Why Wine?
So what's it all about? Why not just get ripped
on Ripple, tippled on Thunderbird or tanked on
tequila? Because wine — good wine, anyway —
is different and special. Each vintage is a unique
blend of the earth and the wine-maker's craft.
So what's it all about? Why not just get ripped
on Ripple, tippled on Thunderbird or tanked on
tequila? Because wine — good wine, anyway —
is different and special. Each vintage is a unique
blend of the earth and the wine-maker's craft.
The Earth in a Glass
Drinking a glass of wine is like tasting a particular piece of earth at a particular
moment in the earth's history. OK, that sounds pretentious but it's really not,
because its true. Unlike other beverages, such as soda pop, distilled liquors
or even beer, a good wine will vary considerably from year to year, vintage to
vintage. The reason for this is that, unlike these other beverages, the
conditions of the earth, the wine's terroir --- the climate, the soil, the
surrounding vegetation, the amount of sunlight and so forth --- are almost
always reflected in the end product. Sure, vintners have a huge bag of tricks
that they use to cover-up natural imperfections, but that's just part of their art.
The earth always ends up in the glass. Other industrial-scale beverages, by
contrast, are made to always look and taste the same, regardless of the
conditions under which their natural ingredients were harvested.
Passion is the Fashion
One of the great things about wine is the passion that goes into making it. You
can feel that passion if you ever go to a small winery and chat with the
owner-operator serving wine his own tasting room. There's nothing quite so
fun than getting a wine-maker all wound up and seeing the sparkle in his eyes
as he waxes eloquent about all the love that went into his wine. Try that with
the CEO of PepsiCo.
What's Not to Like?
Wine is fun. There's no doubt about that. But there's so much choice out there
these days it's almost impossible to know where to start. One place to begin is
by not letting people tell you what wine you ought to like, especially when you
don't. You shouldn't let people tell you what wines to like any more than you
should let people tell you what pop music group you should listen to, right? Go
with your instinct. If you like sweet wines, say so. It's not a crime. Eventually,
you'll want to branch out to more fruity and spicy and tannic specimens. It's
important to go at your own pace and follow your own taste.
A Feast for the Senses
Perhaps the most fabulous thing about wine is that it is sensual. It engages
and enlivens all the senses: sight, touch, smell, taste and even hearing. When
you pour a wine into a glass or decanter you hear it splash from one container
to another (the sound will differ depending on the body and viscosity of the
wine), you observe the color of the wine as you hold it up to the light, you check
the body of the wine by the streaks it leave on the inside of your glass as you
swirl it, you breath in the wine's aroma, detecting the hints of the earth that we
talked about above, you taste it and feel its body in your mouth and its lingering
finish as it slides down your throat, just as you feel the pleasant warming
sensation as the wine's active ingredient, ethanol, slowly takes effect. (For
more detail, see the Tasting section.)
Drinking a glass of wine is like tasting a particular piece of earth at a particular
moment in the earth's history. OK, that sounds pretentious but it's really not,
because its true. Unlike other beverages, such as soda pop, distilled liquors
or even beer, a good wine will vary considerably from year to year, vintage to
vintage. The reason for this is that, unlike these other beverages, the
conditions of the earth, the wine's terroir --- the climate, the soil, the
surrounding vegetation, the amount of sunlight and so forth --- are almost
always reflected in the end product. Sure, vintners have a huge bag of tricks
that they use to cover-up natural imperfections, but that's just part of their art.
The earth always ends up in the glass. Other industrial-scale beverages, by
contrast, are made to always look and taste the same, regardless of the
conditions under which their natural ingredients were harvested.
Passion is the Fashion
One of the great things about wine is the passion that goes into making it. You
can feel that passion if you ever go to a small winery and chat with the
owner-operator serving wine his own tasting room. There's nothing quite so
fun than getting a wine-maker all wound up and seeing the sparkle in his eyes
as he waxes eloquent about all the love that went into his wine. Try that with
the CEO of PepsiCo.
What's Not to Like?
Wine is fun. There's no doubt about that. But there's so much choice out there
these days it's almost impossible to know where to start. One place to begin is
by not letting people tell you what wine you ought to like, especially when you
don't. You shouldn't let people tell you what wines to like any more than you
should let people tell you what pop music group you should listen to, right? Go
with your instinct. If you like sweet wines, say so. It's not a crime. Eventually,
you'll want to branch out to more fruity and spicy and tannic specimens. It's
important to go at your own pace and follow your own taste.
A Feast for the Senses
Perhaps the most fabulous thing about wine is that it is sensual. It engages
and enlivens all the senses: sight, touch, smell, taste and even hearing. When
you pour a wine into a glass or decanter you hear it splash from one container
to another (the sound will differ depending on the body and viscosity of the
wine), you observe the color of the wine as you hold it up to the light, you check
the body of the wine by the streaks it leave on the inside of your glass as you
swirl it, you breath in the wine's aroma, detecting the hints of the earth that we
talked about above, you taste it and feel its body in your mouth and its lingering
finish as it slides down your throat, just as you feel the pleasant warming
sensation as the wine's active ingredient, ethanol, slowly takes effect. (For
more detail, see the Tasting section.)
Suggest a Wine
Know a wine you
think we'd like?
Recommend it
right here »
Know a wine you
think we'd like?
Recommend it
right here »
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“What we taste in the wine is not just the fruit and its ferment, but also
the peculiar flavour of a landscape to which the gods have been
invited and where they have found a home." —
the peculiar flavour of a landscape to which the gods have been
invited and where they have found a home." —
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Tasting Terms
For a complete list
of tasting and other
terms, see the
Lexicon »
For a complete list
of tasting and other
terms, see the
Lexicon »