My Wine Tasting Philosophy

Before we dig into tasting some wine, I'd like to share a few thoughts on my approach.

First & foremost, there is no right or wrong, it's not a test - it's just simply what YOU taste.  What YOU like.  Not everyone tastes the same things, and some people (usually women!) have more tastebuds than others.  

Early on, I focused on learning to identify what I liked, and didn't like - in a specific wine.

Then I realized I needed to build a wine vocabulary - so I could use wine terms to describe my preferences to others - sommeliers in restaurants, sales people in wine shops, tasting room staff, etc..   

I had a clear goal in mind - buy more wine that I liked!  (and avoid ones I didn't like)

Then just like a typical 3 year old - I wanted to know WHY?

What was different about this wine?   Why did I like it more?  Lots of questions, reading & research, and of course more wine tasting - so I could better understand what was different and why I liked something about a wine.  This curiosity drew me into conversations with winemakers, and growers, and really helped me further refine how I looked at wine and my preferences.  I had many "Ah ha!" moments along the way.

I like to compare wine to golf - I am never going to 100% master wine, nor golf - there's always going to be a new vintage, wine, or region, vineyard, winemaker!

And just like golf, once you nail the basics - it's all about practice.   
You have to practice tasting, identifying & describing wines, if you want to get good at it.  

“Practice isn’t the thing you do once you’re good. It’s the thing you do that makes you good.”   ― Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers

I've also found that my tastes & preferences have evolved & changed over the years.  I love this bell curve & description from Somm, Madeline Puckette

And my final thought, don't let wine marketing 'hype', pretty labels and/or fluffy poetic wine descriptors intimidate you.  Often they are used to do exactly that, confuse & distract you - because what's in that bottle is an inferior product that they are trying to SELL!   

There's a good reason for the farm-to-table movement, and why Chefs care about where their ingredients come from, and how they're grown.   I feel exactly the same about wine.  I spend my hard-earned dollars on wines from wineries I know, winemakers' styles that I like, specific vineyards & growers who've implemented sustainable farming practices, or organic, and even sometimes bio-dynamic.  People who do everything by hand, with grapes that are raised as if they were their children.  Wines with a sense of place.   

This is my wine tasting philosophy, it's not right or wrong - just mine.

Enjoy your wine journey!!