| Selecting a wine isn’t easy, especially if | | | | what they might associate as a berry smell might |
| you’re just starting out on your wine journey. | | | | not be what you’re associating it with. |
| But there are a few things that you can use to | | | | So selecting a wine is an entirely personal matter. |
| help you in selecting a good one, or one that you | | | | But until you can get to the stage where you feel |
| like. And ultimately that’s what you should be | | | | comfortable with choosing your wines based |
| aiming for. Something that pleases your palate | | | | solely on your likes and dislikes, the expert guides |
| and not someone’s who is hailed as an | | | | and advice are a good place to start. As long as |
| expert. | | | | you take these only to be guides and not the |
| There’s nothing exact or scientific in selecting | | | | Holy Grail of wine guides. |
| a wine or even grading a wine even though it can | | | | After tasting a few wines you will naturally |
| be made to seem that way. The sad truth | | | | enough put aside the wines which don’t agree |
| though is that many wines are graded and | | | | with your palate, and you will get to know |
| recommended to the normal person by a panel of | | | | intimately the wines which you do like. Also |
| experts, who most times won’t even | | | | another thing that you’ll notice is that as you |
| necessarily agree amongst themselves. A good | | | | progress along your taste buds will change and |
| overall opinion is then taken and the grading is | | | | you might later find yourself selecting a wine |
| given. | | | | which you discarded in the beginning. |
| Don’t get me wrong the experts of the wine | | | | That’s a natural part of learning and growing |
| world know a whole lot more about selecting a | | | | along with your wine experiences. Although I was |
| wine and wine tasting and grading than I ever will, | | | | guzzling down any wine that I could get my hands |
| but that doesn’t mean that they’re | | | | on before I started on my wine trials and |
| infallible or that they can’t have an off day | | | | tribulations, in the beginning I found that I |
| like the rest of us. Besides, who’s to say that | | | | didn’t really like the heavy reds like Cabernet |
| their interpretation of a certain wine will be the | | | | Sauvignon. I preferred the lighter reds and even |
| same as your interpretation? | | | | the dry whites. I know for a fact that the sweet |
| This is true in most things of life and if you ask | | | | dessert wines weren’t to my liking, just as I |
| someone very close to you and whose opinion | | | | stayed away from the sweeter whites. |
| you value, what something as simple as chocolate | | | | Then again in the selecting a wine process you |
| tastes like, you’ll get a very different answer | | | | should also take into account such things as |
| to your own. What happens here is that | | | | preference of your guests if you have any, the |
| perception and reality of any given thing is always | | | | type of meal you’re having, light or heavy, |
| going to be different to yours. | | | | and whether you want to experiment just yet or |
| Yes, you might both perceive what you see and | | | | not. And let’s not forget the whole price |
| taste as chocolate, but your reactions to it will be | | | | factor. If a good wine is out of your range, then |
| special to you. Just as what you taste when you | | | | you almost definitely won’t go for it and will |
| selecting a wine won’t be the same for | | | | instead have to stay within the constraints of |
| everyone. Some people might get a hint of berry, | | | | your budget. |
| while others will definitely try their hardest to find | | | | Muna wa Wanjiru is a web administrator and has |
| the berry flavor or smell in the wine, and be | | | | been researching and reporting on internet |
| unable to. Again this is mainly due to the fact that | | | | marketing for years. |