Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Taste First

I've bought wine sight unseen before. K&L is a great example. I love their web site. Its search ability is incredible. It's a lot of fun searching for a California, Pinot Noir, within a given price range, and a given rating that I have never tried before. I always have fun when I do this. Unfortunately, when I bring it home I may or may not like it. This is to be expected, but I prefer my $30+ wine bets to be good more often than not. That is why I prefer to taste before I buy.

Wine enjoyment is all about you and what tastes good to you. An eloquent description and a 94 from Robert Parker is great, but if it doesn't taste good to you, what does it matter.

I'm not the best taster. I try my best, but my ability to identify scents and tastes is often limited. I smell and taste, but I'm just not certain what I'm smelling and tasting. People that know me will tell you this is partly because my palette is incredibly limited. I like to call myself a meatetarian, or a meat and potatoes man, if that gives you a clue. Friends often laugh when I say something smells vegetal, considering the amount of vegetables that I've tasted, they doubt I know what it means. That said, when I taste, I can accomplish what I need to. I can tell if I like the wine or not, which is all that matters to me.