Growing up, my dad had a small wine store as a "side project" with a friend of his, it didn't last terribly long and he definitely didn't make any money on it, but it helped spark my interest in wine, though I'm sure I'll never know as much as he does! I enjoy all kinds of wine: a good Chard like Edna Valley or Mer Soleil, we're big on Zinfandels too with any Ravenswood being a good (and budget friendly) choice. I refuse to spend more than 15 bucks or so on a bottle of wine, unless its a bottle of Veuve Cliquot, my favorite champagne--we also like to buy bottles of Asti Spumante to mix with fruit nectars for make your own bellinis at parties. I also enjoy Merlots and Cabs, but my husband doesn't like anything too tannic, so most of the reds we buy are either Zins or Pinot Noir. I'm also not a huge fan of dessert wines, my husband is a big port-guy, but I have enjoyed a Betrytus recently--an australian dessert wine, and occasionally like a spatlaze or a Riesling. Funny, just last night we were saying we needed more "wine friends"---anybody in Chi-town, stop on by and we'll open up something nice!
