Twenty lessons from twenty years of wine writing
Posted by Simon on March 30, 2010
It’s about two decades since my words on wine first appeared in print. They weren’t all that memorable, just rehashes of other people’s tasting notes – ‘John found blackcurrants, Jane detected boiled hake, while Albert noticed a hint of Listerine etc.’ More inspiring stuff has hopefully emerged since then, and I’ve also come to the conclusion that I’d rather be entertaining and informative than earnest and scholarly. And so in that spirit, here are my 20 lessons from 20 years of wine writing.
1) I’d rather have an OK wine with a good friend than a great wine with a prat.
2) Not everyone thinks wine is fascinating. This used to disturb me, as I watched friends guzzle down stuff that deserved a more attentive audience. Now I know that for every nine people who see wine as a means to an end, there’ll be one who ‘gets’ it, and wants to go further. That’s why I’m all for supermarkets getting more people to drink wine – 10% of a bigger pie means more people having those ‘A-ha!’ moments.
3) The more expensive the wine glass, the easier it is to smash. Otherwise known as Riedel’s law.
4) There will always be another vintage. Bordeaux has already had three vintages of the century, and the century is only a decade old. Your tastes may change with time, and you could find you’ve lost the taste for those five cases of [FILL IN WINE OF CHOICE] you were suckered into by a pushy merchant.
5) Cheap does not mean good value. Which of course doesn’t apply only to wine.
6) Don’t get hung up on wine and food matching. Just as with people, there are a few matches made in heaven and a few ne’er-the-twain-shall-meets. But in general, most things get on OK together.
7) I don’t want drum-solo wines. Once upon a time, boisterous, ripe, oaky and potent wines had some sort of appeal. Now I’ve reached an age where permanently loud is not good. I don’t mind a bit of Sex Pistols and Metallica every now and then, but I also want a little Joanna Newsom and Purcell.
8) Similarly, I don’t mind tasting a winemaker’s thumbprint, but I don’t want his footprint. Some producers try to eradicate all blemishes from their wines, and in the process expunge all traces of personality. If they were in the Nip’n’Tuck business, they’d make Al Pacino taller, fill the gap in Madonna’s front teeth, and remove the mole from Cindy Crawford’s extremely beautiful face.
9) Tasting sparkling wines gives you wind. It’s not all that great for your teeth either.
10) Not everyone likes the same wines. Just because a wine gets a big score in an American magazine doesn’t mean it’ll go down well here. And just because I love a wine doesn’t mean everyone will.
11) Even if you’re spitting them all out, taste too many wines and you won’t be able to read your notes.
12) Be very suspicious of a winemaker who looks like he’s never got dirty. One wine merchant told me he picked out a particular Italian grower in their range purely because the man had filthy, scarred hands.
13) There ought to be a wine equivalent of uSwitch. So all those who have been signed up to those schemes where a case of wine arrives every three months can switch to a company that offers better value and better wines. Maybe uSwill?
14) There will be rumours of a Riesling revival roughly every four years.
15) The best thing to get grape juice off your hands is to be licked by a cat. I found this out picking grapes in Australia’s Yarra Valley. In theory it should work with wine stains on carpets, but I’ve never found a cat willing to experiment.
16) France and Italy have the most interesting wines and the worst marketing in the world.
17) Stories are more interesting than formulae. Is anyone bothered that a wine is 64% Cabernet Sauvignon and 36% Merlot, has been aged in a French oak barrel for 18 months and has won 23 gold medals? It’s far more interesting to discover that the winemaker shoots the wild boar that scoff the fruit from his vineyard – and that he has the evidence of this on a stone slab in his cellar.
18) Not enough places in the world make refreshing red wine.
19) Restaurants serve their whites at freezer temperature and their reds not much cooler than the minestrone. Don’t be afraid to get those whites out of that ice bucket and plonk the red in instead.
20) Wine is fermented grape juice. It is not worth fighting over. But it can be very nice. My job is to point you towards things that I think are very nice. It is a very nice job.
Encouraged by the inspired comments on yesterday’s post on visting wineries, I’m going to open the floor to you guys – what tips have you learned over all those glasses of wine?
Comments
17 Responses to “Twenty lessons from twenty years of wine writing”Leave a comment, and if you'd like your own picture to show up next to your comments, go get a gravatar!
Congratulations on your “about 2 decades” and thanks for keeping us entertained and amused.
Given the apparent demise of mainstream wine journalism (witness what’s happened in the Observer), the rise of blogs/facebook/twitter and your own use of video for tasting online, I wonder what the next 20 years will bring?
What have I learned over all those glasses of wine?
To focus on what’s in the glass and put into words what I think of a wine. It’s too easy just to say “I like/I don’t like” without being specific. You don’t have to be flowery with the descriptions but it’s only by focussing on what’s in the glass and trying to describe it that you learn and, for me, learning has increased my enjoyment of what’s in my glass.
Simon, congratulations on your 20 years. Long may you continue to write and communicate about your passion. You are truly eloquent, open-minded and inspirational. I always enjoy talking with you and reading your work.
Best wishes
Robert
Awesome the 20 tips, mainly thanks to share your videos, I learn a lot about descriptions.
What I learned from a glass of wine? I get my glass and taste different things, one in particular for example, I taste some Falernia wines, they are from the north of Chile, Elqui Valley. And I used to go on holidays with my family to there… My first taste of Falernia wines was back in 2007 here in UK, I think it was the Carmenere or the Syrah, and clearly the aromas and tastes are part of that region, I just loved that! Took me back to Chile…
Interesting reading your list makes, all so obvious but not always apparent. Could you please elaborate on point number 18.
Cheers
Dionysus
Point 18? Merely that too many people still seem to want to make red wine that wallops you round the head rather than dances over your palate. I’ve lost count of the number of producers where I prefer the less ambitious entry-level wine to the top-of-the-range Cuvée Cojones. Louder does not mean better. Actually, ‘Louder does not mean better’ would make a pretty good Point 21
Great Post. I definitely agree with Tip 1, the company makes the wine so much more enjoyable.
Tip#1 When your a new wine drinker, give a wine at-least 2 sips. Sometimes your palate may need a while to adjust.
Tip #2 : Price doesn’t dictate if your going to enjoy the wine, sometimes a store clerk, can be very helpful. A 5 minute conversation may save you from a bad wine experience.
Tip#3 : Drink lots of wine!!!
Spot on Fabian, especially Tip #3 – if you don’t try heaps of wines, you’ll stick with the same old stuff. Can you imagine if you still listened to the same music you did when you were 12?
yes i can. I would still be thinking Vanilla Ice is the King of Hip Hop. (Ice ice baby) lol
I’d rather have a fairly good pairing with an okay wine than a fantastic pairing with a hideous wine.
I love point 19 – warm reds especially bug me. We need to take a lesson from the French in serving temperature
Great stuff Simon! I’ve been in the drinks industry for 20 years too and one lesson I’ve learned is that however much we all moan about how tough the wine trade is and how we’ll never be millionaires, we should all take a step back and appreciate the fact that it’s still a great trade to be involved in. How many people do you know who are doing jobs they hate and how many people do you know who choose to leave the wine trade (by choice)? Here’s to the next 20 years!
This is right-on, had to say so even though a bit late. I’d just be tempted to tag on to #5 … but expensive doesn’t necessarily mean better; and to #19 … and shoot the restaurateur who serves iced-water alongside.
Thanks v much – really enjoyed it!
Spot on Fabian, especially Tip #3 – if you don’t try heaps of wines, you’ll stick with the same old stuff. Can you imagine if you still listened to the same music you did when you were 12?