How do you know a 'good' wine?
Discussion
I'm not sure it it's a good thing but I drink enough wine now that I'm very confident in knowing what I like and have sampled ahem...a great deal over the past couple of years.
The thing is, if I didn't know what a wine cost I really don't think I could tell what a good or a bad wine is, I'm not talking so much about personal tasting preference but being able to tell the difference between a £3.99/£6.99/£24.99 bottle.
Does it really matter? I had a cheapo Valpol from Morrisons the other night which was v v nice, I liked it and ultimately that is what counts but it would be nice to be able to tell why it's expensive...or not!
The thing is, if I didn't know what a wine cost I really don't think I could tell what a good or a bad wine is, I'm not talking so much about personal tasting preference but being able to tell the difference between a £3.99/£6.99/£24.99 bottle.
Does it really matter? I had a cheapo Valpol from Morrisons the other night which was v v nice, I liked it and ultimately that is what counts but it would be nice to be able to tell why it's expensive...or not!
HiRich said:
Sounds to me like the OP wants to move from blindly drinking (and enjoying) to actually understanding the wine.
You could try a tasting course, or a good book. The standard used to be "Le Gout de Vin" by Emile Peynaud (available in English as The Taste of Wine), and I believe Jancis Robinson has a similar book. A bit of guidance will help you start to identify the different elements and in turn which bits you like.
Continue with the field research. Lots of it. And gradually you'll build up knowledge of the different wine types/regions with a more detailed understanding of what you like.
yup You could try a tasting course, or a good book. The standard used to be "Le Gout de Vin" by Emile Peynaud (available in English as The Taste of Wine), and I believe Jancis Robinson has a similar book. A bit of guidance will help you start to identify the different elements and in turn which bits you like.
Continue with the field research. Lots of it. And gradually you'll build up knowledge of the different wine types/regions with a more detailed understanding of what you like.
I'm at the stage where I can (mostly) tell the difference between the different grapes and I generally get what I expect when I choose whatever style takes my fancy that night.
However what gets me is the difference between the styles, Rioja to me seems particulary 'different' between the various brands out there.
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