Originally posted by: Descartes
Originally posted by: freedomsbeat212
Originally posted by: Descartes
Rioja is what you're saying, and it's almost always dry; that is, no really perceptible level of residual sugar.
Something "a little sweet" limits the suggestions quite a bit since so many wines are dry, so I would suggest a German Riesling. You can get a high-quality wine for < $20 without a problem. I would suggest you look for a Riesling that's halbtrocken, or "half dry"; this should have enough residual sugar to suit you. It's also better served chilled, so your lady friend might like it.
Other than that you're rather limited. You could go the Champagne/Sparking wine/cava/etc. route. You can get a nice Freixenet for a reasonable cost, or you could get a legitimate non-vintage Champagne.
Perhaps you didn't really mean dry. A lot of people think that dry wine is somehow still sweet. For example, a lot of people describe Beaujolais as being sweet, but it's [mostly] not. If you further qualify your tastes more suggestions can be offered. Beaujolais is an inexpensive quality Burgundian wine (Gamay grape) that is great served chilled on a summer day. You can get a Beaujolais-Villages for under $20 easily.
Wow, thanks for the thoughtful response. Let's remove the "sweet" requirement and add that we'll probably be munching on curry/thai flavored gourmet popcorn. Let's just assume regular popcorn and other movie watching snacks... i know, good wine should never be mixed with junk food but the goal of the night is to just "chill out" in a dark room and veg out a bit.
Nothing wrong with that; if you enjoy the experience and your palate agrees, then dogmatic notions of food-pairing don't really mean much.
If you are going to be eating anything spicy like clove, ginger, or anything else that you might find in Curry/Thai dishes, then your sweet requirement was actually quite accurate; the sweetness helps take the edge off the spice and provide an overall very balanced profile.
Given that it's going to be something spicy yet simple I would almost say just get something like a Gewurtztraminer. It would be a nice compliment in that it's sweet, floral, medium-bodied (depends on the style), and an overall very interesting wine. A Gewurtz might be a little too much for the palate to handle, especially if you're not familiar with it; so, I would still have to recommend a solid German Riesling. You could go for a late-harvest dessert type of a wine as well. These are wonderful in their own right, and since you are eating more snacks than anything else they might be a great compliment.
If you want to get crazy you could get a nice Sauternes (e.g. Chateau d'Yquem--expensive), but there are less inexpensive Sauternes options as well. You could also take the Riesling up a few notches and get an Auslese, or for something really sweet... a Beerernauslese. These are wonderful wines that have enough interest to stand out by themselves, but they should be a nice compliment to spicy dishes as well. Keep in mind that the richer more complex the wine, the greater the cost. A good Sauternes or a Beerenauslese will set you back quite a lot.
What you don't want is a wine with a lot of acid, so you don't want a harsh Chardonnay that hasn't gone through a malolactic fermentation, for example. A Loire Valley French white is probably going to be too acidic for you (e.g. a Muscadet Sur Lie has a lot of citrus, pineappleish flavors that would be rather offensive with your curry/Thai snacks).
So a wine that's casual yet doesn't scream "cheap," a wine that goes down easy (getting her a little tipsy wouldn't be a bad thing, right), and something that you won't regret drinking 4 cups in..
The great thing about wine is you can find something interesting and fantastic for relatively little cost. Granted, you won't be picking up a German Beerenauslese for < $20, but you
might be able to find an Auslese; however, a halbtrocken Riesling should suit you both, and it comes in bottle that's interesting as well.
is that too vague? i admit to being a total wine neophyte but I'm willing to learn!
A willingness to learn is all that's needed. The world of wine is wonderful indeed, and there are so many incredible options available that you could spend a lifetime sampling them. I find wine to be so poignant in my memory that I can literally think of almost any bottle that I've had and transpose myself to that moment.
So, in summary... I would consider the following:
- A Washington Gewurtztraminer or Riesling. Chateau Ste. Michelle has both that are quite good and very reasonable. Their "Eroica" label is consistently high quality.
- A German Riesling, halbtrocken. 2003 was an incredible vintage for Germany. There are a lot of different options available, but just pick something that appeals to you and try it out. They're relatively inexpensive.
- An Alsacian Gewurtz. Trimbach is a consistent producer.
There are so many more options to consider, but too lengthy for this post. We're not considering a lot of great regions.
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