No New Members Threads?

When I join a forum I am generally greeted by all in a New Members area. There's nothing like that here so I will just post my hello here. I need all of you. I know NOTHING about wine. But I do like to drink it. So where do I start? I think there should be a beginners thread but maybe that isn't what this forum is about. I leave it up to you to ignore me or educate me. Thanks either way.

Hi Margret!

If you have been here for 6 hours already and no one has welcomed you, No one has said that we are glad you stopped by, that is our failing. And a failing that I for one apologize for. So, please allow me to post a belated welcome to the WLDG and hopefully the sister forum(s) too. If you check my profile you will see that I live in Lexington, Ky, and while I do not assign any particular wine knowledge to myself, I quickly acknowledge, that I like it too. I and many others I am sure, hope you stay around and learn a few things about wine, and who knows, maybe you can teach us a thing or two too.

Margaret
You're definitely welcome and there is a very broad range of experience here - and very much no judgements made on anyone's level of experience.

There is a wealth of material within the site, but Forum owner Robin will be the best person to advise what's where.

Where to start? I'd tend to suggest taking note of the wines that you've enjoyed to date and to branch out from there. Some prefer to build up specialist areas, whilst others have a very open-minded and questing approach to discovering new wines. No right way to go about it, except to have faith in what you experience yourself and don't be swayed by others into ignoring your own senses and accepting their call on whether a wine is good or not.

Feel free to throw questions up as they arise

regards

Ian

Hi Margaret - welcome and I hope you have a good time here. What sort of wine do you enjoy drinking most? Me, I like red wines that have something to say to you when you drink them, and pale clean whites. To the perplexity of some of our friends here, I love good sparkling reds. What have you been drinking lately?

best wishes
Matilda

What sort of wine do you enjoy drinking most? Me, I like red wines that have something to say to you when you drink them

Matilda

This line reminds me of one my favourite poems.

"We’ve cracked the midnight glass

And loosed the racketing star-crazed night into the room

The blind harp sings in late fire-light,

Your hand is decked with white promises.

What wine is this?

There are squirrels chasing in my glass,

Good God! I’m pissed!"

- Spike Milligan

Hi Margaret and welcome. My mother's name was Margaret and her middle initial was C. There is a wide spectrum of wine types and I encourage you to take note of what you are drinking - give some attention to the color, what aromas you smell in the glass and how does it taste and what does it feel like in your mouth. More than likely, as you progress in your wine appreciation journey, you may find that your preferences will change. Keep us posted and don't be afraid to ask questions, no matter how "dumb" you think it might be.

Hi Margaret and welcome! This is a great place to “hang-out”!

Salute

[James Roscoe]

Dammit! When did we start being nice to the newbies? Back in my day no one had to be nice to newbies. We knew our place. This place is getting soft!

Margaret, Hi...

Let me add my welcome.

As to frirst steps:

1. Taste as many wines as you can in order to broaden your tasting repertoire and to determine best what your personal tastes may be
2. Make notes, informal or formal as you like, on every wine you taste because that will help your memories sink into long-term memory for later comparisons
3. Ask as many questions as you like here
4. Realize that the most important person in the world of wine is yourself because you are the one who is going to gain pleasure from the intelligent consumption of wine.
5. Never forget the main rule of wine: The best wines in the world are the wines you enjoy the best.

Best
Rogov

Hello, Margret C.
I am also reasonably new to wine,at the begining its mind boggling, still is really.
To help my self make some order with all the confusion ,I keep little books where together with a photo of the label I record my impressions +% alcohol etc.Taste .....aroma ,tannins,acidity,sweetness,bitterness.
I find it interesting looking over the begining and seeing just how my tastes have changed in quite a short time span.
Just dont drink too much of your favourites,
Philip.

Hi, Margaret, and welcome. Of all the advice given above, what has helped me the most has been the exercise of writing down my impressions and then posting them here, for the record, no matter how insipid. That has a tremendously sharpening effect on the senses. Write whatever you experience, even if it's just "Wow, I really loved this because it went really well with the food." Over time, you'll be amazed at how perception improves.

I also recommend three wonderful books: Kermit Lynch's Adventures on the Wine Route, Neal Rosenthal's Reflections of a Wine Merchant and Edward Steinberg's The Making of a Great Wine. They will help to make this entire world come alive in an extremely interesting way. Once you've read these, you'll be better prepared for the much derided Alice Feiring's The Battle for Love and Wine, which has its low points (especially an abysmal chapter on Robert Parker), but is otherwise quite interesting.

Welcome Margaret. As you can see this is a place where you can have friends from all over the world; even from the woods in Middleton, NH!!!

[Robin Garr]

Hi, Margaret! As others have said, we've never thought to have a separate room for newcomers, but we are very friendly. We're glad you are here, glad you spoke up, and if you have any questions, just ask!

Hi, Margaret! As others have said, we've never thought to have a separate room for newcomers, but we are very friendly. We're glad you are here, glad you spoke up, and if you have any questions, just ask!

Robin - I don't think a separate room for newcomers is necessary, however, you could simply have a pinned thread.

[Jenise]

Margaret, our original forum software had a neat feature that allowed one to fill out a little box that would create and post an introduction on your behalf which we'd all then pile up on to say welcome. It was a good thing, and somehow in transitioning from that software to this with a few missteps in between we forgot about that. So no, no new member thread, just grab an empty stool at the bar and say hello, as you've done so well.

Welcome, we're a very friendly group!

[Robin Garr]

Robin - I don't think a separate room for newcomers is necessary, however, you could simply have a pinned thread.

I really don't like pinned threads much at all, Howie. They seem neat at first, but people soon get bored with them, and if we stack up two or three, we start driving new posts off the first screen.

Bottom line, I appreciate Margaret's suggestion, but I hope we're showing her why the way we do things now works pretty well.

Welcome Margaret. As you can see this is a place where you can have friends from all over the world; even from the woods in Middleton, NH!!!

Hi Margaret, welcome to this joint! I wonder where you live?
We have woods too, Carl but that is about it. Oh, the oil sands!

Hi Margret,
Forgot to mention earlier,if you can I think its a good idea to attend a wine class as soon as possible. Because of geographical reasons I could not do this,so I spent a long time plodding through different vatietals and getting and idea of what I liked.
Since its no great pleasure to plod through 750 cc of something you dislike , and not much better hogging the refrigerator with partially filled bottles {how much can you use for cooking } its really the best way to go.You get to learn about the wine and taste them in the same lesson.

Margaret,
A couple of suggestions to add:

If there is a decent wine store near you, with staff dedicated to the wine area, this can be a huge resource as you explore the world of wine and your tastes. Someone who can recommend things to try, in your price range, based on other wines you've tried and liked. You'll quickly find out whether their recommendations are valuable to you; if not try someone else.

If you find something you really like, resist the temptation to buy more than a few bottles, unless it's meant to age and you've become sure enough in your tastes to be sure you'll still like it in years to come. This is a time for exploration, not commitment.

Charles

Dammit! When did we start being nice to the newbies? Back in my day no one had to be nice to newbies. We knew our place. This place is getting soft!

That was only for you, James, but it didn't work; you stayed.

Welcome Margaret! This is a great place to learn about wine allowing you to appreciate it more. I think when I started here, lo' those many years ago, I knew some wines were red and some were white. I grew from there! See how great it is!?

Cheers!
JuliaB