Drinking Strategy

I've decided to change my approach to drinking my wine and was looking for some input/tips.

What I am planning to do is drink by region or grape. For example, October could be France month, where I drink my way through a few regions, both red and white. November might be Pinot Noir month, with the first week Oregon week, the second week RRV, etc. December could be Italy month, and so on.

This might make things more interesting and also focus my learning better. Right now, I make about 2 trips to VA per year to stock up on wine; I also receive a monthly shipment from CA. But I like the excitement of buying the wine and drinking it reasonable close to when I buy it. Now, it could be 6 months later and I've forgotten the specifics of the wine.

Any other suggestions? Any pitfalls (like you might get sick of drinking Zins for a whole month).

Thanks,

Dave

I agree on the value of being focused and for the most educational value you're going to want to get very specific. More specific than just 'regions'. The basic parameters are grape, vintage, terroir, and producer. To get the most educational value you need to hold three of them constant and then vary the other.

So for example if you want to learn about a producer you would drink all of their wines from a particular vintage or a particular vineyard, or a collection of vineyards, etc.

If you want to learn about a vineyard/village you would get different producers who make wine from the same vineyard/village, hopefully in the same vintage at first and then start varying the vintages.

Or if you want to learn about a region you might try the same grape/vintage but different villages across the region. I.E. if you want to learn about 'Burgundy' you might try village wines from Volnay, Savigny, Chambolle, etc. Or if you want to learn about the 'Loire' you might try chenin from Vouvray, Savennieres, Montlouis, etc. Then if you want to learn about Vouvray you would try all the vineyards in Vouvray from the same year. Then change the year and do the same thing. And so on.

Lots of this will depend on what is available in your market however.

[James Roscoe]

What you want to do is open up your cellar to other WLDG members who live in the DC area. You know, share the wealth a little! I will be especially glad to help on the months you are concentrating on Pulliac, Barolo, Amarone, Volnay, Chinon.....

David
One big suggestion - join in with wine focus on the months that appeal to you. Not only do you get to focus on a grape or wine style, but you do it in the company of others and gain the advantage of tasting notes on similar wines.

Likewise for the smaller, more focused Open Mike sessions (Dao is coming up in early-mid October).

As to whether you'd get bored, I'd always seek to slot another wine or two that is 'off-topic' in the month. Maybe because it's better with the food you're eating, your mood, or just you fancy a change.

Also good are themed or large tasting events. At one large event I made a point of tasting a number of Brunello wines from Tuscany. The end result was somewhat inconclusive, in that it reaffirmed my belief that I like some, but generally prefer them mature, and that value is questionable for the amount I enjoy them.

The other pitfall with this strategy (which doesn't sound like an issue for you) is I do like to drink wines with a useful amount of age on them. I don't worry about hitting a notional 'peak', but am wary of drinking wines which really should sleep for a decade or more.

regards

Ian

My drinking strategy is based on what we are having for dinner and the weather that day. Warm day will use light white, heavier one on a colder day if the meal calls for white wine. Same strategy for reds, food usually lends itself to more than one kind of wine. I strictly think of wine accompanying food.

My drinking strategy is based on what we are having for dinner and the weather that day..

Methinks you have a deeper cellar and more years of experience defining your tastes than our original poster. And in comparison to me as well, of course.

My drinking strategy is based on what we are having for dinner and the weather that day..

Methinks you have a deeper cellar and more years of experience defining your tastes than our original poster. And in comparison to me as well, of course.

Always looking for people such as yourself to help me keep my cellar at a reasonable inventory level. When will we be graced with your presence on the west coast?
Attending a performance tonight in Ashland of Macbeth. Methinks. Seeing that word twice in the same day.

When will we be graced with your presence on the west coast?

Unfortunately I may not get back to the Bay Area until late summer 2010. But I definitely think about the area, everytime I eat.

David-

This is much like the tactic I used when I started exploring and getting deeply into wine. I would choose a region and drink a lot of wine from that region while reading books on the area or the chapters in broad books like The Atlas of Wine etc.

It's a fun and very instructive way to do it. Find partners if possible.

More than just drinking on your own, try and hook up with others in the area. James' suggestion is seriously good.

I was tremendously lucky as soon after 'seriously' getting into wines in Chicago, I got into a couple of formal and informal tasting groups and as a result managed to get some amazing exposure to a lot of regions, styles and older wines I'd never have been able to explore on my own. One of the groups met on a very regular basis and usually tasted blind along a specific theme; one occasion it could be Italy minus Tuscany and Piedmont, another could be dry white wines or something as specific as Cote-Rotie, so it was a great way to get a lot of reference points on different wines and get a sense very quickly of what I liked and disliked.

Thanks for all of the ideas. I like the idea of varying just one of the parameters and holding the others constant. I did this (loosely) on a recent trip to Sonoma. I had estate Pinor Noir from different vineyards in the RRV. The 2007 Arista Longbow and the 2007 J Vineyards certainly stood out (although 2007 was supposed to be a great year for PN).

Dave

[David M. Bueker]

One suggestion to avoid any kind of burnout is to use one day a week for something different. Maybe not completely different, but perhaps a California Pinot if you are focusing on Burgundy. It would keep you on your toes for comparison purposes as well.

although 2007 was supposed to be a great year for PN).

Not in Oregon.

[David M. Bueker]

although 2007 was supposed to be a great year for PN).

Not in Oregon.

I've enjoyed the 2007s I have had. Perhaps they are not for the long haul, but they are tasty now.

Thanks for the clarification. It should read that 2007 CA RRV Pinot Noir was a great year. All of the tasting room pourer's were gushing that 2007 was the best year ever.

Dave

[David M. Bueker]

Of course they were also pouring 2007s!

[Jenise]

David-

This is much like the tactic I used when I started exploring and getting deeply into wine. I would choose a region and drink a lot of wine from that region while reading books on the area or the chapters in broad books like The Atlas of Wine etc.

It's a fun and very instructive way to do it. Find partners if possible.

Ditto! Hugh Johnson's Wine Atlas was my constant companion in those days. Nowadays, the Larousse book is possibly more useful--less depth in each area, but more small areas are covered.

Dave--you might not tire as quickly as you think you would. What happens is your palate gets so tuned into the one grape that tiny differences that may not have stood out to you had you drunk cabernet yesterday and syrah the day before that become very noticeable. You become much more, in a word, discerning. It's a great exercise.

although 2007 was supposed to be a great year for PN).

Not in Oregon.

I've enjoyed the 2007s I have had. Perhaps they are not for the long haul, but they are tasty now.

It was a very tough and challenging year for pinot winemakers in Oregon - a year that exposed the naked emperors (and there were quite a few streakers). Yes, there are many excellent wines from the vintage. I doubt there are many folks who have tasted more of this vintage of Oregon pinot noirs than I (well over 100). I've found about a dozen that are excellent.

[David M. Bueker]

Name some names Chef. My most recent enjoyable bottle of 2007 was one of the St. Innocents.

I'll just list a few with which many folks here may not be familiar.

St. Innocent, Seven Springs, a couple of David O'Reilly's, the O'Reilly's (and I love the Irish Wolfhound on the label), and the Sharecropper's. And a couple that surprised me in a blind tasting - Eola Hills and Panther Creek. Most of these are very reasonably priced. A to Z. Eyrie and Maysara. Domaine Drouhin. Beaux Freres.

(I left out Stone Wolf/Lindsay because Linda is a good friend).

That's all you get.

[Jenise]

I'll just list a few with which many folks here may not be familiar.

St. Innocent, Seven Springs, a couple of David O'Reilly's, the O'Reilly's (and I love the Irish Wolfhound on the label), and the Sharecropper's. And a couple that surprised me in a blind tasting - Eola Hills and Panther Creek. Most of these are very reasonably priced. A to Z. Eyrie and Maysara. Domaine Drouhin. Beaux Freres.

(I left out Stone Wolf/Lindsay because Linda is a good friend).

That's all you get.

A to Z? Never had an A to Z that was more than passable.

I'll just list a few with which many folks here may not be familiar.

St. Innocent, Seven Springs, a couple of David O'Reilly's, the O'Reilly's (and I love the Irish Wolfhound on the label), and the Sharecropper's. And a couple that surprised me in a blind tasting - Eola Hills and Panther Creek. Most of these are very reasonably priced. A to Z. Eyrie and Maysara. Domaine Drouhin. Beaux Freres.

(I left out Stone Wolf/Lindsay because Linda is a good friend).

That's all you get.

A to Z? Never had an A to Z that was more than passable.

This is precisely why I usually hold my tongue here. I have absolutely no intention or desire to defend my tastes.

Chiming in here, I had a 2007 Patricia Green Croft Vyd PN last weekend that was very attractive, in a fairly lean package. It certainly appealed to me and I think that it'll get better with a few years of bottle age.

Mark Lipton

[Jenise]

This is precisely why I usually hold my tongue here. I have absolutely no intention or desire to defend my tastes.

It's your problem that you think you're expected to, Joseph. Not my intention at all: just expressing my surprise that there's an A to Z pinot that belongs with the others you mentioned.