I'm a wine virgin. How to learn?

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by Hugo930

Smelling the cork = Idiot Douche

...

not at all - this helps you tell if the wine is contaminated by a microbe that infests cork trees; this is usually termed "corked"

[Jim727]

Randy -

Sort of. "Corked" is TCA (Trichloroanisole, iirc) and can come from many places such as the cellar as well as a contaminated cork. You can have a "corked" wine with a screw-cap or those disgusting rubber stoppers.

Corks are easier to blame than winemaking practices that are not meticulously clean.

[RWebb]

true - but way less likely, esp. given the revolution in clean wine-making

I kind of prefer natural yeasting...

[Jim727]

I figured you knew, but corks get a bad rap even though they are still the best closure for any wine that has age potential. Sauvignon Blanc and similar work very well with screw caps.

[Don Plumley]

Originally Posted by Hugo930

Smelling the cork = Idiot Douche

Yes, if you don't know what you are smelling it for, it's like checking the oil on a Carrera with the engine off.

First, you look at the cork and feel it to check condition. A poor condition cork (too much seepage, too dry/brittle) speaks to storage and makes me check for oxidation.

Next, you smell the cork quickly to hopefully smell nothing, maybe a touch of vanilla. If you smell something, then you pay even closer attention to the wine.

Case in point: Last night at my partner's he opened a Saint Joseph. The cork smelled of wet cardboard or old gym socks. Uh oh. All the signs pointed to a corked wine. But on the nose the fruit was down and no tell-tale TCA contamination. Low level of Brett, perfectly appropriate for the bottle.

So there's another lesson - learn wine faults. No reason to drink flawed wine. A good retailer will replace a corked or faulty bottle.

[rusnak]

Ruprect, don't take the cork out of the fork.....

[BRPORSCHE]

I am going to sound like such a snob when I say this...

Terroir. Terroir - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Learn it. Love it.

The more you understand what types grapes are grown where and what exact conditions those certain grapes need it becomes actually fairly easy.

I am partial to Pinot Noir. I know that this grape likes a cool climate, but you also need the warmth in the morning. This grape also needs to have a cool finish. So what I do is look for a vineyard that is on a easterly facing slope so it catches the morning to noon sun and then which is close to a foggy coast so the fog cools down the grapes.

Wine drinking is science.

[porsche4life]

Tom, they'll forcibly remove you from texas if you keep talking like that...

You better drink a case of Keystone now...

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by rusnak

Ruprecht, don't take the cork out of the fork.....

Excuse me. May I go to the bathroom?






Thank-you

[rusnak]

[m110]

This is a great course...on sale now too for $50

The Everyday Guide to Wine

I recommend most of the "Great Courses"...pretty well done