Ben Snyder wrote:

>> Typical Americans. They think that 'tasting' is the way to learn about
>> wine. Stop the tasting and start drinking them, with food. Do not
>> 'evaluate' the wines. Drink them and enjoy them. Note which ones you
>> liked best, and do nothing else. Do not 'over-think' this. Do you make
>> 'tasting notes' of every chicken you eat?
>>
>> Damn!
>
> Is there such a thing as a 'typical American?' If so, please enlighten
> me. I am absolutely tired of Americans being bashed because of
> prejudices against us by people of other cultures.

Ben,
Welcome to alt.food.wine! Unfortunately, you've also met our
resident contrarian, Mr. Michael Scarpitti (aka UC). He is an American,
but for reasons best known only to himself has set himself on a Quixotic
crusade against decanting wine, tasting wine and (God forbid!) drinking
wines not made in Italy.
Pay him no more attention than you feel is warranted. Some afw
contributors have decided that the effort isn't worth the payoff and so
ignore him. YMMV.


>
> I do make tasting notes of particularly complex dishes that I make, yes.
> The purpose is so that I can repeat the experience. Simple fare like
> hamburgers, of course not. Key points are complexity and expense - if a
> wine is expensive then I will take good notes so I can either avoid or
> purchase what I like in the future. Not taking notes can lead to poor
> choices, and wasted money. As I get better at knowing my likes and
> dislikes, my notes get shorter.

Entirely reasonable, Ben. Like others here, I typically drink my wine
with meals, but still want to note down what the wine is like, how well
it pairs with the food and how much more life it may have (in the case
where I have more of it). The beauty of wine is that it's a lifelong
learning experience, and most of us greatly enjoy the homework! ;-)

Mark Lipton