There are four main types of red wine you should know about as a beginning wine connoisseur. Of them, Cabernet Sauvignon is the big daddy of the red wine world. It is the famous grape that is used in the Bordeaux region of France, and is produced in quantity in North America, South America, Italy and Spain. It is a red grape that produces a red wine that is full bodied, rich in all its flavors, firm and able to age for long periods of time. It is aromatic and deep in all it aspects. Some flavors that can best describe Cabernet Sauvignon are black cherry, cassis, and raspberry. Besides the fruit flavors present in Cab, there are predominant flavors of tobacco, cedar, oak and dried herbs. Cabernet Sauvignon is a stronger wine that is most often worked up to.
   Secondly there’s Merlot which is also famous for it's use in the Bordeaux region of France. Merlot has been very popular in the last 15 years in America because it is generally smooth, juicy, doesn't need a lot of time to age in the bottle and so can be drunk upon release. Merlot makes beautiful wines that are medium to dark red in color, have a fruity complexity highlighting cherry and blackcurrant flavors. There are Merlots out there that are made to age, (and some do age well) that do not start off the soft, fruity little thing in a glass. If you are starting off with Merlot for the first time, there are hundreds of offerings out there that you will fall in love with.
   Thirdly there’s Pinot Noir which finds it's home in the Burgundy region, in eastern France. There it has produced such exquisite wines over the years that collectors of fine and rare wines pay large sums of cash to get their hands on bottles from highly regarded regions and wine makers. Pinot Noir is a delicate and lighter bodied wine than the two previously discussed, but it does not dilute its flavor or intensity at all. A youthful Pinot Noir is light purple in color and has a strawberry, plum flavor that can have great depth and smoothness.
   Finally Zinfandel (the most extensively planted red grape in California) has had sort of an underground following for years with fans loving it for it's character and flair, and also because it wasn't the wine "everybody was drinking". Zinfandel is known for hitting you with it's spicy, robust berry flavors, and has a terrific dark purple, red color. If the wine maker decides to remove the skins quickly from the juice after pressing he will make White Zinfandel. As well as it sells White Zinfandel obviously has its place, but Red Zinfandel is the one you really want to try.