I like wine better with a meal.
To begin learning about wine you like, find a “wine guy” (my own non-gender specific term) you can trust. Tell the guy what you think you like about wine (be honest!) and what food you’re serving. Ask for suggestions and give his recommendations a try. Make notes about what you did or did not like about the wine the guy picked. You’ll find some wine guys who have similar taste preferences to your own; take advantage of their ability to taste lots and lots of wines and make good suggestions for you. I mean, they get to taste WAY more wine than you ever will; it's their job.
Some of the best less expensive wines come from other countries. Try Australia, South Africa or Chile.
Read about how to begin enjoying wine: books (check your local public library of course!) or on the net. For instance, about.com’s Wine Basics gives good advice about the importance of “price, preference, pairing.”
Attend some tastings and/or visit some wineries. And if you can, sign on for some extended vineyard/winery tours. Walking through the vineyards, seeing the grapes on the vine, seeing where the wine is grown and made really is informative. If you care at all about farming or gardening, you'll love vineyard tours.
Most people start off enjoying wines on the sweet side, but the more you drink wine, the less you’ll like “sweet” as your norm. That’s not a snob thing; your taste really is changed by the wine itself. If you’re wanting to move on from jug or mass-produced wines try a German Riesling, or a Rosé, or a Merlot (Columbia Crest Grand Estates for example). Yes, I said “merlot!”
Back to pairing, read up on it some, but basically, I tend to like a wine that matches the locale of the food, Italian wine (or grape variety) with Italian food, etc. That’s oversimplified, but you get the idea.
Do take a little time to notice and consider whatever wine you’re drinking. Smell it first. If it’s spoiled or “corked” it may smell like paper maché (wet cardboard). Swirl it in the glass to really get a good whiff. Look at the color. Look through the wine to see how deep or thick the color is. Use plain, clear glasses btw. As a sideline, I don’t care what anyone else says, those glasses with a scientifically designed shape for the various grapes DO WORK! Once you get used to enjoying good wines, the shape of the glass really can make a difference in the taste of a specific wine.
Sadly, do expect to pay more per bottle as you learn more about wine, but again, your wine guy can help you find good value.
Tasting, tasting, tasting leads to learning, learning, learning.
Cook up something good, or unwrap some nice cheese, uncork/unscrew a bottle, and pour me a glass!
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| Seasmoke in the glass! |
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