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I am in one of those inquisitive modes I guess ( started a few threads )
Myself = NOT a wine drinker. never was and never will be.
Can I drink it ? yes of course I can its a flavored liquid and tastes kinda tart like grape juice or spoiled kool aid or something
Do I want to drink it ?? HECK NO I don't !! I honestly cannot tell the differance between cheapo $6 a bottle wine and some super fancy chattea de blanc or whatever $500 bottle. It all tastes like old crappy grape juice to me.
And as a kid I never liked grape juice. loved orange juice lemon juice and oddly enough I like eating whole grapes: green or reds, I like both. But wine tastes nothing like fresh grapes to me. It tastes like something old and out dated and nothing pleasuable comes to mind on the few occasions I take a sip of it.
i am guessing in the past 20 yrs my total wine consumption is 20 ozs. maybe 2 glasses.
I understand how its the trendy thing and lotsa people like to drink it and I guess like it or they would choose another beverage. Seems like a super expensive thing to get a liking for: $100 a bottle is not uncommon from what I have seen at nice restaurants. How many glasses in a bottle ? 4 or 5 ?? VERY spendy.
I have some friends who are bonkers crazy wine people and they all know not to offer me any as I do not want it. I could chug a bottle in 30 seconds if I had to.... would i enjoy it ? heck no I wouldn't. It tastes like old stale grape juice that sat in the back of the fridge for too long.
Lets hear it from the wino's and the non whiners - hahahaha
I used ot be a bit of a wine aficionado and many of my friends still are. Some of them have hundreds of thousands invested in their wine cellar.
The taste of wine can have many subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) differences depending on what type of grapes were used, where they were grown, where the wine was processed, what type of container was used for each level of fermentation and how long the wine has been fermenting.
People enjoy learning to recognize the subltle differences and the many levels and layers of flavor. Often the aftertaste(s) are as or more important that the taste of the wine.
That is why you see winers take so much time to drink wine. First you swirl it in the glass to get it more oxygenated, often you need to let it sit in the glass for a time. You can watch the wine run back down the sides of the glass to see how sugary it is. Sweet wine is more viscous and will leave "legs" as it runs down the side of the glass. Dry wine - less so. When you take a drink you gulp a considerable amount, not a tiny sip. Then you switch it around in your mouth or chew it to get it to all the parts of your mouth and experience all the different flavors. As you slowly allow it to trickle down your throat, you close your eyes and focus on noticing and distinguishing all of the different flavors. There are dozens most of the time.
Better wine generally has more different flavors and/or better flavors. Different people like different tastes. I used to love wine that was aged in old oak barrels. You could taste the difference. It was very subtle but all red wines aged in old well used oak barrels had that same flavor at least a little bit. Since most better wines are processed in relatively small quantities at individual winery, they each have their own distinct set of tastes and after tastes. that is what people like.
Cheap wine is processed in stainless steel made of whatever grapes are most readily available, usually blended together to get a more bland and less individual or distinct flavor and then pumped into boxes or bottles bay the hundreds of gallons. After they are fermented faster by adding sugar. They have far fewer tastes and often awful tastes. Those are the spoiled coolaid that gets you drunk wine.
However cheap wine can also achieve good and varied flavors. Trader Joes store chain carried a really cheap wine called Charles Schwab that was very cheap. It used to be $2 a bottle so it was called Two Buck Chuck. They bought surplus grapes from some of the top Napa growers and used simlar processes to the better wineries (except everything was in giant stainless steel tanks. Their Cabernet was very good. The Merlot was passable. The Chardonnay and Blancs were not that great, but ok.
We sometimes poured the red 2 buck chuck into an empty bottle of very good red wine and many of our wine aficionado friends would exclaim how great it was. It has a good enough flavor and enough mixtures of tastes and after tastes to pass for an $80 bottle of wine.
I am not sure whether they make it anymore. the closest Trader Joes is more than an hour drive now and I not longer care for wine much.
The worst wine I ever had was a bottle that was 100 years old and cost $20,000. The owner made a huge deal and had a special party when he opened his prize bottle of wine. Each of 13 guests got a small glass of it. It was awful. I put it aside after the first taste and when other exclaimed how great it was I gave them mine. Several people later admitted to me it was awful, but they were too embarrassed and felt bad for the guy to say that, so they choked it down. I hope he kept the bottle and re-filled it with two buck chuck. (100 years old is too old, maybe brandy or cognac will improve for that long and not get bad, but I doubt it).
I no longer have any interest and if I drink wine, I just order any random Cab or Merlot, or I let someone who is still into it order for me.
So now I drink Single Malt Scotch. Same issues, just at a different level. There is nothing subtle about the tastes involved with single malt scotch. Still I am not much of a connoisseur of scotch. I drink it maybe five times a year and my favorite (which is actually blended scotch no single malt) costs $500 a bottle so I only drink it when I go to rich Friends' parties.
I am in one of those inquisitive modes I guess ( started a few threads )
Myself = NOT a wine drinker. never was and never will be.
Can I drink it ? yes of course I can its a flavored liquid and tastes kinda tart like grape juice or spoiled kool aid or something
Do I want to drink it ?? HECK NO I don't !! I honestly cannot tell the differance between cheapo $6 a bottle wine and some super fancy chattea de blanc or whatever $500 bottle. It all tastes like old crappy grape juice to me.
And as a kid I never liked grape juice. loved orange juice lemon juice and oddly enough I like eating whole grapes: green or reds, I like both. But wine tastes nothing like fresh grapes to me. It tastes like something old and out dated and nothing pleasuable comes to mind on the few occasions I take a sip of it.
i am guessing in the past 20 yrs my total wine consumption is 20 ozs. maybe 2 glasses.
I understand how its the trendy thing and lotsa people like to drink it and I guess like it or they would choose another beverage. Seems like a super expensive thing to get a liking for: $100 a bottle is not uncommon from what I have seen at nice restaurants. How many glasses in a bottle ? 4 or 5 ?? VERY spendy.
I have some friends who are bonkers crazy wine people and they all know not to offer me any as I do not want it. I could chug a bottle in 30 seconds if I had to.... would i enjoy it ? heck no I wouldn't. It tastes like old stale grape juice that sat in the back of the fridge for too long.
Lets hear it from the wino's and the non whiners - hahahaha
Best part of wine for me is just cooking with it. As far as drinking it, I'll pass and have a beer.
I used ot be a bit of a wine aficionado and many of my friends still are. Some of them have hundreds of thousands invested in their wine cellar.
The taste of wine can have many subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) differences depending on what type of grapes were used, where they were grown, where the wine was processed, what type of container was used for each level of fermentation and how long the wine has been fermenting.
People enjoy learning to recognize the subltle differences and the many levels and layers of flavor. Often the aftertaste(s) are as or more important that the taste of the wine.
That is why you see winers take so much time to drink wine. First you swirl it in the glass to get it more oxygenated, often you need to let it sit in the glass for a time. You can watch the wine run back down the sides of the glass to see how sugary it is. Sweet wine is more viscous and will leave "legs" as it runs down the side of the glass. Dry wine - less so. When you take a drink you gulp a considerable amount, not a tiny sip. Then you switch it around in your mouth or chew it to get it to all the parts of your mouth and experience all the different flavors. As you slowly allow it to trickle down your throat, you close your eyes and focus on noticing and distinguishing all of the different flavors. There are dozens most of the time.
Better wine generally has more different flavors and/or better flavors. Different people like different tastes. I used to love wine that was aged in old oak barrels. You could taste the difference. It was very subtle but all red wines aged in old well used oak barrels had that same flavor at least a little bit. Since most better wines are processed in relatively small quantities at individual winery, they each have their own distinct set of tastes and after tastes. that is what people like.
Cheap wine is processed in stainless steel made of whatever grapes are most readily available, usually blended together to get a more bland and less individual or distinct flavor and then pumped into boxes or bottles bay the hundreds of gallons. After they are fermented faster by adding sugar. They have far fewer tastes and often awful tastes. Those are the spoiled coolaid that gets you drunk wine.
However cheap wine can also achieve good and varied flavors. Trader Joes store chain carried a really cheap wine called Charles Schwab that was very cheap. It used to be $2 a bottle so it was called Two Buck Chuck. They bought surplus grapes from some of the top Napa growers and used simlar processes to the better wineries (except everything was in giant stainless steel tanks. Their Cabernet was very good. The Merlot was passable. The Chardonnay and Blancs were not that great, but ok.
We sometimes poured the red 2 buck chuck into an empty bottle of very good red wine and many of our wine aficionado friends would exclaim how great it was. It has a good enough flavor and enough mixtures of tastes and after tastes to pass for an $80 bottle of wine.
I am not sure whether they make it anymore. the closest Trader Joes is more than an hour drive now and I not longer care for wine much.
The worst wine I ever had was a bottle that was 100 years old and cost $20,000. The owner made a huge deal and had a special party when he opened his prize bottle of wine. Each of 13 guests got a small glass of it. It was awful. I put it aside after the first taste and when other exclaimed how great it was I gave them mine. Several people later admitted to me it was awful, but they were too embarrassed and felt bad for the guy to say that, so they choked it down. I hope he kept the bottle and re-filled it with two buck chuck. (100 years old is too old, maybe brandy or cognac will improve for that long and not get bad, but I doubt it).
I no longer have any interest and if I drink wine, I just order any random Cab or Merlot, or I let someone who is still into it order for me.
So now I drink Single Malt Scotch. Same issues, just at a different level. There is nothing subtle about the tastes involved with single malt scotch. Still I am not much of a connoisseur of scotch. I drink it maybe five times a year and my favorite (which is actually blended scotch no single malt) costs $500 a bottle so I only drink it when I go to rich Friends' parties.
Just to clarify...Two Buck Chuck refers to Charles Shaw (name of a no-longer-in-existance winery) not Charles Schwab billionaire American investor.
I am in one of those inquisitive modes I guess ( started a few threads )
Myself = NOT a wine drinker. never was and never will be.
Can I drink it ? yes of course I can its a flavored liquid and tastes kinda tart like grape juice or spoiled kool aid or something
Do I want to drink it ?? HECK NO I don't !! I honestly cannot tell the differance between cheapo $6 a bottle wine and some super fancy chattea de blanc or whatever $500 bottle. It all tastes like old crappy grape juice to me.
You've got to spend some time drinking wine to get it. Different wine has different characteristics: aromas, color, flavors, body. It's easy to distinguish when you have experience drinking it. Wine prices are all about supply and demand. There would be a lot to cover to describe the contributing factors, but suffice to say that wines that people really want, which are typically made in very limited quantities (or limited quantities remain in existence for old wines) are expensive.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheLastPatriot
And as a kid I never liked grape juice. loved orange juice lemon juice and oddly enough I like eating whole grapes: green or reds, I like both. But wine tastes nothing like fresh grapes to me. It tastes like something old and out dated and nothing pleasuable comes to mind on the few occasions I take a sip of it.
Wine isn't supposed to taste like fresh grapes. It's supposed to taste like fermented grapes!
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheLastPatriot
i am guessing in the past 20 yrs my total wine consumption is 20 ozs. maybe 2 glasses.
That would be why you don't get wine (glasses are typically 5 oz., btw).
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheLastPatriot
I understand how its the trendy thing and lotsa people like to drink it and I guess like it or they would choose another beverage. Seems like a super expensive thing to get a liking for: $100 a bottle is not uncommon from what I have seen at nice restaurants. How many glasses in a bottle ? 4 or 5 ?? VERY spendy.
Wine is good. Restaurants typically mark up all alcohol considerably. I most routinely drink wine at home. Bottle prices that I drink range from ~$10-$80. You have to budget for what you want to drink--same as anything else you consume.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheLastPatriot
I have some friends who are bonkers crazy wine people and they all know not to offer me any as I do not want it. I could chug a bottle in 30 seconds if I had to.... would i enjoy it ? heck no I wouldn't. It tastes like old stale grape juice that sat in the back of the fridge for too long.
Lets hear it from the wino's and the non whiners - hahahaha
I am in one of those inquisitive modes I guess ( started a few threads )
Myself = NOT a wine drinker. never was and never will be.
Can I drink it ? yes of course I can its a flavored liquid and tastes kinda tart like grape juice or spoiled kool aid or something
Do I want to drink it ?? HECK NO I don't !! I honestly cannot tell the differance between cheapo $6 a bottle wine and some super fancy chattea de blanc or whatever $500 bottle. It all tastes like old crappy grape juice to me.
And as a kid I never liked grape juice. loved orange juice lemon juice and oddly enough I like eating whole grapes: green or reds, I like both. But wine tastes nothing like fresh grapes to me. It tastes like something old and out dated and nothing pleasuable comes to mind on the few occasions I take a sip of it.
i am guessing in the past 20 yrs my total wine consumption is 20 ozs. maybe 2 glasses.
I understand how its the trendy thing and lotsa people like to drink it and I guess like it or they would choose another beverage. Seems like a super expensive thing to get a liking for: $100 a bottle is not uncommon from what I have seen at nice restaurants. How many glasses in a bottle ? 4 or 5 ?? VERY spendy.
I have some friends who are bonkers crazy wine people and they all know not to offer me any as I do not want it. I could chug a bottle in 30 seconds if I had to.... would i enjoy it ? heck no I wouldn't. It tastes like old stale grape juice that sat in the back of the fridge for too long.
Lets hear it from the wino's and the non whiners - hahahaha
Not everyone spends fifty to a hundred on a bottle. I ised to hunt out the $2 bargains (reading actual wine guides), and these days I can get something perfectly drinkable for $15-20.
Funny thing about wine- everyone has an opinion! It's true that one has to develop a taste for it, just like beer or other liquors. And there is something to be said for the circumstances under which its consumed- a wine shared with good friends at a party or restaurant always seems to taste better than if you are sitting at home with a glass trying to get over a bad day at work, even if its the very same wine.
Unfortunately, many people who are just getting started with wine have a bad start- either junk wine or a badly paired meal that make the wine taste gross, and they never get over that initial experience. I always feel sorry for the folks who don't get a "fair" start because they miss out on so much fun! Wine is fascinating- full of history and nuances that can keep you exploring for years, and when there's a marriage of just the right food and just the right wine, it really is magic.
There are plenty of very good wines out there that are under $25, so its not necessary to break the bank, either.I'm really not a "food person",( I'm happy with a burger or a grilled cheese sandwich) so gourmet grub is lost on me, but I do love a glass of good wine with a meal, and I do honestly believe that the 2 will greatly complement one another when well-matched....one of the best meals I ever had was pork barbecue paired with a $10 Barbera!
Perhaps you just aren't meant to be a wine drinker, but maybe you just had a bad start with it....as with anything, first impressions sort of set the tone.
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