I haven't messed with with wine for a long time. Since my late teens and early 20's really. Back them my favorite stuff was the original Grape flavor. I tried the Kiwi fruit and Grapefruit but didn't like them as much. Some of my friends liked what was called Boone's Farm in Strawberry but I thought it was kind of girly. My 20/20 Grape had a lot more bite. I've been reading of the health benefits of a glass of wine and figured maybe it was time to try it again.

Since some of you seem to know a little about the stuff, what would you recommend?

Any old type just as long as its in copious amounts

Hm, do you like your wine dry or semi-sweet?

That's a good starting point.

A glass of red a day, keeps the doctor away

Not sure if it's because I'm a yank, or uncultured (or both) but I never drank wine until I met my British husband. They seem to drink a lot more of it over there.

I liked Boone's Farm and Arbor Mist because they tasted good - sweet and fruity. I always thought wine tasted bitter, sour or tangy. But we've just recently had a friend come to stay from the UK and she introduced me to a white chardonnay that was actually really good, it wasn't sour or bitter at all!

Since then I've been buying chardonnay, but I will say that the price of the bottle is reflected in the taste. Yellow Tail is what she had, an Australian wine, at about $8.99 per bottle, when we're just getting pissed, we buy this cheap stuff called Five Oaks that is $3 a bottle. The cheap stuff is soury tasting.

I can't say much for red, it's too strong for me, and I haven't found any I liked yet. Chardonnay is really nice though, especially in the summer on a hot night.

I'm not sure, I haven't had enough to determine a preference. Let's start with dry and go from there.

I think that difference is what is meant by "dry" or "semi sweet". (I had to google those terms after TT's post.)

If you have to go cheap, try to find one that's bottled at the original vineyard - much better chance of avoiding the hangover.

I'd take Molly's suggestion and try the Yellow Tail lot. They're not badly priced and you can build up from there as you go along.

I like my S.African and French wines (biased here)- most Californians aren't too bad and then of course you have the Chilean/Australian/NZ ones to choose from.

Can be a tad of a nightmare!

Thanks! I've seen the Yellow Tail on billboards around here so I know it's available.

If you want a red that's easily available (living in PA we have limited choice) I would start with a Jacobs Creek Shiraz.
Yellow Tail are good, both red and white and a nice Californian is Valley Oaks Fetzer Pino Grigio, ice cold.
Generally I don't like Californian reds, they always give me a bad headache. That's a sweeping generalisation, I'm sure there is one for me out there.

I love wine (hic) and one of the worst aspects of living in PA is the fact that we can only buy from the state licquor stores. I love Australian wines and in the UK supermarkets they had a fantastic, everchanging range of them. Here it is the same old few.
We used to nip over to France and fill the car with bottles but again the French wine is very expensive here.

I had an independent wine merchant at the top of my road in the UK and they did Wednesday morning tastings

Open a few bottles and try some. Cheers!

We're pretty lucky in Missouri if you like wine. Wineries all over the place and stores that sell nothing but wine. I just never got into it. Always preferred beer or bourbon for some reason. This place is about 10 miles from me:http://www.theeaglesnest-louisiana.com/ and these are all within 2 hours drive, most within an hour:http://www.greatriverroad.com/all/wineries.htm

If you like something light, then go for an unwooded.

Or if you like dark and spicy, then try a Shiraz, or maybe a Merlot ...have a look in the bottle shop for something from the SE of Australia But NOT a Brown Brothers.
Jacobs Creek are usually pretty good.

Boone's!! I haven't heard that uttered for a very long time. Save your dignity and stay away from that stuff! Same for blush/zinfs

If I go for wine, I go for reds rather than whites... not a big fan of whites (the hangovers thought aren't as bad but still.. don't like 'em as much) The trick is, if you like it, continue to buy it!

The one's I like and they are nothing special:
Eco Donomi reds
Robert Mondovi (whites)
Coppola's Merlot (his "Table Wine" is good as well as the shiraz)
Carmen cab or merlot (chilean wine)
Jacob's Creek

Except for the coppola's... the ones above should be around $6-8. Can't go too wrong with the french stuff but its taxed so much over here. There are some good spanish and argentinian wines out there... can't remember names. I typically look at the labels... if they look familiar to me, its in the cart and stomach.

Hardys form australia does boxed wines - forget the fact its boxed and just drink it

the shiraz and chardonnay versions are very drinkable

and its 16 bucks for 4 bottle equivilent.....

I'm sorry, but I couldn't be any more ignorant about wine. There is wine that is spicy? This is what I used to drink, although it appears that my original "Pure Grape Wine" flavor has been discontinued. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MD_20/20It must have been one of the 18% versions. You can probably tell by the external links in the wiki what kind of stuff it was...