I read and follow quite a number of wine critics, reviewers and influencers, taking into account the way they write, if they are paid for comment or whether or not their palate aligns with mine. These are all factors that help me to determine which of these writers I look to for advice, feedback and knowledge, finding some that resonate with you personally is very important.
One of the biggest questions I often get asked on any post is ‘is it better than x’ or ‘how does it compare to y’. These are very personal questions if you really think about it, what I think is a better wine may be different to what you believe and so on. I feel its vitally important when looking at wines to consume for yourself you look to your tastes and preferences rather than popular choices or simply expensive bottles. Too often I read people are disappointed in a wine they consume based on other peoples recommendations, or they went and bought the most expensive bottle thinking it will be the best. It takes so much time to understand your palate and what you like, in-fact its always evolving I don’t think we ever truly understand. What starts as big bold reds for many quickly turns to lighter, prettier and more floral Pinot Noir’s, racy whites turn into textural and big whites and I only drink champagne on special occasions turns into I only drink champagne.
A couple of tips from me, and these are only basic and my personal views;
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Take the time to understand what it is you like about certain wines, is it the fruit, oak, tannin or acid.? Taking brief notes can really help with this.
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Always take note as to why you may not like a certain wine, this is very different to drinking a bad wine or faulty wine. Something you don’t like stylistically does not make it a bad wine (happens way too often).
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Try a vast range of regions and producers, look outside the box (cliché I know) and try something unique, it’s something we are very lucky to have access to here in Aus.
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Once you determine a style or preference, then diversify producer, region, vintage and price, look to lesser known regions and producers to see if you can find the diamond in the rough.
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Drink as much great wine as you can, if you don’t like it don’t drink it, there are millions of bottles available to try that its not worth drinking for the sake of it.
We need to change the way consumers review and rate wines, it needs to be more about the individual drinking the wines than about scores or medals. Don’t get me wrong, we need scores, medals and so on but the general consumer needs to spend some time understanding what they actually like. Only then can the scores and medals be used for their actual purpose, to educate those needing a little help choosing wines. You will notice I don’t put scores on my reviews or thoughts but that’s just a personal choice, I do score wines privately in my notes and it’s more as a reference point and benchmarking point for me. I follow certain reviewers and critics that align the closest with my taste or whose expertise in a certain region etc are second to none. I mean you can’t really go past Tyson Steltzer for Champagne, Gary Walsh for Barolo and Erin Larkin for Australian Chardonnay to name a few. These are just my views, an uneducated and humble tradie, I hope they help.
Cheers!