Topic: Is good wine actually good?

[PyroMenace]

Granted I never liked wine, I don't even like hard liquor that much but this was interesting nonetheless.

[Cobra951]

So much subjectivity in tasting anything.  As someone who doesn't much like any wine, I can't comment any further than that.

But hard liquor is another matter.  I can definitely tell the difference between rot-gut and smoothness, and unfortunately, prices tend to reflect it too.

[K-man]

Yeah, I'm not well-versed with wine.  But while bargains can be had in the world of whiskey, most of the time you truly get what you pay for.  Unfortunately with bourbon becoming a bit of an "it" spirit in recent years, a bunch of "boutique" distilleries/bottlers have popped up with varying results.  More often that not the price is at a premium, though.  Some of these guys don't even make their own spirits.  They purchase the liquor in bulk from some of the big boys and then do their own special treatments to it. 

Beer's kind of the same way with craft taking off like it has.

[Xessive]

I don't drink but from what I've after living in St. Catharines, Ontario (wine country) wine is more about its taste than its pedigree. How it tastes to you is more important and you shouldn't feel ashamed if you prefer the taste of an inexpensive wine.

It's tough to gauge wine with vague terminology like "good" or "bad." They're too subjective.

[Cools!]

But hard liquor is another matter.  I can definitely tell the difference between rot-gut and smoothness, and unfortunately, price tend to reflect it too.

Yeah, same.

There are some wines that I like, but for the most part I don't care much. Like beer, wine is more of a filler for me, something "light", when I'm with company and don't want to be the guy who doesn't drink. If I want to enjoy something, saviour the taste, I have a scotch or something similar.

At one point I wanted to get more into wine, but there are just so many vintages and it's way too subtle of a difference for me to notice most of the time.

[Quemaqua]

I agree with X. Wine, in my view, is often very distinctive, but it's not really so much about expensive ones tasting "better". Like Cobra said, though, liquor is another matter. I'm pretty well versed in scotch and Irish whiskey (not as much a fan of bourbon), and K is on the money. You get what you pay for.