Test Your Taste

There is a stereotype of wine lovers that portrays us as people who can take a sniff and a sip from a glass and identify the varietal, the label and the year.  Maybe – just maybe – that’s Robert Parker but it’s not the rest of us and surely not us at Power Tasting.  For most of the world, it’s sufficient to tell the difference between red wine and white.  (Hint: the white wine is colder.)

The sort of folks who visit Wine Country with the express purpose of tasting wine should be a little more knowledgeable than that, but how much?  And how can you tell whether you have the ability to discriminate better wines when you drink them?  A few points apply: if you like it then it’s good and if you don’t, it isn’t.  Price plays no part in the matter.  There are excellent inexpensive wines and costly bottles that are more about snob appeal than quality.  And even knowledgeable tasters disagree; heaven knows Lucie and Steve do all the time.

The solution, as with so many things in life is practice, along with its cousin, homework.

  • Try to differentiate two similar wines.  Just for fun when we have friends over for dinner, we often open two bottles and compare them.  We recently did this with two Carneros Pinot Noirs, both of which are favorites of ours from wineries whose wine clubs of which we are members.  They were both the top wines from their respective wineries at similar price points.  We had enjoyed each many times but had never tried them next to each other.  In comparing wines this way, we were forced to be very conscious of what we were smelling, tasting, feeling in our mouths, remembering after we swallowed.  There is no right or wrong; in fact, the two couples split in their opinions.  The important thing was to discern the slight differences in two great wines.
  • Try the wrong wine.  Often when dining with friends at a restaurant, we’ll order two wines to accompany different courses.  While there are no hard and fast rules, the wines ought to be complementary to the food.  A heavier wine like a California Cabernet or an Australian Shiraz will fit better with a steak and a lighter wine such as a Beaujolais with a chicken breast.  At least that’s what the book says, but what does your mouth say? If you have two different wines open, taste the one that’s not supposed to “go with”.  If it clashes, why?  What’s wrong with it?  And then, why is the “right” wine right?  What is working well in your mouth?  Finally, is there something about the “wrong” wine that you actually like?  Sometime, contrast is more interesting than compatibility.
  • Know what you don’t like.  Steve doesn’t like thin, acidic wines so a lot of Burgundies leave him cold.  Lucie, on the other hand, is not a fan of heavy, fruit forward wines so she’s not high on California Syrahs.  Of course, there are exceptions in both cases, so you need to have an open mind.  If someone says to Steve, “Try this Pommard, you’ll like it”, he’ll give it a go and sometimes he does indeed like it.  The trick in a case like that is to ask, “What is there about this Pommard that I like that I don’t like about other Burgundies?”  Maybe it’s the mouth feel, or the fruit or the aroma.  Whatever it is, search for wines of that type that are reputed to have those characteristics.
  • Listen to your wine.  Some years ago, Steve had a long-term out-of-town project.  One night he decided to make dinner for his project team of eight consultants and bought three Bordeaux blends from California and an actual Bordeaux.  He then challenged them to say which one they liked best and why.  Most of the staff were young and inexperienced in tasting wine but, amazingly, as they expressed their opinions, the terminology of wine criticism started coming out.  This wine was round.  That one had a long finish.  The real Bordeaux was subtle with more complexity.  It’s not enough to like one wine more than another.  You have to be able to articulate why you prefer one over another and the words you use will help you understand your own taste.

These simple tests are good preparation for a trip to Wine Country.  It’s very possible that you’ll taste wines you’ve never had before, maybe never heard of before.  By doing your homework, you’ll have a better idea of what’s good and not so good to the ultimate expert – yourself.

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