However, at the beginning of the class, I went on to describe about some basics of wine tasting and how the participants can make the wine more memorable, one of the women was visibly upset at the white to red ratio.We were lucky enough to have 10 wines in total with 2 white and 8 red.
She was willing to stay for the event as we had already begun.
She was definitely enjoying the whites that we started with, a Sauvgion Blanc and a Reisling.
As we moved onto the reds she was a little hesitant. We starting with a Pinot Noir, a Cabernet Sauvgion, moving on to a Tempranillo, Shiraz, a few blends, and ending with a Barollo.
Once she tasted the Chateauneuf du Pape, she was warming up to the ideas of some smooth drinking well balanced reds.
Like many others, if you are a novice wine person, you find something that you like and you tend to stick with them. Just like she was doing. She liked her Pinot Grigo and that was it. She would occasionally have a Sauv. Blanc, but was scared to stray off from what she was comfortable with.
So how do you learn what you like without going broke on buying wines and discovering you hate it and dump it down the drain?
There are a few ways to figure out what you like, and many of them without spending a lot of money if any. Here is how I do a lot of discovering of different wines.
Dinner Parties:
Wine Tasting Classes:
Taking a wine tasting class is a great way in tasting a number of wines. It may be a themed class, such as all from South America, or a specific region in France, but they are usually fairly inexpensive and can be amazing. (See Classes and More to have me run a class for you.)
Join a Wine Club:
There are wine clubs in cities all over the world. These usually have an annual fee that you will have to pay, but it will include most of the tastings in that fee. The advantage of a wine club is that they may have their own inventory of wines that are at their peek and not available on the market any longer.
Visit a Winery:
Depending on where you live, this can be an amazing day trip. Most wineries have a tasting room where you can sample their wines for simple $1 per sample. If you find something you like and end up buying a bottle (or a case) they will usually not even bother charging you for the tastings. After all, that's what they want you to do. Sample a wine, love it, and take it home.Many wineries also have coupons on their websites for a free tasting. I know that Coyote's Run and Black Prince, both have them on theirs. Because I live in Toronto, I'm luck enough to be able to do day trips to both Niagara and Prince Edward County.
So where did that leave the woman in my class?
Thrilled. She said that knowing some of the background of the wines and where they were coming from was as important to her as the wine itself. I tend to agree.
But the key thing in this whole blog is this. Don't be afraid to try new wines, and step out of your comfort zone.
You never know what you might end up liking.
After all, that's what wine is all about, the experience.
Let me know if you would like to share a bottle sometime so we can both enjoy a glass.
Matt
