Perhaps, you remember your first good wine. The first one that made you stop mid-sentence and think, “aah… so this is what they’ve been on about!” It might have been anything. Just some random wine that tasted better than it had any right to on a random rainy night. Whatever it was, it redefined something for you.
That’s the point when wine stops being background noise and starts being a story. From there, you either shrug and move on, or you tumble down the rabbit hole of vineyards and vintages. When you meet people from other countries, you ask them what they drink back home. When planning a trip, you suddenly start booking hotels near interesting wineries rather than tourist-filled ruins. You read about soil types, fermentation quirks, and everything else that sounds like bullshit to a normal person.
This site is for drinkers. However, it is about drinking with your brain switched on. About seeing and feeling the essence of wine, regardless of what the label says. About telling the truth, even when the truth is that the wine tastes like wet cardboard. It may sound grim, but it isn’t – it’s freedom. Because once you stop parroting clichés, you actually get to taste and enjoy the thing for yourself.
Here you’ll find things that might inspire you to learn something new, but without the lecturing or sounding like an ad brochure. Let’s talk about wine in a simple, fun way, because it’s far too interesting to be buried in jargon or snobbery. Let’s mock stupid myths and make fun of stupid people. Why not? Why not laugh at pretension or get tangled up wandering in the details? That’s fine—wine itself wanders.
So, First Good Wine is not about telling you what to drink. It’s an attempt to awaken your curiosity and desire to pour something exciting into your glass. After that, it’s your story.
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P.S. One more thing. First Good Wine comes from an old Chris Rea song: “I’ll buy you first good wine, we’ll have a real good time…”
RIP, and thank you, good man. Your songs have always helped me see this world a little better than it deserves. Just like good wine.