Is wine tasting (quality) BS?

I have re-found a very old hobby. There is a nice French café a few blocks from me. They gave me their wine list, and when I drink one of their wines, (all French, mise en bouteille au chateau) I make some notes about my impressions. Later I look up the wine on Wikiipedia, and get some history, some of the more prominent estates in the district and other facts. I find that I pretty much airways prefer a French wine to WA or CA. I don't mind paying a bit more, I just use money that I save by having no bucket list. I listen to pronunciations on Forvo; I hope to sound less out of it than otherwise

Ha.
 
Deleted.
 
rockymountainhigh said:
I have no trouble with opening wine since mine usually comes is a box.:LOL:
Since I am a food migrainer I don't drink a lot of wine and neither does DW, the box keeps the oxygen away from the wine and so it keeps longer. Box wines have come a long way and are quite good.
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I once ended up with a Bordeaux in a wooden box in a Christmas gift exchange at work. It was pretty good, AOC wine.
 
haha said:
I have re-found a very old hobby. There is a nice French café a few blocks from me. They gave me their wine list, and when I drink one of their wines, (all French, mise en bouteille au chateau) I make some notes about my impressions. Later I look up the wine on Wikiipedia, and get some history, some of the more prominent estates in the district and other facts. I find that I pretty much airways prefer a French wine to WA or CA. I don't mind paying a bit more, I just use money that I save by having no bucket list. I listen to pronunciations on Forvo; I hope to sound less out of it than otherwise

Ha.
Click to expand...

This sounds like a fun hobby. I'm curious, why do you prefer French wines over WA/CA wines?

Lately I've been enjoying WA/CA Cabs. French wines have always been hit or miss for me, but I won't pretend to know much about French wines. I did have an excellent Bordeaux not too long ago, but that was an expensive bottle whose contents really measured up to the price. That's not always true. For me, half the fun about wines is learning about where they come from, their composition and personal understanding of why I like or don't like a specific wine.

Btw, thanks for the reference to Forvo. This is incredibly useful and I'm amazed I've never looked for this type of site in the past.
 
kiki said:
This sounds like a fun hobby. I'm curious, why do you prefer French wines over WA/CA wines?

Lately I've been enjoying WA/CA Cabs. French wines have always been hit or miss for me, but I won't pretend to know much about French wines. I did have an excellent Bordeaux not too long ago, but that was an expensive bottle whose contents really measured up to the price. That's not always true. For me, half the fun about wines is learning about where they come from, their composition and personal understanding of why I like or don't like a specific wine.

Btw, thanks for the reference to Forvo. This is incredibly useful and I'm amazed I've never looked for this type of site in the past.
Click to expand...
I don't really knew the lingo of wine tasting, so I cannot say much very useful. Overall it seems to be that French whites and reds tend to be dryer, somewhat sharper (not fruity). The different regions and sub-regions are usually quite different from one another, maybe from what the French call terroir. Basically, often they just taste better to me. My first good job I was in my late 20s, and the Franc was very cheap, so I bought good French wine from a local dealer, and I think it just formed my taste. Also, some of these that are quite good are not expensive-rarely the cheapest bottle on the list, but not too bad either.

Day to day I am still drinking mostly Charles Shaw!

Ha
 
REWahoo said:
I saw this and realized it was a shoe-in for this thread... :)

How to open a bottle of wine - without a corkscrew - YouTube
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In my RV travel, once at a Walmart stop, I had to look for a wine bottle with a twist cap instead of a cork. I had forgotten to pack a corkscrew, and did not want to buy another one.

Remembering this trick, next time that happens I will take a corked bottle to the back of Walmart and open it this way. I do not think my RV fiberglass wall is sturdy enough as a backstop for this approach. The problem is someone may just observe me doing this, and call the cops or security guards on me. Or the guy observing the surveillance cameras may ask himself "What the h***?".
 
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NW-Bound said:
In my RV travel, once at a Walmart stop, I had to look for a wine bottle with a twist cap instead of a cork. I had forgotten to pack a corkscrew, and did not want to buy another one.

Remembering this trick, next time that happens I will take a corked bottle to the back of Walmart and open it this way. I do not think my RV fiberglass wall is sturdy enough as a backstop for this approach. The problem is someone may just observe me doing this, and call the cops or security guards on me. Or the guy observing the surveillance cameras may ask himself "What the h***?".
Click to expand...
Interesting, but considering what happens to people who are not very careful in and around a Wal-Mart store, I think you might be better off just spending $5 on a corkscrew. Frugality is lovely, but not worth dying in some zealous employee's choke hold or in a fusillade of police bullets.

Ha
 
"Hey you! Drop that bottle and the shoe. Hands up in the air!" :2funny:

No, I was just joking. Too weird! I think it is more likely that I would find my antics being shown on the "People of Walmart" site. :)
 
I like wine and have done a few wine tastings. Went to the Cincinnati Wine Festival last year and enjoyed the hors d'oeuvres more than the wine! I normally drink boxed chardonnay. Franzia is drinkable, Bota Box is outstanding (but more expensive), and the boxed chardonnay from Trader Joe's manages to be at least 95% as good as Bota Box for the same price as Franzia. I can't pick up all of the subtle flavors people claim they taste in various wines.

Michelob Ultra is my go-to beer due to its low carbohydrate content. It's definitely not my favorite beer in terms of taste, and I find that it has a pretty bad aftertaste. Goose Island's Sofie is the best beer I've ever had. They age part of the beer in oak barrels, just like wine.
 
I've had wines I didn't like, at several price points, but I drank them anyway!
 
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segfault said:
:D Ditto. Waste not, want not.
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In context of wine, I don't understand this. Since wine for most of us is a pure matter of taste, and also for most of us it is likely to be a net negative for our health, why wouldn't it be better to immediately throw away any wine that did not please one's tastes?

Ha
 
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If I were as picky as some wine drinkers, I would have to eat coq au vin and daube everyday. ;)
 
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haha said:
In context of wine, I don't understand this. Since wine for most of us is a pure matter of taste, and also for most of us it is likely to be a net negative for our health, why wouldn't it be better to immediately throw away any wine that did not please one's tastes?

Ha
Click to expand...

I am sure you know the assertion that moderate drinkers outlive tea-totalers and heavy imbibers alike.
Remove the alcohol and the finest wine becomes sour grape juice to me. The alcohol is inextricably linked to the appreciation.
A friend once served Gallo Sangria at lunch. Rather than offend, I sent my palate to it's happy place and lived to tell about it. It would be a rare wine that is so bad that it goes down the drain unfiltered. :)
 
NW-Bound said:
If I were as picky as some wine drinkers, I would have to eat coq au vin and daube everyday. ;)
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I am fortunate that I only have 2 wine requirements and they are simple. It has to be a Riesling and at least 10.5%. I have yet to find one that is too cheap in price to drink yet.
 
Riesling is too sweet for my taste. Plus I drink more red wine for health reasons.
 
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I'm new here, but not exactly new to wine.

Still struggling with what the OP was tickling the forum to discuss...that there is snobbery in wine tasting or that claims that there are differences in wine are bs (implying all wines taste alike)?

Or that wine tasting based on cost is bs (implying there is a bias to *always* prefer the more expensive wine)?
 
NW-Bound said:
Riesling is too sweet for my taste. Plus I drink more red wine for health reasons.
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Whites are healthy for you too! But that is not the reason I drink it anyways. I have tried to drink reds, and wind up throwing the bottle away every time. I just can't do it, but
I have tried.
 
"Good taste" is personal. I narrow down my choice first by price ($5 - $16) and then decide if I like it. Either is tastes good to me or it doesn't. I just starting using a free "wine rater" app on my phone so I can easily keep track of the ones I like... and avoid accidentally buying the ones I forgot I didn't like! :facepalm:
 
haha said:
In context of wine, I don't understand this. Since wine for most of us is a pure matter of taste, and also for most of us it is likely to be a net negative for our health, why wouldn't it be better to immediately throw away any wine that did not please one's tastes?

Ha
Click to expand...

But the taste improves after a glass or two...
 
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