What Gets You Excited About A Wine?

By Alex Russell, Twitter @OzWineGuy on March 23, 2016 in Food

Photo: Alex Russell, Twitter @OzWineGuy

I’ve been bringing wines out of the cellar for some friends recently. Most have received a ‘wow’ reaction even before they are opened. This got us all talking about what gets people excited about certain bottles of wine. So what is it that grabs you about a wine?

If your host pulls a special bottle out of the cellar, does that excite you, or do you find it intimidating? If you’re intimidated, you’re certainly not alone!

Does a wine that has sat in a cellar for a decade excite you? Speaking of which, isn’t it weird that 2005 was 11 years ago?

Does it make it better if the bottle has some dust on it? I found a cracker of a wine in a shop once that was covered in dust and the guy behind the counter actually apologised to me because it had dust on it. To me, that was a good sign, because it meant that the wine had been undisturbed for quite a while.

What about the wine itself? Do you prefer wines from bigger producers (say, Penfold’s) or do you prefer the boutique wineries?

If you follow certain producers, do you get excited when they release a new wine or do you tend to stick to their regular wines that you know will work for you?

Do you specifically seek out producers who own their own vines or do you prefer a winemaker who buys grapes from growers? Did you even know this was a thing?

Does the idea of a wine from a single vineyard interest you or are you happy with a wine that is from a variety of vineyards within a region? Or do you not even care if a wine is from multiple regions?

Did you know that some winemakers make wine using conventional methods, while others do all sorts of strange things, like putting wine into ceramic eggs and playing music to the wine?

Do you turn your nose up at wines that are blends of more than one grape? If so, did you know that many of the world’s most expensive wines are blends? $1000-plus bottles from Bordeaux are blends, for example. Grange usually is too.

Do you trust wines under cork? Many don’t. Do you think screwcaps are for cheap wines? Many do. What about other closures, like glass stoppers?

Do you enjoy the challenge of finding a rare wine or is that something you find totally ridiculous?

Does the idea of drinking wine from foreign countries excite you? If so, do particular countries excite you more than others? Would you consider a wine from Georgia? What about a Couderc Blanc from Madagascar?

Do you prefer a winemaker who is accessible, say via e-mail or Twitter? Would you ever reach out to a winemaker anyway? What about one who writes a newsletter?

Or does this not make a difference to you at all?

Let me know! Email me at ozwineguy@gmail.com or search for @ozwineguy on Twitter.