Can someone explain wine to me...

[MapleLeaf]

I am excruciatingly jealous over people who like wine....They make it sound like sooooo much fun...and it sounds so damn sophisticated...yet everytime I try it, red or white, I hate it...

I am fearful I am doomed to being low class for the rest of my life..and don't get me wrong, I like ordering chocolate milk with my dinner at a restaurant..but I am tired of the looks I am getting from the waitors....

So, what's the secret?

...said anything about this. Wine names are often sorted by varietal, regional, generic or proprietary.

Some are obvious like champagne which incidently can only be from the French Champagne region of France to take on that name in Europe.

Merlot - Merlot grapes - varietal.

Generics have become very popular in recent years especially with the growth of wine drinking in America. Burgundy Reds are a common example and many throughout the world have little in common with the original Burgundian regional offerings other than the colour. The wine houses use that generic name to add a bit of flair to the common red offering.

There's many proprietary names out in the market that is now littered with exclusive branding. The branding allows the wine house to hold exclusive marketing rights to that defined class of wine. Most famous is "Blue Nun". Basically a varietal white that they claim is proprietary. Everyone is trying to be different and exclusive for marketing reasons.

TrickBlue was right about the generalized rules of wine, but in my opinion you should drink the wine that tastes good to your palette. Why bother with the big show when all you want to do is spit it out in the waiters face because it tastes like horse piss? That's nothing but money wasted in my opinion.

For me, although I gave up drinking for medical reasons, I was very fond of sweet after dinner aperitifs. Japanese Plum, 25 year ports. They made my lips smack and taste usually justifies the expense from my wallet at a restaurant.

My wife drinks fruit herbals teas with her meals and the kids love Shirley Temples. As a general rule in the Yee household, if you can drink it through a straw it's usually pretty good. We are not very sophisticated.

 

[MapleLeaf]

I drank a whole bottle of Maddog in Highschool years (only once)

The stupidest drink I ever did was what we called a Water Buffalo (When I worked at a bar in college) which is everything that is in the little rubber mat the jigger sits on that catches everything that spills you pick it up poor it in the glass and slam it

:insane:

...I used to call that the "j-cloth jigger". I stick the bar counter j-cloth into the tray to soak it up and squeeze it out onto a shot glass.

I sold that to the cheapies for half the price and pocketed the proceeds because it wasn't accounted for in the ounce count I had to submit at the end of the shift.

 

[Faerluna]

You might want to try a few different bottles at home, so you can find one you like. They're much less expensive than at a restaurant.

As the clerk to show you something thats low in tannin. Tannin is what gives you the red wine bite that most people who don't drink wine think of when they think about wine.

Personally, I love a nice cabernet, barolo or a pinot noir. White wine is what you use to clean the red wine off your tablecloth if you spill it!

 

[Champsheart]

I am excruciatingly jealous over people who like wine....They make it sound like sooooo much fun...and it sounds so damn sophisticated...yet everytime I try it, red or white, I hate it...

I am fearful I am doomed to being low class for the rest of my life..and don't get me wrong, I like ordering chocolate milk with my dinner at a restaurant..but I am tired of the looks I am getting from the waitors....

So, what's the secret?

I am with you. I can not stand whine. I have tried all kinds. I have never been able to drink it. The stuff sucks.

I don't get it either.

If I am missing out, I guess I am missing out.

 

[jem88]

Wine has its charms, but I must say that a good beer is hard to beat. I spent8 months living in Brussels and the beers there were heavenly. It was hard going back to the Canadian varieties after trying Belgium's finest.