Necrobump
cc:
@DC @RacerX @BearFanJohn
I've pretty much not liked wine my whole life, or thought I didn't. Always been a beer, cocktail and whisky guy. Until like a month ago I had a few glasses while out to dinner, and loved it.
I've been on a big Malbec kick lately, trying a bunch of different stuff and am really enjoying it. I've had a Buenos Aires trip on my agenda for awhile now, so going down the Argentinian wine rabbit hole has been kind of fun. And it will be cool to have some familiarity when I eventually make it to the wineries in that region of the country.
But I want to broaden my horizons a bit (more Malbecs are also very welcome). I'm mostly looking in the "value" category right now. Really good wines, that come in the $20-40 range. My guess is there are quite a few bottles that fall into that category. A couple hundred bucks for a bottle would probably be wasted on me right now as I'm still trying to refine my palate and taste a bunch of stuff. I enjoy smelling it almost as much as drinking it. Same way with scotch.
I think I want to stick with reds for the time being unless someone has an "essential" white that could be a gateway into enjoying those too.
Any suggestions?
The way I learned wine and subsequently, the way I teach wine now is go "all-in" with a specific varietal. Drink 4-6 bottles of that varietal (malbec, merlot, syrah, etc) without drinking anything else. Get to know the basic profile of the grape without any blends. Find 100%'s.
Say you pick merlot from up and down the coast in January. Again, go for a handful to really get to it's core. Have a journal and study the reviews and profiles of the wine before and after drinking and mark down your own thoughts. "Dry, sweet, jammy, acidic (does it make your mouth water after digesting)"
Then, in February, pick a completely different varietal. Cabernet Sauvignon for example. Do the same thing, but in the middle of the 6 or so bottles, go back and drink your favorite merlot. You'll notice a vast difference. And everytime you go back to one wine for the previous month, review the notes and rewrite them.
Stack month after month and you'll gain an understanding of the historic grape properties but you'll also have a nice understanding of different regions too.
This is probably the most indulgent way of doing this, but if you really want to understand wine at the basic level, this is what I recommend. To make things more cost effective in the long run...I would HIGHLY reccomend a Coravin (
Coravin Wine Preservation Systems and Accessories)
This machine is really amazing. You can drink a single bottle of wine slowly over the course of...years. Yeah, so if you enjoy wine but you're not a big drinker, you can extend the life of the bottle for a long time. Really is nice when you start spoiling yourself with something expensive. It's even better when you've got a good grasp on the wine because you will of course notice differences as it continues to age. If I was you, I'd put it on my Christmas list for next year.
Wine Bible is a good but long book. Most of all, drink it and have fun. It's better for you than Liquor or beer. It's truly Gods drink!
The quest for knowledge in the wine game is never ending. Nearly 8 years ago I asked
@RacerX on some wine recommendations for long-term aging and I thought I knew better and went with a California fruit bomb. He advised me not to, but did I listen? Nope. Now it's vinegar.
Always learning lol.
tims-wine-market.shoplightspeed.com
