Wine recommendations?

[LikerOfWomen]

I'd like to keep a couple bottles of wine handy to serve a girl who's coming over to my apartment sometime soon. I don't drink (not out of prudeness, I just can't stand the taste) so I have no idea what to get, and need some advice.

I'm a college student so I'm on a tight budget. The girl likes to drink casually once in a while, and she's fairly cultured and intellectual, but not the kind of person who'd really know her wines or anything.

So basically, I'm looking for something that tastes really good and is fairly inexpensive but not visibly cheapskate (like wine-in-a-box or something). Any ideas?

 

[Giovanni Casanova]

Anything Else.

 

[MRomeo99]

Try Columbia Crest Chardonnay or Merlot, it's a wine out of Washington usually about $6 a bottle, but tastes as good as Kendall Jackson at $13-14 a bottle.

Roederer Estates makes a fantastic Sparkling Wine(champagne), that costs around $11, and is better than White Star at around $30. Might be a little out of your price range.

You can also pick up a decent bottle Beujolais Nouveau, it just came out a few weeks ago, and is good for the next few months. Those bottles run you around $7. Nice, lighter, fruity, trendy type of red wine.

Hope this helps. I used to be a Maitre'D at an exclusive resort. And I almost always drink Columbia Crest, for the money it's the best wine you can drink.

Romeo

 

[MRomeo99]

Oh, and you can always just go to a wine store, and pick up the cheapest french wine you can find. She probably won't know the difference, but you can pick up french wines for $4-5 a bottle, and she'll be impressed. Most of them at that price taste like crap, but I'm trying to respect your budget, and give you a chance to impress.

R

 

[Yotsuya-san]

If you're expecting her, why not ask her what she likes to drink? It would be more of an AFC move if you pretend to know more about wine than you do. And as for what wine is good, everyone's tastes are different.

you said: she's fairly cultured and intellectual, but not the kind of person who'd really know her wines or anything.

She might like a wine that's not even on most of the "connieseur's" lists. An obscure but fairly inexpensive wine is often the choice of a lot of people who drink what they like not based on wine critics. A lot of good inexpensive wines around. But if you still don't want to ask her first, I'd say go for some of the Spanish wines like El Paseo ($6.99). Now whether she likes white or red is another story. Do you even know yet?
Good Luck!

 

[Unbridled_1]

Merlot is usually a safe bet, since it has less of a dry taste.

 

[CharmaLeo]

Bella sera. Merlot. always on sale at safeway.

 

[MsThang]

Merlot's can be crappy but even crappy beaujolais are decent. Whatever you do, though, don't buy yellow tail. That sh1t sucks. It also really depends on what your tastes are and what you're eating. I like really full-bodied strong wines so I generally go for Shiraz, which rocks.

 

[Alpine]

Seeing that it's for the ladies, get a sparkling white wine, there are some excellent ones from all round the world Australia, south america and of course californian.

Don't buy French cos you are paying for the Champ. name.

It's really impressive to pop the cork, and the bubbles go to their head.