WineForEveryone

Living Up to Your Potential

Recently we attended a seminar from a well respected Wine Person. The talk was about the East Coast (of the US) and its potential to make world class wines. At first, I was intrigued by the idea, but then I thought about the countless number of athletes that you hear have limitless potential and how many will never live up to that potential. How many more will come along? How many millions of dollars have been spent on potential? Such is the case with wine, and most importantly in my mind, is how many more consumers will either waste their money, or decide they don’t like wine because they tasted wine “with potential”?

That’s the beauty of buying wines from Napa and Sonoma (all of California for that matter), Washington State, Oregon, Long Island, and the Finger Lakes; not to mention France, Italy, Spain, Australia and New Zealand. They’ve lived up to their potential.

Then there are the emerging countries of Argentina, Chile and South Africa, with wines that a few years ago you would not have bought, but are now beginning to actually reach their potential. Don’t get me wrong, that doesn’t guarantee you’ll love every wine you buy from these areas, but THE ODDS ARE IN YOUR FAVOR.

It’s not to suggest that there are no good wines from places with potential, because there are. And who knows, maybe they all will get there someday. But when you’re just learning about wine, why take the chance that you’ll get lucky and find the one or two good ones? So before you buy, we recommend you spend a bit of time learning about those areas: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia to name a few of the “potential” states.

But for now, we’d suggest that if you live near some wineries in your state, you go to a wine tasting and let the winery help you learn about them. In most cases they are free (except for the traditional wine producing states, such as California) so you get to learn, taste and enjoy for free. Also it’s a great way to spend the day as many wineries have music on weekends so you can enjoy a bottle of wine, some local cuisine and good music. It really doesn’t get much better then that.

In the future we intend to review wine growing regions to help you with a general guide to “what to expect” when trying red wines, white wines, dessert wines or blush wines from those areas. After all, wines from the same climate, same soil, etc. generally have similar characteristics.

And look for future articles on how to really do a wine tasting weekend. Whether with family or friends, it’s a great way to enjoy good food, good times, good wines, and most of all… good friends.


	Food and Wine Pairing Food and Wine Pairing Guidelines Pairing Beef and Wine Pairing Chicken and Wine Pairing Fish and Wine Pairing Seafood and Wine Wine Article Index Living Up to Your Potential Recently we attended a seminar from a well respected Wine Person. The talk was about the East Coast (of the US) and its potential to make world class wines. At first, I was intrigued by the idea, but then I thought about the countless number of athletes that you hear have limitless potential and how many will never live up to that potential. How many more will come along? How many millions of dollars have been spent on potential? Such is the case with wine, and most importantly in my mind, is how many more consumers will either waste their money, or decide they don’t like wine because they tasted wine “with potential”? That’s the beauty of buying wines from Napa and Sonoma (all of California for that matter), Washington State, Oregon, Long Island, and the Finger Lakes; not to mention France, Italy, Spain, Australia and New Zealand. They’ve lived up to their potential. Then there are the emerging countries of Argentina, Chile and South Africa, with wines that a few years ago you would not have bought, but are now beginning to actually reach their potential. Don’t get me wrong, that doesn’t guarantee you’ll love every wine you buy from these areas, but THE ODDS ARE IN YOUR FAVOR. It’s not to suggest that there are no good wines from places with potential, because there are. And who knows, maybe they all will get there someday. But when you’re just learning about wine, why take the chance that you’ll get lucky and find the one or two good ones? So before you buy, we recommend you spend a bit of time learning about those areas: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia to name a few of the “potential” states. But for now, we’d suggest that if you live near some wineries in your state, you go to a wine tasting and let the winery help you learn about them. In most cases they are free (except for the traditional wine producing states, such as California) so you get to learn, taste and enjoy for free. Also it’s a great way to spend the day as many wineries have music on weekends so you can enjoy a bottle of wine, some local cuisine and good music. It really doesn’t get much better then that. In the future we intend to review wine growing regions to help you with a general guide to “what to expect” when trying red wines, white wines, dessert wines or blush wines from those areas. After all, wines from the same climate, same soil, etc. generally have similar characteristics. And look for future articles on how to really do a wine tasting weekend. Whether with family or friends, it’s a great way to enjoy good food, good times, good wines, and most of all… good friends.

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