Wet Wednesday: Developing your palate

Sutter Home White Zinfandel is delicious. It's cheap, tastes good, it's wine, it's alcoholic. It is very easy to drink. It's a little sweet, but very light. It can go with a meal or you can drink a glass by itself. A single glass can get a lightweight tipsy, while an experienced drinker could probably polish off a bottle him or herself.

Cabernet Sauvignon is difficult to drink. There is such a wide variety that you never know how your bottle is going to taste. It is often the most expensive wine on the menu, so if you get it wrong, you have a bad taste in your mouth AND you spent a lot of money in the process. And even if you do get the right bottle, there are many people who just don't like cabernet sauvignon.

So why is a cabernet sauvignon a good wine and a white zinfandel a bad wine?

There are probably some technical aspects to the quality of the grapes and the fermentation process, but to anyone reading this, you won't understand and/or you won't care. I'm here to give you a lesson on how you can appreciate the difference between good wine and bad wine without being a wine snob. By bad, I first want to distinguish between a wine that has spoiled and the look the sommelier give you when you tell him, "What do you mean you don't have any Sutter Home? Their White Zinfandel is my favorite wine!"

A cabernet sauvignon is a good wine. When a good bottle is chosen and paired with a nice steak, it feels like putting on a really nice tuxedo that has been tailored for you. It is not going to be the most comfortable clothing combination and there's a pretty good chance that this might be the most uncomfortable your clothes can make you...BUT DAMN YOU LOOK GOOD!! And you know it! You walk around with your back straight, head held high and a lot more confidence knowing you look as good as you could possibly look. If anyone is getting laid tonight, it's you.

A Sutter Home White Zinfandel is like putting on your most comfortable pajamas on, sitting down on the couch and vegging in front of the TV. You are VERY comfortable, but there is no way you are going out in public dressed like that. I mean, you have some standards, don't you?