Red table wines are a good choice for beginners.
Red wine is an acquired taste. Why? Because the tannic acid in red wines literally causes the mouth to pucker and feel dry. Dry wines--wines with little residual sugar and high concentrations of tannins--are the most difficult for beginners to palate. However, they can be eased into by beginning with less tannic wines. Lighter red wines that are "less dry" contain virtually the same amount of residual sugar as dry red wines do, however, they contain very few tannins, causing the "sweetness" or fruitiness to shine through much more prominently.
Red Table Wine
Red table wines are mass-produced wines. The continuity between each bottle is more important to the producer than refined taste. Most table wines are run through tannin-filtration to reduce tannins and increase consistency in taste between each bottle. Red table wines are light and easily palatable for a beginner, and they tend to run on the sweet side. They are the least expensive wines on the market and have a lower level of quality.
Beaujolais Nouveau
Beaujolais Nouveau is a very light, sweet and fruity annually released wine from the Beaujolais region in France. As it is meant to be a light wine, it should be consumed within the year it is released. The Gamay grape that the wine is created from is naturally lower in acidity and tannins than most other wine grapes.
Light-bodied Wines
Technically, the best wine for beginners is one that complies with their personal taste. For some, overly sweet wines can be a deterrent. So choose a wine that, when sipped, seems somewhat tolerable. A few basic guidelines would be to stay away from Cabernet Sauvignon, which is often regarded as the driest of red wines. The terms "dry" and "full bodied" should be avoided in the beginning stages of wine consumption, so ask your local wine sommelier at the market or grocery store for his/her suggestion on a light-bodied sweet wine. Chances are they will point you to a young (recent year) Merlot, Pinot Noir or even a Chianti. These wines are all light bodied and play heavily on their prominent fruit flavors such as berries, strawberry and cherry accents.
Dessert Wines
If you find none of the wines mentioned above palatable, try beginning with a sweet dessert wine. There are a variety of dessert wines including fortified wines, such as port or Madeira, that are a mixture of red wine and a liquor. In the case of port, red wine is mixed with brandy before the grapes have fully fermented and thus maintain their sweetness. Fortification significantly increases the wine's sugar level. Other dessert wines, such as ice wine, are nonfortified and achieve their sweetness from high alcohol content and low fermentation of the fruit.
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