Life Is NOT Too Short to Drink Bad Wine

If I received ten kuai every time someone said, "life is too short to drink bad wine," I'd be living on a yacht and guzzling Champagne every day.

The thing is, "bad" is a tricky word when it comes to wine.

The obvious point is that knowing what's bad makes us appreciate what's good. We pick our favorite foods, TV shows, singers and more against what we dislike.

Wine researcher Tim Hanni has studied people's tastes -- he even counts tastebuds on their tongues: the number ranges from less than 500 to more than 10,000! Hanni puts wine drinkers into four main categories.

"Tolerant" tasters like powerful flavors, like oak-y full-bodied Chardonnays, Cabernet Sauvignons and Syrahs. “Sweet” tasters prefer something sugary that covers up bitterness and alcohol. "Hypersensitive" tasters tend to enjoy lighter delicate elegant wines while "sensitive" tasters are the most open to exploring.

So, what's good and bad? It depends on what taster you are!

Want to know your type? Take the test by scanning the QR code below to find out. 

Making things even more complicated, your tastes will likely change.

In a Sonoma State University study of 422 wine drinkers, 69% said their preferences changed over time. Some 56% said they initially liked semi-sweet or sweet white or rose wine, but only 19% still felt that way. Meanwhile, 15% initially liked dry red wines but 37% later preferred this style.