Funny, that’s not my experience. I’ve found that my non-wine-geek friends usually prefer the more traditional wine when we have one open side by side with some big, modern thing.
But that’s probably just because my non-wine-geek friends are mostly snobs of some other sort. ![[snort.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/b/bdc3944606213c4dca6c1169cf0a166c8bc4f8c9.gif "snort.gif"){kind=small}
Wow… thank you for all the responses. As you can see, I’m still fairly new here and am still drinking my way through the wine world trying to find what I like. I’m trying to become better at describing what I like so I can ask for more suggestions when I’m either at a restaurant or a wine shop.
I’m trying to digest what everyone said above but I don’t think I understand 100% yet. If I tend to favor wines that have good acid and tannins with some fruit but favor the more earthy flavors, some funkiness, and violet/floral noses as the wine matures and the acid and tannins settle down, am I talking about new/old? am I talking about about modern/traditional? is it somewhere in between? Or is it, like most things about wine, something that is not so black and white so therefore hard to delineate into strict words.
Shazam. Lots of grey.
C’mon, you live in New York City, which is so much an outlier on just about everything in America!
Jerome, i wouldn’t stress over it. The learning experience is a long and fun ride…it should take time. And it is most definitely NOT black and white! From the description above, it sounds quite ‘Old World’ to me, and similar to many Loire or Rhone wines.
At this point a good question for us to ask you is what are some of your favorite producers that you’ve had so far? That may help us answer your above question.
As a side, I like that you appear to be tasting a lot. Your tastes will change over time. I’m sure you’ve been told or read this…don’t buy heavily into anything at this point until you are sure you’ve settled in on what you like. Nothing worse than spending time and money building a cellar that two years from now you end up not liking.
OP I have to laugh with you because I struggled and really am still struggling with the same thoughts on how to articulate what I like.
Vincent put it very well in another thread but it’s difficult to reiterate in a really short sentence.
“I like a more traditional wine that is balanced” ? Meaning, the wine isn’t over the top with fruit, alcohol or oak and it showing well NOW.
“I like more old world styled wines”? I don’t know how you’d summarize it in a sentence.
As others have stated, it’s not black and white at all. It’s very region dependent and grape dependent.
I’m fortunate enough to live in Oregon and have winemakers who are able to walk the fine line of producing a wine that is fairly accessible young AND will age very well. Furthermore, vintage will really play a big roll in the degree of accessibility now vs 6-12 years from now.
My advice? Don’t worry about it too much because you might miss out on some really cool wine by trying to cut-off a specific “style”.
I’m trying to drink enjoyable, balanced wine that represents it’s region, varietal and vintage. New world, old world, modern, traditional? I don’t know 
For my favorite producers, I will try to give you a shortish list of what I’ve liked so far:
Keller
Alain Voge
The Pairing
Vietti
Ridge
JJ Prum
Tenuta di Biserno
Chanin
Ornellaia
Ciacci
Meander Cellars
Clos du Val
Jamieson Ranch
Beringer Knights Valley
La Rioja Alta
Domaine Christian Moreau
Marcel Lapierre
Freemark
Dominus
Calon-Segur
Pape Clement
Wild Duck Creek
Even more so, it’s style dependent. The winemaker dictates the way the wine will turn out. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been told to consider the producer first, then look to the vintage and region. For a simple example, one vineyard may supply several producers with fruit, and each does what they see fit with it.
Jerome, I see two Bordeaux’ on Your like-list.
-What vintages were they ?
I ask, because many Chateaux changed style around the millennium. Pape C did in 1998, if I remember correct.
This leads to second Q.
Have You ever tried, or do You like mature Bordeaux, or Burgundy ? ( E.g. 20+ years old.)
Kind regards, Soren.
The Calon was a 96 and the Clement was… an 03? The Calon Segur was the oldest wine I’ve tasted.
Two different styled wines.
-The 96’ Calon as the traditional tannic wine, - and 03 Pape C as a very modern styled, fruity wine. (2003 was also a record warm summer.)
If You scored them equally, then You have a broad taste. - And that’s not a critique.
Next step is the fully matured stuff…
Regards, Soren.
I preferred the Calon Segur much more, but The Pape was not bad at all. If I had to choose one, I would choose the Segur.
I suspect that you still have a non-parochial palate and enjoy a wide variety of wines, which is a good thing. You have all sorts on you list and my recommendation is not to pigeon hole yourself.
I agree. The one exception is people who like “real drinks” before they drink wine. I know a few people who after a couple of martinis who cannot really taste anything but a huge modern wine.
Other than this, I find that the real fans of modern wines are MEN who are just getting into wine.
Drink what you like. Not what others like.
Mostly traditional. Try Zilliken. And I hate to say this, and I am sorry for your wallet, but you are fast on your way to Burgundy.
This is actually something I am fearing… I have been consistently trying to find affordable ~$20 wines that I like but it have proved difficult… Perhaps it’s time for a raise or two? ![[drinkers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/82916bed5ad74ac8470bc04089d9758b0c80c9fa.gif "drinkers"){kind=small}
No. And Burgundy isn’t anything that special either. There’s a lot of wine in the world and more appearing every year.
Your list is eclectic - keep doing exactly what you’re doing. Enjoy wine!
Try the wines at the price point you’re talking about - there’s a lot of wine at that level that’s pretty good.
Don’t worry about whether a wine is “traditional” or “modern” or any other category - they’re mostly bullshit.
Tous les chemins mènent à la Bourgogne. ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
If it were easy to find $20 wines that you like, the more expensive ones would rarely be sold. Luckily, there are plenty of sub-$30 Rieslings and Zins in that range from excellent producers. Cabs are a little tougher but they exist. Good cheap Burgundy is the proverbial needle in the haystack. I guess it all depends on your tastes.