Red Wine Skeptics

I’ve heard it countless times… “I don’t like red wine. I only drink whites.” This affected me directly when my wife-to-be made this very point long ago and declined to partake in red wine’s glory for the first two or three years we knew each other. It wasn’t until we had dinner with some friends and Colleen felt obliged to drink a Rosenblum red Zinfandel our guests had brought and Eureka! Her life had changed. Thank you Rosenblum. (And thank you Paul and Mary.)

With some exceptions, red wines are generally bigger, bolder, fruitier wines than their white counterparts. It seems likely that it’s this difference that makes whites more appealing and reds unacceptable to those who avoid red wine. Interestingly, it’s this same difference that makes red wines more appealing to those of us who prefer reds over whites. (However, I’ve never met a red wine lover who refuses to drink white wine.)

If you’re willing to experiment, I have a suggestion that may lead you or your red wineaphobe friend cautiously into the red world. It’s a simple idea. A solution of just one word. Beaujolais. Yes, the light red wine from France that many serious wine lovers mistakenly dismiss as unworthy.

Beaujolais is made from the Gamay grape in the French wine region called, you guessed it, Beaujolais. It’s a refreshing and light red wine, a description one might apply to many white wines. Beaujolais is typically a bit fruitier than your standard light white wines like Pinot Grigio, Pinot Blanc, Chenin Blanc or Sauvignon Blanc. Here’s an interesting experiment you might try that really opens people’s eyes. Pour three of the aforementioned whites along with a glass of Beaujolais and have your red wine skeptic taste each without being able to actually see the wines. Now ask her or him to tell you which one is the red wine. In my experience, no one has been able to consistently beat the 25% chance of guessing correctly.

And how timely this may be as the Beaujolais season fast approaches. Wineries in Beaujolais and their distributors race (literally) to position their wines for sale in marketplaces worldwide at midnight of the third Thursday in November. Festivals and celebrations surround this fun in Beaujolais and several other places around the globe. You too can join in by heading for your local wine shop on November 16th this year.

Now that you’ve convinced your dubious friends and introduced them to a red wine they actually enjoy, it may open up the entire red wine spectrum for them. Proceed cautiously though. Don’t force a huge, bold Napa Cabernet Sauvignon on your subject just yet. Try a Pinot Noir as your next step. Still light for a red wine, but an order of magnitude more complex than Beaujolais. Let the light and fresh character of Pinot Noir (or Red Burgundy as the French call it) carry your case onward into the world of reds. You’ll never be forgotten. And my wife loves red wine.