Wine Wisdom - Winespeak Made Easy

Sun-drenched Vineyards

Random Thoughts on Wine Appreciation.

One of my friends – a true wine lover – has a stock answer to anyone using the expression ” A good nose” when referring to a wine. His comeback: “Pretty nice ears too.”

Learning about wine is not the nod-nod, wink-wink elevated eyebrows process that primitive tribal elders (As well as wine experts) indulge in when inducting a youngster into the tribes secret rituals. It is actually an enjoyable process and there is certainly nothing steep about the learning curve.

Sure there are myths, legends and folklore attached to wine – which has been made and enjoyed for  millennia by people in all societies that succeeded beyond the fire-making stage – so  yes, it will have some mystique involved.

Choosing and drinking the ‘right’ wine is as simple as finding a wine you like and sticking with that particular wine until you tire of it or find one you enjoy more.

Think about it in this way: ‘in vino veritas’ (In wine there is truth) should really be ‘in vino ludus’. (In wine there is fun)

Bear in mind that most people have simple tastes in wine and enjoy a wine that just goes down well, pleases them and runs easily over the palate. On the other end of the enjoyment scale, I have personally been privileged to drink wines that should only be referred to in hushed reverent tones and with your head bowed in homage. I hope that one day you will also experience a wine like this, perfectly aged and at its peak of perfection:  you will then truly understand why people love wine.

I have seen individuals with phenomenal olfactory senses do blind tasting and come up with chapter and verse on cultivars, origin and vintage of the wines they are tasting. Notice the word phenomenal in there? Some people have a fine palate for Indian tea; but I don’t believe that this makes them enjoy tea more than I do. The same goes for wine.

What I am advocating here is don’t be blinded, influenced or bullied by pretentiousness in others, but employ common sense in your foray into the world of wine; do not agonize over the learning curve but embrace it. The journey will last a lifetime and bring you much enjoyment.

So – drink what you like – don’t worry about other peoples preferences not matching yours and remember that some distinguished wine cellars have started bringing a number of fine vintages to market in screw-top bottles – a move that would have meant civil war throughout Europe not so long ago.

Hopefully these few pages will tell you enough about the wine culture to stimulate further interest in it.