Starting to drink red wine - an easy drinker

dazey

I am not a red wine drinker but am trying to educate myself about it more! I read that Beaujolais was an easy drinker and when I had it, it was so insipid it was almost tasteless. The bottle was around €12 so I thought I would have something going for it. I understand it's not tannin heavy or very oaky, but there wasn't even that much discernible fruit.

Then a few weeks back I tried the nicest red wine ever. It had a beautiful rounded, fruity mouthfeel, didn't burn, didn't overpower with oak flavours. It was a Merlot, like I've never had before, and then the bottle was thrown out before I could note the brand. I know nothing about wine, but it was rich with berries, warming, had quite an alcohol content yet didn't make my eyes water with the burn of alcohol.

Can anyone recommend an easy drinking red, not full of tannin or coffee flavours. Just something to start me off. But not so mild that I could be drinking water (looking at you Beaujolais!)

Bigcheeze

A lot of Bordeaux wines will contain 50%+ Merlot, yet tend not to be as heavy as South American Merlots. If you know a good off license they should be able to make some recommendations.

dazey

OK. I have never known a red to be delicious, but this was. So I hope to recreate the experience

Layinghen

Definitely a good off licence is your friend here. I think you might like Pinot Noir as well. You explain very well what you are looking for so a good off licence will certainly be able to guide you through the world of red wine drinking.

Enjoy yourself.

Slaphead07

dazey wrote: »

OK. I have never known a red to be delicious....

Well they are! Or at least can be.. as suggested above try a few decent Bordeaux reds, they have a bit more depth than others... but yeah, get thee to a wine shop where they'll steer you right. Beaujolais and Pinot Noir are great wines but as they're quite subtle not a good place to start really.

navigator

I know well (and like particularly) red wines from Piedmont (north-west of Italy). For an easy (but quality) start, you can try Grignolino or Dolcetto (easy but lovely wines).
Then, if you like something more complex and stronger, go for Barolo, Barbaresco and Nebbiolo (more expensive... but it's worth)

Marcusm

You need a bottle of Petrus!

Stheno

Have you tried any Malbec? I love Malbec, quite full bodied but very delicious

Aglomerado

Chateauneuf-du-Pape? Aldi do it at a very reasonable 12.99 / bottle. I prefer beer and white wine most of the time, but when I want red, this is what I buy.

jester77

Shiraz is a good full bodied red, there are some great Shiraz from the Barossa valley region, definitely worth trying out.

Gamayun

jester77 wrote: »

Shiraz is a good full bodied red, there are some great Shiraz from the Barossa valley region, definitely worth trying out.

I picked up a few bottles of McGuigans Black Label Reserve Barossa Shiraz 2011 for €7 each last week from Tesco. Fantastic value, lovely wine.

I also tried the McGuigans Black Label Reserve Cabernet Tempranillo, again €7, also great.