wine pleasure has as much to do with what's in your head as what's in your glass

So when you ask me 'What's a good wine?' my reply will always be the same – 'A wine that works for the moment.'We can't talk about best without context. There is no 'best', only 'best for'.

what do I mean by best?
The best wine is one that works for the mood and situation. It has nothing to do with the price or prestige of the bottle. This is the most important thing to learn. It's the secret to good times with wine.

how can I say what is best – isn't it personal taste?
No, and yes. I've found that if you pour the wine that's right for the mood, everyone will enjoy it. Personal taste will influence the degree to which people enjoy it, but if it's right, it will work. Period. I've had people 'loving' wines they thought they 'hated' when they were experienced in the right context.

The trick is to stop looking at all the choices and start thinking about what you need. Think about what mood you're in, or what mood you want to create. Identifying your mood establishes what you want – and knowing what you want makes choosing wine easy. There are moods that can be satisfied with white wine and some that call for red.

We're all familiar with music categories which relate to different styles and moods. A person looking for Country never ends up buying Opera. We need to replace the custom of offering wine by country or grape with categories that are mood based.That way, the novice can find the wine that's right for their mood.

Billy's Best Bottles THREE MOODS FOR WHITE WINE

So how do will go about creating mood categories for wine?
Start by looking at the times, situations and desires of different drinking situations. What are the needs of these different moods? I've spent a lifetime thinking about it, and have deduced that there are three moods for white, and three for red, plus one 'sweet' category for fringe wines. All the wines recommended in Billy's Best Bottles Wines for 2008 are showcased under these seven categories. Read more about it here.

wine is about pleasure, not prestige
When we start to see the connection between wine and moods we can stop over-spending on prestige wines in the hope they they will give added pleasure. Beethoven may be great, but we don't need to buy his music just because he's famous. In music we play what works for our moods and moments – and so it should be in wine.

The old wine ways support wine snobbery. Wine experts love talking down to people – it makes them feel superior. My Wine by Mood system does the opposite. It helps people become their own wine expert. To be good at wine, you need to ask the question: 'What mood am I in? What do I need?'

Tell me your mood and I'll tell you which wine.

Attention Wine Retailers and Restaurant/Bar owners!
Our Wine by Mood system is the most customer friendly retail approach in the world!
Interested in redesigning your lists, brands, training your staff with our Wine by Mood concept? Email us.

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