Stupid question of the day: Expensive red wines

kaitie

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Okay, this is so lame. I don't drink. I hate the taste of alcohol, and while I've had the opportunity to taste different wines before, the alcohol taste is very overpowering to me. I don't enjoy the taste enough to really savor other flavors and what not. To me it tastes pretty much like one thing, and I don't see what the other people telling me "this is so delicious" are talking about.

So, problem being my main character does drink. I wouldn't say he's a connoisseur, but he's had his fair share. Right now, he's on a date and said date has brought a nice, $600 bottle of red wine. I'd love to be able to describe the taste, but I'm not sure how. To me wine is a little bitter, but would a more expensive bottle be more mellow? I can't imagine my guy picking out all the subtleties a trained wine lover would be able to, but I'd love just a word or two that...well, wouldn't look really stupid to everyone reading it who does drink.
 

Karen Junker

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I wonder if you could google up an article in a food and wine magazine and use some of the language they use to describe the taste of the wine? You know, like fruity with an oaken high note and a mellow aftertaste or something, only I'm just making that up. I know that people who would spend $600 on a bottle of wine would have enough wine knowledge to use some of the correct language in describing it.

BTW, I just spent $28 on a bottle of wine from a local wine shoppe because a friend had her booksigning there -- and I haven't got a clue what I got or how it tastes. I'm going to give it away as a gift!
 

kaitie

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See, I tried doing that, but my guy's just a normal guy. I mean, I wouldn't mind throwing something like "nutty" in there, but I'm just wondering how it would taste to a normal Joe, ya know?
 

Karen Junker

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In my memory, wine tastes a lot like grape juice, only with that alcohol flavor over it. But it does take on characteristics that are specific to the grape, the type of aging process and so on.

If it were me, I might try practicing on a glass of grape juice and do what you'd do in a snazzy restaurant -- you sniff the wine before you taste it, then when you do, it's just a small amount, which you swish around in your mouth a bit before you tell the sommalier (sp?) that it's fine. I did that a bunch when I was young and ordered wine at a fine dining place. I didn't know nutty from fruity, but I could tell that some wines were smoother than others. You might have your character notice that the $600 wine goes down a lot smoother than the Fruity Cellars cheapo wine he used to drink in college or something like that...

ETA: I bought a bottle of wine for a friend and I could smell the wine from across the table as she drank it -- it was heavenly. Even though it did smell a lot like cough syrup. Good luck with your story!
 
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Xelebes

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Here is Ghurvinder Bhatia's Wine Column of the Week podcasts. The vocabulary used is especially useful.

Particularly expensive wine is so because of its rarity and quality maintained by the winery. Some wineries prefer specific types of wine. One of things that fine wineries do is watch their sugar content: too much sugar and it goes down with too much ease and leaves you prone to getting a hangover. So to maintain flavour, they will add minute amounts of spice and flavour or try to eek out the flavours of the barrel. Most of them use oak because oak has a pleasant flavour and is not too strong. This is especially true for other liquors.

Many people match certain types of wine with certain types of food. This can be especially tricky depending on what kind of meal you're going to have. I know that Merlot goes good with potatoes for myself, but turkey goes well with Rieslings. Come Thanksgiving, what am I to get? Many people decide based on what meat they are having and it makes it more navigable.
 
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kaitie

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Thanks for the link. :)
 

backslashbaby

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Deep, bold, oaky, smoky. You can taste different fruits and spices, but that may start getting away from Regular Joe stuff. Usually the expensive stuff just tastes wonderfully complex to me; cheap wines taste too much like one or two things in comparison. There is a balance that is hard to get, so it's more expensive. I do love a good table wine, though. But it's not heavenly like a really great wine :)

It reminds me a lot of perfume, if that helps any. Or chocolate, to a certain extent! The good stuff is just so rich and yummy you sit up and take notice :D
 

kaitie

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Actually, the perfume example is a perfect one. Appreciate the input. :D
 

mscelina

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A really great wine has layered flavors. For example, when I drink my favorite (and really good) red zinfandel, when the wine first hits my palate I experience a fruity flavor--a refreshing splash that feels like it's opening the pores up inside my mouth. But as I swallow the red zinfandel, the finish of the wine kicks in. There's a quick, hot flash of spice (kind of like the little burn you feel in your mouth from cinnamon) that stings pleasantly on my tongue followed by a mellowing, smooth roll of oak. How do you taste oak, you ask? Because the taste of the wine instigates a sensory recall of the smell of cut oak wood.

Make sense? Hope that helps.
 

kaitie

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Totally helps. I'm glad you said cinnamon because I wanted to have him think of cinnamon while he was drinking it, but I didn't know if that would be goofy or not. Reaffirms my word choice. :D
 

waylander

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Agree with what has been said so far. Blackcurrants, blackberries, plums all get a mention in descriptions of red wines
 

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Generally, the older a wine is, the more things besides fruit one tastes and smells.

Fruit-forward is often a reference to a young wine; tannin, leather, coffee, earth are other tones are often increasingly apparent as wines age.

You might want to make it easier on yourself if you know it's an expensive red by leaning towards a Merlot or a Cabernet Sauvignon, or a Pinot Noir. These three are all very distinctive, and frequently "collected." Cab and Merlot are classics; Pinot Noir, while an ancient wine/grape, has been fashionable since the film Sideways.
 

whacko

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Hey Kaitie,

Identifying an actual wine would help you along as, once you get into the top end, each vineyard has its own subtle flavours dependent on grape, soil, altitude, year etc.

BSB hit the nail right on the head on though. Complexity is a great word to use in wine tasting. A cheap bottle of wine is drinkable and goes down well. But the expensive stuff, i.e. good, takes longer to finish because you actually savour it.

You could try youtube for clips of Oz and James Big Wine Adventure. Oz is a wine expert. James is the long haired chap out of Top Gear. But you'll see the latter, a beer and pie man, getting to grips with tasting quality wines for a change. That may help your research a bit.

Regards

Whacko
 

kaitie

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Well, I haven't specifically said which wine it is, but I did give a description of the bottle so anyone who knew things like that would probably get it. I want to say it was from the mid 90s. I'll have to go later and see if I can find which kind it was specifically again. Is ten years considered old for wine? Hell, for that matter, can wine go bad if it's older? Like is there a certain point at which it'll start tasting awful, or does it always taste better if it's aged?
 

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Is ten years considered old for wine? Hell, for that matter, can wine go bad if it's older? Like is there a certain point at which it'll start tasting awful, or does it always taste better if it's aged?

Most of the collectible wines that are purchasable are from 1945 on.

There are older wines, but they tend to be in private estates/collections.

Some wines age well; some don't, in terms of the grape used. And some years will continue to improve, and some won't for individual wines

If you look at Wine Spectator magazine reviews, for instance, you'll see them suggesting how long to age wines for the best final result, on an individual basis.
 

kaitie

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How interesting. I know this particular ones is supposed to be one of the best for its year. I just looked up expensive good wines and found one in the price range I wanted lol.