

I go along with much of JC's advice in that posting, but FYI here is more of the story on Beaujolais.

Beaujolais "Nouveau" is not regular Beaujolais, but with increasing marketing since the 1970s, it displaced classic Beaujolais in perceptions of new wine consumers (its ascent is visible in wine books over 40 years) to become a majority of recent Beaujolais sales. This is unfortunate, because the particular process that makes Beauj. Nouveau also tends to compress differences in the wines -- the wines taste of the process, not the grape. I've even had experimental US Pinot Noir Nouveau, Cabernet Nouveau, etc. in past decades and they tasted remarkably like Beaujolais Nouveau. Apparently that product has now been oversold, because sales have stagnated and vignerons there are reportedly wondering what to do. (Those interviewed recently all skirted around, delicately but conspicuously, the subject of one major firm that has been a factor in the heavy marketing of Nouveau and related light styles of regular Beauj. with their semi-carbonic maceration.)

However, good (regular) Beaujolais from the stronger of the named villages in good years, made more traditionally, can live 10 or 20 years. In my experience, the longest-lived villages have been Moulin-à-Vent and Morgon. For example, 1976s from those villages, from good producers, were wines of impressive power and minerality, overlapping the weights of mid-level (Pinot-Noir) red Burgundies. As a rule, strong vintages of long-lived Beaujolais track strong vintages of Burgundy -- 1996 and 1999 for instance; I don't know about microclimates in 2005 but would guess strong Beaujs. from that vintage too.

Even Beaujolais-Villages (a less geographically specific product from any of a few dozen towns and communes) can live for years if well made. I have a quantity from 1999 in storage, and if we were neighbors I'd invite JC to experience this example of how Beaujolais can last and develop, and be good value (those wines in storage cost less than $10 a bottle).

Hi Horton and welcome. Is Twentynine Palms still a Marine Corps base? You've got some good advice so far, and I strongly disagree with the recommendations in the book. One way to get the most out of the wine experience is to pair different wines with food. A wine can either contrast with the food or complement it. Lobster, for instance, can be paired with an oaky Chardonnay (White Burgundy), and the rich butteriness of the wine complements the buttered lobster. Or it can be paired with an acidic white, such as Riesling or Vouvray (Chenin Blanc) or even a Brut Champagne. In this case, the wine will cleanse the pallate and enhace the lobster. As Bob pointed out, Andres Immers' is very good and she refers to "The Big Six", which are grape varieties. These would be Chardonnay (white Burgundy), Riesling, and Sauvignon Blanc (white Bordeaux - big in New Zealand) for whites and Cabernat Sauvignon (red Bordeaux), Pinot Noir (red Burgundy - big in Oregon) and Syrah (Rhone - known as Shiraz in Australia). I would base a cellar on these grapes, especially when starting out. Keep us posted.

New to Users Groups also, so stay with me fellows.

Thanks for all the info. One of the group was right, my last little cellar was in the 70's. Got a book back then and just went for it.

My collection is as follows: 1. Sheffield Very Dry Sherry. I use it in recipies that call for Sherry. Drink a little sometimes. 2. Turning Leaf Cabernet Sauvignot, Reserve 2006. 3. Rodney Strong Sonoma County Chardonnay, 2005. 4. Seven Oaks 2005 J. Lohr Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon. and... 5. An old Fairbanks California Ruby Port.

While in Germany drank Blue Nun, Black Cat (can't spell it in German) and the others. Liked'em. Because of health, can't have too much sugar. Would like a good German wine though. Any suggestions?

Since getting your advice, thinking about Chablis, and that Merlot. Will probably dump the Port. Will put off the Champagne. Will keep a Sherry for cooking.

I live north of Palm Springs. I gets Hot, Hot, Hot here. An electric cellar is the only way I can go for any type of storage. Nothing does well at 120 drgrees F.

I think someone mentioned a Chainti. Didn't consider it, now think its a good idea to have one around.

Please don't laugh at my mistakes and poor judgement. Since I have little to go on but my limited experience, I have to work with what I got.

[Robin Garr]

Please don't laugh at my mistakes and poor judgement. Since I have little to go on but my limited experience, I have to work with what I got.

Horton, please let me add another warm welcome to our forum. We're glad you found your way here!

Please don't worry that we would ever laugh at you (or anyone) who asks a sincere questions. That's not our style, and I like to think we all remember that we had to ask questions to learn about wine in our own time. The only stupid question is the one you don't ask!

Yes, Twentynine Palms is still he largest Marine Corps base in the world. I just retied from there as a Department of Navy Employee. Not a Marine myself, just worked as a civilian there. I'm ARMY!!

Found some of my wines aboard the base. Wide selection including many from Australia. Some German, and a few from Japan.

Yes, Twentynine Palms is still he largest Marine Corps base in the world. I just retied from there as a Department of Navy Employee. Not a Marine myself, just worked as a civilian there. I'm ARMY!!

Found some of my wines aboard the base. Wide selection including many from Australia. Some German, and a few from Japan.

Although I was in the Marines, 3 of my sons served in Iraq in the Army (one is still there), but I still root for Navy in the Army-Navy Game. (The game is December 1st)

[James Roscoe]

Welcome Horton! Go Navy! Beat Army! (I'm an Annapolis guy.)

The only stupid question is the one I asked..Where are you!!! Thanks for update, so no tasting bars. Ah well.

I use Sheffield Very Dry Sherry for cooking myself. And I occasionally take a sip. (If I can't stand a sip or two, I won't cook with it!)
Turning Leaf Cabernet Sauvignon, Rodney Strong Chardonnay and J. Lohr Cabernet Sauvignon are good starting points. Try a different red wine such as a Zinfandel, Merlot or Shiraz/Syrah. A Riesling that says "Kabinett" on the label won't have sugar in it, and it should remind you of Germany, with the tall skinny bottle.
Keep coming back, we don't bite very often.

Go ARMY !!! If history proves, we'll be beaten. Army has a hard time winning during a war. You never know however.

Thanks for all the advice. Gotten a new perspective out of this. Lots to think about. Anyone know of any wine clubs in Sothern Cal?? Must be some someplace.

hi and welcome - you've gotten some good advice and some that may be irrelevant. the best one is the wine bar thing; surely you must travel to 'the big city' or something at some point. that is when you find some sort of wine bar. also, call around to nearby wine shops - bigger ones i would think - and find out when they have in store tastings - or what subs for that in CA. go to these. my reason for thinking that some advice might be irrelvant is that if you developed a taste for wine in germany - even though you say you don't want anything really sweet, you may also not want anything really dry - at least not at this point in your journey. the beaujolais may simply have been too dry compared to the germans you are used to. so, the first thing is to figure out where your tastes really are - and to do that, you have to actually taste - and preferably with someone who can tell you what wil be similar to the ones you do like. have fun too!