sean.mcgrath wrote: ↑Tue Jan 18, 2022 10:49 am
dbr wrote: ↑Fri Jan 14, 2022 12:43 pm
So my naive question is how does a wine shopper have assurance that he has avoided a bad wine to buy?
An example is that I don't like champagne at all. I once bought a pricey bottle of what anyone would say was a very high quality champagne just to figure it out and sure enough I didn't like it at all, not even close. It didn't seem different from any other hack champagne that people serve. When people feature champagne at an event I just don't drink at all or choose ginger ale.
Also, by way of comparison I definitely have sensitivity and preference among single malts, so the idea does compute. Wine is all the same to me, within a variety with an occasional exception that somehow seems really good. It is also true all the single malt I would ever buy is not cheap. My wife, of course, would not in a million years even sniff a whiskey.
Like your malts, you have to get a sense for what you like, of course (for me it's peaty malts and leather/tobacco Bordeaux
). But you will never have the same level of assurance as your whiskey -- vintages matter a lot, bottles can have faults, storage matters. I see exploration and variety as part of the fun. I use Wine Spectator for more expensive bottles: the reviews are very descriptive, so I have a pretty good idea of what I'm getting.
Btw, Champagne is an odd one because there is not one "Champagne style." They can use red or white grapes; steel tanks or wooden vats; very different age profiles of the wine being used. The "house style" is what tends to be consistent. E.g., crisp and fruity like Laurent Perrier or bready / yeasty like Bollinger.
It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks, but a bad wine to buy is one you don't like or isn't a good match with your meal. The only way to find out if you like a wine is to try it with a meal you would enjoy. It doesn't matter if the ghost of Robert Parker gave it a 100 rating, if the wine does not enhance the meal, then it is a bad wine for you.
For those new to wine, I would suggest getting an inexpensive mixed case or half case with each wine from a different country/region, and see which ones you like and dislike. Rinse and repeat, until you can get a feel of what you like or don't like, or is a match for different kinds of food. Also, many higher priced wines are expensive because they have aging potential and are meant to be drunk years after the initial purchase. You aren't capturing any of that potential if you open them up early, so skip expensive wines when you start. Many expensive wineries offer lower priced wine meant for immediate consumption. For example, many Brunello producers offer a Rosso di Montalcino that is considerably cheaper and easier drinking than their main wine.
For Champagne, the vast majority of cheap sparkling wide and expensive Champaign sold in the US is produced in the "Brut" style, which is very dry with little or no sugar. If you don't like those, try a demi-sec, which has a moderate amount of sweetness, or a Doux, which is somewhat sweeter still. The Brut style is very modern, as traditionally Champaign was produced in a wide variety of sweetness levels. We found that Demi-Secs were much better matches with food than Brut, and all of the Champaign we buy now is in that style. However, it is difficult to find, as seemingly 95% of Champaign sold seems to be some version of Brut.