Share your wine quirks...

I'm sure we all have them.

I've admitted some of mine on several occasions. Notably:

I rarely drink champagne out of a "proper flute". My typical glassware is a 7 inch Chardonnay glass. I like the bigger surface area.

I always hold the glass by the bowl (like a drinking glass). I just don't feel "right" holding a wine glass by a stem. It's not comfortable for me.

I tend to take a first sip of champagne (when it is chilled), and then wait about ten minutes or so before lingering over the rest. (I love to linger over a glass of champagne rather than just "drink" it).

Jeff

- Wines that many would consider over the hill, I find interesting.
- Rarely decanting unless I believe the sediment would be very fine, or the cork crumbles (this is in part linked to the above, as I rarely open something obviously too young, negating the use of a decanter to open the wine up).

My wine habits make so much sense to me, I can't really think of them as quirks. I mean, it's just so sensible to drink Champagne out of regular wine glasses instead of flutes. You get better aromatics and the bubbles aren't going to disappear.

The closest thing to quirk I can think of is that, because I've been on a binge to build up my Bordeaux stocks, I won't open a bottle until I've bought two at least to replace it.

I tend to love wine that is either painfully young and tannic; or then completely dead and oxidized to most other drinkers.

I tend to love wine that is either painfully young and tannic; or then completely dead and oxidized to most other drinkers.

What better definition could be provided for the "anti-flavor wine elite"??

Mark Lipton

>> I always hold the glass by the bowl (like a drinking glass). I just don't feel "right" holding a wine glass by a stem. It's not comfortable for me.

Yup. I keep fearing that I'll tip the glass over or (worse) mix blood with the wine, which might interfere with licking up the residue, because you don't want to lose a drop of that ethereal stuff that cost a whole ten bucks a week or so ago.
Actually, the old-fashioned Italian restaurant wine in a tumbler doesn't bother me a bit. And I've tasted a freshly opened bottle in a juice tumbler any number of times. You can slosh it around and stick your nose in till it'll get wet if you're not careful.

Holding by the stem or the bowl? Try the base! I always thought it looked like an affectation, but if you are standing up, it is a lot easier to swirl if you hold the glass like that. Is that a wine quirk?

[David M. Bueker]

- Wines that many would consider over the hill, I find interesting.

That's not a quirk. It's just being from the UK!

I don't know if hating Sauvignon Blanc can be called a quirk, but there it is.

In the polarized world of wine geekery, I find that my tastes are becoming more accomodating to various styles across the spectrum.

I don't know if hating Sauvignon Blanc can be called a quirk, but there it is.

Good to know I'm not alone!

I always tear the capsule off of a wine bottle rather than cut the top off. I also love Siegerrebe, and everyone else I know hates that hybrid. I am also a hater of SB.

[Robin Garr]

* I'll only occasionally buy wine that costs more than $20-$25 retail, but I won't drink poor wine if I can help it. This makes QPR very important in my wine life, although I guess that doesn't make me all that unusual in this group.

* Like others here, I don't feel that I'm committing a social fault if I hold my wine glass by the bowl (or use a stemless Les Impitoyables mini taster or Riedel O).

* I instinctively gravitate toward the AFWE, but make so many exceptions that I probably can't qualify as a card-carrying member.

* No matter how hard I try, I can't warm up to Riesling. <gasp> But then, I'm not crazy about Viognier, either, or Gewurz, or Albariño, so maybe something about aromatic whites just doesn't float my boat. I'm fine with Chenin, though.

I'm sure there are lots more ...

[Jenise]

I own more types of wine glasses and am more picky about what I drink out of which one than anyone else I know. That said, I have a favorite security-blanket of a wine glass that I'd rather drink almost anything out of, any and all. We only have the one, never had more and can't get more, and if it ever breaks I'll have to hold a funeral for it.

Other than that I be okay with most wine varieties if the wines are my idea of well-made--not extracted, reasonable alcohols, etc--no quirks there. To the people in my normal physical universe I'm quirky because compared to them I'm so (or 'too') exacting and picky. To the people on this board I'm probably quirky because there's no grape I outright dislike, where to do so seems to be the norm here.

I always tear the capsule off of a wine bottle rather than cut the top off.

Me too. And is it a quirk to feel so upset about Robin's attitude towards Riesling?

I like to drink wines that Jenise hates.

I'm embarrassed to say that I've uncorked red wine bottles without even taking the capsule wrap off!

It stems from the first time I opened a wine bottle and didn't know any better. I didn't think to unwrap the capsule. I just put the corkscrew in, the wrapping eventually broke, I pulled the cork out and all was well. Then I unwrapped the shredded foil from the lip of the bottle.

I also keep all the tin cork caps that come adorned on champagnes, but that probably isn't a "quirk" per se. And I save most of the corks as well. They are like memoirs from a journey of which you discovered unknown tastes and acquired a passion. I can never taste that specific half bottle of Laurent Perrier Brut LP of which I first found "caramel apples" ever again. But I can hold the cork and still remember when...

Other than that, they just take up space.

Jeff

I don't like Sancerre. I don't like any Sancerre. I get angry when I think about the fact that Sancerre even exists.

I don't like Sancerre. I don't like any Sancerre. I get angry when I think about the fact that Sancerre even exists.

Cotat cousins too?

I very rarely like Sangiovese. On paper I should love it -spicy red wine with a nice play of tannin and acidity. If I'm drinking Italian red, make it Lagrein, Aglianico, or Nebbiolo. Weird, huh?

Cheers,
Bill

I'm embarrassed to say that I've uncorked red wine bottles without even taking the capsule wrap off!

Even more embarrassingly, I have removed the top of a screwcap with a capsule cutter

[Robin Garr]

Even more embarrassingly, I have removed the top of a screwcap with a capsule cutter

I did that too.

On warm evenings I like a wine spritzer made with cheap TJ's gewertz, soda and a splash of vodka.

And in winter, I appreciate a higher residual sugar in Zinfandels, reminds me a bit of port.

I like most reds a little cooler than room temp and most whites straight out of the cellar at 55 degrees, except young inexpensive chablis that I like freezing cold.

Don't you love the giddy feeling on New Year's morning that a whole bunch of bottles in your fridge have entered their drinking window?

Reflecting on other's comments:
Jim Grow - I like some of hybrids: Vignoles, Vidal, Cayuga, Foch, Traminette, but some I don't like.
Sam Platt & David Bueker (Sam & Dave?) - The only SB's I ever liked were from Sancerre.
Jenise - I also have my go-to wine glass. I put it to use frequently during Wednesday Night Chat.