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+--- Thread: Getting Started With Wine (/thread-18236.html)
- Wine in a Can - 03-21-2007
Hello Wine.com community!
Well this is my first post and I'd appreciate any help if you might be able to offer.
I have been working in France for a few months now and have been gradually getting turned onto wine more and more. The problem is my good wine experiences are always when a coworker has picked out a bottle, but when I go to the market to get a bottle for myself the taste never seems to be as good. The answer is obvious, I don't know anything about wine!
So what would you experts suggest for getting into buying wine? I've been usually just buying bottles that have the most units removed from the shelf since that seems to be a decent indication if they are at all popular; but I'd like to know what I'm looking at here!
Thanks for your time.
- hotwine - 03-21-2007
Welcome to the board. You're in a wonderful location to learn about wine! If you're in Paris, suggest you visit some wine bars and taste, taste, taste. Take a small notebook with you so you can make notes of the wines you like and don't like. If you're in another city or the countryside, ask about the local wines, and taste those. Do the same - taste and make notes. You'll learn quickly. Remember, when tasting, you don't need to swallow.... so you can keep a clear head by using a spit bucket. Hook up with a co-worker who likes wine and who's willing to teach you. And have fun!
- wondersofwine - 03-21-2007
Welcome to the board. Do you know if the wines your coworkers are sharing with you are recent bottlings or wines with a little age to them? It may be that they are bringing wines they've stored at home that have matured a little beyond what you pick up at the store. Next time you like one brought by someone else, write down the specifics--vintage, producer, region. Ask what grapes go into the wine if you don't know. You might try picking up some Beaujolais Villages or Cotes du Rhone to see if you like those for red wines--both are quite inexpensive. Try a Sancerre Sauvignon Blanc or a Macon white wine (the Macon is from the Chardonnay grape) and see if you like those. Let us know how it goes.
- Wine in a Can - 03-22-2007
Thanks for the responses!
Well I am not sure how much of a difference it makes but I don't currently live in Paris. I live in the South Western part of the country in a city known as Toulouse.
I have been to one vineyard since I've been here. It is costly and time consuming and both of those are resources I don't have so I'd like the supermarket and dinners with friends to be my main discoveries.
As far as coworkers go. I have one who is very into the wonders of wine, and have asked him for advice and stuff. He has never really answered me and only tells me about a book he read when he was working in a factory that taught him everything he needed to know.
Perhaps I was a little bit unclear in my first post. It is not so much coworkers bringing me wines, but picking out a bottle from an extensive list at a nice restaurant or something.
wondersofwine, I will try out at least one of your suggestions tonight and tell you what I think.
Thanks for all your help, I knew this would be a great resource!
- wdonovan - 03-22-2007
Hmmmm. What would I do if I was stuck living halway between Bordeaux and the Languedoc? Let's see.... I'd probably try every red in the Languedoc (during the week of course). At about noon Friday, I'd switch over to Bordeaux and sip these all weekend. I would opt for Blanquette de Limoux for a bubbly (I believe it's made somewhere between Toulouse and Limoges). I would however have some Champagne flown in if I wasn't able to do the 1200km jaunt on a regular basis. If I drank something that didn't agree with me, I'd drive to Lourdes and get cured! I'm not familiar with the wines of the Basque but you can bet I'd give them a try also. It must be wonderful being so far from California. Only good wine to drink <LOL>