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Citizen X
Citizen
Username: Citizen_x
Post Number: 21
Registered: 4-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 24, 2005 - 4:38 pm: |     |
How do you choose a wine?
By its color?
Grape?
Region?
Ask the salesperson (and if you do, what are the criteria)?
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algebra2
Supporter
Username: Algebra2
Post Number: 3444
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 24, 2005 - 4:43 pm: | |
price, of course!
cheap and red
Village Wine Shop has a red wine in a blue bottle for $5.99, I usually buy a handful of those. A$P has a good wine in a red bottle for $7.99 -- those are good too. |
dougw
Citizen
Username: Dougw
Post Number: 188
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 24, 2005 - 4:47 pm: | |
I usually try new wines in resturants. Either by the bottle or the glass. If I like something I buy more in a store or on the internets. Color, grape, region and year are all nice, but taste is what really matters to me. |
Hank Zona
Supporter
Username: Hankzona
Post Number: 3417
Registered: 3-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 24, 2005 - 5:00 pm: | |
I choose..whichever is closest.
I choose by a few criteria...
Value. That doesnt mean it has to be cheap, but it has to be a good value. It can be cheap, by the way. When we moved into our house, a cousin brought as a house-warming present, an '83 Margaux...at the time worth about $125. We had dinner, four of us, and had a sparkling wine, a white, two reds and a dessert wine over the course of the night. At the end of the night he went on about how I really outdid myself with the wines and they must have cost me a fortune. I told him the six wines cost me about 2/3 of the one bottle he brought me. It also means I will keep trying new regions or grape types if the former values start losing their value (some Rhone and southern French wines or some Zins for example that got too popular and the prices sky-rocketed).
Season. If its summer, Im looking at more whites, dry roses, lighter reds...if its winter, heavier wines. We cook and eat seasonally, so I buy wines seasonally to go with what we're eating or how we're drinking.
I also choose wines the way I choose books or music. If I like a certain author, I buy their other books. If I like a certain producer, I try their different wines. If I like a certain genre of music, I try different artists of that genre. If I like a certain grape, I try different producers' hand at it.
Favorites. Some wines or producers, I will keep going back to.
Curiosity. If I have read something or tried something or tasted something about a grape, producer, region and want to know more, I buy it. |
AlleyGater
Citizen
Username: Alleygater
Post Number: 357
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 24, 2005 - 5:17 pm: | |
I buy whichever has a pretty label. |
redY67
Citizen
Username: Redy67
Post Number: 1984
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 25, 2005 - 9:35 am: | |
I choose the wine by the grape. I prefer a softer wine as opposed to something a little more "racey".
There of course are my old favorites, which I will buy whenever I see them.
Wine Spectator is a good place to find some new wines and old favorites.
And like Doug, I try different wines in restaraunts, like it, buy it.
I never judge a wine by price. One of my favorite bottles, the Rex Goliath Pinot is only $7.99. The fun part of selecting wines, is trying new things and you will find many wines to treasure. |
Innisowen
Citizen
Username: Innisowen
Post Number: 771
Registered: 3-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 25, 2005 - 11:41 am: | |
By taste and style, pleasure and value.
For example, in a restaurant in Manhasset, Long Island, the other day, I had a glass of a knock-out Shiraz.
I will buy a few bottles of that one for home. |
xavier67
Citizen
Username: Xavier67
Post Number: 531
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 25, 2005 - 1:47 pm: | |
FACTOR #1: MEAL ACCOMPANIMENT
For me, choosing a wine is like choosing a movie. The choice is always dictated by what I'll eat with it, very much like my movie choice, whether it's on TV, video rental, or at a theater, is pretty much dictated by with whom I'm seeing it. In other words, if I eat only grilled steaks for the week, then I'll choose only red wines with enough body and tannins that will complement the meal. And if I see a movie with my spouse, then I'm stuck watching either romantic comedies and musicals pre-1960s!
FACTOR #2: EXPANDING YOUR HORIZONS
And like cinema, with its rich history, and various aesthetic and national traditions, there's a great diversity in the wine world as well. That's something I'm keen to take advantage of when pickng out a wine. I'm guilty like anyone else in being too partial to certain verietal, style and/or region (I'm currently on a Barbaresco kick), but I also know there are so, so, so many other wines that I want to meet and drink.
I'd also add that, just because you try a bottle of certain region or style and didn't particularly care for it, that you write off the whole region or style. (For the longest time, I never drank German rieslings because a bottle of two I tried in my college years were too sweet, etc. It turns out Blue Nun wasn't representative of what German rielings have to offer!) Try at least 2 or 3 bottles from a solid producer of that region, then make up your mind whether that style gives you pleasure.
Of course, my desire to try out new wine has to be curbed when you're serving it others. Thanksgiving dinner is not the time to try out something I'd never tasted!
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Dave
Supporter
Username: Dave
Post Number: 6500
Registered: 4-1997
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 25, 2005 - 9:00 pm: | |
Wacky fact: The owner/publisher of Wine Spectator doesn't drink wine. He does, however, enjoy cigars. |
doulamomma
Citizen
Username: Doulamomma
Post Number: 414
Registered: 3-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 25, 2005 - 10:12 pm: | |
Alley,
Me too - a pretty bottle/label dets my attention! |
Jay
Citizen
Username: Jaymon
Post Number: 125
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, May 26, 2005 - 6:13 pm: | |
Dave,
It's no wonder he likes a good cigar, the publisher of Wine Spectator is the same guy who does Cigar Afficianado. Some cigars actually go good with certain reds, but I digress.
If anyone mentions Lancers, I'm gonna hurl! |
sullymw
Citizen
Username: Sullymw
Post Number: 606
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, May 27, 2005 - 9:17 am: | |
I drive on over to Westfield and pick myself up a case of 3-buck Chuck at Trader Joe's  |
Derek
Citizen
Username: Derek
Post Number: 167
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Friday, May 27, 2005 - 2:26 pm: | |
My wife bought a case of different wines from Wine Library, some going by the label, some by price and some by recommendation by staff at the store. We're almost done with the case and have found suprising winners and losers.
I like whites in the summer and reds in the colder months.
I guess what I'm saying is it's all based on trial and error.
Once you hit gold, buy a case of what you like! |
mrmaplewood
Citizen
Username: Mrmaplewood
Post Number: 199
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, May 27, 2005 - 2:29 pm: | |
How do I choose wine? Anything not French.
And oh yes, I am bored with Cabernet and Chablis. I accidently found a great new (to me) variety a little while ago. Vingione. It is a delightful light white. Great for the summer. |
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