We spent the last few days visiting wineries in Pennsylvania and attending the Maryland Wine Festival. Certain instances confirmed our resolve to continue to educate wine consumers to enable them to think for themselves when it comes to the wines they like. The first instance was at a Pennsylvania winery where both Kathy and I tasted a wine we felt had bret. We consider this a fault and the fact that we both picked up on it is unusual for us. However, while we were tasting wines, a customer came in and sampled the wine we felt had bret. He bought two bottles of it. Go Figure.

At the Maryland Wine Festival yesterday, both Kathy and I tasted the Best of Show Governor’s Cup winner. I liked the multiple layers the wine had on the aroma, taste and finish. Kathy however thought the wine was light-bodied and another festival attendee was disappointed that the wine won the Governor’s Cup again siting the lighter body. All of this simply points to the belief that wine is subjective. This subjectivity was further in evidence at a tent where another Maryland winery was pouring wines. A Muscat wine was tasted by two people. One was interested in discovering the orange blossom aroma and taste where the other disliked the wine from the very beginning.

The above instances point to wine drinkers that have their own opinions of what they like. Unfortunately this isn’t true for everyone. Another festival attendee told me that she only drinks what her Mom tells her to drink. The good thing was that she was at the festival trying different wines. Perhaps more wine drinkers are following their own opinions rather than relatives, friends, wine judges and wine writers.

Do you drink wines that someone tells you to drink or do you decide for yourself?

Cheers,
Terry