Comments on: New Writer, Mark Spivak, Reviews Consumer Wines

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 01:34:29 +0000

Lurch, a bottle of wine for two costs less than two tickets to a movie with popcorn. And, there is always a chance the movie is going to be awful.

If you buy a bottle of wine and absolutely hate it, pour it out and never buy it again. Much like everything else in life, some things you try you won’t like.

Also, if you find a wine you really like, there is nothing stopping you from buying another bottle just like the last bottle. True, trying something new every once and a while is swell. But, it is also great to stick with what you like.

As for me, I have never had a glass of wine I enjoyed and most wine tastes lousy.

—Matt

By: Mark Spivak

Mark Spivak — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 20:28:01 +0000

I’ve heard many wine neophytes express the same fear of the unknown, or intimidation, or whatever it is. Here’s the fact, though: anyone who has become a doctor, lawyer, stockbroker, plumber or electrician has mastered a body of knowledge far more complicated than wine. Wine is just fermented grape juice. Most baseball fans have absorbed more detail than the average wine geek (try explaining the infield fly rule—far more complex than what blackberries taste like). Plus, tasting wine is more fun than studying for the bar or getting your stockbroker’s license. So perhaps we all need to relax about this.

FYI, I think most wine drinkers settle on a particular brand because of relentless advertising and promotion.

By: Lurch

Lurch — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 20:14:38 +0000

Hi Mark. Thanks for the interesting reply. Part of my (and others’?) struggle with wine is looking at a bottle and having a clue what it’s going to taste like. All those elaborate descriptive words just make it harder and more complicated. And even with basic grape types, one winery’s Chardonnay won’t necessarily taste like another’s. It’s fear of the unknown.

I wonder if anyone’s done a survey to see how many wine drinkers finally find “their” wine and only buy that one and how many experiment and try lots of labels and types of grape and such.

By: markspivak

markspivak — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 17:58:10 +0000

Thanks for your e-mail. When grapes are fermented, they go through significant chemical changes. Most of the descriptors wine geeks use (blackberry, cedar, etc) refer to secondary armoas/flavors that emerge during that process.

That being said, some wines do taste like grapes, usually those less manipulated (Beaujolais Nouveau) or without oak (Italian Pinot Grigio, most Sauvignon blanc). The less you fiddle with it, the more it will smell & taste like grapes.

By: Lurch

Lurch — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 01:26:53 +0000

Interesting column. I look forward to more. Anything that takes the geek-speak out of wine is welcome to this wine rookie.

But I’m still looking for a wine review that says simply: “Tastes like grapes.”