<p>BB, that sounds delicious! Is it legal to ship wine, though? I seem to recall that in many states it is not allowed…</p>
<p>Something, Special. Domestic. ~$15, direct. Very limited. Very thick. Perhaps too sweet. 500ml bottles. 18.5% content.
Barnard Griffin, Syrah Port. Columbia River Valley, Washington. <a href=“Home - Barnard Griffin Winery”>Home - Barnard Griffin Winery;
<p>Bunsen has good taste! Love that SB…only topped by Gustafson SB from Sonoma. And personally, do not like sauv. blancs from New Zealand–too, ummm…twangy for my taste. Do love some wines from Duckhorn in Napa. I also like Zins from California foothills, Pinot Noir from Oregon.</p>
<p>As you can see by the above posts, many wines, many opinions. Talk you your local wine merchant…and good luck to you!</p>
<p>We drink lots of wine. Here are some ideas of interesting wines from around the world that should satisfy many and are not too quirky (I classify NZ Sav Blanc as ‘quirky’, it has an intense grassy, grapefruit taste that not everyone appreciates, plus it’s light and my summer go to wine and it’s cheap - don’t pay over $15 for good bottles. Oyster Bay is my favorite):</p>
<ul>
<li>Rioja from Spain. Typically made from Tempranillo grapes. Nice alternative to Cab Sav.</li>
<li>Chardonnay from Australia. (pay over $20. cheap stuff is gross)</li>
<li>Cab Sav from Australia. (Look for one from Coonewarra district)</li>
<li>Prosecco from Italy. nice bubbly alternative to Champagne. Paying over $20 might be tough.</li>
<li>Chianti Classico from Italy.</li>
</ul>
<p>PS - our family rule is no animals on the label. Only exception is Stags Leap.</p>
<p>While champagne is not wine it still makes a great gift, and will stand out a little over <em>any</em> bottle of wine you could get. My personal preference is a blanc de noir like Piper Sonoma or Gloria Ferrer–for the taste as well as that little hint of color. About $20, and I prefer them to pricier champagnes like Veuve Clicquot.</p>
<p>And don’t believe those that tell you champagne isn’t wine. What is it, beer? glue? Motor oil? True, it isn’t always what we first think of when we hear wine, but it is wine. It might not be recommended if we seek a “wine for dinner”, but it is wine. In fact, it is a very specific wine.
It is a [usually bubbly] wine grown in (the obvious) region of France. Even more, as wine people know, although we here in America always associate champagne with the bubbles, not all champagne is effervescent, but all champagne is wine.</p>
<p>Younghoss, champagne is champagne. 
It is in its own special category, as you pointed out. Not all wine drinkers will be excited to recieve a bottle of champagne.</p>
<p>Depending on budget, you might want to consider a few half bottles instead of one big bottle, too. Then you could give champagne and a red!</p>
<p>We should take a poll to see who wouldn’t drink a glass of real champagne when offered, even manly man I know drink champagne.</p>
<p>For a little over 30 bucks, you could get a Jordan Winery Cabernet…very good…</p>
<p>oldfort, I have one red wine drinking friend who literally will refuse a glass of champagne…hard as it is to believe! He’s the only such extremist that I am aware of, though.</p>
<p>I would like friends like that, more for me then.</p>
<p>Perhaps some mean that champagne is the finest wine.
Perhaps those people might say a Porsche isn’t a car.</p>
<p>The reds we drink now, that are a bit less “known” than the cabernets or pinots, are Italians from Tuscany or Abruzzo. While the Chiantis from Tuscany had gotten a lousy reputation for being not much better for anything except holding candles, it’s not true any more - they’re actually delicious. You can get a lovely Chianti Classico (make sure it’s a Classico, though, since that is a specific designation about how it’s made and aged) for about $15. Another new favorite is a red from Montelpulciano; also reasonably priced. We’ve found that even white wine drinkers like these reds since they’re not as intense as some of the others.</p>
<p>I don’t like champagne.
I don’t like sparkling water or most soda either, but I do like beer. Unfortunately since going gluten free, I have had trouble finding beer that is drinkable- so back to wine.</p>
<p>OP, after all this advice (including the advice from me!), let me say this:</p>
<p>Please stop stressing and overthinking this. Bring a bottle of wine that you think you might enjoy. Give it to your hosts. Do not expect it to be served. Your hosts will (with any luck or manners) thank you kindly and either open it or put it aside. If they like it, great. If they don’t like it, they’ll toss it or re-gift it.</p>
<p>It’s a host/hostess present. Whatever you get, I’m sure they won’t think less of you for it!</p>
<p>Now, if the wine is to be served with dinner - as in, you’re bringing the wine as your contribution to a pot luck or to the dinner itself - then you can ask what the hosts like or what is being served so you can select (read that as, so the wine guy at your wine store can select) the appropriate wine.</p>
<p>^ Begging your pardon Chedva, but this can leave some bad feelings. I watched a neighbor’s house for three weeks one winter while they vacationed in Costa Rica. When they got back they said they knew DW and I liked wine, and that they wanted to thank me/us. Then they handed me one of those cheap non-varietals with an artsy label (yes, with animals on it).</p>
<p>The key here is that they knew our tastes, and decided they couldn’t be bothered. That’s not being snobbish … more like being rude (in our neck of the woods anyway).</p>
<p>True, NewHope33. But in the OP’s case, she doesn’t know their tastes. Different scenario.</p>
<p>I did make the assumption, which might be wrong, that they were simply invited for dinner, and were not giving wine as a thank you for a large favor. If my assumption is wrong, I stand corrected.</p>
<p>younghoss, my French friend enjoys finest reds, but will not touch champagne. Hard to believe, isn’t it? Said friend is in the market for a Porsche. I know a few others who do not like champagne, including one former Olympian who refuses to touch anything with carbonation. Tastes do differ. :)</p>
<p>I second what Chedva said. In my house, it is the attention that matters, not the gift. Not all “cutesey” labels taste awful. We were given a bottle of wine called Educated Guess. The label was beyond cutesey - it was covered with graphs and chemical structures depicting fermentation processes and polyphenols. LOL. H studied it for a few minutes picking out every mistake, like trivalent oxygens. We opened it not expecting much, but the wine, a red blend, turned out to be quite pleasant.</p>
<p>BB, at 15 bucks±, it couldn’t have been too bad…</p>