Mark Lipton wrote:
> 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.

Thanks for the welcome, great to be here.

>
>
>> 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! ;-)
Absolutely! I do love this sort of homework.

-ben