On Wine

Before I get into my discussion of wine, let me say something of my credentials (or lack thereof). To be frank, I am not a sommelier, nor am I a winemaker. My mode of employ does not involve, in any way, the production, sale or distribution of wine.

I am just a consumer.

But, as a consumer, I've always made it my business to understand what I purchase, and wine has been no exception. Since I was first able to, I've been attending tastings, squirreling away books on the subject, and drinking my way through many awesome wine lists across the country (and the globe). I've managed to learn a decent amount. However, my knowledge is still rather limited, and in some areas, it barely qualifies as a smattering.

I've decided that a smattering will no longer suffice. It's high time that I expand both the depth and breadth of my wine knowledge. Everything I've learned thus far has been fascinating and useful at restaurants to boot! And so, I've hatched a scheme to systematically increase my knowledge of wine. With the aid of my friends and family, I am going to be having periodic (at least monthly) tastings of different types of wine throughout the year. Holding the tastings will force me to research and write up the specific wine region or type I've decided to focus on - thereby increasing my knowledge. Handy! Plus it gives me a great excuse to have fun, fabulous evenings with my friends. Finally, I'll record the research and the results of the tastings here on Eat.Drink.Shop.ME.

P.S. A back story on the structure of the tastings:

I've found that my ability to retain knowledge about wine goes up much more significantly when I'm able to tie the wine to a place or a people - to a story. Let me explain - I used to go to these tastings that would have the enticing titles "10 Great Red Wines under 30 Dollars!" I'd be excited - who doesn't want a great red wine under 30 dollars? I'd go to the tasting; I'd enjoy some of the wines; I'd buy them. Afterwards, though, I was at a loss as to how to translate my love of a certain wine into an ability to buy another good one. The tastings, while good for an immediate fix on a current deal, were horrible at actually building long-term wine knowledge. Long story short, I had the fortune to attend some tastings put on by a man called Boris Krouse at Central Market, in Austin. Alas, to my knowledge, Boris no longer gives tastings, which is a shame. His tastings were awesome. The first I attended was simply entitled Rhone Valley Wines. He prepared a packet for the tasting that was ridiculously detailed, replete with maps, etc. At the tasting, he didn't just discuss the color and flavor profile of the wines, he really focused on discussing the place that is the Rhone Valley - its people and their history. It was a completely new experience. And I found, afterwards, that I could remember why I enjoyed Saint-Josephs and Chateauneuf du Papes and that I could translate this knowledge into future wine purchases. It was revelatory; I had learned something valuable.

And so, my goal is to have all of my tastings structured on the Boris model. It's a tall order.