Okay, so I’ve been reading too many advice columns about how to get more attention for my blog (my number one New Year’s resolution). So in this one, I’m going to take pity on my readers with some great ideas of how to—at least on the wine front—make 2009 a memorable year.
A list seemed like a good idea so here are my seventeen tips for enjoying wine in 2009.
1. Make a short list of your favorite places to buy and drink wine (this should be easy). If you don’t have any ideas on this one then ask your wine loving friends. Don’t have any wine-loving friends? Maybe you need to start carrying a flask. Stick to it. Revise it. Update it regularly.
2. Throw out all of those preconceived notions about wine and price. Yes, you can still find good wine (or rather interesting wine) at cheap prices but you need to be plugged in to a retailer or three that you trust for these recommendations. And keep in mind, if you only buy a bottle at a time of really cheap wine from them you are probably not going to have your picture in their photo album of favorite customers. Come up with a monthly wine budget and divide it by the number of bottles you drink. Add the price of three bottles together every other week and splurge on a bottle in that price range. It will make you very happy to drink it.
3. Stop buying wine at places that you use the words “rip-off,” “convenient,” or other unflavorful comments. You wouldn’t get your haircut at a place that brought those words to mind, so why would it work for your wine choices?
4. Don’t buy more than two bottles of something that you haven’t tasted unless you really love the wine maker, are supporting a charity, or know someone who will take it off your hands if you don’t like it. Especially don’t buy a case of something for an important party or other event where you’re trying to make an impression unless you’re planning to end up without any friends. If you wouldn’t take a client to a restaurant that you had never tried, then don’t spring a bottle on them that you haven’t knowledge of unless you have a relationship where you can both say, “Let’s try this one.”
5. Try to refrain from using the word “easy” in your wine purchasing vocabulary. Buying gas at a local station or taking a taxi instead of walking is easy. Buying wine at the supermarket where you are limited to mainstream selections or wines of “no origin” (yes, two buck is in this category), will result in less satisfying wine choices. And (this should be obvious), try to stay away from wines that are thought of as “easy drinking”.
6. Remember the phrase palate fatigue. Yep, I’ve coined it. If you wouldn’t wear the same shirt to work five days in a row, then why drink the same wine everyday? Your brain will start to get numb to the pleasures of trying new things and you won’t know if the wine is any good if you don’t take a break and try new things.
7. Try to get over the idea that when you bring wine as a gift to your host you expect them to open it and serve it with dinner. Unless you’ve been asked to bring the wine for dinner, this is not correct etiquette. If someone has gone to the trouble to cook and invite people over for a meal, they probably have their wine selections worked out as well. If you are asked to bring the wine for dinner, ask the host what course they want to serve your selection with, how many people there will be, etc.
