What wine do I like? - Finding your favorite wineWhat wine do I like? – The old school thought process provided a favored wine to pair with every meal. Wine snobs would turn up their noses at a fish served with red wine or a red meat with a white, but those times have finally passed. Now, more people are drinking what they like with a meal instead of what “pairs” best. So how do you figure out – What wine do I like?
Basics. The best way we have found to tackle this problem is to start with the basics. Think of what you want to get out of the wine. Do you like sweet wines? Do you like red or white? Do you even know what you want? Start really basic. Do not think about notes of this or hues of that. Simply taste the wine and see if you like it. The more confusing elements of tastes and undertones (along with ridiculous vernacular) will come much later in your wine drinking education and experience.
Start Simple. Just like with any sport (or food), you learn the fundamentals first, so why would we start with trying to taste certain notes or tones within a wine? You don’t attempt playing baseball in early childhood by first learning how to pitch a no hitter. You learn how to simply throw. You don’t figure out if you like ice cream by enjoying Tunnel Cake, you start with a cone when you are a kid. Why we do not take the same approach to wine, we will never know.
Find a wine tasting. Start with an internet search or find the nearest wine store and ask about wine tastings. This is a really inexpensive way to get started. Do not waste your time finding a vineyard and tasting there (although this can be fun), you want to start with a taste of a variety of wines from a variety of wine makers to find what you find pleasing. You are more likely to gain this kind of insight from a wine store, rather than at a vineyard. A vineyard may only use a couple of types of grapes to make their wine as opposed to showing a wide-range of types of grapes. What better way to answer the question - what wine do I like - then by sampling a variety of wines? We surely cannot think of one.
Grapes you like. The goal is to taste a variety of wines made from a variety of grapes to determine your favorites. This may seem funny to some, but one thing we never realized early on in our wine tasting life was wines are usually made from certain grapes and are named as such. Merlot grapes make Merlot wine. Chardonnay grape? You guessed it, Chardonnay Wine! So if you try a few malbec wines and find that you do not like wine made from malbec grapes (for example, we do not), then you only have yourself to blame for wasting money on wines you do not like. Instead, find out what wine do I like?
Bringing it all together. Once you know your favorite grape, you can try a variety of wine makers and vineyards, as well as growing areas. As an example, for some reason, we like Cabernet Sauvignon from Washington State instead of California. Some people really love “Cabs” from Cali, but we simply do not. Explore and find your love and answer - what wine do I like?Taking it to the next level. Now that you know if you like reds, whites, rose or all of the above, expand your tastes. You can also try some of the blends. Blends are popular with people who love the taste of wine without having to be in a monogamous relationship with one grape. Some of our favorite wines are blends. We have a few recommendations for discriminating palettes similar to our own -
1. Great Reds. We found that we love full-bodied reds and Carmenere Wines are our favorite by far. Grown in Chile, this Cabernet variety is pleasing to taste and full of flavor. It has everything we love about red wine. Even though it is imported, you can find great Carmenere Wines under $10. See one of our other blog posts for more info – Click Here! (add link to great wines under $10 here)
2. Awesome Whites. We do not like dry whites (low sugar) and do not like overly sweet whites either. A happy medium for us is Moscato. This variety is like a low cost, slightly bubbly Champaign, with just enough sweet to make our tongue happy. Plus, Moscato is widely available and surprisingly cheap.
3. Rose to Love. Although this is not our favorite category, if you must love rose wines, our sole favorite is Ménage a trios rose.
4. Red Blends. There are two wine favorites in this category. Affectionately called the “rooster wine” in our closest circles, the Rex Goliath giant 47 pound rooster wine is cheap in price yet full in flavor. A perfect ending to any day. Our other favorite is Ménage a trois red blend. The perfect marriage of price, flavor, and wine ordering humor. Read more about these and other favorites in our other blog post here – Click Here!
No matter what you finally settle into, remember that your tastes change, some wines age well in the bottle a few years, and others do not. Some years are actually better than others as well in different parts of the world (and country) based on growing seasons and weather (who knew?). So get out there and figure out once and for all, What wine do I like?
