Originally Posted by Ragazza
I'll pay a nominal fee, and likewise won't be guilted or shamed into buying, if I like it I'll buy it, if not, then...not. But in Italy I do very much appreciate being able to walk into a tasting/sales room, cantina or enoteca and pick up an excellent Brunello or Vino Nobile, that perhaps can't be even be found in the US at all, and for a good price. It's easy to get spoiled.
But no matter how flowery or pretentious the description, it all boils down to just three things and their balance - fruit, acidity and alcohol.
You're on the money. I guess fruit, acidity and alcohol all form my good/bad outcome. I just don't know how to quantify them.
Originally Posted by
magiciansampras
But do you not think there is value to developing one's palette to be able to discern multiple flavors and get beyond a simply good/bad binary?
Originally Posted by anat0l
Perhaps. But that would involve a significant effort of development that most people are not prepared to invest. They would rather taste/drink/quaff the wine and be done with. If it tastes good to them, that may be all that matters (especially if the price tag justifies it, too).
Exactly. Most people see wine as an accompaniment to their meal; it either works or it doesn't.
Originally Posted by anat0l
I do love it how you can pick up a cheap wine from a store in Europe and most of the time it will taste excellent. Wine in Australia is good but it is getting much harder to locate winners amongst otherwise "just quaff it" material; in my experience, however, generally the more expensive wines do pay off their cost very well.
One of the great things about travelling in Europe is undoubtably the house red. Wrt to wines in Australia, my parents order cases from Cellarmasters (they love a dinner party so they usually have more than their fair share of decent wine) so I can usually hive one off when I'm over there. I picked up a case of Hazyblur 2005 Shiraz earlier this week which on my binary scale I give a ^
.