Favorite Bottle of Wine - Page 5

AOII Angel · #1 12-15-2010, 09:47 AM

I would tell him the same thing as well. A master sommelier's job is to know more about wine than the average consumer. They just might be a little biased. There is a huge world of wine connoisseurs that never study under a sommelier or wait tables that have far more experience than your three years of waiting tables...at what restaurant? You could say that "generally" people don't know much about wine, but to make a statement like yours was like I said, a sign of your "limited experience." And I'm sure your instructor didn't tell you that all us mere mortals just buy wine based on what our favorite TV characters drink, now did he?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chicago88

You might want to tell the Master Sommelier teaching my Sommelier training class that he is making generalizations then. With that said, realize that your statement about my experience is an assumption. My experience is not limited. One of the perks of waiting tables to support myself through school is free sommelier training and wine tastings every week.

Not necessarily people with bad taste, but people who dont know much about wine. People will also buy wine according to price and there is nothing wrong with that. I'm not rich enough to go drop 350 dollars on a bottle of wine for dinner. Just from my 3 years of fine dining many people have order because they recognize a name and have not had it before. More people are going to recognize Cakebread, Mondavi, and Duckhorn over Twomey or Honig vineyards. Those who purchase because of name recognition certainly do not out weigh those wine-o's and wine snobs which is why boutique winerys are still around.

RaggedyAnn · #2 12-15-2010, 08:05 AM

My best advice to someone who really doesn't know wine is to find the store with someone who knows something about it. Not everyone who works there does. I found an assistant manager at a local shop that helped me pick out different selections that I normally would not buy over the course of a year. I've also been to a few wine tastings and take the opportunities to test the wines when that is being offered at the store. I bought the Cakebread, because Andy sat next to a rep on a business trip and she really talked it up. We bought the first bottle out of curiosity, the others because we liked them. We had never heard of them otherwise.

Chicago88 · #3 12-15-2010, 10:04 AM

Sorry sweetie but who are you to judge my knowledge? I'm pretty sure I know a little more than you "mere mortals" because of my oh so limited experience that you know all about. Because you dont know beyond my three years of waiting tables or me at all who are you to question it? And whats your experience exactly? I'm not claiming I have tons of knowledge or experience. I was stating a fact that I was told and have witnessed from MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE and if you choose not to believe it then thats your perogative but theres no need to make assumptions like YOU did.

AOII Angel · #4 12-15-2010, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chicago88

Sorry sweetie but who are you to judge my knowledge? I'm pretty sure I know a little more than you "mere mortals" because of my oh so limited experience that you know all about. Because you dont know beyond my three years of waiting tables or me at all who are you to question it? And whats your experience exactly? I'm not claiming I have tons of knowledge or experience. I was stating a fact that I was told and have witnessed from MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE and if you choose not to believe it then thats your perogative but theres no need to make assumptions like YOU did.

You have reading comprehension problems. This is about making broad statements about the wine knowledge of the general public. Look at the posts of the people on this board. They can add to your personal experience. You have the personal wine preferences on display of Munchkin03 and me. Does it sound like we picked our wines based on RHWO Atlanta? PeppyGPhiB even brought up the point values of the wines produced in her state. These are examples of average people who aren't completely ignorant about wine. This proves that your statement was GENERAL! Maybe you just haven't had the right customers who know what they like, study wine, and order bottles based on that. That is why I said you have limited experience. In MY EXPERIENCE, there are a large number of people who subscribe to Wine Spectator, study the prices of wines, know what's a good deal when they go to a restaurant, order the appropriate bottle for what they plan to eat, ask the sommelier if they need some help and experiment with new wineries to expand their horizons. They are not the majority of people out there so I won't generalize and claim they are.

PS. Once you get out of college, you realize that your experience is ALWAYS limited. My experience is limited. That's why I continue to travel, eat at fine restaurants, drink wine when I can, study medicine, etc. If we knew everything, we could just hang it up and die.

Chicago88 · #5 12-15-2010, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

You have reading comprehension problems. This is about making broad statements about the wine knowledge of the general public. Look at the posts of the people on this board. They can add to your personal experience. You have the personal wine preferences on display of Munchkin03 and me. Does it sound like we picked our wines based on RHWO Atlanta? PeppyGPhiB even brought up the point values of the wines produced in her state. These are examples of average people who aren't completely ignorant about wine. This proves that your statement was GENERAL! Maybe you just haven't had the right customers who know what they like, study wine, and order bottles based on that. That is why I said you have limited experience. In MY EXPERIENCE, there are a large number of people who subscribe to Wine Spectator, study the prices of wines, know what's a good deal when they go to a restaurant, order the appropriate bottle for what they plan to eat, ask the sommelier if they need some help and experiment with new wineries to expand their horizons. They are not the majority of people out there so I won't generalize and claim they are.

PS. Once you get out of college, you realize that your experience is ALWAYS limited. My experience is limited. That's why I continue to travel, eat at fine restaurants, drink wine when I can, study medicine, etc. If we knew everything, we could just hang it up and die.

I'm not saying that everyone orders or buys wine this way, and I'll say it again. Ive waited on many who know what they like, who are even more knowledgeable than myself. I'm not saying I know it all. I simply made a "broad and general statement" according to an experience IVE had. My parents subscribe to Wine Spectator, We've been to Napa, they have a cellar in their house. I'm not saying they buy according to name. I'm not the one with comprehension problems dear. You interpreted my statement as general, I interpreted your statement as misinformed on my circumstance.

AlphaFrog · #6 12-15-2010, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chicago88

I'm not saying that everyone orders or buys wine this way, and I'll say it again. Ive waited on many who know what they like, who are even more knowledgeable than myself. I'm not saying I know it all. I simply made a "broad and general statement" according to an experience IVE had. My parents subscribe to Wine Spectator, We've been to Napa, they have a cellar in their house. I'm not saying they buy according to name. I'm not the one with comprehension problems dear. You interpreted my statement as general, I interpreted your statement as misinformed on my circumstance.

Have I confused you with someone else, or are you a PNM? If you are, you might re-consider your tone, because you are not enamouring yourself to anyone, and people will take this seriously enough to hunt down your school and no-rec you. Fair warning.

AOII Angel · #7 12-15-2010, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chicago88

I'm not saying that everyone orders or buys wine this way, and I'll say it again. Ive waited on many who know what they like, who are even more knowledgeable than myself. I'm not saying I know it all. I simply made a "broad and general statement" according to an experience IVE had. My parents subscribe to Wine Spectator, We've been to Napa, they have a cellar in their house. I'm not saying they buy according to name. I'm not the one with comprehension problems dear. You interpreted my statement as general, I interpreted your statement as misinformed on my circumstance.

So I said your statement was a generalization. You said it was not, now you are saying it was a "broad and general statement." Nice way to backtrack! Do you always like to pick fights for no reason.

agzg · #8 12-15-2010, 10:10 AM

Srsly? Most boring semi-hijack ever. I don't give a shit whose credentials are what.

Back on topic: if I had to be 100% truthful, I love so many Finger Lakes wines/wineries, but it's so rare for me to be able to get them unless I drive home to New York (State). Red Cat, Bully Hill anything, so good. We'll be bringing a lot back after Christmas.

Munchkin03 · #9 12-15-2010, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by agzg

Srsly? Most boring semi-hijack ever. I don't give a shit whose credentials are what.

Back on topic: if I had to be 100% truthful, I love so many Finger Lakes wines/wineries, but it's so rare for me to be able to get them unless I drive home to New York (State). Red Cat, Bully Hill anything, so good. We'll be bringing a lot back after Christmas.

I love Finger Lakes wines! I'm a member of the Cornell Club here in NYC, and every month they have a different Finger Lake white and red that they serve. There used to be a restaurant called New York Vintage, where all they served were Long Island, Finger Lakes, and Columbia Valley wines.

agzg · #10 12-15-2010, 10:16 AM

Have you ever done a tour? My parents did a trip every year. I'd seriously recommend it (along with getting a car service for the day).

Munchkin03 · #11 12-15-2010, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by agzg

Have you ever done a tour? My parents did a trip every year. I'd seriously recommend it (along with getting a car service for the day).

I've never done a Finger Lakes tour, but I try to do the East End/North Fork tours every other year or so. I'm working on arranging one with my girlfriends. I honestly prefer the North Fork wine tours to Napa because they're smaller and you get to taste more wines and sometimes talk with the vintners.

agzg · #12 12-15-2010, 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

I've never done a Finger Lakes tour, but I try to do the East End/North Fork tours every other year or so. I'm working on arranging one with my girlfriends. I honestly prefer the North Fork wine tours to Napa because they're smaller and you get to taste more wines and sometimes talk with the vintners.

We're hoping to do some Michigan tours next fall. This past fall, time got away from us. I might bail on live-in and to with some girlfriends.

Munchkin03 · #13 12-15-2010, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by agzg

We're hoping to do some Michigan tours next fall. This past fall, time got away from us. I might bail on live-in and to with some girlfriends.

Our wine tours started out as an alumnae chapter event! Then a small group of us started going on our own. The older women in my chapter are really knowledgeable when it comes to wines so they were a lot of fun!

AOII Angel · #14 12-15-2010, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

Our wine tours started out as an alumnae chapter event! Then a small group of us started going on our own. The older women in my chapter are really knowledgeable when it comes to wines so they were a lot of fun!

That would be really cool. We had a wine tasting with my alum group before I moved from Baltimore. It was a lot of fun...great turnout as you can imagine!

Chicago88 · #15 12-15-2010, 02:39 PM

Picking a fight was not my intention. But I'm a PNM so I'm clearly in the wrong for standing up for what I said. If I knew I wasn't allowed to make generalizations then I would have rethought my post especially if I knew it would turn into this. I just mentioned from previous experiences, limited or not, general or specific,what I've come across. My apoligies AOII angel. And no I'm not saying it because I'm afraid of someone figuring out my identity and black balling me from the greek world wherever I decide to go.