To help you avoid drinking bad wine, Amy Otto identifies the three most common causes of wine being unpleasant to drink:
You’ve scanned the wine list to find the perfect match. A few catch your eye. A nice Russian River Valley pinot noir, a Stags Leap District cabernet, or perhaps a New World Sangiovese. What’s not to love?
Your waiter presents the bottle to your table. You nod in approval. The wine is poured; you lean into your glass hoping to catch the lovely aroma, and instead your nose crinkles and puzzlement sets in. The glass is emitting an odor that reminds you of when it rained on that pile of newspapers you were going to recycle. It seemed like the perfect choice. How did this happen?
Despite a winemaker’s best efforts, occasionally you will run into a wine that is flawed. That’s why you try the wine before you commit to the bottle.
A good restaurant won’t object to taking back a bottle that has a clear flaw — that’s what you need to do when you taste the sample from the freshly opened bottle. You’re not trying to determine whether you like the wine, but you are given the opportunity to discover whether the wine has a flaw. Don’t be the asshole who sends back a perfectly good bottle of wine to impress your date or your business associate (and yes, I’ve seen it happen).
