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How to REALLY learn about wine...

post #1 of 6
3/29/02 at 3:34pm
Thread Starter 
So...I'm about a quarter of the way through "The World Encyclopedia of Wine" by Stuart Walton and I'm learning tons about the grapes and wines regionality as well as what a wine is supposed to taste like when it is say...an oaked Chardonay from California.

The only problem is, I couldn't sit down and taste a wine and say...that is such and such grape variety etc.

Does anyone have a good way of sitting down, possibly purchasing a few bottles of wine and starting to develop a taste memory of wines? I fear I'm not making much sense, but I kind of want to figure out how you go about developing a fine wine tasting palate.

I hope I haven't made anyone more confused than I am myself.

Matt
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post #2 of 6
3/29/02 at 6:11pm
Have you thought of taking a wine tasting class? There are more and more wine club here, where memebers spend an evening discussing different wines and obviously enjoying them.
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post #3 of 6
4/6/02 at 10:42pm
It's just like learning to play tennis...if you only play tennis with people at your level, you never get any better. If you play people who are better than you, you will become a better player.

Taste with someone who knows wine, or who can at least taste critically and consistently. Ultimately, once your OBJECTIVE tasting skills are practiced, most of wine tasting is SUBJECTIVE to your own palate and experience, e.g. the absence or presence of oak in a chardonnay is an objective fact. Whether the chardonnay is oaked to your liking is a subjective criticism.

Most of all, drink wine every chance you get!
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post #4 of 6
4/7/02 at 3:33pm

A TOAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YES THE ONLY,I SAY ONLY WAY TO LEARN IS BY DOING.I AGREE ON THE READING NOW PUT THEORY AND APPLICATION IN MOTION.WINE CLASS VERY GOOD IDEA. DRINK ALL YOU CAN AND DON'T FORGET THE TASTING NOTES. TASING ALL YOU CAN IS SIMPLY THE WAY TO GO ,HOWEVER IF YOU NEVER WRITE IT DOWN HOW WILL YOU REMEMBER WHAT YOU TASTED.



LIFE'S TOO SHORT TO DRINK BAD WINE.
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post #5 of 6
4/10/02 at 9:22am
What more can I add? Taste, taste, taste. After I had a little knowledge of wine (I don't have that much more now compared to some people like Cape Chef, who is a wonderful reference) I would buy 2 bottles everytime I went to the store. One cheaper one for just enjoying and drinking, and one a little more expensive (I am talking in $17-30 range) to spend some time studying. That way I began to develop my palate. Living in Atlanta you are blessed with a number of good stores and wine shops where you can pick up good wines for little money. And once again. TASTE, TASTE, TASTE.
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post #6 of 6
4/10/02 at 12:48pm

Field testing

Two winos propped up and almost passed out in the alley when one turns and says to the other "It was a good wine, but not a great wine"....
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