I've been drinking a lot of Californian wines because I can get them easily. If I get off my butt and actually drive to the amazing wine shop a town over, I load up on French (where I drink by region. St. Emilion is my FAVE FAVE FAVE. I like some Pauillac, St. Julien is delish, too).

Pinot Grigio is great, and very popular among my friends here. Hmm, I wonder if this American friend of yours is just young (or maybe her parents weren't aficionados of wine?) I've found that most people who stick to chardonnay don't know much about wine. I don't mean that in a shirty way, just that it seems like a "safe order" when you don't know what to select, so your knowledge of varietals doesn't go anywhere.