"It's not enough to bash in heads, you've got to bash in minds!"
Captain Hammer, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

Get me on the hooch! Suggest wine for a non-drinker

So, went to the doctor today. Overall cholesterol still good and well within the safe range, but good cholesterol isn't as high as it should be. He's suggested other things before such as fish oil and walnuts and whatnot, and today he mentioned the report that a daily glass of red wine can improve cholesterol and help lessen the chance for heart disease.

I'm willing to try most anything, except… I don't drink. Not because I have anything against it, I just really hate the taste of alcohol in any amount. While sampling some with friends I managed to find combinations of fruit juice and sangria that were palatable — essentially an extremely weak homemade wine cooler — and a friend introduced me to ice wine one night that was as good as any I've had, but for the most part I've been disinterested in finding ways to stomach something I didn't really want anyway. "The winter grapes add a rich overtone to this kerosene…"

But if it does in fact help my health, I'm willing to give it a shot. Which beings me here, with a question. What should I try?

Ideally I'd want something that resembled a strong sweet fruit juice, with as little alcohol taste as possible. Recent reports from the UK suggest that sherry also has the cholesterol-lowering properties, although not the lowering-heart-disease ones, and that might be an option. And it can't be a budget-breaker.

Any suggestions?

2 Responses to “Get me on the hooch! Suggest wine for a non-drinker”

  • xnera says:

    I went to a Seder once that used some really sweet red wine. I don't like red wine myself, but I kept asking for more. Heh. My mom said it was likely Mogen David, so maybe try that?

  • TheMadTurtle says:

    The problem is that the fruitier tasting wines are usually not red. Riesling comes to mind as a very sweet wine, but it's white. You might try a South African Pinotage. It's my personal favorite. It's very, very low-cost, but very-very high quality…usually. Just try any Pinotage you might find. I honestly haven't found one I didn't like. I wouldn't necessarily say it's fruity. I'd probably describe it as "hearty" and "woodsy".

Leave a Reply

Latest Photos
www.flickr.com
More photos...