Drinking diversity

Put away your old wine. It's time for something new.

by Thor Iverson

UNCORKED

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Like most people, I grew up eating a lot of the same stuff. Part of the problem was that I was a pretty finicky eater, afraid to try new things. But I was also served a limited number of dishes at home and at school. I knew what I liked, and I knew I was going to get it again. "Ham sandwiches again!" wasn't a complaint, it was a way of life.

Unfortunately, many people approach wine the same way. When we first start drinking wine, we often lack confidence in our decisions. So when we find a wine or two that we like, we tend to stop looking. This mindset is largely responsible for the success of inexpensive mass-market brands such as Woodbridge, Turning Leaf, and Gossamer Bay; people feel as comfortable with them as they do with an old blanket.

But even if one's vinous exploration continues, the tendency toward repetition doesn't go away. We might find that we love zinfandel and, in particular, Ridge Lytton Springs Zinfandel. So we buy a couple bottles here, a half-case there, and suddenly we have a big pile of the same wine.

In this, we Americans are in good international company. Ask someone from Bordeaux what he's drinking tonight. Ask him what he drank last night. Ask him what he'll drink tomorrow. If the answer isn't Bordeaux, you're talking to an impostor.

There's nothing wrong with "comfort wine." We should drink what we like; after all, what's the point of drinking unless we enjoy it? And it's always good to have a few bottles of a reliable performer in case company drops by.

There's a big world of wine out there, however. There are thousands of different regions and grapes, and with each comes an even wider range of style and quality. A boom in wine production and consumption means that the number of available wines is increasing every year. And we're very lucky, as wine drinkers, to live in a country where most of these wines are available.

So this column is a plea and a challenge: it's time to get out of our wine-drinking ruts. It's time to branch out, to diversify, to play the field. Your significant other won't let you do it, but your wine shop will. Here are some suggestions.

Start small. If you like merlot, try some cabernet sauvignon or syrah. Or if you like red Burgundy, try some Oregon pinot noir. Tell your wine merchant what you drink and why you like it. He or she should be able to point you in the direction of bottles that aren't too much of a vinous turnabout.

Change stores. Do you tend to shop at one or two nearby liquor stores or wine shops? Find a different one and browse the shelves. Strike up a conversation with the staff. Try something you've never seen at your usual haunts.

Taste. Seek out a few in-store or restaurant wine tastings. Make an extra effort to go to those where unfamiliar wines are being poured.

Travel. If you tend to drink French wines, try something from New Zealand. If you're an American partisan, try something from Washington or New Mexico. If you love wines from Tuscany, try something from Umbria.

Taste blind. Preconceptions are the enemy of diversity. Have someone put a bag around a few wines and open one of them. Take a taste without knowing what you're drinking. You might be surprised.

Experiment. If part of your wine habit is that you know how well cabernet sauvignon and burgers match, change the food as you change the wine. Grill a tuna burger and serve it with a cannonau from Sardinia, or serve a veggie burger with sauvignon blanc.

Experiment more. Walk into any wine shop and select items at random. Pick wines with the worst labels, wines whose names begin with the letter "B," wines that cost $13.99, or whatever. I do this, and I've found some fantastic wines because of it.

Drinking only familiar wines may be comforting, but if you've done that, you probably know that subsequent bottles are never quite as tasty as the first. If you diversify, though, every bottle is the first. And when you go back to one of your old (or new) favorites, it will taste that much better.

The following are some wines to seek out in your explorations.

1996 Ibernoble Ribera del Duero ($9.99). Typically big and smoky red from this region, with thick flavors of blackberries, leather, and currants, and a light coating of tannin. Plenty of oak, too. Needs meat.

1999 Huia Riesling ($15). Very light white, but with elegant apple, lime, pine-nut, and mineral flavors. Won't stand up in the company of German or Alsace riesling, but a great starting point for exploring the wonders of this greatest of white grapes. Serve with light pork or fish dishes.

1994 Secco-Bertani Valpolicella Valpantena ($17). Rich red, redolent of strawberries and plum jam, with an earthy character. Very dense and concentrated. Serve it with rich and flavorful Italian dishes.

1995 Fife Cabernet Franc ($24). Incredibly dense, almost chewy red wine with smoky black fruit flavors. Needs time (the tannins are brutal right now), after which it will probably play nice with just about any meat dish not in a tomato-based sauce.

Thor Iverson can be reached at wine[a]phx.com.

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