Do you find yourself wondering what all these winos are talking about? What is the big deal? How can you taste the difference between a Merlot and a Cabernet? How the heck do you taste tobacco or grapefruit from a drink made out of grapes??
Well Susan at Transient Travels explored her inner wino recently and provided a great overview of how to taste wine. Yes, there is an art to it and like many things, practice makes perfect. Just keep in mind that no matter how much of an expert you are, everyone’s tastes are different and might not end up tasting the exact same thing.
If you’re new to wine tasting though, try tasting it with different foods. It’s almost magical how the wine will taste different depending on the food you eat. Even the food tastes better with the right wine! Here’s a crash course in food and wine pairings by Food & Wine expert Ray Isle (it’s an older article, but a good breakdown of things). Some of his food/wine pairings are:
- Plain Roasted Chicken and Beaujolais
- Dark Chocolate Desserts and Madeira
- German Whites like Gewurztraminer or Riesling with Spicy Food
1 response so far ↓
sforshner // October 27, 2008 at 11:57 pm |
Thanks for the shout out!
When Mike and I went to Santa Barbara one of the people at the wineries told us to drink wine with whatever foot we felt like because he didn’t believe that there was an end all for pairings. In certain situations I agree – but that crash course is really useful.