I'm not a huge wine drinker but I do intend on indulging on a little over the summer. I'm curious of white zif. is ok on phase 2.. or are the better choices? I know nothing about wine.

If I recall correctly, one glass per night is allowed on phase II...in fact, here's whats in the Phase II FAQ:

BEVERAGES
Wine red or white (1 - 2 4 oz. glass(es) daily with or after meals)
LIGHT BEER 1 on occasion (12 oz)

Is white wine zif. Zinfandel? Most wines allowed on SBD Phase II are classified as "dry". In Canada, that means 0 to 1 in sweetness. I'm not sure of the USA classification.
To make it go further, you can make spritzers with half club soda and half wine.

Yes, I should have written it differently that is what I mean though

Yes, "white" zinfandel is made with red zinfandel grapes. Technically it's a blush wine--the juice is not left in contact with the grape skins long enough to extract the color and flavor from the skins, which is how red wine is made (red wine gets its color from constant contact between the juice and skins during fermentation). White zin is not a fully dry wine, but typically left a bit sweet.

If you're looking to get health benefits from your glass of wine, you'd be much better off drinking a red wine. If you like fruity and sweet, then maybe a merlot or a syrah to start off with.

Thank you for the suggestion, I do like fruity and sweet so I think I will start with a merlot or syrah... any type/name suggestions? Something not really expensive of course

i drink blush zin all the time... I had a very nice Pinot Noir last night...

When I'm shopping for wine, I don't typically look for particular brands, rather I look for a particular price range. $6 to $8 is a pretty sweet spot--good quality wine, but not too expensive. Often you can find a wine that would normally be in this price range, but is on sale for a buck or two off, so pick up a couple of those. And if you end up hating a bottle of wine you got for $6, then it's not a huge disappointment. It may take some experimentation before you find something you really enjoy.

Nessa said pinot noir too, and that's usually a fairly light and fruity red wine, so that's another possible good choice.

If you really get into drinking wine, there's a lot of fun stuff to learn about tasting it, and how it's grown, and where different varieties come from and such. Wine has "deep roots," as it were...it's a very ancient beverage with a lot of interesting history. (But, don't let that intimidate you. It's just wine, after all.)

Have you tried the new breed of rose wines? They're not like the old sickly sweet Mateus rose and are great for the summer.

6:00 AM and I'm thinking of a glass of white with my quiche cup!

Pass me some when you get done...

I would suggest trying to find a place that does wine tastings to see what you like. Depending on where you are I know Specs does wine tastings in Texas and Bev Mo does tastings in CA. There are so many wines out there, you can almost always find something you'll like. Good luck!
And don't forget that you can also have champagne!

I used to know a lot about wine like Warmaiden but after divorcing an alcoholic I just associated drinking any alcohol with that marriage and those were not happy memories either! That is a shame because I am sure I missed out on a lot of other "good things" regarding this beverage.

I too don't know where to start any more. I too go to all of the racks and I am afraid that I will buy something that I don't like and then wonder what to do with the rest of the bottle. I like the idea of those little bottles in a four pack. Are those any good? Or do I just have to hunt and peck until I find something I like?

I like the idea of the 4-packs too, but there's a few problems with them. One, a single 187 ml bottle is equivalent to about 6 ounces of wine, and that's about 2 ounces more than I want to be drinking. Two, the cheaper of the 4-packs is going to be about the same quality as the full bottles of wine in that price range...which means not very good. So you'd really need to spend about the same money as just getting a bottle of wine, anyways. Three, there's not a lot of variety or availability in the 4-packs yet.

Thus, if you're experimenting with wine, I'd still say grab a couple bottles in the $6 to $8 range and try them out. Try approaching the exercise with a free-wheeling, fun, playful, experimental attitude. You might not like it, but you MIGHT. It's even more fun if you have someone in your life who will experiment with you. My husband doesn't drink alcohol at all, and doesn't much like wine, but he will always take a sip and tell me what he thinks--some of them he likes better than others.

Wine that you don't like can handily be used in many yummy dinner recipes. Add a splash of red wine to chicken cacciatore, veggie soup, or any tomato-based recipe. Saute mushrooms, onions, and garlic in a bit of olive oil, then add white wine to make a tasty sauce to simmer chicken in. Use either color of wine for marinating meats.

What I'm saying is, you've got nothing to fear.

I think the 4 packs are a good idea when trying to see what you like/dislike. That way if you don't like it, you can easily give the other 3 bottles to someone that does like it and it doesn't go to waste or cook with it like WarMaiden suggested.