style of wine for beginner

[dobeluvr]

The wife does not like dry wines. She likes a fruity taste and a little sweet but not kool-aid sweet. What would be a good kit to try? I have looked at a few kits online, but most do not list sweetness or if they do, I do not know the terminology.

I have tried to determine by googling but there seems to be quite a bit of overlap.

thanx

 

[DoctorCAD]

Island Mist kits would do nicely.

 

[Rossnaree]

Look for "off-dry," semi-sweet," etc. in the description. Also maybe consider the country wines, or fruit-grape blends, like strawberry-riesling, blueberry-shiraz, stuff like that. Island Mist, Niagara Mist, -- along those lines, possibly, as well.

oops, DoctorCAD beat me to it!

 

[Yooper]

What does she like? If she likes sweeter wines, try a kit of that variety. If she likes Arbor Mist, try an Island Mist. My best friend like sweeter wine cooler type wines, and she loves Island Mist kits. Her favorite was Mango Symphony, but the Kiwi Pear Sauvignon was good too.

 

[dobeluvr]

She likes Oliver Winery's "Harvest Flavors Strawberry", St Julians Winery's "Red Heron".
Other than that, the drier the wine is the more she dislikes it. Other than the two above we have only tried about 6 different types, some of which were given to us. Don't recall what they were. It is only recently she started drinking wines or should I say trying wines. When we've looked in the store, there were so many different types it is hard to pick out one. I shall pick up an Arbor Mist for her to try.

 

[KevinM]

I'd probably say to try different wines before doing a kit. Yes, trying out different wines is probably going to cost more than a kit... you know, unless you feel like driving to a winery.

Try some fruit wines (cherry, blackberry, and strawberry are common) even those are different. I think Cherry Republic's Balaton was sweeter than their other 100% cherry wine for example.

Try some Sweet Reislings and Gewurztraminers (Make sure you pick sweet, since they also can have semi and dry.) (See http://www.cgtwines.com/wines_rieslings.php)
Definately try some arbor mist type wines.
Try a white zinfandel, those tend to be a bit sweeter as well.

Even then, it's definately hard to pick because, for example, just about every winery in the Michigan region has a reisling and a cherry wine, but each winery's reisling tastes different, even if you try all their sweet ones.

If you can find a place that does wine sampling try it out. It seems Indiana has a *lot* of wineries you can visit. http://www.indianawines.org/wineries/?loc=map (Mental note, take a wine tour of Indiana)
For example, you said she likes at least one wine from Oliver Winery. Go visit Oliver winery and go through their sample list. Maybe make several trips because it looks like they have lots of different wines.

Depending on state laws, sampling can be free or may incurr a charge or may limit samples per visit. Sometimes they charge you to buy a glass with their logo on it and the sampling is free after that. This is only from my experiences in mostly Michigan tasting rooms, as well as several stores that offer wine sampling. It could be different in Indiana vs ohio vs Maryland vs California, but probably not by a large margin.

Alternatively, you can get friends together and do some wine tastings of your own, everyone brings a different bottle so you can get a small sample of each one without having to drink too much of any single one.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

The wife does not like dry wines. She likes a fruity taste and a little sweet but not kool-aid sweet. What would be a good kit to try? I have looked at a few kits online, but most do not list sweetness or if they do, I do not know the terminology.

I have tried to determine by googling but there seems to be quite a bit of overlap.

thanx

For whites try a riesling or a gewurztraminer (they can be a bit tart) or maybe a Sauvignon Blanc. If she likes 'em really sweet, a special harvest riesling or an ice wine. For reds try a Beaujolais nouveau.

If you're still trying to figure out what she likes, I'd keep trying different wines from the store before making a kit; I mean you don't want to make 6 gallons of wine you don't like.

If she likes fruity & hates dry, I'd say you'd likely have more luck with whites than with reds. Riesling is my fav, especially this one: http://www.stechapelle.com/wines/winemaker-notes/2008-stc-riesling-winemaker-series.pdf

Once you find something she likes, then start looking for a kit in the same variety/style. It's really useful to attend wine tasting events, that way you can sample various wines without actually having to purchase the entire bottle & you can usually taste at least 5 different wines.

Hope this helps. Regards, GF.