The Good Wine Guide
Discussion
I'm a complete novice when it comes to wines, I try them and if they taste nice I carry on drinking (normally straight from the bottle 
) Either way I think with the wealth of knowledge on PH's it would be good to start a good wine guide thread.
So share your knowledge...
Tips on find great wine.
Recommendations.
General Wine Facts.
Strange Wine Facts.
and any other tips/help you think a novice will find useful.
Cheers!!!
) Either way I think with the wealth of knowledge on PH's it would be good to start a good wine guide thread.So share your knowledge...
Tips on find great wine.
Recommendations.
General Wine Facts.
Strange Wine Facts.
and any other tips/help you think a novice will find useful.
Cheers!!!
Oooh, where to start!
- Watch the following films & TV Shows:
Sideways
Mondovino
Oz & James's Wine Adventures
The Other BBC wine show with 3 hour long episodes they had on recently
- Buy Decanter or Wine Spectator magazines
- Enrol on a Wine Tasting course (WSET is recognised qualification)
- I can heartily recommend you visit wine producing regions and visit some vineyards - most offer tours and tastings of some description and are great for gettign a feel for the whole growing and production process. I've visited wineries in France, Spain, England, Australia, California and Canada, had a great time at all of them.
- Sign up for Laithwaites, Tescos or Majestic wine clubs
- Visit wine shows or local tastings where you can speak to producers or importers direct. They can often give you interesting history of the wine they are selling.
- My most importabnt tip is to drink lots of any wine you can get your hands on! You will develop a liking for certain types. But I also find it very useful to keep a note of what you have drunk and try to identify the different flavours of the varieties.
Sit back, uncork, pour and enjoy!
- Watch the following films & TV Shows:
Sideways
Mondovino
Oz & James's Wine Adventures
The Other BBC wine show with 3 hour long episodes they had on recently
- Buy Decanter or Wine Spectator magazines
- Enrol on a Wine Tasting course (WSET is recognised qualification)
- I can heartily recommend you visit wine producing regions and visit some vineyards - most offer tours and tastings of some description and are great for gettign a feel for the whole growing and production process. I've visited wineries in France, Spain, England, Australia, California and Canada, had a great time at all of them.
- Sign up for Laithwaites, Tescos or Majestic wine clubs
- Visit wine shows or local tastings where you can speak to producers or importers direct. They can often give you interesting history of the wine they are selling.
- My most importabnt tip is to drink lots of any wine you can get your hands on! You will develop a liking for certain types. But I also find it very useful to keep a note of what you have drunk and try to identify the different flavours of the varieties.
Sit back, uncork, pour and enjoy!
Edited by prand on Monday 23 March 10:27
Plotloss said:
Whilst I love food I freely admit to being a complete luddite when it comes to Wine, the entire subject confounds me.
A man of your calibre, sir, could de-confound himself anytime he chose. You are already a connoisseur of the fine flavours of food. Being a bit methodical about researching one's tastes in wine isn't hard. Barolo is often very, very fine. But it's expensive.
My goal as a wine enthusiast is to drink wine that provides the best bang for buck ratio. i.e. Pay the least for stuff I like the most!
Don said:
I've got that one too. Great for planning next holidays. I'm thinking Argentina or South Africa for the next one, or back to Spain again.We found a wine log was a really good place to start http://www.wineware.co.uk/Leather+Bound+Wine+Log--...
When we go out for dinner we often ask for the Sommeliers recommendation, we keep the label and write down what we thought and what we had to eat, we also include wines we buy ourselves, starts to provide a nice picture of the grapes/blends you like.
When we go out for dinner we often ask for the Sommeliers recommendation, we keep the label and write down what we thought and what we had to eat, we also include wines we buy ourselves, starts to provide a nice picture of the grapes/blends you like.
Why not get together with a group of friends & form a wine tasting club? That way, you can get to taste several different wines in a single evening & quite quickly get to find your way around a wine shelf. Trying 'themed' evenings works quite well e.g. wines made from the same grape but from different parts of the world.
Don said:
+1, excellent book.As online reviews go, I've watched quite a few of this Guy's shows and he makes wine very entertaining when compared to all the wine snobs you get about.
He is a bit marmite like (and American).
http://tv.winelibrary.com/
But he regularly gives the best advice anyone into wine can get:
Try something different! Don't buy the same old bottle/brand/chateau over and over again, there's hundred of wine producers, and it's such a waste to restrict yourself to a particular brand or grape...
mrsshpub said:
Why not get together with a group of friends & form a wine tasting club? That way, you can get to taste several different wines in a single evening & quite quickly get to find your way around a wine shelf. Trying 'themed' evenings works quite well e.g. wines made from the same grape but from different parts of the world.
Not a bad idea - the trick is getting through a lot of bottles (ideally with a basic guide to give you an idea of what you should be tasting) to hone in on flavours and discover what you actually like.Another vote for Hugh Johnson who has amongst the best writing and presenting styles. If you can find copies I would recommend his series from the '80s (Wine or Vintage IIRC, my tapes are out on loan), very informative and entertaining. Also his definitive '60s book wine - whilst in many respects outdated it's a fabulous travelogue of the European wine regions, and inspires you to try the wines he describes.
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