- Jun 12, 2016
- 4,064
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I worked in a couple of nice restaurants during summers in college. I soon realized that it would be to my benefit to learn enough about wine to be able to negotiate my way through a good wine list on a date. That initial interest led to my enjoyment of many good and great wines on many good and great dates over the years. I began with whites, but quickly graduated to reds, and came to particularly like big Cabs and Meritages. The best I remember were by Caymus, Jordan, Shafer, and Grgich Hills, all of which were expensive, but always added to the occasion.
Some things I've learned about wine that are worth repeating:
Some things I've learned about wine that are worth repeating:
- Anyone can find a really good $100 bottle of wine, but the smarter oenophile can find the really good $10 to $15 bottle
- The actual, indisputable definition of "a good wine" is one that you like enough to call "a good wine"
- The most fun, smart, and interesting women I have known over the years all enjoyed wine
- Many of the established California wineries will only release so much wine under their premium label(s) each year in order to maintain a higher price for it. For the years in which their harvests produce more of that wine than they want they want to release, they will often release the excess wine under one of their less expensive, secondary labels. Same wine, lower price.
- If you enjoy wine, it pays to regularly read about, discuss, and try different wines in a way that keeps your knowledge of wine fairly current
- Cupcake Red Velvet - a solid red table wine, neither sweet nor dry, under $10
- Coppola Claret (black bottle with gold netting) - a crowd-pleasing cabernet sauvignon, under $15
- Hahn Pinot Noir - delicious, under $15
- Cupcake Pinot Grigio - a nicely balanced white wine, not as dry as most pinot grigios, under $10
- Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc - a fantastic white wine, not dry, but drier than most sauvignon blancs. Has a slight flavor of pink grapefruit, under $15
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