STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Love it, but it's hard to find one we like for less than $25-30. I don't know enough about the region to know what the low-priced gems are.

It's not very seasonal, but we keep going back to New Zealand whites. For reds we're drinking a lot of Malbec lately with food. Sicilian reds are also fun and fruity/jammy, good for before dinner.

I love learning about wine, going to tastings, reading about it... Yes, I am that wine geek who has a book with her to write down what she's tried and what she wants to try. I might be able to steer you towards some ideas.

I second on the Malbec rec. If you like Bordeaux, you'll like Malbec.  The grape was originally from the Bordeaux region, but there are some really good priced ones now grown in other regions, especially from Argentina.  I loved the  Bodega Norton Reserva Malbec. It had a wonderful velvety mouth feel with great tannins (that's what gives you that pucker mouth feeling) and plummy berry flavors.   I paid $19.

If you are looking for a white, one of my go-to value/easy drinking wines is Kung Fu Girl Riesling. I usually pay about $12 a bottle, but I've bought this one by the case before.  It's a bit dry with some floral notes, a nice finish and is extremely food friendly. It's a second line by Charles Smith, who makes great higher priced wines from Washington. He's a former manager of a Danish rock band and totally looks the part too (the photos I've seen of him is this long grey haired, leather vest/old jean wearing guy.) It makes a great story too.
This is Charles Smith.  I love a cliche breaker!

When I go to parties, I never expect the host to open the bottle at the party.  I assume the host has already figured out the drinks they want to serve.  However, during the holidays, I like to bring a sparkling wine (which more than likely will get opened during the party.)  I don't do champagne, since I just can't afford the good stuff and anything under $50 is usually not worth it.  I like  to drink Cava or Prosecco.  A Prosecco (Italy) that I like is Zardetto Brut. It's usually around $15 or $16.  It's dry, citrus and has this aroma of fresh baked bread on the finish (love that!)  

Now, the best rec I can give you to to go to a local wine store and ask for help.  These people know what they are doing, love wine and love sharing it with others.  Every wine store I've ever been in has wines from all price ranges.  I will go in and tell the person I need a rec for a bottle under $20 (or $15 or sometimes $12 if I feel like a challenge.)  The associate will ask you a few questions, mainly about what kind of flavors you like or what kind of wine you've liked in the past.  Then they will steer you to a few bottles to choose from.  And most of the time, they have personally tried each of these wines.  It should never be snobby or pretenous but fun.

Our company favors riesling, also the menu usually included enough  sea food, so, it went well.

I enjoy learning about wine too! I'm definitely no expert like some of you guys but I am learning :)

@suasoria -- I've found you can find some really low-priced Bordeaux Wines at Whole Foods and Trader Joe's, that's where I've been buying mine. And I've found great Bordeaux wines there for like $10-15!

Glad it was helpful! It was informative for me too - I love seeing what types of wine other people are into, and some of these posts were really interesting! I used to always stick to basic cheap wines like Yellowtail. Trying Bordeaux has made me more adventurous with trying out new and different types of wine!