The best glass of wine (for you)
An amateur's journey of discovering and navigating the fascinating world of wine
Lots of things about wine can be a little bit much. It’s effortlessly pretentious, unwelcoming, and intimidating.
So why does it have enduring, wide-reaching popularity? Because people love to be pretentious!
Kidding. It’s obviously popular because it’s tasty, relatively easy on the body and the wallet (as alcohol goes), and scientifically proven to be good for your health. Just ask these carefully selected experts.
Outside of the occasional glass of cheap wine in my early 20’s, I never cared much for it. When I first visited a tasting bar with my then-new girlfriend and her wine-loving parents, I was skeptical of how different wine could really be after picking red or white.
Five-ish years later, the four of us found ourselves tacking a tour de Paso Robles onto a trip to California for a family wedding. It turns out wine is grown almost exclusively in objectively beautiful places.
Between that first tasting experience and now, a lot of trial and error (and success!) ensued to figure out what’s good and what’s not.
Equipped with nothing but bright-eyed enthusiasm and the knowledge that crowd-sourced information on the internet never leads anyone astray, I started by downloading the Vivino app. I now use it almost every time I go to buy wine.
Vivino is a wonderful resource for anyone who likes wine for the following reasons:
You can scan nearly any bottle in existence on your phone and instantly get the gist of what you’re looking at with the average price and a rating from 1.0 to 5.0 (wines rated 3.5+ are usually a good bet). This is especially helpful when you’re trying to quickly figure out just how egregiously a restaurant is trying to take advantage of you.
As you scroll, you get a snapshot of helpful things to know as you continuously define what you like. Sweet vs. dry, smooth vs. tannic, light vs. bold, etc.
You also get a rundown of the top three broad tasting notes people talk about in reviews. Back to defining what you like, it helps to get an idea of what you might taste and see if you can notice things yourself. You’ll start to talk about wine with these terms like a sommelier, slowly reaching the point where it’s impossible not to sound a little pretentious.
At the end of the day, unless you’re in the microscopic population of actual sommeliers, the people submitting these reviews are just like you and have surface-level knowledge of the subject. It makes the wine-finding process a little more approachable.
A delicious bottle of wine can cost hundreds of dollars. It can also cost $7 at Trader Joe’s. An amateur’s guide to the Trader Joe’s wine aisle is absolutely in this newsletter’s future. I would love your input.
From wineries in Virginia to Oregon to Napa, the only absolute truth I’ve gathered from each place so far is this:
Good wine is the wine that tastes good to you.
All that’s left to do is go forth and find what that is.
Happy sipping.
Coffee: Fiona's Blend, Coffee Emporium (Cincinnati, OH)*
Fiona is a hippo at the Cincinnati Zoo, and this dark roast from one of the best coffee shops in Cincy is almost as iconic as she is. If you find yourself with a free morning in Cincinnati, you won’t regret visiting Coffee Emporium in Hyde Park. Of course, they'll ship to you, too.
Wine: Satis Dei Syrah-Garnacha, Reserva de la Tierra (Terra Alta, Spain)*
From the Trader Joe’s wine aisle! There are many, many $20 or $30 bottles that would lose a blind taste test to this red blend that is less than $10. If you like bolder, dry reds with plenty of dark fruit (pretentious sounding but true!) this is for you. Buy a couple if you find it on your next trip to TJ’s.
Sounds: Everybody Lost Somebody (Bleachers, Gone Now)
Jack Antonoff has done a lot of successful musical things, none of which actually bear his name. He was a member of aptly named Fun. and has produced intergalactic-level pop hits with his friend Taylor Swift (ever heard of her?), but his solo project Bleachers might be my favorite. I regularly revisit his 2017 album, Gone Now, and it still strikes a chord.
* I’ve never been a barista nor am I a sommelier, but I truly enjoy both of these immensely. I’d also love to hear feedback and suggestions for future sections.