what wine is good.

You can get some really nice stuff for under $50 a bottle!

I am a huge fan on NZ wine, generally Hawke's Bay syrah, Central Otago pinot noir and Marlborough sauvignon blanc are all good choices. Have a look at NZ Wine Society website for ideas.

oh and another thing is it best to go for red or white, sparkling or still.

a really nice wine i tried recently (an australian wine) was brown brothers - moscato rosa. its a rose with a very light hint of a sparkle and so yummy!! got it for i think $15 on special?

http://www.brownbrothers.com.au/ourwine/product.aspx?vintageid=1019

thanks for the suggestions ladies keep them coming. I have a gilmours card so i will be buying from there as it is alot cheaper than in a normal shop, thus the $50 limit as wines that are $50 in a shop could be around $35 at gilmours.

Personal favourites (NZ) would be wines from

Crater Rim
Fromm
Seresin
Pegasus Bay
Millton
Quartz Reef (bubbles )
Ata Rangi

There are a few more but I can't quite think of them!

From experience, the large majority of people like off-dry aromatic wines as a starting point. So Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris.. Not all of these wines are neccesarily sweet but generally you can check out the back label which will give you some idea.

Pinot Noir is a personal favourite.. For decent Pinot it can be quite pricey in comparison to say a NZ Merlot. Favourites hail from Waipara, Martinborough and quite a few from Marlborough.

Bubbles - as above, I love Quartz Reef Chauvet. But DH and I have been known to knock back a few bottles of Lindauer Special reserve - there is seriously nothing wrong with it. You get what you're paying for ($20 odd dollars).

Depending on where you are - I would highly recommend going to your local fine wine store. Generally they have people who can run through the basics with you, especially if you're considering French/Italian etc wine.
Favourite Frenchies would be Red Burgundy, White Burgundy.. Rhone Reds.. Alsace whites.. Bordeaux Red & a few whites
Favourite Italian would be Brunello di Montalcino.. decent Chianti.. Barolo

If you don't know too much about it, I'd probably go for a pinot gris for white, or a pinot noir for red.

I like a lot of different pinot noir wines but prefer Waipara ones (plus my cousins hubby gets me cleanskins from his work for about $6 a bottle ).

I would avoid champagnes or chardonnays - they're an aquired taste so its very hit and miss.

I think MammaN has suggested a really nice selection of wines from some pretty respected winemakers. My DH used to be the vineyard manager at Millton Vineyards and their wines are devine!!! They do a really lovely summer wine called Muskats @ Dawn that is available for a short time. its only 8% alcohol and is great to drink on a hot day....easy to drink. might be hard to find at Gilmours though (although they are in some New worlds). the are organic too which is nice.

I second the idea of going into a specialist wine shop and asking advice.

mmmmmmmmmmm Milton is lovely

Such a nice wine