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I have two hard rules that have always served me
well: A wine should smell good and taste good.
If it does, then I know I'm going to like it. I
advise others to follow that advice and not to let a so-called expert
change their opinions about a wine.
Professional opinions can be a good guide, but in
the end, the buyer should be the judge.
We all have a few built-in biases on wine. Some
of us like only red wine. Others like only sweeter white wines. And others
like only certain kinds of wine, say chardonnay or merlot.
I'd have to say I'm like a pig - omnivorous - because
I like all wines, if they are well made.
I taste most wines double blind, which means I don't
know the variety or maker. That assures fairness during judging. When
I taste wines in other settings, like everyone else, I see the label,
know the variety and don't try to judge the wine other than to consider
whether I like it.
According to Jancis Robinson's The Oxford Companion
to Wine, a 1088-page tome on everything about wine, tasting is really
smelling.
"Most of what is commonly called the sense
of taste is in fact the sense of smell," she wrote.
Consider, for example, that when you have a cold,
wine is much less enjoyable. The nose can sense thousands of different
aromas. It takes practice - and I mean sniffing lots of wines - to learn
to recognize many of the different components.
Our tastebuds, however, can generally distinguish
only four flavors - sweet, bitter, sour and salty.
If we experience a flavor of blackberries in a wine,
it's because of our sense of smell that recognizes the berry aroma.
Some advice before you set out to taste a wine:
Choose a larger wine glass, which will make it easier to swirl the wine
and better reveal its aromas.
All wine should have a bright, clear color. A white
wine shouldn't have too much amber, and a red wine shouldn't look like
an old brick.
White wines generally should be served at between
45 and 50 degrees, red wines between 60 and 70 degrees. Champagnes should
be at refrigerator temperature in the low 40s.
Fill the glass only about a third full. Smell the
wine after you swirl it and take a moment to consider its aromas. Sometimes
the cork can spoil it. If the wine smells like a damp cardboard box, it's
generally "corked" - spoiled by a chemical with a particular
affinity for corks. At times, bacterial agents get into the wine and also
can create a spoiled aroma.
Next, sip the wine and roll it around your tongue
a bit before swallowing. You should be able to expand on what your sense
of smell tells you and also get a sense of its body and aftertaste - what
wine writers call "finish." Take a moment to look for familiar
flavors and aromas.
Don't expect to smell and taste an array of flavors
and scents instantly. It takes time for wine to open itself on your palate
and perhaps several sips. Even then, practice will help.
To get to know wines better, attend an event where
several kinds and styles are being poured, such as the Tri-City Wine Festival,
or join a wine-tasting group. Take what you hear from others with a grain
of salt, for their tastes may well not match yours. Even so, you still
may learn from others. And make notes as you taste and compare them next
time you taste a similar wine.
That's not rocket science, but give yourself credit.
It is research.
Bob Woehler has been writing about grapes
and wines of the Pacific Northwest since 1978. His columns appear twice
monthly in the Tri-City Herald in Tri-Cities, Wash.
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