Wine
02-05-2011, 10:13 PM
Well, IMO, and this is after hanging out in a lot of wine bars, girls do indeed like fruitier reds. But don't confuse this with sweeter reds. I've noticed girls actually don't like sweeter wines, and with good reason (they usually suck) unless you're talking about dessert wines like Rieslings, Eiswein, Tokaji, Port, Madeira, Banyuls, and so forth.
Girls seems to like fruit and funk, and when I say funky, I mean earthy wines that tend to taste soily or have a high mineral content, wines that almost taste like red meat. I tend to forego the "usual suspects" like cab sauvignon, merlot, sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, and pinot grigio for lesser known grape varietals. In addition to the fact that I enjoy them more, girls typically do too. When you're talking whites like Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay, the best come from France, namely Burgundy and Bordeaux. Many well-known towns appellations use these grapes, like Chablis and Pouilly Fuisse. When I say Chablis, I am not referring to that shit out of a box. A great Chablis or Pouilly Fuisse is not cheap, so I tend to go for wines from lesser known regions and lesser known grapes. Certain grapes like Viognier or Marsanne are typically used for blending in the Rhone region (there are also 100% Viogniers and Marsannes produced in the California central coast, many of them fantastic) but smaller producers are coming up and doing single varietal wines instead of blending, to showcase the grape and a lot of them are very good and much cheaper than the "big boys". We're talking the difference of 10-15 bucks for a great Rhone white opposed to $50+ for a great white Burgundy or Bordeaux.
For red, check out Malbec from Argentina. Has that perfect balance of fruitiness, meatiness, but with light tannins. As mentioned, most girls hate tannin (that palate-stripping, chalky feeling that lingers in your mouth from a heavy wine) Many young Italian reds are great as well, particularly from the Piedmont region like Dolcetto d'Alba and Barbera d'Alba. These tend to be higher acid, lighter tannin wines, which makes them almost necessary with food. You'd be surprised how well these types of red wines go with cheese.
For the absolute most unusual wines you've ever had, check out Sicilian and Sardinian wines. There are literally hundreds of grape varieties you've never heard of yielding flavors you didn't even know existed in wine. It's fun to explore and open new bottles with girls who are into wine who are convinced that pinot grigio is god's gift to women (it's not. I hate that shit) Check out Frapatto, Zibibo, Malvasia (here's a good homework assignment, go into your local wine store and say, "I want to buy an oxidized sparkling Malvasia." They'll probably look at you like you're insane, but it does exist. There is no way in hell they'll have one in stock, so see if they can order you one. It will be one of the best bottles you've ever tasted, and should run under $20.) A rising star in Sicilian wine is Nero d'Avola which runs that similar flavor profile I've mentioned. Fruity, light tannins, medium acidity, something you want to drink a whole hell of a lot of by itself. Open a bottle of that and put on some downtempo or jazz or whatever the hell you listen to and you've got a solid setting to get the kino going....
Hope that's a good start, I realize this is all a bit piecemeal, but there are thousands of bottles worth buying and drinking and it's hard to detail that in a coherent manner.
Cheers.
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