Interest in wine 101 or Q&A?

[cheezepowder]

I like wine and drink wine often but on a casual, "amateur" basis. The Thai Noodles 101 post from Fishinnards, the Middle Eastern Food 101 post from Kibbee Nayee, and the post "Was I served the Wrong Wine" from u-bet got me thinking that a Wine 101 or Q&A thread of some sort would be helpful.

Answers to questions like how do you choose a wine at a restaurant? Is it true that the more expensive wines have less of a markup? Does that matter? How can you tell if a restaurant has a good wine list or not? How do you make an educated choice among the multitude of wines at the store? Am I supposed to be waiting X years to drink the bottle of wine I just bought? And more advanced questions for those who know to ask them .

After all, we have DonRocks as a wine expert resource right here to help us (and maybe others on the board could chime in too .

Would others also be interested in an informal wine basics tutorial or Q&A?

[Mark Slater]

Yes.

[darkstar965]

Yes.

Mark: is that an offer to teach or write it?

I wonder if a commercially available wine class isn't the way to go on this one? A good deal on a local one could probably be negotiated for an interested DR group I'd imagine.

I'm not a wine expert by any means but what I do know started in college, when I took a no-credit wine tasting class which addressed some of the questions you post, cheeze. There are tons of books...and classes...and people...who offer wine basics 101 type knowledge. I don't mean to discourage a Wine 101 topic here (esp if someone like Don, Mark or another expert was willing to write one ). Just feels a little different from the more specific and less widely known topics like Middle Eastern food or Thai Noodles. FWIW.

[ChiantiandFava]

Cheez I think what darkstar is getting at is that wine is a huge subject. Your questions are practical ones that have adequate quick answers, but anything with depth will require a solid foundation of wine knowledge. When learning anything I tend towards process/function--how is wine made and why is made the way it is. For others it's all about for whom is wine made or why does wine taste the way it does. Bottom line, I'd recommend breaking wine 101 into subcategories as soon as possible--that would allow everyone's expertise to shine radiantly.

[cheezepowder]

I agree with darkstar965 and ChiantiandFava's points that wine 101 itself is too large a topic.

Maybe what I'm really thinking of is not so much a structured wine basics "class" but more of a Q&A where people can ask specific questions about wine and others can weigh in (I'm sure there's not just one answer to the questions I raised above.)

I could just post my questions for answers, but I'd also learn something from questions that others would think of (like in the guest chats). Maybe a thread where folks can feel free to ask questions, others weigh in with answers (or discussion/debate ensues ), and we learn more about wines in the process.

(And if anyone is willing to write mini-tutorials on discrete topics, I'd definitely read those too.)

[DonRocks]

I agree with darkstar965 and ChiantiandFava's points that wine 101 itself is too large a topic.

Maybe what I'm really thinking of is not so much a structured wine basics "class" but more of a Q&A where people can ask specific questions about wine and others can weigh in (I'm sure there's not just one answer to the questions I raised above.)

I could just post my questions for answers, but I'd also learn something from questions that others would think of (like in the guest chats). Maybe a thread where folks can feel free to ask questions, others weigh in with answers (or discussion/debate ensues ), and we learn more about wines in the process.

(And if anyone is willing to write mini-tutorials on discrete topics, I'd definitely read those too.)

I'm up, and I think Mark is up, and whoever else is up is up, for holding these "online university courses" in any format people would like. I think between the two of us, Mark can handle the distribution and sales end, and I can handle the production and consumption end, and there's plenty of knowledge on the internet that can be pointed to (the expertise involves not only knowing how to explain things, but knowing which things to point to).

[Choirgirl21]

I agree with darkstar965 and ChiantiandFava's points that wine 101 itself is too large a topic.

Maybe what I'm really thinking of is not so much a structured wine basics "class" but more of a Q&A where people can ask specific questions about wine and others can weigh in (I'm sure there's not just one answer to the questions I raised above.)

I could just post my questions for answers, but I'd also learn something from questions that others would think of (like in the guest chats). Maybe a thread where folks can feel free to ask questions, others weigh in with answers (or discussion/debate ensues ), and we learn more about wines in the process.

(And if anyone is willing to write mini-tutorials on discrete topics, I'd definitely read those too.)

It sounds like you're basically suggesting a thread along the lines of a "help needed" thread for wine. There can never be too much discussion about wine for me so I'd certainly keep my eye on it.