I'd like to have an expansive, luscious, firm, sassy wine, please.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wine_tasting_descriptors

In my profession (academia) it is common after the end of a 2 day interview (that can take up to 12-15 hours overall) to have dinner and drinks. My department is hiring right now and if it weren't for COVID all of our campus interviews would end that way, just as they do at most universities.

Since you may be spending 10-30 years working closely with a small group of people, having dinner and drinks is an important aspect of the interview, as it showcases your more personal side. Of course drinking is never mandatory, but when I used to interview 10 years ago I would usually have a couple of glasses of wine or scotch at such interview dinners and I really enjoyed loosening up a bit while discussing research, art, culture, travel, family, and so forth.

I don't know how common this is for other professions, but my claim here is that for at least one profession---and possibly others---getting to know one another over dinner and drinks is an acceptable way to get a sense if the candidate and department are a good fit.

Week 4 on expanding my palate and finding styles my wife enjoys - follow along with me!

Surely my wife can't dislike this week's wine right? RIGHT!?

Week 4: German Riesling

If you want to learn more about Riesling:

• Wine Folly
• Vivino
• Wiki

Challenge Notes on Weingut Max Ferd Richter Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese 2020

Color: Intensity = light; Hue = pale straw

Smell: Petroleum hit me first, but not off putting; sweet, wax - like a jelly bean, sweet key lime, nectarines, guava, limestone or slate minerality.

Taste: Body = light; Tannin = none; Acidity = medium balanced if not med+; Alcohol = low; Sweetness = sweet.

Tasting Notes: This is surprisingly super complex for being sweet, and has good bite of acidity to make this super smooth and well balanced. Guava, pear, some apricot, lime, wet slate on the finish long afterwards. Changes and develops as it warms up - very interesting. Starting to get pineapples and almost a vinyl character. Even warmer I now get honeycomb if I let it linger on my tongue that tingling acidity where my jawline meets my ear. Slick mouthfeel with the acidity and sweetness make you take larger sips of this Riesling than I would other styles or even dry Riesling.

Concluding Remarks:

I rated this a 4.3. Wife rated it a 5.0! Said it tastes like candy, peaches. Smells like peaches, clean, fresh.

Overall, I would definitely get this specific wine again, and like to see what changes - if anything - with some age.

Generally speaking, I don't gravitate towards sweet stuff or desserts, but I really like meads, dessert stouts, and sweet wines and this is no exception. I'm really excited about Rieslings, especially since we plan on visiting our friends in Germany later this year. I really appreciate how complex Rieslings can be for being a white wine (I would have never said this in my younger days) and how they run the gamut of bone dry to cloyingly sweet. This Riesling is definitely on the more complex end of the Rieslings I've had to date - I have at least 7-8 more and different Rieslings to try in my wine cellar - yay for me. Also - the best wine pairing I've ever had was at Lotus of Siam in Las Vegas - spicy Thai food and Riesling - wow,

If you had 4 wines to encapsulate Italy which would you show? I'm aware that's impossible, and 4 is an insult to the breadth of the nations wine making variety, but it's what I have to work with.

I don’t understand people who list “wine-tasting” as one of their top two hobbies, especially on dating sites. They should do something productive (like a sport, musical instrument, reading or anything else that requires skill), instead of something expensive and useless. Obviously I understand that professional wine-tasters are skilled and I respect that. The people I’m referring to are those who don’t read up on the subject and feel that it’s a great way to pass time and either get drunk or waste wine.

Possible controversial question in Brew City I'm aware.

Does anyone have good recommendations for places you can do wine tastings, or just wines by the glass (maybe charcuterie 😍), or even some wine education?

Milwaukee has a fabulous beer scene but I haven't been able to find it's wine scene yet...

Also. If you too want a place to go drink wine and someone to drink wine with hit me up. 30F engineer who could always use more like minded drinking buddies.

Real shot in the dark for this subreddit but it's something I'm super interested in. Even if there's only 3-4 people for a once a month thing.

Edit: Feel free to PM me if you're proper down and we'll see if we can organize something.

Edit(2): Alright y'all there's a lot of people responding so I'm gonna cut it off here. Please still pm if you have experience with wine such as WSET or formal tastings

Tryna hook up that chill date night for me and the wife.

But then I remind myself of all the sunny days I’ll actually get to enjoy by the pool, cause I won’t t be hung over in bed all day; all the wonderful outings and adventures I’ll actually get to remember, and that I will have people to share in celebrations with as I will not have lost them all at the bottom of the bottle.

One of my friends is doing a $5 or less bottle of wine tasting party for her birthday party (Covid permitting, at the end of next month, so it could very well be pushed back). Here are the rules:

Everyone will bring a bottle of $5 or less wine (pre-tax). We'll be tasting all of the wines, and two $50 gift cards will be rewarded, one for the best red and one for the best white. Those who go outside of the price range by any more than a dollar will be disqualified.

I usually drink wines in the $8-20 range and I don't want to bring something terrible. Can you guys help me bring something decent? Or... Maybe even win?!?!

(Note: I know I'm not going to be bringing the best wine ever, given the price range. I just want to bring something potable. As for my friend, the spirit of the party is whimsical - I think she's mostly just trying to keep her guests from feeling like they should spend a lot of money here. It's just for fun!)

Unlike reds, I almost know nothing except the main grape varieties and growing regions when it comes to white wine. I never had a really convincing bottle, that's why I never had the urge to further discover whites. In order to break out of this vicious circle, I would like to taste more white wine and find something that I could potentially like.

I could see myself liking a tasting profile that is somehow creamy and includes honey, butter or vanilla and least apple possible.

Viogner and (oaked) Chardonnay came to my mind. What would you suggest?

Thanks!

I started a new job in marketing about four months ago. I love my new job, I work mostly from home, get to travel and work with a lot of cool really big named clients. My new boss (we’ll call her Patty) and I get along really well, and she started about a week after I did. It is important to note that Patty’s director position was created after they determined there was too much work for just the person in my management role to do. Since I’ve started, everything has been going relatively smoothly. There was this one event I was scheduled to attend because I would be spearheading the project that we started as a result of that event, but at the last minute, one of the directors (We’ll call him Doug- he’s not directly over me but him and Patty are lateral on the org chart though) said there wasn’t enough room and told Patty to tell me I wouldn’t be attending. After the event, Patty realized how much I would be involved with the project that they were briefed on at the event, and she told me she wished she would’ve fought harder for me to attend. A few weeks ago, Doug informs me and Patty there’s going to be an event for a huge client and we will help with all the marketing needs and attend the event. I’m super excited because this will be my first client facing event. I end up taking on a lot of the work for this event hand in hand with Patty (but to be fair, I ended up doing most of the work).

We are putting together the finishing touches for the event, and one of Doug’s direct reports (the direct report and I are on the same level as far as positions go, and she will be participating in the tasting) sends me the run of show, and it says I will be working with the kitchen and the hired staff. Mind you, this is a tasting event so I will be watching my colleagues (including Patty and Doug) and the clients eat/drink all day and then helping clear dishes when they finish, refill the coffee station, etc. I was told clearly that we can not eat the food and that we would have a break at some point to go find food. I am an African American woman and all of my colleagues are white or white passing. I have discussed this with Patty, and she says she will talk to the hire ups and “suggest” that that’s not the role I take in the event. AITA for being offended they’d ask me to clean at the event with the hired event staff or does it seem a little unjust and potentially racist?

EDIT: I just have to add, I guess the reason I’m asking AITA is: If I stand up for mysel

Can anyone help me plan a wine tasting using wines based on the office characters? I've only seen the first season but I'm throwing a party for a true office fan.

All I've got so far is to find or make Beet flavored wine in honor of Dwight.

Follow along with me as I attempt the Wine Folly Challenge - TL;DR 34 wines in 34 weeks that are accessible and <$30/bottle.

Some background on my wine journey: I started drinking wine more seriously in summer '21. I was very into craft beer, but got bit by the wine bug when my wife and I went to Paso Robles. I felt like it was something we bonded over and it was refreshing to share a hobby together since we are typically polar opposites. The wineries we visited had excellent wines, which varied quite a bit in style. I really enjoyed learning about the history, geography, and stories, so I could feel the passion behind the bottles. After our Paso trip, my wife got me a 300 bottle wine cellar as a bday present and we have been trying to fill it up since! It's been a tough road since, you know, wine is tasty. I started logging info in Vivino when possible, which I've found super handy and easy to use.

Why am I doing this challenge? I hope my wife can find styles she really loves and is passionate about, so we can continue to share this journey together. Also, I want to get a broader exposure to different wine styles and expand my smell and taste descriptors. I feel like I've only scratched the surface on what is out there and the surface for me is mostly CA Cabernet or Red Blends and the occasional terrible Pinot that my buddy brings over ;) . Kudos to u/GeoWadeMo for originally posting about the challenge, so let's go!

Week #1: Spanish Cava

If you want to learn more about Spanish Cava:

• Wine Folly
• Vivino
• Total Wine (seller)
• Wiki

Challenge Notes on Conde De Caralt Brut Rose Cava

I paid ~$11 for this Cava on 1/4/22. I went to both Total Wine and Bevmo and was generally not happy with the options available, but settled on this bottle because of their descriptors. Unlike the Wine Folly notes, I couldn't find any Reserva options, which spends more time on the lees. It was mostly different types of R

Hi I have some visitors who are in age 50/60 and do not drink. Is Castello di Amarosa a good choice if we don't do wine tasting and just explore castle on our own? How much time will it take?

Did any one managed to stay sober, still tasting wines paired with food? What I mean is 1-2 sips for a pairing? I do not plan to do it any time soon IWNDWYT, but one of my real interest has been going to nice restaurants and get a tasting menu of maybe 7 courses with 7 wines. I want to hear if any one managed or do I have to say good bye to this experiance?

A group of my girlfriends and I have been planning a wine-tasting trip for a couple months. We rented a shuttle bus for the day to drive us around to a few different vineyards We all have kids so we had to plan it out in advance so we could all make arrangements for childcare. My husband was going to stay home with our 3 girls (9, 6, & 3) for the day. This is one of the first times I've been able to see these friends like this in the last 2 years so I was really looking forward to it.

The night before the trip, my husband is in the bathroom all night. He must have eaten something that disagreed with him and I don't think he got much sleep at all. The next morning I got up and started to get myself ready and he was still in bed. I woke him up to remind him that I was leaving and that he needed to get up to take care of the girls. He just moaned at me and asked me if I was seriously still going.

I told him of course I'm going. I've been looking forward to this for weeks. He told me he got no sleep and still doesn't feel good and just needs some rest. I told him he's just going to need to suck it up because I'm not staying home. I'm finally able to convince him to at least get out of bed because the girls are awake and need supervision. When I left he was laying on the couch.

The trip with my friends was great and exactly the kind of break I needed. We laughed and had some good wine and danced like idiots. It was perfect.

When I got home the place was a mess. There were toys and dolls everywhere. My two youngest girls didn't have clothes on. The kitchen was a disaster with food and dirty dishes all over. And of course, my husband was still on the couch.

I asked him what the hell he did all day since the place was a disaster. He said he still felt like crap and he just let the girls run wild since he didn't have the energy to chase them. He said the girls are happy and fed, no one got hurt, and I got to go drink wine all day with my friends, so how about I cut him a little slack.

I told him that this was beyond even my lowest expectations for him. He said he didn't have the energy to fight about it and he was going to bed. I asked him if he was going to help clean any of this up and he told me if I wanted it clean right now I was going to have to do it, otherwise it's going to stay the way it is until morning when he hopefully feels better.

I'm kind of a neat freak so of course I anger-cleaned after the girls went to bed.

Hey everyone! This is an update to this post.

I've tried a lot of different wines over the past couple of months and wanted to, again as an exercise, share some of my notes on them.

Also! I found a small local wine store that I've been frequenting. They definitely have not been disappointing with their selection.

• 2018 Famille Perrin / Perrin & Fils Côtes du Rhône Villages

I had this and one other Côtes du Rhône - both were great to me. I really enjoy the dry/spicy aspects of it and this is now what comes to mind when people mention "spicy" wines. Lots of black pepper mixed with fruit. I'll attribute these to changing my perspective a bit on what wine should be. 7/10

• Sherry, going to do an all in one: NV Emilio Lustau Jerez-Xérès-Sherry Dry Amontillado Los Arcos Solera Reserva, 2000 Savory & James Jerez-Xérès-Sherry Deluxe Medium Sherry Amontillado, NV Blandy's Madeira Bual

The Emilio Lustau was probably the worst of the group. Kinda watery in flavor and texture, but still enjoyable. The others were generally pretty phenomenal. I wasn't sure what to expect going into Sherry, but I somehow formed a completely wrong opinion of what it would be like. Kinda like a slightly salty, nutty butterscotch that coats your mouth. As a whole, 10/10.

• 2012 Chateau Musar Musar Jeune Blanc

I won't rate this one because I drank it waaay past when it should have been drank, and I think it was corked (kinda exciting, though - never had a noticeably corked wine before). Taste was somewhere inbetween wet dog and metallic water fountain water. Dumped it, unfortunately.

• 2018 Criterion Collection Gamay Beaujolais-Villages

Grocery store wine. I think I had a few different Beaujolais and disliked none of them. I remember this one as being pretty okay in comparison, but still good. I used to think of my wine tastes as being "big bold cabs" like a true man, but goddammit do I love Beaujolais. Fruit forward, acidic, rasberry-esque. 6/10 on this particular one.

• NV Graham Porto 20 Year Old Tawny

No strong notes. It didn't particularly impress me, but was enjoyable. 5/10

• 2014 Condado de Haza Ribera del Duero Crianza

Absolutely loved this one. Very dry, tannic, and warming. I'd almost describe it as a comforting wine. Not fruity, but also not so spice-like as with the Côtes du Rhône. A good middle ground of earthiness and blueberry/cherry-like fruits. 9/10

Week 3 on expanding my palate and finding styles my wife enjoys - follow along with me!

Week 3: Italian Sangiovese (Chianti)

If you want to learn more about Chianti:

• Wine Folly
• Vivino
• Wiki

Challenge Notes on Cantalici Baruffo Chianti Classico 2017

Color: Intensity = medium; Hue = medium garnet

Smell: black cherry, red raspberry, hint of rubbing alcohol, cola - surprisingly not terribly complex

Taste: Body = medium; Tannin = medium; Acidity = medium; Alcohol = medium plus, present; Sweetness = bone dry.

Tasting Notes: Astringency up front - noticed right away. Not very well balanced at all, just kind of hits the flat notes of alcohol, cherry, cocoa, leather, tannins. Plum on the long finish. Going to let this decant a bit longer and re-taste. 2nd tasting - oxidation has softened this a little, but the flavors haven't changed much just some are more muted.

Concluding Remarks:

I rated this a 3.2. Wife rating = 2.0 to 2.5 - not her bag.

Overall, I would not drink this specific wine again.

Other Chianti's I've rated: Castello di Bossi Chianti Classico Riserva Berardo 2010 - 3.6. Ruffino Riserva Ducale Oro Chianti Classico (Gran Selezione Gold) 2015, 2.5. So far I haven't had any Chianti you probably could get outside of Total Wine and I haven't rated it that highly overall - starting to think this is not a style that I gravitate towards. I have had some Chianti's at my uncle's house that I haven't officially rated and I do remember really enjoying those - so this is probably a factor of the quality that I've drank in the past year.

What did I learn from this? I haven't yet tasted any roasted tomato, balsamic, oregano, espresso flavors that are "characteristic" of this style - wondering if it's my palate or the wines I have chosen(?).

Do you have a favorite Chianti? Also, if you'd like me to include any other info in the posts please let me know.

Cheers!

https://preview.redd.it/rlloq2opryd81.jpg?width=703&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6f19fef3bfc99d7156fb98aef539f82120f27183

Week 2 on expanding my palate and finding styles my wife enjoys - follow along with me!

Week 2: French Beaujolais

If you want to learn more about French Beaujolais:

• Wine Folly
• Link from Seller
• Vivino
• Wiki

Challenge Notes on Dupeuble Beaujolais Rouge

I paid ~$20 for this from the shop in the link above.

Color: Intensity = pale; Hue = pale purple

Smell: cherry, cranberry, pomegranate, plum, clay and soil mix, faint violet

Taste: Body = light; Tannin = light; Acidity = medium to medium minus; Alcohol = medium, present; Sweetness = dry.

Tasting Notes: Pomegranate and cherry dominant, hints of strawberry with some soil and clay almost must character. Definitely fruit forward with a finish of the clay and soil. Some herb that I'm having trouble identifying on the finish, but reminds me of something you would put on a Thanksgiving turkey, possibly herb blend.

Concluding Remarks:

I rated this a 3.4. Wife was in a grumpy mood and took one sip and said meh 2.5-3.0.

Overall, I would not drink this specific wine again, but I am very excited about trying additional Beaujolais - this has definitely piqued my interest.

This is not my first Beaujolais, but I am fairly new to it still. I've had the Louis Jadot Villages, which I rated very high on my Vivino due to quality to price ratio (qpr).

https://preview.redd.it/j1n1rdyfw5c81.jpg?width=403&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0fbc82c3c9d8f0d47e815009542d846e914f059f

I learned from going through this challenge about the geography, and that there are grades of Beaujolais that increase in quality from Beaujolais, Beaujolais Villages, to Cru Beaujolais. This is a basic Beaujolais and the Jadot I had was a Villages and I definitely noticed a major step up. I'd be interested in trying a Cru.

I think I might attempt to do what u/freudma did and try to work my way through some of the 10 Cru's. I'll need to track some of those down.

Do you have a favorite Beaujolais? Also, if you'd like me to include any other info in the posts please let me know.

Cheers!

Would anyone be interested in joining a virtual wine tasting group/does anyone know of one that already exists?

I’m thinking just like a group of wine loving folks that gather on Zoom once a month or something and taste some wines, discuss the wines ect? Specifically interested in Canadian wines.

Any leads/interest?

I genuinely enjoyed sampling different liquors or wines and comparing the notes in each. I'm just curious if there are any nonalcoholic drinks that could replace that sort of activity?

Reposting because the other post had wrong date.

Edit: I've tested positive yesterday😡😡😡 so I can't come. Last I checked there was 10 people that reserved but don't know if they're from Reddit. So sorry guys🥺

This Saturday 29th, a new organic store in Dalston is doing a wine tasting event at their underground cellar. It is £35/ticket for 6 glasses / a glass of each wine they're showcasing. Cheese/salami/mezze galore. There'll be a specialist lecturing about the wines, but I was told it's going to be a pretty laid back - chill out - meet and hang type event. I've got my ticket in store but you can just show up and get a ticket there.

Starts at 5pm

The address is: 131 Stoke Newington Rd, London N16 8BT

I'm nooo sommelier but I smelled wet dog 🐕 and it brought back memories from 10 years ago - had to pause and process before getting back to it.

Curious if anyone also had unexpected memories trigger

Someone I work with has his WSET3 and told me he spent ~8k on buying and tasting wines for the course. I'm wondering if this is this the average amount? Also what are peoples approach to quality when purchasing these wines? If I need to buy a Chilean Carmenere, should I opt for the 20$ bottle vs. the 12$ for the sake of the quality showing the true character more?

Just trying to get an idea of how much money I should be planning on spending when I take course in a few months. Thanks!

Hi everyone, I’d like to go wine tasting for my 21st birthday (12/27) but I’m having trouble finding a place I like in the DFW area. I would prefer an outdoor space if possible but I’m open to any good recommendations! Please include a price range if you can, as my friends and I are struggling graduate students. Thank you in advance guys!

*I don’t mind not celebrating on the day of because it’s a Monday.

I am looking for a bar in the city that offers wine and beer tastings. I'm going out with some friends of mixed drinkers, some only wine and some only beer.