{"id":2768,"date":"2024-09-10T19:00:01","date_gmt":"2024-09-10T19:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=2768"},"modified":"2024-09-10T19:04:02","modified_gmt":"2024-09-10T19:04:02","slug":"first-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=2768","title":{"rendered":"First Times"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We are not original in noting that there\u2019s a first time for everything.\u00a0 In past issues, we\u2019ve recounted our first times wine tasting in Napa Valley<\/a> and other sectors of Wine Country.\u00a0 Since those early days in our wine tasting career, we\u2019ve been to many other winemaking regions and there is a commonality among visits to all of them.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Vines in Australia\u2019s Barossa Valley.  Photo courtesy of Cluster Crush.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is always an emotional thrill knowing that we\u2019re about to embark on an adventure.\u00a0 We know our way around Long Island\u2019s North Fork, for instance.\u00a0 We know what the wines are like and where the grapes are grown.\u00a0 So when we set off for France, Italy, Australia<\/a> or South Africa<\/a> \u2013 or certain areas in the US as well \u2013 we know that we\u2019re going to be seeing sights we haven\u2019t seen and taste wines that we may never have heard of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That can be a little scary, too.  How do we get to and around these parts of Wine Country, some of which are not as well mapped as, say, Sonoma County?  Which are the wineries not to miss (and which should be<\/em> skipped)?  Are we going to get lost?  These fears can be overcome with some research and a guide.  But no matter how much can be gleaned on-line, the internet doesn\u2019t know our tastes.  And if we\u2019re going to be sipping wines made from unheard-of grapes like Corvina, Pinotage or Fer Servadou we have no idea what we\u2019re going to get.  As for guides, we\u2019re always worried that they\u2019re in the pay of certain wineries, not necessarily the best ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a way, every<\/em> wine tasting trip is a first one.  Even if we\u2019ve been to the wineries in a region multiple times, we haven\u2019t tasted that year\u2019s wines nor do they always have the same wines on the menu. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only sensible way to approach each visit is with an open mind and taste buds.  We\u2019ve had the experience of being disappointed at a winery that we had previously enjoyed, but we\u2019ve also been delighted to find that a label we hadn\u2019t cared for in our local wine shop also makes some fabulous wines that they keep for their tasting room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That sense of discovery is the rationale for wine tasting.  After all, we don\u2019t have to spend the money on transportation and hotels.  We could take a virtual tour down the aisles of a store, buying and trying as our fancy strikes us.  Heck, we do that anyway.  But we don\u2019t get to see the vines, appreciate the architecture, smell the country air and, most important, meet the people behind the bottles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So when we set out for a trip, especially one overseas, we know we\u2019re going to encounter people, places and foods that we haven\u2019t experienced before.  As first-timers, we expect to learn a great deal.  The people of those places are generally friendly and eager to spotlight not only their own wines but those of the region. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once in Valpolicella we were offered a tasting by a winemaker who spoke no English.  Our Italian was very limited.  But the signore<\/em> was able to say AMARONE and RIPASSO at the top of his lungs, so we got the point.  It\u2019s little stories like that that make first-time adventures in Wine Country worthwhile.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We are not original in noting that there\u2019s a first time for everything.\u00a0 In past issues, we\u2019ve recounted our first times wine tasting in Napa Valley and other sectors of Wine Country.\u00a0 Since those early days in our wine tasting career, we\u2019ve been to many other winemaking regions and there is a commonality among visits … Continue reading First Times<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2768"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2768"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2773,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2768\/revisions\/2773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}