IT’s all a matter of taste (wine, that is)!

“A hint of black cherry with cedar and loam.” “Orange peel and slight touch of citrus”. “Lucious jammy blackcurrant, chocolate, and tea.” Heard something similar before? You may be thinking someone had a little too much before they started tasting!  But no, in reality wine can contain traces of chemicals that in fact suggest various kinds of fruit, nuts, spices, minerals, and many other elements.

I’m not going to dispute that they are many nuances in a glass of wine (if you have the opportunity check out Le Nez du Vin, which contains small bottles of chemicals that represent the smells you will often find in a glass of red or white wine). With a lot of practice one can start to identify many of these elements.

But … that’s not the subject of this blog: what I wanted to talk about is that no matter how hard people try to explain various tastes in wine and no matter what the pundits (reviewers) say or experience, you may or may not experience the same smells or tastes.

In a recent blog – Tasting Tuesday – Wine Lingo, Heather Fleming did a good job in sizing the issue , by using a car industry metaphor, and then providing some good advice regarding how to taste wine.

This is one of many attempts to try to help those new to wine to increase their appreciation and enjoyment. I have seen countless attempts by many bloggers as well as  wine organizations such as the Wine & Spirits Education Trust or  UC Davis. All of these are valid.

However, one of the issues that no one can avoid is that all of this is subjective: humans don’t all have the same sensitivities to taste and smell. Tartness and sweetness are not perceived at the same level by everyone.

So, while I agree that practice makes perfect –  and the more you taste the better you get at it – if you are simply trying to find new wines to try based on tasting notes, then I would suggest the following:

• Read tasting notes from a multitude of reviewers such as the Wine Advocate, Wine Enthusiast,  Wine Spectator, or Gary Vaynurchuk….to name a few.
• Try these wines and determine which you like and don’t like ( too dry, too sweet, too earthy, too jammy, whatever)
• Make note of the reviewer that most often describes a wine that is to your taste as well as reviewers that do not.
• Then, when you see a wine praised by someone that often appreciates wine in line with your tastes, it is likely you will like that wine as well. On the other hand, if you see a review by one of the tasters that usually dislikes wines you like, and he/she has nothing but praise for that wine, it may be one to avoid (at least for you).

So, nothing scientific -but it works most of the time!