Try it, you’ll like it! Or maybe you won’t. That’s the conundrum… a seemingly endless sea of wine, different wines, different vintages, different labels. It’s all so confusing. And when all is said and done, it’s still a matter of trying something that is a new and different, or resigning yourself to opening the same bottle of wine each time. Same wine each time? How boring is that?
What to do? You can certainly read up on stuff… Wine Advocate, Wine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast, International Wine Cellar, Decanter… excellent monthly publications. You can learn a lot. The New York Times has a column on Wednesday and the Wall St. Journal has one on Friday. You can learn even more.
Good ratings from the monthlies and editorial endorsements from the weeklies are well and good; but you drink wine for your pleasure, not for Robert Parker of the Wine Advocate or Eric Asimov of the New York Times. A great rating speaks for the quality of the wine, not whether you will like it.
Read all you want. The best way to learn is to taste. And the best way to taste is to take advantage of Wine Tastings when there is an opportunity to try several wines in comparison. Wineries are a sure bet; but it could also be at a shop that specializes in wines… or how about in the home?
Here are several ways to look at wine…
Vertical Tasting. This is looking at the same wine but in several vintages. There is no finer way to experience how wine evolves over time than to try the same Napa Cab, for example; but in different vintages. Maybe the current vintage was rated as better; but the vintage from three years ago is drinking better? A text book on how wine improves with additional bottle age.
Horizontal Tasting. The same wine type, different producers, but in the same vintage. Perhaps all Cabernet Sauvignons from the 2005 Vintage; but from different zones… Rutherford Bench, Oakville, Howell Mountain & etc. Or several Bordeaux from their great 2005 Vintage. This type of tasting provides a clue as to the variables of vineyard and winemaking quality, and how both will have an impact on price. And isn’t it fun to enjoy a more modest Bordeaux from the Cotes de Blaye than a Classified Growth from Margaux?
Same Grape, Different Country. Interest in Pinot Noir is at an all time high. But this varietal is known for its finicky disposition. It is a varietal that is sensitive to both climate and soil and the wines produced from this fickle grape can be dramatically different region from region, country from country. Differences abound in Chardonnay and many other varietals, too.
Blind Tasting. Putting several wines in bags to cover their labels is perhaps the best way to focus on the taste of wine. Be prepared to be surprised. Also know that it can be a bit unsettling to try something when you are stripped of your predisposed preferences… the “I-don’t-like-Merlot” can be in for fall when that is chosen as a favorite wine in the tasting flight. This is a humbling exercise, and it is the quickest way to level the playing field between experienced and inexperienced wine tasters.
Potpourri Tasting. A tasting doesn’t have to be overly organized. The wines can simply follow the course of an evening, or the dinner being served. Begin with a sparkling wine as an aperitif, enjoy a lighter white wine, follow it with a white with a more robust structured nature, then a couple of reds… a fresh red and then one with greater complexity, and then conclude with a dessert wine. Hey! It’s supposed to be fun!
Sure… reading about wine can’t help but develop an interest in wine… to add knowledge. But if you want to learn about wine, you have to taste it. Taste, taste and taste again. Assume that you will like some over others. But the more you taste, the more you will understand why a certain wine, given the time of the year, given the food being served, given the company that you are sharing it with, given your mood, will be the right wine. And often the right wine, given all the variables, will not be your “favorite” wine.
Wine is only boring when you treat it as just a form of flavoured alcohol. Wine is all about variety. OK. Go taste!