Your wine preferences & any changes over time?

[shootingstar]

Even though I can't drink much wine for special occasions, I still enjoy it when given..only half a glass or even less.

But am finding that these last few years, my body cannot seem to tolerate sweet white wines --Rieslings, Gwerztainneminar (I should check spelling) which have my preferred types. Have you dropped wine or changed in preferences?

[marni]

like you my preferences have changed from the sweeter white wine to drier ones like pinot grigio. I have also begun to really appreciate a nice full bodied red, especially those with hints of cherries or spices such as Apothic Dark. Ditto my preference for beer has become darker and heavier. My Sag guys theory is that as we get older our taste buds become less able to taste and seek out the darker and tarter and more flavorful, savory tastes.

[OakLeaf]

That's funny ... as I learn more about wine, I'm getting over my prejudices against the sweet whites. No teenage soda pop, but with some foods, particularly spicy dishes, a wine goes better if it's not bone dry.

I think the cheap sweet whites tend to have a lot of propylene glycol and other additives, and maybe that's what you're having trouble with when you say "your body." They always taste really chemically to me, and many give me an instant headache. I do find I have to spend more for a drinkable sweet wine, where you can often get away with a dry red for $10 or less.

[Crankin]

I never drank anything but white until about 10 years ago. It took me awhile, but I developed a nice taste for different reds. Now my favorite wine is a good Malbec. The only reds I don't like are ones that have too much "spicy" in them. It is very rare for me to drink a white now; there is a vineyard in RI, that we go by on one of our rides, that makes a nice white with a hint of grapefruit. I do drink that in the summer.

[TrekDianna]

I am partial to Oregon Pinot Noir and Merlots. I am surrounded by vineyards and wineries. There are two within 2 miles of my house.

[shootingstar]

I am partial to Oregon Pinot Noir and Merlots. I am surrounded by vineyards and wineries. There are two within 2 miles of my house.

Unless one had an allergy or other reasons, it would be hard to completely ignore local stuff in one's own neighbourhood. Like marni, I am tending to prefer drier white wines : I used to find them more "boring".

No I haven't made much attempt to look for wines labelled "organic" --if that's supposed to be complete assurance of no additives/chemicals.

I believe Canadian wines in general, aren't always cheaper than foreign wines...and I'm speaking as a Canadian customer who buys in the home province of where the wine was produced where it would be cheapest, before it is shipped with possible (not always) additional consumer cost/price, and sold in a retail liquor outlet in another Canadian province.

I confess that I do tend buy primarily Canadian wines: I do believe in supporting our local economy, especially when wineries do take a big risk every year with Mother Nature. No honest, I'm not often a buyer of foreign wines. Maybe I'm an unsophisticated oeniphile (I really need a dictionary.)

I like smooth red wines with very little tannins. Any time I see descriptions of "smokey", tobaccoey, etc., makes me want to run for hills.

I love some of our ice wines --the ones that we can afford. Canada's climate provides the conditions for some good ones.

Wine descriptions are often a treat to read.

[roo4]

Red for me. Shiraz, Merlot, blends. Cabs are usually too pricey for me.

In the summer a sweet chilled white is nice too.

[OakLeaf]

Well if it were sulfites you were sensitive to, then I would suggest organic, but if that were it, then all non-organic wine (and sulfured dried fruit) would set you off. I'm just saying my experience is that I have to spend a little more to get a drinkable sweet wine, than a dry one.

[Crankin]

I also love cabs and pinot noir. Blends from Italy and Spain, too. Montepulciano is one of my favorites. Lately, I've actually ordered Chianti at Italian places. We belong to a wine club and get a lot of wine through it. I do read the descriptions, and while I am no expert, I like reading them.
Oak, when I was having a lot of asthma issues, I had problems with wine/sulfites. For about 10 years, I didn't have wine. Finally, in 1997 or 8, I decided to test it out at Passover, drinking little sips of a decent Passover wine (not Maneschevitz). I didn't go into anaphylactic shock, so I resumed the wine drinking. I do remember, in the late 80s, finding an organic wine that I drank at a very nice organic place near ASU. But, it was so uncommon back then.
I'm starting to get a little more experimental with beer, too, but I really do not like dark beers.

[OakLeaf]

I've really become a fan of Albariños. (Ooooh, I learned a new trick on the iPad keyboard!) But most of the time I gravitate toward reds for the simple reason that they're served a few degrees warmer. I'm usually too cold to want to drink anything chilled!

[smilingcat]

Do like Alsace dry Riesling. It's good that most don't know that really good Riesling is dry. It really goes well with good bratwurst and cabbage.

I'm not a wine snot!!

[Skippyak]

I find it very hard to get out of the Australian aisle for reds and sticky wines, I don't mind NZ Pinot Noir and US pinot grigio. But if it is red in my house, it will be Aussie. Shiraz, cab, merlot etc, I used to love sparkling shiraz, chilled on a hot night, but I overdid it.

[shootingstar]

I'm not a wine snot!!

I can only drink 1/2 glass of wine before I start to get light-headed/flushed --so if I really don't like a wine after 1-2 sips, then it's not for me. Every sip counts for me because of my bodily reaction.
I don't drink beer and because of my lower bodily tolerance to alcoholic drinks, I don't want to try different beers.

I used to be embarrassed, even somewhat annoyed by my problem. But at this stage, it's probably a saving grace to me, health-wise. Seems like hereditary trait too since most of my family can't tolerate much alcohol either like me.

[Crankin]

It would be very hard for me not to be able to drink wine. I rarely have more than one glass, and it's become somewhat of a hobby for DH and I (reading about and learning about new wines). I like beer, but I am not so thrilled by mixed drinks. Most of them taste like medicine to me! I will have a good Mojito in the summer, but that's about it.

[shootingstar]

I'm such a baby about mixed drinks. I haven't evolved beyond a brown cow --milk/cream mixed with Kahlula(?).

I just content myself when my partner does some neat stuff --ie. beating in a touch of sweet white wine into whipping crème. It makes an elegant topping for a special dessert! Or creatively pouring in a jot of red wine in his homemade cooked fruit compote of rhubarb, raspberry, blackberry/blueberry that has been cooked with ginger root, honey, etc. His mother (from Germany's wine growing region) knew how to creatively use wine for baking and cooking at times.