Power Tasting’s motto is “Know what you like. Remember what it’s called”. Developing a taste memory is one of the most difficult skills to develop for wine professionals. For us amateurs, it’s enough to be able to keep in mind some general characteristics, such as “X winery makes light, fruity Pinot Noirs” or “A typical Napa Valley Chardonnay is buttery and oaky”. For all the importance of remembering, there is also something to be said for its counterpart: forgetting.
From the movie Sideways. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox.
When entering a tasting room, we have to forget what we’ve read, heard or tasted previously and bring an open mind (and mouth) to evaluating what we’re being served.
- The only thing that matters is what’s in the glass. We have had occasions to return to a winery whose products we hadn’t cared for. We have had some happy surprises, such as at Napa’s Black Stallion. And we have also had more disappointments than we like to remember. Perhaps ownership of a winery changed hands, or they hired a new winemaker or maybe they just hit a bad year. Focus on the wine in front of you and you will improve your tasting acumen.
- Don’t always trust your first sip. This is especially the case when the server opens a new bottle in front of you. We have often experienced that at home, with good science behind our reaction. Every wine label has a warning: “Contains sulfites”. They’re used to kill germs and prevent spoilage, but they also may leave a slightly sulfurous gas in the bottle. In part, that’s why we let wine breathe, but that’s not always possible in a wine tasting setting. So forget the first taste, swirl the wine somewhat aggressively to let the gas escape and taste it again.
- Don’t let your memories fool you. It’s a natural human tendency to approach an experience with expectations and then let those expectations override the current reality. This is more than being in the moment, as previously recommended. It requires an active effort not to think about what you think you remember (not always the same as what you actually remember).
- Stick to your guns. You can and should continue to have your own opinion about a wine even though other people are trying to tell you that you are wrong. Almost by definition, there’s no arguing taste (although that’s exactly what we do when we go wine tasting). So if you like a wine and everyone else in your party detests it, you can forget their complaints. It’s a good wine…for you.
- One bad day doesn’t rule out a winery forever. We have written before that you ought to give a winery a second chance. The mightiest hitters sometimes strike out. The Nobel Prize winning author doesn’t always write a masterpiece. And sometimes the most renowned vineyards come up with a poorer wine. So, as we say in Brooklyn, fuggedaboutit.