Pretty much all I drink (well, aside from water) is wine. Mainly reds, but in the summer I like a nice chilled white or blush. I can't really describe the kinds of whites I like, other than that I used to shy away from them because I often found them dry. So I guess I preferred the fruitier ones. However, over the past summer, I realized that I don't mind the dry ones so much. For blush, or white zinfandel, I'm not very picky at all.
No for the reds. I used to not be very picky, and would often pick out bottles of Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon in the $8-11 range. I used to not even mind the huge jugs of Carlo Rossi or boxes of Franzia (maybe those still aren't bad, haven't had them in years). But over the past two years, I really got sick of the standard Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Even though I was trying different "brands" a lot, I found that most of them just weren't going down easy, they were making me scrunch my face, as Alfred suggested. I'd had enough.
So I sought the advice or some online buddies on another forum, and one of the recommendations was Argentinian Malbec. I have had great success with this wine. Some are better than others, and I have had one I didn't like at all, but they don't make me cringe and most are really good. I was also advised to check out some French wines such as Cotes du Rhones, Beaujolais and several others but I've only tried those two and have been happy. I've also been recommended a few Italian wines, specifically from Tuscany or Sicily, but I don't remember what I've had. I've really been happy enough with the Argentinian Malbecs and some French ones that I haven't strayed too far from those.
The week of Thanksgiving I decided to pick out a Portuguese wine, which I liked a lot and picked up another bottle this week. I'm often unsure with foreign wines which is the house name and which is the wine type. This bottle says Vale do Bomfim, Douro Valley. Ah ok, it often helps to read the label on the back. The first part is the type of wine, the second is the region that it's from. Anyway, it's good. I also picked out another random one, from Spain, called Oristan by La Mancha. Label says it's a mixture of Cabernet Sauvignon and Tempranillo grapes. It's pretty good, no pucker face. It should be obvious by now that I'm no wine connoisseur, so don't ask me to describe it beyond that.
Point is, it wasn't until I started to really drink red wine on a regular basis that I started to get more picky and try to find what I like. There is still much more to explore. But in general I've found the American wines pretty bitter and foreign ones much smoother.
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