Comments on: The conundrum of wine choice

By: William

William — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:10:52 +0000

I always advise wine lovers to go beyond grape, and look at region and style. Many times they are related. Start with a wine that REALLY spoke to you, then delve into that region and find out everything you can. The information has never been easier to obtain. Become your own “mini-expert” on the territory and grow from there. Also find out about wine making. Barrels, brix, ripeness and the like, and be able to identify the REASONS that wine tastes the way it does. Use this information to seek out others who practice wine making that suits you. Then later, use the research to seek out bottles that fit your momentary wishes, or evening meal. Knowledge is the key, and if you are empowered, you will rarely have a bottle that fails to delight!

By: Jane

Jane — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:11:10 +0000

Thanks Kerry-Jo – I think you are right about down time being a safe time to experiment. But then I have to ask – how do you approach the shelves when you walk into a wine store?

By: Kerry-Jo

Kerry-Jo — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 23:29:17 +0000

I find choosing wines at restaurants extremely difficult and my advice is to go with what you know. If you see an IWM wine on a list that you like, i’d say go with it. You would be making a confident choice, impressing your friends and would be able to review all that you know about that particular wine. I like to experiment on my down time. It’s definitely a bummer to choose a bad wine at a restaurant, especially with the mark-ups being so high.