Copyright 1996 by Robin Garr. All rights reserved.
Most of what I taste, I post on the Wine Lovers' Page, so you can pretty much look through what I've got on the Web to see what I've been tasting lately. You'll find plenty of good red wines there!The bad news is that a sweet red table wine is a rare thing. Most people find that dry (unsweet) wines go much better with food than sweet ones do, and just about everyone who drinks wine regularly has acquired a taste for the dry kind.
In fact, I am personally aware of just one sweet red wine, period, and it's a little bit of a rarity: It's a Greek red called "Mavrodaphne," and it generally sells for about $5 to $6. You might ask a local wine shop about it.
In all seriousness, though, if you're interested in consuming red wine with meals as a matter of course, it would pay you to develop a taste for drier wines. I'd suggest starting with a light, fruity red, such as any of the various Beaujolais from France, the "Gamay Beaujolais" equivalent from California (The Beringer 1995 "Nouveau" Gamay Beaujolais that's just out and is selling around the US for about $5 is an excellent one), or a good red Zinfandel -- the Rosenblum and Rabbit Ridge wineries in California makes some very good ones that aren't too pricey.
Try one of these, don't drink it by itself but sip it with the meal (roast chicken would work fine, or steaks or lamb if you're a red-meat eater), and I think you'll begin to see that the marriage of good food with a quality dry red wine is a match made in heaven.
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