I'm wondering what everyone's "wine to avoid" suggestion would be. Tonight I tried (oops) 2005 White Carmenčre and it was vile.

I have a preference toward whites and find many reds to be "gym sock" like in taste sometimes, but i can appreciate their notes and such - but this wine was just overall gross. One review says it's like jalapeno poppers on the nose.

Just, yuck. Eww.

Any suggestions on what else to avoid in the future?

Not a huge fan of buttery, oaked up california chardonnays. also, never ever got into "fume blanc" wines from here (mondavi, ferrari-carano, etc). but i do love a good pouilly-fume.
for reds, there's nothing i'd say i hate or find horrid..i dislike pretty much any wine that is unbalanced, so i guess i dislike a lot of california wines

Any red grape that decides to go white, i.e. White Merlot or White Zinfandel.

LOLOLOL I can't believe I left out that stuff!

Yes, that might be wines that I hate.

I also hate Valdigue.

Pretty much any white grape lighter than a chardonnay

A lot of people might find it as a good value but Beuojalais has sunk deep on my list. I had to gift a lot of them away after the SO bought 2 cases from a supermarket

I will second cordelli's opinion.

Some combo wines (ie two grapes together) also don't fare well with me either.

The term for this is "corked" and it is a defect in the cork and/or storage conditions of the wine. It can happen to all wines, even very good ones. You might want to check into how your wines are being handled if this is happening to you a lot.....

Modern wine making technique has progressed a lot, to the point that even very cheap wine (e.g. $2/bottle) does not have these taste defects "as shipped". You show a location of TPA, which definitely requires wine storage equipment (you cannot cellar ad hoc in that climate).

Chardonnay.

But it's not for a taste reason...for some reason, I get horrible headaches from Chardonnay. And only Chardonnay. I can drink lighter wines than Chardonnay and be fine. I can drink heavier wines than Chardonnay and be fine.

I don't know what it is with Chardonnay, though.

Two Buck Chuck. I've tried it and I don't like it. If I want cheap wine, I actually prefer jug Gallo.

There are plenty of "cheap" wines at Costco for $7-8 which are just as good, if not better.

Actually, the ones you drink are made to a "style" that is not very good, but if made into a proper dry rose, can be excellent. Most "white" reds are too sweet and made to make the non-wine-drinker drink wine. They taste the same from week to week and year to year, made with "Fresno's Finest" harvest, no matter the Napa or Sonoma (etc.) winery label. I've had quite a number of non-French rosčs that are delicious, crisp, and dry, including recently, a malbec rosč.

As for wines I generally don't like, California Pinot Noir and New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. (There are a few exceptions to this.) Pretty much every thing else, for me, can turn into a nice wine, each for its own mood and place, if made properly. For example, finally a number of California winemakers are leaving the oak and butterbomb ruination of Chardonnay. It is a nice grape, but "the people" want their wine to taste like an oily tree, so the winemakers make it to this style. Merlot is another fine grape, but when made to fill bottles of Martha Stewart NV Merlot, it is going to be bleh. I cannot tell you how many times people have said "I only drink this," or "I don't drink that" and I pour something and they can't believe that they are drinking it. (That's a zinfandel??? But it is so smooth, blah blah blah.)

Don't blame the grape. It is just like the puppy pit bull before the bad owner taught it how to fight.

Well, i think "gym sock" is more of my personal opinion of the flavor of a red then a problem with the wine - though i'm sure some of them were mistreated.

Any suggestions on some good "starter" reds to perhaps change my mind?

I always avoid the vertical tastings at the food/wine festival because I know they usually mean reds. Might be nice to give it a try.

Ginger wine - if the stuff actually deserves the name "wine".
Anything too sweet.

Stay away from the MD20/20.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

I'm not a big Two Buck Chuck fan, but it does vary widely from batch to batch. This stuff is bought in bulk as excess production from a variety of producers and then bottled until the Trader Joe's lable. Sometimes you get lucky, but why gamble. They do have a Two Buck Barolo that is pretty decent for making Barolo sauce with however. Save the good stuff for drinking!

There's an old adage: if you won't drink it, don't cook with it