Just curious as to what varietals you started with and how your palate has evolved over your wine drinking years. Is what you’re drinking now totally different than what you used to like?
We use to drink lots of high octane Aussie wines and now we drink some whites, Pinots, Zins, more domestic than anything and an Aussie occasionally.
How about you ?
Good question!
I started with sweet-ish whites, like Conundrum. For a while, that was almost the only wine I would drink. I couldn’t drink the very sweet whites, like Gewurztraminer, and couldn’t really get into Chardonnay all that much. It evolved into Chardonnay, however, and then my favorites for a while were syrahs and Pinot Noir from the Santa Barbara/SRH area along with Napa cabs.
More recently, my palate has definitely moved from the ‘big fruit’ wines to the more subtle and more complex wines, a lot of Frenchies, but it is even more highly varied, depending on where my mood is. I love Champagne, sweet whites, white Rhones, Chablis, Red Rhones, Zinfandel, Cab, Bordeaux, and still some Pinot Noir - it’s all over the place, but I don’t like huge cult syrahs, not a fan of SQN or QC or other huge wines, and I’m not particularly drawn to port anymore, which I was before.
As far as any shift in palate or wine preferences, I’ve always liked what Hemingway suggests in Death In The Afternoon (a “must” read, by the way):
“Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world, and one of the natural things of the world that has been brought to the greatest perfection, and it offers a greater range for enjoyment and appreciation than, possibly, any other purely sensory thing which may be purchased. One can learn about wines and pursue the education of one’s palate with great enjoyment all of a lifetime, the palate becoming more educated and capable of appreciation and you having constantly increasing enjoyment and appreciation of wine even though the kidneys may weaken, the big toe become painful, the finger joints stiffen, until finally, just when you love it the most you are finally forbidden wine entirely. Just as the eye which is only a good healthy instrument to start with becomes, even though it is no longer so strong and is weakened and worn by excesses, capable of transmitting constantly greater enjoyment to the brain because of the knowledge or ability to see that it has acquired. Our bodies all wear out in some way and we die, and I would rather have a palate that will give me the pleasure of enjoying completely a Chateaux Margaux or a Haut Brion, even though excesses indulged in in the acquiring of it has brought a liver that will not allow me to drink Richebourg, Corton, or Chambertin, than to have the corrugated iron internals of my boyhood when all red wines were bitter except port and drinking was the process of getting down enough of anything to make you feel reckless. The thing, of course, is to avoid having to give up wine entirely just as, with the eye, it is to avoid going blind. But there seems to be much luck in all these things and no man can avoid death by honest effort nor say what use any part of his body will bear until he tries it.”
Ridge’s Lytton Springs and Geyserville were what started me down my path, and although you might find a few zins within my cellar, for many years now it has been dominated by wines of the Southern Rhone, and those in turn dominated by CdP and CdR. Doubt that will ever change, at least so long as my cellar is mine. Haven’t yet gone blind, also. While wines of the Northern Rhone, Bordeaux, California, and Australia have given me pleasure, sometimes for extended periods, I still keep coming back home to the Southern Rhone. It’s been a wonderful journey, in any case.
Rosemount Diamond Label Shiraz==> Silver Oak Alex==> Big Aussie Bombs==> Extracted Cali Cabs==> CdP, Rhone Rangers and Older Cali Cab
Mine’s been evolving since 1971 when I first started in wine. As wines got bigger and oakier so did my tolerance for them, but I began moving away from that about ten years ago. I still like cabernet - especially with steak - as evidenced by my TN on the Martini, but I don’t want the wine to overpower the food. I find myself these days drinking mostly OR pinot and syrah/grenache from all areas - but almost always restrained when compared to, say, Ojai’s versions which are huge at the upper end of the lineup. Certainly more restrained than what SQN puts out.
I wish they’d plant a bunch of grenache in Washington. That would be fun.
I started with Bordeaux (Lynch-Bages, Beycheville and the like) in the early '80s, then got heavy into Cal Cab about 1990 for 10 yrs. Flirted with the Aussie stuff for a couple of years, then moved over to Syrah and Grenache, while at the same time got into Pinot - heavy into Pinot. Pinot had taken over until recently, and now I’m back into Bordeaux and Cabs. I guess that’s full circle.
Pretty sure Wagner has been getting Cayuse Grenache.
The operative words were “a bunch”.
In the late-80s and early 90s, I started out drinking a lot of what I would now consider daily drinkers, including lots ot low end California Cab (back when a Fisher Coach Insignia would set you back $12 or so) and zins, like Marietta, Ridge and Ravenswood. I still enjoy a good Geyserville or Lytton Springs, by the way. I started to make a decent living in 1990, and my increased spending capacity led me to higher end Cali cab and Bordeaux for my fine wine experiences and to chile and Australia for the every day quaffers.
I never got much into white wine until some time around 1995 (I never liked the over-oaked style of Cardonnay I was finding in California wines). Then I started drinking Alsatian whites and my view of wine changed. With both red and white wines, I started looking for balance, nuance and food friendliness more than power and intensity.
Now I drink Alsatian and German whites, and I enjoy Rhone and Rhone Ranger reds, as well as Oregon and less over-the-top California pinot. I still love Bordeaux and Cali Cab, but I buy significantly less of it now than I did before.
Isn’t his piece of Walla Walla pretty close to Oregon?
Not sure if evolve is the right word but moving and changing work. On whites I’m much stricter but on reds I like wines of all styles and regions for the most part. As long as they are good and show some balance I am in. Give me a new release Saxum, old Barolo, Cali Pinot and an old school Cali Cab all on the same table and I am happy. I am figuring out more of what I like and can tolerate versus what I don’t. For instance while I can handle big ripe wines from other varietals I find it very off putting in Cabernet.
Cris, can you please change your avatar? I cannot concentrate on your comments and TN’s with all the awesomeness that dude exudes.
I can’t believe the camera couldn’t pick up his aura and eternal glow.
LIke Tex, I started off with the Rosemount Diamond Label. I used to think that was the high end shit right there.
Went to high octane Zin’s after that. Stayed a while, liked what I saw and still visit with some frequency, but have moved on a bit.
Now I’m very much into Cali Cab that’s not too over done and my personal obsession of the past 6 months…Barolo. I love the stuff.
Eric, the Twice Walla AVA includes portions of northeastern Oregon.
Uh-huh, it’s just when you said ‘plant more grenache in WA,’ I was wondering if he was over the line, or still in WA proper.
I’m starting to think I am in the middle of a palate shift as we speak. I’ve been turning away from the powerhouse Cabs more and more, looking for a little more balance and less alcohol. I really enjoyed a very simple table wine from Spain the other day - nothing particularly special about it, but it was nimble, enjoyable and terrific with a light lunch.
Started on mid age Bordeaux. Moved to mature Bordeaux. Dipped my toes into 70s Napa Cab & Younger Bordeaux. Did the Italian thing. And arrived where I am today: Napa Cabs not too old.
Never looked back… ![[gen_fro.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/a/acc371fe8341f433d5c0ed34025c962acc33ad59.gif "fro"){kind=small}
Started off drinking bordeaux and cali cabs at work functions, and started collecting the same. Later discovered Cali pinot, then modulated over to burgs. Grew to really love brunellos too, as well as really liking rioja, shiraz, loire reds and arg. malbecs. All the while, my taste for Bordeaux has grown, and cali cabs mostly feel too oaky for me now. Bordeaux is my central fix, burgundy would be right there with it if it weren’t so expensive and hit and miss. There’s also been a general shift from drinking budget bottles to collecting nicer bottles, but the economy has me ready to revisit my faves from the budget circuit again.
I started in the mid 90’s drinking only Cali Cabs, then in an effort to save money moved to high octane Aussie Shiraz, burned out on that and went into Cdp’s and Cali Syrah. Eventually found big Cali Pinot, Now it seems I have gotten back into Cali Cabs that are much more restrained and have completely moved from the big Cali Pinot into more acidic based pinot- I guess i’ve become an acid freak.