May 2006
Wines of the month - Paul DeRose
Trust What You Like!
There are many wine critics out there and they all want desperately to tell you what they like, but no matter how much they like what they like, this is no guarantee that you will like it too. The hard fact is that the only way you will discover the wines that you love is to go out and try as many different wines as you can get your hands on (Ugh, sounds like dating). Of course, this is time consuming, expensive and often disappointing, but wine critics and wine publications can never replace experience. So, if you really want to discover the greatest wines in the world For You, then you have to embrace the adventure of it and throw caution to the wind. Unfortunately, wine drinkers are doing this less and less these days, because we now have a wine press that pretends it has all the answers. But wine recommendations, including the ones that have appeared here, should only be used as an educational guide and not as gospel.
With this in mind, I will leave the recommendations to you (at least until September). Remember to follow what you like, i.e., find grape varieties, wine regions and producers that you like and try as many wines of that variety, region or producer as you can. It’s also important to keep a log of what you drink along with some general impressions. So, when you go out to buy more of that wine that you really loved, you can avoid a common case of wine amnesia. I encourage you to write me with your wine encounters, that is, what you loved, or not, and any good stories to go along with it. Look forward to hearing from you.
Signing off for the summer,
Have Fun!