Psychology of wine 

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One fascinating thing is that you can really improve your overall experience with wine by improving various things – things you may not necessarily take into account.   I would like expand on this notion over the next little while and incorporate a little psychological and scientific perspective into things. I’m not going to get all technical but rather expand your enjoyment of wine.

First of all, if you ever find yourself facing holidays or any other special occasion and you want to make it a great experience (occasion) with wine then I always recommend certain things. 

In particular you need to do these four things:

1. Have good food.  I recommend Chef Charly.  He will provide you with high quality recipes and in a step-by-step fashion show you how to prepare everything from scratch, using his philosophy of high quality ingredients. You’ll be able to whip up some great tasting meals to compliment your wine and your guests would be thinking you are a great cook and host! 

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2. Successfully pair the right food and wine.  Good recipes and wine are wonderful but you need to keep some general principles in mind.  It does not have to be complex: You follow this link for some quick and easy examples.

3. Document any wine you’ve had and refer to this on log on a regular basis.  I keep a little coiled book in which I rate any wine using my own rating system (Use your own simple with a rating of 1 to 4 or whatever). I also write down the name of the wine and producer, the country and region (if available), percentage of alcohol and most importantly my impressions of the wine. 

4. Ensure the ambience is special. In other words, ensure that your environment which you know. 

I have previously suggested that you have some nice easy listening music in the background and have dim light preferably some candles in the background (hypo-allergic)

But today I want to expand on the topic of ambience.  One very important aspect that many people overlook is psychological – social psychology really.  I’m talking about the company you keep.  If you find yourself throughout the year having various gathering and wine tastings you may be aware that these things can sometimes be a breeding ground for the most pretentious people out there.  I’m not attacking anyone that is classy, sophisticated, or anyone that has an abundance of knowledge about wine.

What you’ll find many times is that the folks who make the most amount of “noise” often are the least knowledgeable when you get to the heart of the matter. 

One of the jobs I’ve had over the years is being involved with the process whereby certain professionals would apply for professional registration.  (I will be discrete about what profession because this is not an attack on any specific profession). What I found is that often the least qualified people often having the thickest applications.  They include every single course they’ve ever taken, and seemingly seem to need to justify everything they’ve done, along with claiming they were an expert at everything; whereas the more qualified people typically would be quite modest about things and quite careful in what specific expertise they claimed. 

I’m not saying that this applies all the time, but in my experience this is generally the case.  The point I’m making is that you should NOT JUST INVITE ANYONE to a wine tasting party or any another party; you should invite those people whose company you enjoy keeping.  Often people will fall into the trap of inviting the people who are “noisier” about what they know about wine.  Many folks who have immense knowledge about wine are often quite humble – like in many areas.

Most important though is picking a good wine.  Most people would be interested in doing so without having to overspend.  Well you can certainly do so by utilizing a resource designed to do just that! Join my newsletter and get access to this great resource.