It surprised me, but this week I realized I had passed a milestone of 500 wine recommendations since I began writing for the Enquirer, in 1996. Then I realized I haven't written about how I select these wines.

        In an average week, I taste about 20 wines. I buy some myself, but frankly a wine budget of several hundred dollars a week would quickly impoverish me. Therefore, I rely on samples provided by wineries and importers, at least for in-home tastings.

        My tasting regimen is always the same. It begins with opening several bottles of one grape variety before dinner. I try to select wines that will pair well with dinner so that I can evaluate them with and without food.

        Sitting in my designated tasting chair at my designated tasting spot with my designated tasting glasses, I fill out an evaluation form (designated, of course). It covers 16 aspects of wine color, aroma and taste. I spend three to five minutes on each wine. Wines of poor quality don't make it any further, but I taste the others with dinner.

        I supplement in-home tastings by attending Tristate wine events. Last week, for example, I went to a trade tasting for wine stores and restaurants sponsored by a wine distributing company. Of the 200 wines poured at the tasting, I tried 60 (yes, I spit almost everything I taste). Such tastings don't allow for detailed evaluation of wines, but are wonderful opportunities to find which are more appealing.

        In home or away, the most difficult part of my wine tasting is suppressing personal biases. Everyone, including Robert Parker and the Wine Spectator, has biases for and against certain wine styles. For example, I prefer bold, fruit-dominated wines and usually don't like highly acidic red wines or highly oaked white wines. I try to ignore my preferences when tasting, but with limited success.

        Even after finding worthy wines, there's more to do before writing about them. First, I telephone wine distributors to determine the availability and pricing of the wines. Then I sort through them to ensure I recommend a spectrum of grape varieties vinified in different styles and from different regions, wineries and importers. My objective is to recommend a broad array of inexpensive to moderately expensive wines, each of which is a good value for its price.

        Finally, I can write about the wine. Here, my intent is to provide a clear, helpful, hopefully entertaining description without resorting to overly floral verbiage — in 50 words or less.

Six that stand out

       

        Perhaps most surprisingly, even after 500 recommendations (based on tasting about 5,000 bottles), certain wines stand out:

        • My favorite wine from my first year (appeared Nov. 3, 1996): Adler Fels 1995 Gewurztraminer “Sonoma County” ($13).

        • A huge cab (Nov. 2, 1997): Pride Mountain 1995 Cabernet Sauvignon “Napa Valley” ($23.50).

        • A white that defined “quaffable” (May 2, 1999): St. Supery 1998 Sauvignon Blanc “Napa Valley” ($13).

        • Another monster red (Dec. 12, 1999): Cline 1997 Mourvedre “Small Berry Vineyard, Contra Costa County” ($25).

        • To satisfy my all-too-serious sweet tooth (May 14, 2000): Paul Jaboulet Aine 1997 Muscat “Baumes-de-Venise” ($16; 375 ml).

        • Perhaps the most amazing bargain I “discovered” (Aug. 12, 2001): Van Ruiten-Taylor 1999 Chardonnay “Reserve, Lodi” ($11).

       Contact John Vankat by mail: c/o Cincinnati Enquirer; fax: 768-8330.

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