The never told secret to divine wines (part 2)
This is the second and final part about divine wines.
Part 1 can be found here.
If you want to dive into my utterly incomplete list of divine wines click here.
Learning to appreciate
Another comparison can be made with classic music. As a little child I hated it. When my parents turned on some classic stuff it was the time to run of yelling to my room. Now I love it. I enjoy an evening out at the opera and had some really divine moments over there! If you have seen “La Traviata” live in one or another Italian opera I guess you would understand what I’m talking about.
Again, just the same with wine. You need to learn appreciate it, and maybe you need also some age, some (live) experience. And maybe the sooner you start with wine the sooner you can appreciate the difficult (read DIVINE) wines.
Appreciation and education
Learning to appreciate is of course closely linked with education. In order to be able to appreciate, you need to learn, to understand how a wine is made, how it obtains its complexity. And to train…yes to train your nose, your taste.
I’m heavy pro some kind of “sniffing and tasting” course at school. It is one of our senses we do not learn to use. If you don’t believe me, do the test: just try to catch some smells blind, very difficult thing to do.
So one tip on how to appreciate DIVINE wines: sniff, taste and sniff, taste and sniff, taste and… You can try to sniff a lot of things, just go to your local market and sniff the flowers, the food or step in your garden and sniff the trees, the leaves, the grass, … You will notice that after a while your nose gets trained and you will pick up far more easier smells (yeah, also the bad ones ;-)).
The moment
And divinity is also very largely dependent on the moment. Something that proceeds from God or a god doesn’t come 24/7.
So there are this special moments when every puzzle piece fits in and when you drink some great wine at such moments, you will remember. The crazy thing is that such wines could also be very simple wines. Thus, the exception to my rule that divine wines need to be expensive.
I still remember a trip with school to Rome where we drank an Est!, Est!!, Est!!! di Montefiascone, actually a quite simple wine, but with a lot of college boys combined with an incredible time in Italy, this turned out just as such a memorable moment.
Points that are in advantage of the above theory are of course that I didn’t had any wine education yet!
There are some moments I just can remember because of the great feeling of that moment combined with an incredible wine.
Conclusion
For me, the aspects that influence the divinity of wine are thus the following:
And because of these aspects, I often end up with a wine that is in the higher price range. What can I do about it? I’m just a product of my education…
Some last tip for you wine lovers. If you start with wine and you desire to beef up your wine cellar, do not, I repeat, do not buy too many of the first wines you love, you will see that your taste will change, that you will (learn to) appreciate other (read more complex) wines. And that a great moment isn’t easy to repeat…even with that same great wine!
And on that bombshell….I’ll go to my cellar and get me a divine wine.
Bart
If you enjoyed this post, make my day and buy me a glass of wine.The never told secret to divine wines (part 1)
A while ago I was struggling with the question “What is a divine wine?”. I looked at it from all sides, sniffed at it, tasted it a bit and then…well then…it started to become clear.
And to take the road to clearness, the first step is a definition. So let’s take a look at the definition of divine.
Divine - a definition
A definition taken from the Webster dictionary.
Divine:
1 a : of, relating to, or proceeding directly from God or a god b : being a deity c : directed to a deity
2 a : supremely good : superb b : heavenly, godlike
So we are talking about superb, heavenly wines. I would guess this excludes your daily plonk. So it has to be something special, something godlike!
Divine = expensive?
So, do you have to open your wallet a lot for divinity? Ooooh yes! At least for me.
For this person a divine wine is in general expensive (around 15 to 20 EUR and often a lot more, but of course there are exceptions).
Be aware, the divine=expensive equation has not always been so (oh no) and can be explained (oh yes).
Education
Liking wines is also a bit understanding wines. Let’s compare it to your school period. When starting secondary school at 6 years, I guess you could write and read just a little bit. Well that’s why we have all those years at school, isn’t. If one would have dropped in your hands a book of Milan Kundera or Umberto Eco, you surely would not be able to appreciate it at that age (let stand to read it ;-)). Harry Potter, maybe.
Nowadays I -at least- can enjoy Milan Kundera a lot (this is a divine writer to me) and I enjoy a lot Harry Potter (which are great page turners, hey no divinity here, but a lot of pleasure).
Just the same with wines. You start off with Harry Potter wines, juicy, easy (to understand) wines and you work you’re way through to Milan Kundera wines, complex of an unseen elegance, difficult type of wines. And yes it is an education!
So it took me a couple (lot) of years to find my way to the complexity of e.g. a Barolo wine. Ooh so divine. And as most of us, I started of with a simple juicy wine, such as a Pays D’Oc merlot or …(just fill in). Maybe at that moment these were divine wines, but now they are no longer divine. Hey these type of wines can be pleasing and sometimes very pleasing. And it makes me smile when I find a wine in the “below 6 EUR category” that is great. Price quality ratio is important…but for GODLIKE wines, I score my stuff in the higher price ranges.
Part 2 can be found here!
If you want to become thirsty, just take a look at my never complete list of divine wines.
Wines that have put a smile on my face
Just back from holidays and I just wanted to share some wines that put a smile on my face, well some a bigger smile than others :-):
In Sevilla in a wine bar close to the Jardines Murillo, Vineria San Telmo:
- * Bodegas Castaño, Hécula Semi Crianza, DO Yecla (100% monastrell)
Big smile on my face. I have never heard of this winery, but as always when there is the ability to taste wine by the glass, I go for this option and try several glasses. I dig the monastrell grape, better know as mourvèdre in other parts of the world.
Additionally, a little search on the web indicated that the 1999 scored 90/100 points by Parker. Quite exceptional for a wine below 10 EUR. I have to admit that I didn’t note the harvest year (hey, I was on a holiday remember :-)).
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* Dominio de Tares Bultos DO Bierzo (Léon) (100% mencía)
At Knokke-Heist (the Belgian coast) I had also some nice examples:
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* Vietti, DOCG Barolo Lazzarito 2000 (Serralunga d’Alba) (Italy)
Most Barolos put a huge grin on my face (also this one). One of the top producers of Castiglione Faletto, the beating heart of the Barolo zone.
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* Dea-Rivalta Prosecco di Valdobbiadene Brut (Italy)
This one I import myself, but it is just such great price-quality bubbles that I needed to mention it :-).
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* Agustinos, Carmenère Reserve 2005, Rapel Valley Chili
Carmenère was originally planted in the Bordeaux region but its importance is today very small at Bordeaux. However, in Chili it has grown out to a great monovarietal. Try some of these!
Purchased at Bacchus (Knokke) in a price range below 10 EUR.
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* Lustau, Manzanilla Papirusa Sherry Solera Reserva, Sanlucár de Barrameda (Spain)
I just love sherry and this is super stuff. Purchased at Bacchus (Knokke) for about 14 EUR.
If you want to read about some teeth grinning wines I tasted in Italy, then click this post: Barolo in Serralunga d’Alba
So, now go out and get yourself a wine that puts a smile on your face!
Bart
If you enjoyed this post, make my day and buy me a glass of wine.Passionate Spain - WBW#35 Round up
41 bloggers coming from Australia, Spain, Belgium, Hong Kong, Canada, the US, and Great Britain made this Wine Blogging Wednesday a great succes! Taking into account that a lot of bloggers reviewed 2, 3 or even more wines and you can imagine that there is a treasure of information for people who want to shop for good value Spanish wines (in general below 10 USD).
So kudos to My Wine Education for coming up with this great subject.
The round up of WBW#35 can be found here.
I want to mention one blog, Château Brys. A fellow Belgian blogger with whom I got into contact thanks to WBW. He had set his eye upon a wine from Telmo Rodriguez, a passionate driving wine maker.
Have a nice Spanish wine today!
bart
The lazy jedi’s way to buying wine
Ok, with the 5 killer rules on buying wine burned in your memory, your palms are no longer sweating when heading to a wine shop or when you are pointed out as volunteer to choose a wine from the wine list in a fancy restaurant.
So you like your wine, you know why and you have found your trusted wine merchant. You are fully aware of surrounding effects and the influence of your own mood on wine and have even been experimenting with these external and internal factors. And, even more important, you are wearing your topee and went already several times on some successful expeditions.
In other words, your are now a full blown wine jedi. So may the wine be with you.
Being a wine jedi, now it is time to tattoo in your chest the most important wine buying rule of all. And you can be sure that it is a lazy wine jedi rule:
You master the game as no other one, so now it is time to have fun (and I may hope you already had loads of fun on your way to becoming a wine jedi). Wine, after all, is made to enjoy, to have fun with friends. Hey, I just like to analyze a wine, to go into depth into all these layers of aromas, to let the flavors roller coaster in my mouth. But then there comes a moment of joy, of letting it loose with love and just have fun!
So with the next wine you sip, do not forget to have fun. As an author has put it (and I can say it no better):
“What is the definition of a good wine? It should start and end with a smile.”
- William Sokolin
Have a fun wine today!
Bart
5 killer rules when buying wine (Part 2)
In part 1 of 5 killer rules when buying wine, the first two rules to have a nice buying experience were uncovered.
- Drink the wines you like
- Get to know why you like these wines
Here are the remaining three killer rules to take into account when buying wine.
3. Trust
Rule number 3 is plain vanilla:
Find yourself a wine merchant that you trust.
This trust person will help you on your adventures on the wine route. A good wine merchant will listen to you, give you a helping hand and lead you to the wines you like. In addition, he could help you to understand why you like these wines.
But again, never forget rule number 1. Oh yes, it could indeed happen that your favourite wine merchant makes you a recommendation that does not suit your palate. After all even your favourite wine merchant is only human. So do not be afraid to tell him the next time, so he can look for some other wines to recommend. Sometimes it is just looking a bit around for you to find the right way through the maze, but once you have find that road, your happiness will grow and your wine evenings will become unforgettable.
4. Be aware of the dog
Ever visited a house where there was this little sign posted: be aware of the dog? I recently did and it was a lazy Sunday afternoon where the heat just made you sluggish. Ok, I have seen the sign, but the only thing I heard were birds twittering a bit. So in quite a relaxed state I entered the front garden. And then, then there was suddenly this evil monster, barking at a level that it seemed that my head was going to explode. I saw it running towards me in slow motion. Foam was dripping from his mouth making his teeth even look sharper. My sluggish state of mind was in a second changed. Adrenaline was pumping through my veins, while different options run in a millisecond through my brain. I opted for the flea tactic and ran like a devil towards the gate and security…
This little side story, just to indicate you that the surroundings, a particular moment in time can set you in a certain state of mind. But a change in the atmosphere and your state of mind can change entirely. The above was a rather drastic change but every moment in time there are a multitude of factors influencing your state of mind.
How is this related to wine?
Well, it is the same with wine, there are a multitude of factors influencing the taste of wine.
An example: remember those incredible holidays in Greece. A fantastic sun, steel blue skies and all happy people, dancing the sirtaki together and then some shots of ouzo. Well, I had my great shot of ouzo while they shattered some plates on my head, just an unforgettable experience. And oh boy, tasted that ouzo good!
But then, have you ever tried to drink ouzo in Belgium? Well, I did, and it just tasted horrible. Great deal of the explanation lies in the fact that you are in a total different state of mind.
Same goes with wine. So be aware of, among others, the serving temperature of the wine and the outside temperature (ever tried an high alcohol red wine when it is over 30° Celsius?), your state of mind (try the same wine when your happy and when your sad. Will it taste the same?) and the influence of food on the taste of wine.
Conclusive rule number 4 is all about the dog:
when tasting wine, be always aware of the dog or, in other words, be aware of the influences!
5. Take the Livingstone-approach
Now you like a certain wine and you know why you like this wine. Are you going to stick with this wine? Hell no. Be adventurous, go on an expedition, to boldly go where no man has gone before!
So rule no. 5 is:
Be adventurous!
Suppose you like Bordeaux wines. Kick off that expedition with a little stroll outside the Bordeaux region and head for Bergerac. Same type of grapes and similar style. And so you discover that also a Bergerac wine is one who ends up in the “I like it” category. Come on be a bit more adventurous and go outside the France borders. Why not go over the Alps direction Tuscany. Here you find the so-called Super Tuscans. Often made on the basis of some kind of Bordeaux blend and aged on Bordeaux type oak wooden barrels. But here your adventure does not stop. Now you can go for a totally different continent. Take for example South Africa, this country is a heaven on your discovery for stupendous Bordeaux blends. And so your adventure could cross the whole planet.
Just take one piece of advice into account: let go of all these prejudices and just think you are Dr. Livingstone heading for a great expedition. You will encounter trouble (bad wines) but you might also be the first to see the Victoria falls (excellent mind blowing wine)!
I would like to thank Michel Vandeneuker and David van Gils for offering me some useful insights.
If you enjoyed this post, make my day and buy me a glass of wine.How to know what not to buy - Quotes on wine
If you enjoyed this post, make my day and buy me a glass of wine.“Never buy the cheapest wine in any category, as its taste may discourage you from going on. The glass, corks, cartons, and labor are about the same for any wine, as are the ocean freight and taxes for imported wines. Consequently, if you spend a little more, you are likely to get a better wine, because the other costs remain fixed. Cheap wine will always be too expensive.”
— Alex Bespaloff, New Signet Book of Wine, 1986
5 killer rules when buying wine (Part 1)
Ever stood in a wine shop in front of all these inviting wines and you were just not able to see the wood for the trees? Your forehead was beaded with sweat and the only thing you thought of was how to get out of the store as quick as possible?
Well, these days are over…just take with you the 5 killer rules and you will be calm like a Buddhist monk and focused like an eagle the next time you enter a wine shop.
1. I like it, aha, aha!
Let’s kick of with the basic rule:
“drink, and for that matter buy, only the wine that you like!”
And it is plain simple: You like it or you do not like it. As regards the second category don’t be afraid to throw it away. The crocodiles living in the sewer beneath our house have a serious alcohol problem due to all the wine that I have poured in our sink.
Mary Ewing-Mulligan, Master of Wine (and they know a lot since this is the highest degree in wine you could obtain) states it in a bit different words:
“Own your own palate.”
Hey, it is you who have to drink the wine, it is your own mouth where the white or red gold is going to be swallowed. Ever encountered a wine critic with your mouth, ever encountered a wine label that was made up on the basis of your palate. I didn’t.
So trust yourself and trust your palate. Let the wine critics, wine labels, wine connoisseurs be what they are: a small light in the darkness, a light that could possible guide you but not a light that will be so intense that you will be blinded…
2. Give me a reason
The second rule is:
try to find out WHY you like / dislike a wine.
Do you like fruity wines, aged wines, wines on wood, powerful, fleshy or elegant wines or sparkling wines (link)? Or do you like a particular grape, such as a merlot? Or, do you prefer blended wines compared to monovarietal wines? Or do you dig a specific country, a certain region?
So next time get some basic information when you buy a bottle of wine, such as:
- Grape variety
- Country
- Region
- Wood aging
And some more components if you like. The more components are known the easier it will be for you to determine why you like a wine.
Memorize this components each time you drink a wine or even better set up your own database. And in such way you will find out what it is that you like/dislike in a wine. And this will make your future purchases much more easy and, even a bigger advantage, you will have to throw less in the sink.
Buy in a relaxed way a nice wine today!
Bart
Part 2 is now available -Five killer rules when buying wine (part 2).
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