Open Thread: Wine
May. 6th, 2009 08:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lagilmanAs Yr Hostess has to go off-desk today, I figured I'd throw out a directed Open Thread for y'all to play in....
Over on My Wine Education, there's a post about Long Island wineries that pretty much sums up my feelings about that region -- nice wines, overpriced (the cost of land there almost requires it, sadly) and enough with the Merlot, already! You've got other grapes, too!
It is funny, though -- my first trip out there was back when "Long island wines?" was said in a tone of disbelief, not appreciation. You had to go to the winery to try them, or catch the rare local restaurant that had done a direct deal -- now even non-local wine stores carry a decent selection, and it's the same as any region -- some good, some bad, some Oh My God (and not in a good way, either. There was one winery....).
Ironically, the more I learn about wines, the less I drink. I think part of that is just the backlash from the year-plus I spent working in the wine store -- when your job is to taste several new wines a week in addition to your usual habits, not to mention the 30+ tasting every other month, you get pretty discriminating about what you actually consume. But, also, I've learned that there are varietals and styles I just don't like. I may revisit them every few years, to see if things have changed, but I'll gravitate to either a known favorite or a new experience, given my druthers (as![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jaylake can attest, my reaction on seeing a new wine list is "okay, what do they have I don't know?").
Of course, there are SO many varietals*, there's no way a non-pro can try everything (I'm not sure a professional can either, these days, that's why the experts tend to specialize).
So what wines do people here like? What do you not like? Can you tell me why?
*seriously. Many thousands. Hybrids and rediscovereds and wow-that's-not=what-we-thought-it-was, and regional divergences....
Over on My Wine Education, there's a post about Long Island wineries that pretty much sums up my feelings about that region -- nice wines, overpriced (the cost of land there almost requires it, sadly) and enough with the Merlot, already! You've got other grapes, too!
It is funny, though -- my first trip out there was back when "Long island wines?" was said in a tone of disbelief, not appreciation. You had to go to the winery to try them, or catch the rare local restaurant that had done a direct deal -- now even non-local wine stores carry a decent selection, and it's the same as any region -- some good, some bad, some Oh My God (and not in a good way, either. There was one winery....).
Ironically, the more I learn about wines, the less I drink. I think part of that is just the backlash from the year-plus I spent working in the wine store -- when your job is to taste several new wines a week in addition to your usual habits, not to mention the 30+ tasting every other month, you get pretty discriminating about what you actually consume. But, also, I've learned that there are varietals and styles I just don't like. I may revisit them every few years, to see if things have changed, but I'll gravitate to either a known favorite or a new experience, given my druthers (as
jaylake can attest, my reaction on seeing a new wine list is "okay, what do they have I don't know?").Of course, there are SO many varietals*, there's no way a non-pro can try everything (I'm not sure a professional can either, these days, that's why the experts tend to specialize).
So what wines do people here like? What do you not like? Can you tell me why?
*seriously. Many thousands. Hybrids and rediscovereds and wow-that's-not=what-we-thought-it-was, and regional divergences....
