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Introducing the Pedestrian Wine-Drinker
Posted by perle0 on 2004-08-28 20:17:40
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[The Pedestrian Wine Drinker] |
First let's clear something up right away. This column is NOT about drinking pedestrian wines. Life's too short to drink pedestrian wine. No, it's the wine-drinker who is pedestrian. The Pedestrian Wine-Drinker (PWD for short) is just a commonplace wine-lover, an ordinary peon, one who slogs through the wine world on foot, rather than soaring above the crowd on wings of special wine knowledge and ability.
The PWD is a column devoted to wine. It appears regularly on LaWineClub.com, a local community website devoted primariy to wine tasting notes written by you and me--the only real experts on wine as far as you and I are concerned.
Let's dive right in then, shall we? Perhaps the best place to start is to answer the question, what the heck is a tasting note, anyway? |
A tasting note is a review of a particular wine. Think of it as a movie review, but for wine. Movie reviews look a several different aspects of a movie--what type of movie is it trying to be? Comedy or drama? Something for kids, or for adults only? Does it succeed? Do the different components of the movie, the actors, director, setting, script, etc., all work well? Do they work well together? Most important, is the movie any good? Should you go to see it?
Like a movie review, a tasting note looks at several different aspects of the wine. What type of wine is it trying to be? Different wines have different goals. A cabernet sauvignon should be dry and complex--the drama of the wine world. A white zinfandel should be more sweet and fruity--it's a comedy, and shouldn't be judged by the same rules as a dramatic cabernet. How do the different components of the wine work? How does it smell? How does it look? Is it sweet or dry? Is it fruity? Acidic? Does it have tannins? Do these elements work well together, or not so much? Do you detect any flavors, such as various fruits, spices, or elements (mmm, leather and wet earth…)? Do you smack your lips and say, "More, please!" or wonder if you can drift off to the bathroom and spit it out without anyone noticing?
Tasting notes can seem intimidating to the beginner. "Who am I to say how good this wine is," you think. "There are people who get paid to tell me which wines are good. And these people always find interesting fruits, nuts, and berry flavors in their wines, when all I can tell is that it tastes good." Well, a better question would be, "Who are these people telling me which wines to like?" People have different tastes. The wines the experts like may not be the kind you like. They may be too expensive, because an expert has proclaimed them great. You may find that the wines you like have certain qualities that the wine experts also identify, but consider to be flaws. (Hey, fajitas were first made from the bits of meat that everybody else considered useless, and now people love 'em.)
The point is, nobody knows what you like better than you. And your opinion about a wine is just as valid as anyone else's opinion, even if no one else happens to share that opinion. But chances are that someone out there would find your opinion useful. Even more important, when you record your own tasting notes, you begin to see patterns; you find types and trends in your wine-drinking history. You realize that you really do like cabs better than merlots, or rieslings better than chardonnays. You have a record of the great (and not-so-great) bottles of wine you've enjoyed, and you can use it to help you decide which bottle to buy next. When your friends ask you for a wine recommendation, you can just send them a link to your tasting note for the bottle you recommend. And over time, as you taste and try and write about different wines, you'll find that you learn more and more about wines. You'll even figure out that the most high-flying expert does not know everything there is to know about wines--because there's too much for any one human being to learn.
Since we're all learning about wine together, we might as well enjoy the journey. Join me and my friends on LaWineClub.com as we taste, note, post, and share what we learn along the way. And while you're there, don't forget to raise a toast to the pedestrian wine-drinker in all of us. |
Coming soon: Did you score? A quickie guide to scoring wine. |
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