Full Transcript:
Sean Mooney:
Well, the reason, I wanted to get the background on this, because most people listening are not well-informed about wines. I'm sure many, many, I among them, love wine. But from your viewpoint, and your expertise is vast, but for people like me and others listening, what is the best way to get educated about wines?
Austin Beeman:
There's two ways. The best way to sort of start a serious wine journey, the moment you're like, "I want to learn more, I want to get more pleasure by learning a little bit more," and find a local wine merchant in your town who is an independent, and talk to them. Let them know what you like now, where your budget is, whatever your budget is.
Be very honest with where you are at this moment in your wine journey, and then work with them over time not just to buy the things that you know you like, but say, "I like A, B, C, and D, give me three recommendations for things in the same price range that I've never had, or that are similar, or that are ..." If I like Pinot Grigio, move me into a Pinot blanc. Or if I like Italian Pinot Grigio, move me into like a Soave.
And they'll be able to access all of these boutique wines from all over the world that will help you understand what you like, what you don't like, where your palate is going, because we all move through a wine journey. Nobody's palate ever stays the same over time.
Working with a local merchant who can help you in your own budget, in your own time, walk through this, is absolutely the best way to start this process.
The other thing would be to get ... Even get together these days is much more difficult than it would have been in the past, but in the past forming a tasting group and say, "Okay. We are all interested in wine." If that's three people, if that's 10 people, if you can do it in your backyard these days, this is a different time. But each of you say, "I'm going to buy a $30 bottle of Napa Valley Cabernet. And then we're going to taste through the different options at the same price point and see where are the differences within one type." Or, "We like Cabernet, but now we're not going to buy a Napa Cabernet. We're going to buy an Australian Cabernet and a Cabernet from Bulgari in Italy, and a Cabernet from Bordeaux in France, and a Cabernet from Coonawarra in Australia," and all at that same price range.
And then you see what different countries do to the same grape.
And then say, "Okay. We really like Napa Valley Cabernet. Let's try $10, $30, $50, $100, $150, and let's see what price does." And so you'll learn all of the different dimension, I keep doing this in my head, but you'll learn all the different dimensions of how does price figure into things? What does $100 give you that a $10 does not?
And when I was doing a lot of wine tastings as a retailer early in my career, I would always ask people, "The only thing that doesn't matter right now is whether or not you like it. When you're trying to learn, that's the thing that doesn't matter." Try to say, "What is this?" first. You're totally allowed to like it. You never have to buy it again, but try to understand ... If somebody says, "This is a really good Coonawarra Cabernet," and there's something that doesn't work for you, figuring out what that soil type is that created that certain flavor will help you make recommendations down the line.
Or, "I didn't like this expensive Cabernet as much as I liked this inexpensive Cabernet." Well that's because expensive Cabernet is supposed to go into your cellar for 10 years. So you're reacting to that bitter, hard structure that in a decade will become something glorious. And that's why the price was higher on that wine. So you know, "Hey, if I'm buying for Tuesday night, maybe I want to buy something cheaper."
Or you buy a bottle and you age it, and you come back to it. You buy a case of something that your merchant has told you is age worthy, and you drink a bottle this year, and a bottle at two years old, and a bottle at three years old, and a bottle at four years old, and a bottle at five. And you follow that wine over a decade. And you're like, "Oh, I get now why some people might cellar wine."
There's all these different windows into the wine experience. And you can go as deep into this as you want, or you can stay at the beginning and have a wonderful time.
It doesn't require you to walk down this path to have pleasure, but there's more, and more, and more deeper pleasures if you make that walk.
