I ranked each wine I tasted in 2020 on a scale of 0-10.
Region | Avg. Price | Avg. Rk. | Range |
---|---|---|---|
California | $45.72* | 7.9 | 4-10 |
Argentina** | $22.00 | 7.3 | 5-10 |
Spain | $15.00 | 7 | all 7s |
Italy** | $22.00 | 6.6 | 1-9 |
France*** | $19.83 | 4.3 | 0-8 |
So perfect. Tempranillo has a very high floor, and a bit of a low ceiling. Hard to not enjoy.
I finally found a Ribera Del Duero (I think from Tinto Pesquera) a couple of years ago that was a 10. I had it at two different restaurants in Ireland with the same result. Found it once here but that was it. They make other Rioja's too, but the Ribera Del Duero bottling was outstanding.
Other than that, every single Ribera Del Duero and Rioja scores exactly 7 out of 10.
I find Malbecs almost always score 5-6. They seem to be that kind of generic (but OK) red wine taste. Blindfolded, I could probably pick out a California Cab, a Bordeaux, a Tempranillo and maybe a Sangiovese. I couldn't pick Malbec out from anything.
weight, alcohol, fruit and tannins. With each day, your palate changes and can depend on simple things like a spice in a food you ate earlier in the day, coffee - things like that.
I'm not so sure I understand you value system.
as much as wine can change each day, so do you.
Liking Argentinian Malbec's tells me you prefer bigger wines with a lot of fruit to them almost "jammy". That you like Sangiovese's from Italy tells me you prefer some spice in your wines and that Californian wines tells me
you like bold wines the most. Price point doesn't usually tell the quality of a wine - You can drink a bad wine that costs $100 or it could be just not to your liking (meaning it's not a bad wine, just your palate doesn't accept it).
French wines are glorious but they can also be deceiving. With France, price often tells the story - like a Bordeaux, left bank. Pricey but worth every nickel, but your palate might not be able to discern its luxury therefore you'd
be better off with a Californian back shelf wine like a red Zin as something sapid. Bold, pushy even sluggish but you might find it perfect for your BBQ so why would you waste time with a subtle but luxurious Bordeaux. You might
be better off with a Croze Hermitage back shelf too, well made, a little more defined than a Californian and a fraction of the cost of a quality Bordeaux - a little more towards barnyardy. Also places like Bandol (Chateau Pibarnon)
Now the varietal choice is most curious. You don't mention Pinot Noir from either Cali or France. Two completely different wines. Your Italian experience hasn't branched out yet, though middle of Italy you haven't gone north
to Piemonte or East to places like Le Marche or South to Calabria or Campania or how about Basilicata or Puglia. Basilicata famous for Aglianico del Vulture. All these places with terrific wines, inexpensive and great for
exploration.
Get off the white bread recipe - experiment.
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Along the slopes of Etna There is a group of small islands off the north east coast where there are vineyards making high quality vin santo. Hard to get but if you’re into after dinner wines give them a try. I’m on route so I cannot look them up.
We were in Sicily traveling with another family (our connection was our eldest daughter). The Dad ("Matt") was a notorious Rush Limbaugh type - had a local radio show and taught economics at U Indy. Anyway, we were in Taormina (?) having lunch at an outdoor casual place and some Sicilian came in and asked us if we could move to another table so that they could have two big tables together for a birthday party. We hadn't had our meal yet, so I said "yeah, no problem". Well Matt starts in with me- "don't give in to those guys. Don't let them push you around like some tourist". It never occurred to me that it was a dick-measuring contest. I shrugged it off. We moved. The Sicilian then sent over two huge pitchers of red wine - like the beer pitchers we had in college, but filled with Sicilian wine. Nice call, Matt. Well, we never finished the wine but worked like shit to finish at least one pitcher.
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I'm just trying to start somewhere...and the variables are so many, it is hard to keep track of things, so I decided to start like this. Rankings will likely change in different tries. Lehigh's 3 bottle rule before recommending tries to deal with that, and I think that is a good approach. But, I'm still trying singles, trying to expand my experience base. I make notes as well, regarding what I taste.
Some subjective comments:
The cost is well outside most peoples wallets. A great Burgundy is life itself. I'm an Italian wine enthusiast/lover but a French Burgundy owns my heart. California and Oregon
Burgundy's are trash when in comparison to a true Pinot Noir from France. Mark my word, if you ever have a great Burgundy you will remember each sip forever. Pretty much
the same with a great Bordeaux - No other wines in the world can compare to the brilliance of those two regions when drinking their best.
Best of luck but I say find a varietal and then find a region = eat fine foods and your wine palate will discover tastes you never thought were out there.
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If you're at a restaurant and are curious about the wine on the menu, use Vivino to search the wine and its overall cost.
It's a wine lovers tool.