Otto, I don’t think folks are saying that. I think most of us at least try to own wines that we either know, or strongly suspect, that we will like.
Life is too short to drink bad wine, but these days good wine is not hard to find nor is it that expensive. Most folks’ tastes can be accommodated on most budgets. I could do all my wine shopping at 7-11 and while I may not like most of the wines I bought, I don’t think I would encounter the percentage of flawed bottles you indicate.
I certainly don’t want to be condescending if this doesn’t apply. I don’t know your experience. You may want to take a look at either how you store your wines or your source for wines. It doesn’t make sense that you’d be encountering that many flawed or spoiled bottles. Perhaps attend some tastings, either private groups or retailers. You’ll discover what you do and don’t like. Or if you post what you like here, folks will chime in with related suggestions.
All that being said, I also don’t hesitate to pour a bottle I don’t like down the drain. It’s just a bit unusual that you have so many wines that you don’t like.
Hopefully this forum will be a good resource for you to find wines that you do like. Cheers.
I mostly drink same wines, from same producers but different vintages so I do not throw wines down the drain unless they are flawed when opened. My problem is that i dump lots of wines on second day as what I mostly drink (old world pinot), oxidases next day.
I think I know my problem…in my youth I was told that you can’t judge a wine until your third taste - somehow my brain registered third GLASS…by that time, it’s all good!
There is a such thing as user error. Sometimes your palate can be out of whack and anything you taste will seem a bit awkward. It can actually only take ten or fifteen minutes to re-calibrate your palate if you think it is off. Perhaps you have eaten something powerful or perhaps you are a smoker or a coffee drinker? Sometimes if you are on medications or if you are coming off being sick your palate can be off. You should remember that when tasting you are still using all of your olfactory senses so if one of your “other” senses besides taste or smell has been recently been altered or damaged in anyway- your palate may be affected.
If you open a bottle of wine and it seems off here is what I recommend. Wait a few minutes before trying it again. If it still seems off- but not flawed- cork it and save it for the next day. Before you make the decision to open something else taste a food item or some other kind of flavored beverage to calibrate your palate. If whatever you taste seems right then grab another bottle. Usually I recommend picking a different style of wine all together. Sometimes you get that guilty by association feeling with similar wines.
Of course it is also true that sometimes a wine that you like just doesn’t hit you. When that happens to me I bring it to work the next day. That is why I chose the business I am in- so I could drink all day, and also get second opinions on wines I like and don’t like.
I certainly discard plenty of unfinished bottles due to a insufficient time and/or interest in the wine to finish. A lousy wine during a quick dinner and we’re not around the next night = dump. A good wine and a long evening = empty bottle. I won’t finish something I dislike, and cost doesn’t play a factor. If anything I am more critical of wines the more expensive they are.
I’ll take issue with a couple of points here. First on Italian reds under $40. Don’t expect to find lots of good Barolo, Barbaresco, Brunello or Amarone at this price point, you’ll be disappointed more often than not. You’re better off looking for something like Dolcetto, Barbera, Chianti Classico, Teroldego, Nero D’Avola, Refosco, Schiopettino or Lagrein. There are lots of good wines to be found.
Why should price be an issue in what I drink or dump? If I don’t enjoy drinking the wine, I’m not going to drink it. Doesn’t matter if it’s Yellow Tail Shiraz or Molly Dooker Matre D’. It’s dumped. If anything, I’d give the less expensive wine more leeway, since I’d have lower expectations.
We dump a lot of wine, but it is mostly under $10 cheapies from Garagiste (what was I thinking???) or auction rejects that didn’t have much hope to begin with.
