how to you determine a good bottle of red or white wine??
 

For the wine connoisseurs out there, what is it that makes a bottle of red or white delicious or Fine, what determine factors are there? before and after you crack it? also any good recommendation?? countries, years or types of grapes?

if u are a noob, the easiest way to base how good a bottle of wine is base on price.

if you wanna know more, try going to some wine tasting sessions and try out as much different ones as possible, then you'll start to build up your own standards as to which region suit your taste more.

go for the wines from bordeaux to start out.

It's hard to throw down a criteria because everyone's tastes are different. I like Pinot's while my wife likes Shirazes. Some people like their wine well aged, some people like them a little younger...

One thing I realized though is that price is meaningless. I've had $100 bottles of wine that I didn't care for, and $10 bottles that tasted fantastic.

the best answer is to taste the wine itself at the liquor store, they sometimes have demos to sample

also, can't really go wrong with VQA wines

if your saying the more expensive the bottle the better it is. then your wayyyy off.

This is correct, not sure why this post is failed. Price hardly factors in when choosing a good wine. There are some absolutely fantastic bottles from local BC vineyards for under $20.

hirevtuner has some good advice. Go to the VQA section of the liquor store and browse around. Read the information labels, they offer some good info on the flavors and tones of the wine. The only way you will get to know what YOU like is by trying a variety.

Some of my favorite local wineries are Burrowing Owl, Quail's Gate, Summerhill and Inniskillin.

Don't worry, I'll fail him.

RennSport is our resident troll, take what he says for entertainment, not so much for content.

local wines are really good for relatively low price. It all come down to personal taste.

Renne Sport is obviously a fucking noob so I compensated his/her fail with a thanks haha.

For anybody who goes into a liqour store or gets a glass at dinner and thinks to themselves "well this one is more expensive it must be better" is so off. Just like other things just because it's mroe expensive it doesn't mean it's better. Wake the fuck up.

Dollar value has nothing to do with a great bottle of wine.
Your sense of smell, your pallete, pairing with food, color, one of my personal favorite tests is simply balance.... the balance of smell to actual taste of wine, theres many many more factors. The list goes on... Theres no simple math for a good bottle of wine.

And to be honest, most of the time its a matter of personal preference.

Just because one person likes a wine, doesnt mean another person will.

I suggest going to smaller local stores that sell specifically wine. Some of them have all day tasting for you to try. Talk to them... and they will chat you up about wine all day..
My favorite place is a little local wine store in Kensington Plaza in Burnaby. Tell them how much you want to spend, your likes and dislikes, and they will pair you up with a nice bottle of wine.

This is some valid advice. The thing about wine is that the "better" bottles are not necessarily better tasting. They tend to be more interesting and complex on your pallet. They tend to have more complex flavours and aromas. You ill notice differnt layers of flavours , some hitting you right away some just being a aftertaste( in a good way).
Cheaper bottles ...10-20 bux ...tend to be more straightforward in your pallet. Doesn't mean they aren't good for drinking...just different.

There are some bittles at 100 that are absolutely amazing some that are not so much. There are some at 20 that are great most are not. The 100 bottle might not be 5 X better however.

Best way to start is to identify the type of wine you like. Start with a red or a white. If you start with white the easiest way is to start with a sweeter one. Our pallet in N.A. is geared toward sugar. So start with a riesling . They tend to be sweeter. Then move on to a Chardonay. do a side by side comparison. You will notcie there is a totally different taste profile. the Chardonay tends to be rounder less sweet , buttery , oaky. Then maybe move onto a Sauvignon Blanc. You will get more tartness , fresh , crisp taste. Grapefruit , lychee etc.

Reds. Start light. Pinot Noir or Gamay Noir. The lighter the colour of the wine the lighter the taste usually. Then move onto a Shiraz or Cabernet Sauvignon. You will notice a huge difference.

It basically takes a while until you can start identifying flacvours in wine. Picking up plum , oak , tobacco( yes some wine was a tobacco like tase) red fruit etc etc etc.

Here are a couple of my personnal standbys
Reds

Stump Jump GSM..Aussie wine that is a classic blend. Big , Strawberry jam flavours...good with big food...steak , pizza..15 bux or so.

Masi Campofiorrin (sp?) ..Very good value wine. Italian ripasso style...basically means they semi dry some of the grapes before pressing. ...20 bux

Matchbook Syrah...Syrah is the same varietal as Shiraz but it is treated differently. don't recall how. Good value wine.....under 20 I think

Castillo de Monseran...Spanish Garancha. 11 bux. Great value wine , easy drinking.

See Ya later Ranch ..Rover. This is a bc red blend...very nice in the mid 20's. Only available in specialty shops i think.

Whites
Not much of a white drinker...

Conundrum...Californian 'table wine'. dont let that put you off. very easy wine to get into. 30 bux

cedar creek Proprieters white...very similar to Conundrum byt at the 13 buck price point. very interesting to do a side by side. BC wine as well.

DR Loosen Riesling. Very easy "sweeter" wine easy to drink/start off with.


I have been getting more and more into wine in the last few years but consider myself still a novice at best.

One cool thing to try.
Get a bottle of red or white. something with some interesting character.
Pour parts of the bottle into every different shaped glass you have in your house. From skinny champagne glasses to coffee cups. Taste out of each type of glass/mug including wine glasses. You will notice huge taste differences!

personal preference

categorize it first. do you like white or red?
then go taste a bunch and find out which type you like? eg, merlot, chardonnay, chenin blanc, shiraz, cabronet sauvignon, pinot, reisling.. some are blends too.

once uve picked a few types you like, start exploring different estates/vineyards that make them. dont let the region fool you, its all taste. some ppl will push for say french/aussie/southafrica/italy/greece/bc/us/niagra region/

if you are determined to try, say a french wine though, a good wine, easy on the pallette, for beginners is "Fat Bastard".

good luck, and just keep trying different wines, always a good excuse to open up a different bottle w/ friends at dinner.

my personal preference is i tend to lean towards the white wines as i dont like tanine too much.

u'll just know when u taste really good wine, ur reaction will be "holyshiiiit"

http://www.playhousewinefest.com/

there is an upcoming wine tasting event I believe that is coming next week. For some reason the above website isn't working for me, but try taking a look, you get to taste different wines and ask questions

you'd be a fool to rely 100% on reviews/suggestions from "experts"

Sure, sometimes they provide good suggestions on wines , but for me, i just go to the liqour store, find a random one that matches what i would be eating (merlot for beef, chardonnay for social wine+cheese).

There are Soooo much wine choices out there, why get the same one every time? explore and just have fun. basic tips for wine is to just drink it at the right temperature, make sure you let it rest for around 10-20 minutes before drinking (or even put it in a vase, and wait)

like others said, is all a matter of personal preference. & RENNSPORT is just another idiot that "expensive" wine companies go after for.

Basic wine information
 

Wine is made from grapes which is an agricultural product, the quality is therefore affected by the weather and the soil of where the grapes are grown. This is the reason why the year is very important. If it rains too much, water dilutes the sweetness and intensity of the grapes.

Different areas will have different climates in different years, hence the vintage chart is always location specific.

Of course, wine making techniques are also important, quantity and quality of vines to plant in what type of soil, when do you pick the grapes, how long do you age the wine in what types of barrels, how do you mix the wine, etc.

All wines can be grouped into two categories, new world (outside of Europe) and old world (from Europe).

If there are enough interested parties, we can do tastings or basic seminars.

Here are some free wine related videos and articles:

How to taste wine?
How is wine priced?
How to open a bottle of wine.
Top Bordeaux wine introduced.
Bordeaux's keys to greatness.
Wine Rating Research Course.
The $92,000 lunch.
A billionaire's lunch.
The $36,000 dinner in Vancouver.
Top 100 Wines rated by Wine Spectator magazine.
Robert Parker, the most famous wine critic.
Poor wine service examples.
Wine auctions.

Regarding the question about the characteristic of the wine after you have opened it, it depends on the age of the wine. Generally, older wines do not require as much breathing (interaction with oxygen), but you want to decant the wine to separate the sediment (powder like naturally formed substance in older red wine).

If you're spending more than $50 in Canada on a bottle of wine, look into when the wine is ready for consumption, you may be opening a bottle before it has peaked.

A few tips for casual drinkers:

1. Food and wine pairing. Right food makes bad wine taste better.
2. Pay attention to the serving temperature. Red wine at 30C is not pleasant no matter how you cut it. Different types of wine have different serving temperature if you want to be picky.
3. The more you drink the more you enjoy wine.
4. Take note of what you like (snapshot of bottle label is a good start).
5. Drink more.
6. Start collecting what you like, store in the coolest place inside your house/apartment, hopefully with a consistent year round temperature around 14C.
7. 39th & Cambie has the best selection.
8. Buy a set of Riedel Overture Magnum Red wine glasses if you like wine. If you're serious, get the Vinum or even the Sommelier series.

Yes, it is all very personal, so try more different types to explore what you like, from $5 to $1,000 if you can swing it. Don't just stick with BC. For the same price, you can get lots of decent Australians, Italians and even French.

Just because you have a couple of merlots you dislike doesn't mean you have given merlot a fair chance. Don't write off wines too quickly.

Try to drink enough to know how certain wines are supposed to taste like. And this is sadly the answer, a good Bordeaux tastes differently from a good Burgundy, there is no universal adjectives and qualities to look for. For example, the flowery delicate bouquet in a La Tâche simply should not be as dominating in a Latour as they are made with different grapes. For many, the easiest tell-tell is the age of the wine, white wines should turn golden in colour when aged, and red wines more orange and amber (and less purple). Generally, older wines are easier to drink with less tannins thus they taste less alcoholic.

Best recommendation, drink more and learn to read professional reviews and vintage charts, PM me if you want additional info. Hope this is useful.

^ thank you all for the wonderfull inputs!

Drink it. If you like it, it's good. If you don't, it sucks.

Wine connoisseur is usually just another word for douche.

How to store wine
 

No problem, one more tip, store the bottles lying on the side, so the corks don't get dried up, less likely for the wine to leak.

How to tell if a wine has gone bad? Lower fill, which means some liquid from the bottle has evaporated, i.e. too much oxidation as the bottle is not air tight anymore. Bottles with abnormally low fill will command much less in auctions and have to be disclosed in auction catalogues. Of course, it is perfectly normal for older wine to have a lower fill, just keep in mind, the higher the fill, or sometimes called the ullage, the better.

Screw caps don't have this problem as they're pretty air tight. They are fairly new in the game so screw top bottles may have this new problem, they may mature too slowly.

It also doesn't really matter whether you store the sparkling on the side or upright as they're pressurized. Most importantly, constant temperature at aroud 14C.

Some recommendations of mine:

The Show (California) - Cabernet Sauvignon (~$20)
Kettle Valley (BC) - Old Main Red (Blend) (~$40)

I recently just tried a type of red wine that tasted great. It has a berry aroma with a hint of lychee its fairly sweet. It's called Elysium, black muscat 2007. Quady, USA:thumbsup:

My newest favorite daily wine is the
Geo (syrah) Elqui Valley, Chile...cheap and plesant to drink.

dr loosen is my favourite white under $20

I know nothing about wine and I' not really a big fan of it, but recently I was a good little boy and took my gf to a the Lulu Island winery. I tried every wine they had and to my suprise I like some of them. There was a sweetness rating to all of them and that seemed to be the catch for me to sweet was like syrup and not sweet enough was just to bitter.
They had an very easy to drink blueberry wine and some nice raspberry ones as well. Of course there was some nice Rieslings and such.
Moral of this story if your new to wine try some winery trips you'll fin something you'll like.


Oh yeah when I got home with my bottles of hooch in hand I got deeeerunk and some "yellow tail" hehe