While reviewing the article "Redefining Greatness in Wine" by Matthew Citriglia, I kept thinking about comments from people I have overheard and how true Matt’s article was. He mentioned about how one man he talked to considered himself a connoisseur, yet only talked about a limited number of grape varieties. As with many other things in life, people think they know more than they really do.
Matt also talked about "Wine Homogenization." He stated that, "Most of today’s rating systems hold all wine, regardless of grape type or region, to the same generic standard." It is amazing to me how much each person is different, particularly in taste. Fortunately, my wife and I have common tastes when it comes to wine and this makes the selection process much easier. For those who don’t have common tastes, all I can say is, HAVE TWO BOTTLES IN THE HOUSE! Don’t force your significant other to try and enjoy your particular favorite everytime. But, on the flip side, go out and try different flavors. You never know, you might come up with a new favorite.
Living in the southern United States, where White Zinfandel is king, my wife and I try to help others understand the many different types of wine. Now, we are not , Master Sommeliers, like Matt, but after living within an hour of Napa Valley for 5 years with numerous wine tasting trips per year, we learned enough to enjoy wine, no matter what variety is offered to us. For example, my wife belongs to a Bunco club that meets once a month, and at some of the lady’s houses, they serve Arbor Mist and White Zinfandel. When the group comes to our house, my wife has three or four different varieties of wine and asks them to try all of them. One that really works for us is Ernest & Julio Gallo’s Café Zinfandel. It is fruitier than a White Zinfandel, yet not as hearty as a Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon. The idea being that there are other varieties out there than just White Zin and yet, you don’t have to get to the hearty reds or mouth drying whites.
Matt mentioned about the loss of personal taste that has occurred. It seems that a lot of wine drinkers will purchase bottles based on a score rather than by what tastes good. It is used more as a status thing than for enjoying a good bottle of wine. My wife and I like to use the scoring system as a base, but that is only to introduce us to different types of wine and from different regions. Matt brings up an excellent comparison that, you wouldn’t eat food that you didn’t like, so why buy a wine that you don’t like. I think the best thing to do is to attend wine tastings, whenever possible. There are many different ways to find them, from attending a wine tasting party to wine meet up groups or maybe a day trip to a local vineyard. Listen to what people have to say, but don’t take everything you here as gospel from "wanna be" connoisseurs. Validate your facts before using them yourself. You never know when you’ll run into a Master Sommelier and try to impress, but then get put in your place.
Bottomline, we all have different tastes. The only person who knows what tastes good is you. So, drink the wine that you enjoy, but don’t hesitate to expand your horizon and try something new. Cheers!
Lance Sterling
