I’m out with friends there is an assumption that I know about wines (I do not), so I learned some tricks to help me choose acceptably priced wines without the sophisticated knowledge (and sense of smell) required to do it the right way.
So here are some tips tested in the field that can help:
- Conversational wine is a wine with a taste that disappears fast (feels like drinking water). It is usually refreshing and perfect for drinking with friends and getting the conversation to be even more enjoyable.
- Food wine is a wine that you can still feel after 1 minute and that is a sign for
- French and Italian wines are crafted to go with food (Food wines). So next time you ask for wine at a restaurant, choose French or Italian
- New world wines (the rest) are made to be good on their own (Conversational). So, at the pub (no food) ask for a new world wine
- French law is stringent on wine label (yes yes). On the label look for the most prominent writing about the location and the smallest it is the better the wines
- Cote du Rhone identifies a region and is very wide and so the wine very average (most of the time)
- Village is smaller so probably better
- Chateau is even better
- Parcelle (the piece of land where the grape) is probably better. I say probably because, after chateau, I lose my capability to differentiate, and I usually feel bad about the price I paid for the bottle.
Those are rules of thumbs to fake it until you make it (or like me you keep faking)
PS: this is where the inspiration for this post came from, watch it, it is brilliant