After a great suggestion by a new member to the forum (thanks @Tamlyn), I want to ask you a question that I’ve asked quite a few wine friends in the past.
What wine do you KNOW you won’t like and you simply won’t drink it?
Now, … what would it take to get you to try it?
This question comes up fairly regularly if you think about it. People think they know certain wines and so they simply avoid them.
“I don’t drink … (sherry, cava, German wine, oaked wines, sweet wines, … the list goes on) because they are (cheap, sweet, give me headaches, etc.)”
I’ve wanted to run a tasting called: It’s Not What You Think where we taste all of these wines and see what we can do to dispel the prejudices … but in reality we all have them.
My own, I have to admit, is Rosé wines. I can’t quite bring myself to explore them instead of white or red alternatives.
Do you have a blind spot? Will you admit what it is? What would it take to get you to explore those wines for a change?
Agree that Napa wine is ludicrously overpriced. Difficult to pick a style that I hate apart from boring, badly made plonk. Don’t like over extracted/ over-alcoholic wines that make it hard to finish the bottle. Freshness and refreshment in a wine is undervalued.
Not convinced by Prossecco.
Must say I like Rose and the WS has some decent stuff - the Pineau D’Aunis based Loire ones are terrific value. I’m sure the Marsannay is delightful and have almost bought it a few times, I’m sure I will try the next vintage if not this one. The Muller Catoir Spatburgunder is also delicious (biased towards MC wines as my first exiting German wine was a Rieslaner Auslese from them about 20 years ago). Eat a lot of spicy Middle Eastern food and a good Rose goes well with mezze!
What wine do you hate? E&J Gallo Ruby Cabernet
What would it take to get me to try it? Medication that suppresses gagging.
But seriously … (actually, I was being totally serious) … while I can’t say there is a particular style of wine I ‘hate’, I must say that the one that turns me off is cheap Marlborough sauvignon blanc. I won’t take it if offered an alternative (unless the alternative is E&J Gallo Ruby Cabernet ), preferring the occasional foray into the fantastic pricier exceptions (e.g. Hunter’s, Dog Point, Greywacke) I suppose I’ve answered the second question - pay more!
I really don’t think there’s anything that I’d say I hate, but there are certainly things that I typically avoid. I generally steer clear of Sauvignon Blanc - not just NZ, but French, Chilean etc. I just don’t like the herbaceous notes in it, and I’m not a fan of pear drops either. Similarly, big Aussie Shiraz doesn’t really do it for me. I’m not into the sweeter end of German whites either, although that’s probably because I haven’t explored them enough.
The counter to all of the above is that I’m happy to quaff a Sancerre or a Pouilly-Fume, and really enjoyed a Jim Barry Shiraz at a barbecue a couple of weeks ago (and found a Hardy’s Shiraz to be the perfect accompaniment to test match cricket at Edgbaston on Saturday).
Maybe I’m just not that fussy after all.
@NickFoster - Completely with you on Prosecco as it goes. I don’t understand why there’s so much fuss about it when people could have Cava instead.
I don’t really have any wine I hate, but its more to do with what the wine is being consumed with - might be your favorite bottle but if its not paired with the right food or indeed situation its not enjoyable. I have tried a few roses, the issue being is that a rose is very difficult to get right so its quite easy to get wrong.
Initially I didn’t like Sherry, however I do enjoy it every now and then as I enjoy the various styles (much like port), I even like some of the Jura wines which can be a bit of an acquired taste (but can’t really afford to drink it!). I guess the wines I really don’t like are the big heavy high alcohol reds although if they taste like they have high alcohol then its not well made I guess.
With regards to the Prosecco comments I do rather agree, I don’t see what the fuss is about, most of them have hardly any flavour and basically strip the enamel off your teeth (unless going for a DOCG Prosecco), I prefer Cava as its quite underrated considering it goes through the same method of production as Champagne. Would rather have a nice Samur rather than a Prosecco, opened some last Christmas and everyone who tried it enjoyed it :).
Forgot one - Georgian white wine made in a Kvevri. My brother brought one back for me for a trip over there. Absolutely foul. I think I would need to be in Georgia to give it another go.
Oh dear! That doesn’t sound fun. We do actually do a Georgian white (I didn’t know until I looked just now after reading this) and it’s had mixed reviews… http://www.thewinesociety.com/shop/HistoricProductDetail.aspx?pd=GG11
I’m half-tempted to buy a bottle to try it now to see if it’s worth recommending to you as a more positive Georgian wine experience!
As for my ‘bleurgh’ wines: I hated Musar White when I first tried it - thought it tasted like Chinese five-spice and smelled like nail varnish remover. It was relatively early in my wine drinking days, though, and I have a feeling it was my palate, rather than the wine, that wasn’t up to scratch. So I’d definitely like to try it again - but I’m not sure I’d buy a whole bottle so maybe I’ll have to try and get some at a tasting…
I’m surprised (pleasantly, in a weird way!) to see so many of you also struggling with NZ Sauvignon Blanc. I just don’t get the appeal of a wine that has thousands of different examples that all taste almost identical - just big herbaceous, limey, gooseberry powerhouses that I find way too acidic.
To get me to drink it I’d need someone to recommend ones that stand out from the rest and bring a bit more to the table (I seem to remember I quite liked Dog Point for that reason)… any suggestions greatly welcomed!
I’m also in the Kiwi-sauvignon-sceptic crowd, Laura! When it’s good it’s very very good but I’ve battled through too many dull and similar examples over the years. I was really impressed with Isabel, though - it did very well indeed in this year’s Wine Champions tastings.
@Bargainbob agree the qvevri whites can be divisive. However, I’m very taken with this qvevri red. A little while ago I had some people round and decided to serve it blind vs a rather bling offering from Rioja and all five guests pronounced Georgia the victor!
I recall a WS South African tasting where a rep from Kanonkop told me the grape needs lots of bottle age. Unfortunately the earliest vintage you stock is 2011.
When I posted this I was thinking of blanket assumptions of whole categories (such as my Rosé prejudice) rather than more informed preferences for specific wines or styles, but it shows we all have our prejudices
These are different - not just an acquired taste, they also perform better if you reset your expectations. I am convinced that qvevri wines, along with other ‘long skin contact’ (as a subset of natural / orange wines) are a separate category of wines.
I had always assumed that these would perform best among experienced wine drinkers who could understand the specifics of the process, but in fact many of us have expectations of wines that these simply refuse to meet … and I’ve seen many who are completely new to wine really enjoy them at tastings because they had no expectations up-front.
Having said that, some bottles are better than others and so I can’t generalise enough to say that you didn’t just get a bad bottle. @Bargainbob - what would it take to get you to try some more qvevri wine (here in the UK! I agree that a visit to Georgia, the Land of Wine, would be fantastic)?
Here I would probably have to agree with you. To be fair many of these wines are ‘confectionery wine’ (in the way cheap, mass-produced candy bars are not real chocolate), so could probably be ignored en masse.
This is a real divider. I bet that if we did a poll of all community members, or even the membership as a whole, we would find a majority skewed against drinking it … and yet it sells in huge quantities and is EVERYWHERE. If you look at the range in Majestic, for example, their NZ white wine selection (on show) is probably 90% Sauvignon Blanc. Such a shame when there are so many great Rieslings and Chardonnays from there too.
Thanks for the tip, Martin - that’s going straight into the Wish List.
Apparently, a recommendation from @martin_brown! I completely get where you’re coming from about Kvevri wines being a different breed altogether, and that the expectations should be very different. I’m not going to write them all off after just the one bottle, despite that one being really horrible. My brother really enjoyed them while he was there, so there must be something to it - unless it’s an example of the holiday wine phenomenon?
I think we’ve had 6 or 7 bottles of that this summer. Nothing complex about it, but it’s fruity, refreshing and delicious. A genuine crowd pleaser!
I have to confess that my blanket prejudice is Prosecco. Dry, sweet, semi dry, expensive, cheap… I’ve tried them all and they all taste like soap. I’d rather drink New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, and that’s my other blanket prejudice . I know I should be more open-minded. But my heart sinks every time we go round to someone’s house and the only white is a bottle of NZ Savvie in the fridge, and my heart sinks every time someone arrives at ours and with a big beam, hands me a bottle of Prosecco. Thank goodness I’ve found an excellent use for the Prosecco: Aperol spritz.
Pinotage used to be a bit hit and miss due to quality issues however they are now much better, I actually have a bottle open (not from TWS) from I think 2014, Pinotage reserve by Beyerskloof and its rather drinkable, much like Aglianico it does need some bottle age to mellow a bit. Works well with hearty meat courses, I usually go with Kannonkop Kadette or Rik’s Cellar, at the value end of the scale its usually dark fruits with a bit of smoke, at the upper end of the scale it really does have some interesting complexity - can need a bit of a decant either in a decanter or glass.
My own, I have to admit, is Rosé wines. I can’t quite bring myself to explore them instead of white or red alternatives.
Rob, please read Katherine Cole’s book, Rosé All Day. It’s a fantastic book, which totally changed my perception and enjoyment of rosé. She does a very good job of persuading even the hardened no-pink-drinker into appreciating that there is something more to it.
And yes, couldn’t agree more: that Sylvain Pataille rosé is a beaut.__
01438 741177
… and love 
… and I’ve seen many who are completely new to wine really enjoy them at tastings because they had no expectations up-front.
particularly the Rose Duo de Plages 
I also want to defend the Marlborough Sauv Blancs because I think the Rata Marlborough is delicious! I could honestly drink it all day 
. . .