How do you choose your wines?

I only buy wine that comes in pretty bottles...I am never disapointed

Kidding!

I choose wine in conjunction of what I am preparing or eating.

When I am in a restaurant I usually feel comfortable selecting the wines on my own. When I feel I need some suggestions I never hesitate to enlist the insights of a Sommeilier, this is what they are trained in.

I also follow quite a few different Vinyards from around the world that have never let me down, so I refere to them when in dought.

I get a real kick out of reading a number of different reviews by the wine press, many times they are very different opinions. This is the time I find the wine they are reviewing and taste it for myself.
This will give me a better idea of who's taste is more closly related to mine, and I will end up trusting there reviews.

 

i vote for the one with the cool label. actually i have a very hard time obtaining wine in restaurants, i'm extremely allergic to sulfites and most restaurants do not carry sulfite free wines. this can be a real bummer as i really like a nice red on occasion. try drinking ice water with a steak, yuck. :cry:
i do occasionally get lucky in the local health food store and find organic wines, but they're kind of boring. if any one has the name of a good natural vineyard i'd appreciate the information.

 

Between Hubby and myself, we know the basic characteristics of a lot of varietals and blends. So if that's what we see on a list, we're okay on our own. If we see something unknown (a particular vineyard, say, or a known varietal from a new region), we might just order it to see what it's like -- if it won't cost too much. I like to ask the waiter or sommelier to describe the wines that catch our eye. This almost always works out well (always with a sommelier, usually with a waiter in a good restaurant).

It really helps to know the basics, in order to match the wine to the foods. And to be flexible in your tastes.

 

I second CC. I use all of them except the pretty label idea. I have had some wines that were pretty good that had really nice labels though

 

I've already confessed to picking the wine with the pretty label, so there's no use pretending.

Actually, I like the pretty bottle even better because at least I end up with a pretty bottle no matter how bad the wine is.

I'm annoyed today because I printed out CC's list of wines to look for and then left it at home when I went to Rapid City yesterday. Grrrrrr.

I did buy a Reisling in a pretty bottle though. That was for the fella I see who likes that sweet German wine. I like the bottle.

Nancy

 

As a kid when I bought a bottle of wine as a present for my dad, I would go by the name. I'd choose a chateau something, that sounds very French.