The Lovely Young Lady.

The other day, the Lovely Young Lady and I took a detour over to Bin 38 in the Marina. After trying a few wines, I was pleasantly surprised to learn two things about her. First, she is very sensitive to brett and does not enjoy it in a wine. Second, she likes the big, fruit-forward style of wine making. I, on the other hand, will find the occasional brett in my wine enjoyable and like my wines with less fruit-dominance and more secondary characteristics that come from aging.

In the end, I had a big smile on my face. On the one hand, I love our differences on these two points as I hope they can make for interesting discussions down the road. On the other hand, I hope I have helped her a little bit in learning what she likes in wine. I find both of those propositions exciting!

A nice introduction to wine appreciation.

I recently came across this useful introduction to wine tasting. Enjoy!

Why decant?

Last night, the "lovely young lady" asked me when one should decant a wine (I will write another post at a later date about why the question was raised). There's one, clearly accepted reason for decanting wine, and there is another, more controversial reason to decant.

First, some wines are likely to have sediment. Vintage Ports, for example, are bottle aged with the skin fragments of the wine grapes in the bottle. These fragments can be substantial in size and, take it from me, one does not want to consume them. Other wines, as they age, will throw down tartrates which are harmless, but aren't pleasant to look at in one's glass.

The second reason some people argue a wine should be decanted is to aerate it by exposing all of the wine to oxygen. On the other hand some researchers have argued that decanting actually has negative effects on wine (or at least, some varietals). I, honestly, fall in the former category for certain types of wines (young, powerful wines). After all, when one wants to open a bottle... why should a little thing like youth get in the way?

Lesson learned....

Do not give bottles of wine as a Christmas present if the recipient's interest is mild or limited. The bottles will end up in interesting spots -- such as on a shelf, in direct sunlight and in the kitchen.

Groan....

Does wine require an advanced degree?

I often hear other people say "I like wine, but all I know is what I like or don't like." This view reflects a fallacy, I think, that is sadly encouraged by many wine advocates and marketers. One easily knows of people who encourage such a view -- anyone who eagerly plays up their knowledge of a subject. Someone who likes to make others feel inferior by what they don't know. Such a person deters others from learning about a subject because of that person's desire to play up their knowledge or to say "no" too often without saying "yes." Such hubris has no place in life (whether it's wine or any other subject), and simply deters others from learning about all the wonderful things that wine has to offer.

All that one needs to know about wine is what one likes and does not like. First, it starts with the varietals one likes. From there, it turns into what characteristics of those varietals one likes. For example, I prefer older Cabernet to younger Cabernet. While fruit is important, I also want tobacco and other flavors. Fruit bombs, while tasty, are not preferred. All this knowledge comes from experience -- no classes, no professional training. Just simple experience.

So the lesson, if there is one, is to try what one can, and to avoid anyone who feels like he or she must make themselves important by making one feel insignificant.