Jose wrote:
> > But those who have to put down others are actually insecure about what
> > they know.
>
> You mean, like a certain poster who put down the girl who wanted to have
> some fun with wine and cheese and the girls?

I didn't put her down. SHE said she was very dissatisfied with her
experience. I explained why. .

> > I'll try something if the seller has sampled it and gives
> > it high marks
>
> You trust the seller's "tasting" over yours?

Yes. I have no confidence that I can judge a wine apart from food. They
taste bitter and harsh. From what I have read about Italian wines, they
are SUPPOSED to taste bitter and hash apart from food.

http://wine.blogs.com/

"Before getting into the wine, though, it is important to talk about
the food. Wine is made to drink with food. Serving a relatively mild
cheese or mild olives can really enhance the tasting experience as they
will both taste good with most red and white wines. Even just crackers
or bread with olive oil will do the trick if you don't want to get too
fancy. But some wines, especially those from Europe, can be difficult
to enjoy without food."

> I suppose you might if you
> know the seller's tastes and agree with them, but if you don't know the
> wine merchant, and he reccomends a wine because he himself has tried it,
> how do you know he knows what he's tasting? I'd just as soon try it
> myself if he has a bottle open.

Sometimes it works out that way. I have established a close working
relationship with one seller in particular, whose recommendations I
trust.

> Yeah, it's not going to be the same as when I'm at home with a big juicy
> beefsteak, but I can identify some of the elemnts and make a judgement
> as to whether I think it will work. And yanno, most of the time I've
> been right, even though I'm far from a wine pro.

I don't get any pleasure from it, so I don't generally take tastes in
stores, though occasionally I do so to be polite when a distributor's
salesman happens to be in the shop and asks me to try something.

> > Gambero Rosso's "Italian Wines" book is always a good
> > guide. They are based in Italy and know Italian wine types. American
> > magazines are worthless for Italian wines. They don't understand them
> > at all.
>
> That's not disdain of reviewers, or of the review process. That's just
> selection of an appropriate reviewer.

Yes.

> > Not sure I find the [movie] analogy valid, Jose.
>
> It's hardly airtight, but it's just an illustration, not a proof.
> Samples of =anything= outside of context don't reflect the "true nature"
> of the thing.

But a trailer of a film is not like tasting a wine without a meal. The
trailer is something made of the parts of the film; the wine is exactly
the same, in different circumstances.

> But with some experience, one can extrapolate and make
> valuable judgements for oneself. With more experience and some
> vocabulary, one can make evaluations that will make sense to others, and
> be useful to them.

Despite deacdes of reading about and drinking wine, I cannot fathom
wine review language, other than 'dry', "highly extracted", 'raisiny',
and 'elegant'. What 'vegetal' is, I have no idea. What 'earthy' is, I
have only a vague idea. I understand 'complex' and "long finish", too.
But after that, I am lost. It is my belief that wine review language
(and reviewers' taste preferences) are highly biased toward F____ wines
and Northern Italian/Tuscan wines. Sicilian and southern Italian wines,
which are so vastly different, confuse reviewers, who downgrade and
dismiss them because they are so different. I am actually not that fond
of Sangiovese-based wines. I prefer Northern and Southern
Italian/Sicilian/Sardinian wines.

> Now, for somebody like me to go to a wine tasting, make a few comments
> on what I might notice in a wine, write them down so I can remebmer
> them, and predict how well it might do with some foods with which I am
> familiar, would not be pretention. For me to go further than my ability
> (for example, to the extent of DaleW's reviews) would be pretense on my
> part, because I am not really able to isolate and identify the flavors
> (though when told to me, I can sometimes discern them separately). It
> would seem to be a useful trick, since (I would presume) a wine that has
> melon notes would go well with meals which would go well with melon.
> This is helpful pairing an unfamiliar wine.
>
> > That's why I stick with Italian wines.
>
> ... and it's why I have favored California wines. I am familiar with
> them. However, I am expanding my horizons, and learning about other
> wines too. It's a slow process, since I can't be drunk all the time.
>
> Jose

Feel free to ask me about Italian wines, any time.
>
> --
> "Never trust anything that can think for itself, if you can't see where
> it keeps its brain." (chapter 10 of book 3 - Harry Potter).
> for Email, make the obvious change in the address.