 Ray Isle (@islewine on Twitter) is Food & Wine's executive wine editor. We trust his every cork pop and decant – and the man can sniff out a bargain to boot. Take it away, Ray. It’s easy, with wine, to drown in the details. Most of us want to know what grape a wine is made from - Cabernet Sauvignon, say - and where it’s from. Knowing the vintage doesn’t hurt either. And before buying a wine, people usually would just as soon have some idea of whether it’s any good. But beyond that, there’s a hyperabundance of information that is fascinating to the few (wine writers, for example) and mind-numbing for almost everyone else. Trying saying “You know, it's kind of amazing, but the grapes for this Central Coast Syrah were grown on a combination of decomposed granite and sandy loam soils!” to someone you're on a first date with. You’ll definitely be watching TV later, alone. But how much do you really need to know? Here are a few good reds that simply leave out some of the information we usually expect, skipping the vintage, shrugging at origin, blowing off what grapes are inside. It’s a rather devil-may-care approach, but that’s kind of refreshing when it comes to wine.
Alexandre Sirech Les Deux Terroirs Red ($14) Sherman & Hooker’s Shebang Red! Cuvee IV ($15) 2010 Bonny Doon Contra ($16) 2009 Frenchie Napoleon ($30) More from Food & Wine Top 10 Best New Bars in the U.S. © 2011 American Express Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved. 
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If I was presented with 2 bottles of wine with one being labeled as a certain varietal and one labeled as a proprietary "blend", I will pick the blend every time. Why? The blend has been tasted and adjusted so that it TASTES GOOD. Most wine laws will allow blending to some extent (with most wines rarely being 100% of any given varietal) but a good winemaker will blend so that the end product is better than the sum of its parts.
I looooove red wine so much, i will try any variety. One of the liquor stores close by has a "sale rack" of random mixes and some of them are only like 8 dollars! But they're always interesting at the least and fun to try when I can't make up my mind.
Its too bad that trailers have limited storage, otherwise you could stock up!
I appreciate wine because there is so much variety.
Sick of Zin? Try Malbec.
Tired of Merlot? A bottle of Rioja may do?
When first encountering the monolith that is wine knowledge most are overwhelmed and really most cannot appreciate the layers of smell, taste, texture without experimenting for a while. Good wine drinking is not a quick fix like a cold brew during yard work. You cannot just drink good wine without "chewing". I have opened wine, not been impressed, let it sit for a few days, to discover a change in my palette or the wine itself.
Please just know that not all taste buds are created equal, when flaming people for appreciating things in a detailed manner.
I love a good burger w/ a couple bottles of High Life, but know the world has so much more to offer at the right time.
Funny I was just looking at the Alexandre Sirech wine last week and decided not to buy it because I don't like Syrah. I was wondering about these types of wines and what they taste like. There seems to be many coming on the market. Maybe I'll pick some up and give it a try.
This article is blatantly discrimatory against a segment of our population that proudly supports the wine producing industry – the winos in the back alleys of America. Somebody once said that the only difference between a wine connoisseur and a wino is the brown paper bag – this article shamelessly fails to mention this sentiment and should therefore apologize to the less affluent wine lovers that would buy the more expensive exclusive wines if they could afford it.
Are you a wino?