What You Like in a Wine

Wine enjoyment is a personal thing. The more you drink the more focused you become in looking for the perfect wine at a bargin price. I have been drinking wine for at least two thirds of of my life. Appreciating what I have been drinking is another thing, that being about the last twenty five years. The time I spent in Argentina, three years, is really the time it was cultivated with table wine at sixty three cents per litre. The most expensive, as I recall, was in the vicinity of $3/ bottle. We used to have wine at lunch, usually one glass with our food and the remainder half wine and half seltzer. Think it was to keep you from falling asleep when you went back to work.
Nowdays I look first for varietal or type, origin, year and if its in the price point I am looking for (afford). I like red. Used to be into Chardonnay the oaky, buttery soft kind, old world. But now I like the chewy reds. Zin in particular. I like it to be deep dark reddish purple with a lot of odor (nose). When you take a whiff you think of what it will be like when you try your first mouthful. Sometime I have to watch out that I don't drool. The first sip is wonderful. A whole lot of things happen. I try and relate to all the things that I have read about, smoke, tobacco, slate but I can't quite go there as if I have ever tasted smoke, don't remember it, have smelled smoke but not tasted it. Think you have to have your own relationship with the wine and describe it as you relate to it. To me when I experience a good one I either write it down or remember the label. For sure I will make a trip in the near future to buy more.
One in particular that is worth the $$, Cline Ancient Vines Zin. They have a few different labels, look for Ancient Vines. Old or Ancient Vines have more to do with the farming method, dry, than the age of the vines. Usually priced around $12 to $15 per bottle. When I do a good bottle of wine I don't want to mess it up with food, experience the wine. Good way to do this wine is with a quince base spread, blue cheese (soft type) and a ritz cracker. Spread the cracker with a bit of blue cheese and a dolop of quince spread. Eat the cracker thing first, and follow with a good gulp of the wine. Keep the wine in your mouth for at least a minute before swallowing, the experience will linger and you can relate to what you thought the wine was going to be like. I think it is quite complex with lots of differnet flavors. The blue cheese, quince spread, and ritz cracker was something that someone told me about and have passed it on to quite a few friends who have attested that it is a good combination with the wine showing its quality and characteristics. Remember to write down the name or better yet lift the label off and put it in a scrapbook. Next post will let you know how we do the "lifting" of labels... cheers