A little while later, when our glasses were being refilled, one of my friends added a handful of ice cubes to his wine and everyone immediately looked to me to see if I had some sort of reaction to this supposed wine “faux-pas.” I asked Pat if he found the wine too warm or if there was another reason he wanted ice cubes in his wine. He told me that he found the taste a little too strong for his liking and thought that the ice cubes might help. When I told him that I thought that was a perfectly valid thing to do and that he would get no objections from me, one of my friends expressed her shock that I would “sanction” the addition of ice cubes to a glass of wine.

Truth be told, it isn’t usually a common practice to add ice cubes to a glass of wine and doing so may cause you to have to deal with some shock and scorn. One of my own family members still gets teased about the time she added not only ice cubes, but a packet of sweetener to a glass of sparkling wine. Now perhaps the sweetener was taking things too far, but if you find that adding ice to your wine makes it taste better to you, then who am I to tell you that you are wrong?

In Pat’s case, I understood what he was getting at. His goal, whether he knew it or not, was to dilute the excessively oaky flavor of the wine. Given this was the only wine open, I thought it was, for him, not a bad thing to try. But for next time, what advice would I give Pat? I would tell him that the key is to find wines he enjoys – wines that don’t need to be doctored in the glass. In my friend’s case, I would look to steer him toward some unoaked wines or wines that have a less pronounced oaky character. While I think it is extremely important to experiment with new wines and to try different things, the fact of the matter is that it is also important to drink something that brings you some pleasure. This is why when my grandmother (yes, she of the sweetener addition) comes to dinner I know to only serve her certain wines. She doesn’t drink wine very often, but when she does, she prefers wines that are sweet. Since there are any number of delicious sweet wines available, finding something we all enjoy isn’t a problem and it keeps everyone happy.

In the end, while wine critics might rate wines and give scores (or badges or whatever the latest trend is), the ultimate test is how the wine tastes in YOUR mouth. I try to write my reviews of the Top 50 wines on this site in such a way so that you can judge for yourself whether or not a wine might appeal to you. And remember that palates can change as we get older or as we taste more. I prefer to think of it less as a palate getting more “sophisticated” and more that a palate can evolve as you are exposed to different flavors, textures and combinations.

So I’d love to know – would you ever add ice or something else to a glass of wine? Have you ever seen someone else do it? How do you react when someone tells you that you have made a “wine faux-pas”? Don’t forget to leave me your comments!

It’s a good question and a valid one. Most wine critics do like to use some sort of rating system, something that, I’ll be honest, I tend to shy away from. There are all kinds of esoteric discussions around wine ratings which usually end with the argument, well, people just seem to love them. And it is true – we do love ratings and they can have their place. Restaurants get stars, movies get thumbs up, wines get points – the list goes on and on. But how much can (and should) you really trust a score?

When it comes to giving out points, I think that it is easy to get a bit carried away. What exactly does a 100 point wine mean? Is it perfect? And if it is perfect, is it perfect at that point in time or will it be better or worse several years down the road? What does wine perfection mean? Does it mean that all other wines you taste will never taste as good? If two wines are both given the same perfect score will they taste the same or different? This last question is a bit silly of course. In most cases they will be different – that’s one of the most interesting things about wines – the variety. Type of grape, location where the grapes were grown, decisions made in the winery, choice of packaging and closure – all of those things affect the taste of a wine which creates a staggering amount of variety.

But sometimes variety is overwhelming, which is one reason why point systems were first introduced. It was thought that it was one way to try to simplify the crazy world of wine. But I think sometimes we take scores a little too seriously. I think it is important to look for a description of the wine rather than its final score. This is the main reason why I give a tasting note for each wine on my Top 50 list but I do not include a final score. The other issue I have with points is that sometimes scoring wines is a bit like comparing apples to oranges. Wines differ in a lot of ways. There are wines that pair better with food as opposed to those that are better drunk on their own. Sparkling wines, still wines, dessert wines – they all have different attributes and characteristics.

Now I am not saying that we should abandon all point systems forever and ever, but I think that points alone should not determine what we do and don’t drink. I think it is important to look past the score and see why someone likes or doesn’t like a wine. And in the end, the most important thing is not whether some critic likes a wine, it is whether or not YOU, the drinker of the wine, enjoy it. Critics can be helpful – I hope for instance that the Top 50 list is useful to people looking for a great bottle of wine. I’ve tried to assemble a list that has a lot of variety and value. But remember, the list is just a guide and the ultimate decision as to whether or not something scores with your palate is if you enjoy it.

To watch the interview, click here or press the play button on the video at the top right corner