miles wrote:
> John Gunn wrote:
>
>> Hmm, I've never had this impression. In fact, it seems to me that red
>> wine is so much the fashion these day that there are many beginners
>> who profess to drink only reds and big reds at that. Certainly, the
>> tanker loads of huge Australian reds being consumed by average wine
>> drinkers in the US are telling us something.
>
> In the USA people tend to start out drinking sweet wines, roses and
> lighter whites.

This seems like a dangerously broad generalization.

> Common starters are White Zin

True.

> Savingnon Blanc,

In my experience, Sauvignon Blanc is not a common "starter" wine.

> Chablis,

I assume you mean the generic white wine that's labeled Chablis, not
actually the much more distinctive wine from the Chablis region of France?

> Roses

Are you counting blush wines are roses? Because, if you're not, I believe
this misleading, at least for the parts of the US I've been to.

> etc. After awhile with those they tend to progress to
> Chardonnay

Actually, I've seen a lot of people start out with inexpensive
Chardonnay, much more than Sauvignon Blanc or non-blush roses.
I rarely see people "starting" out on overtly sweet wines, though
the crowd-pleasing generic white blends tend to be off-dry.

> and then to light Reds. Rarely do I see beginners drinking
> full bodied Syrahs, Zins etc. I have no idea how it is in other countries.

I see beginners drinking medium-bodied (inexpensive) reds all the time.
Are you in the same US that I am?

Dana