This single phrase might be the closest I've ever come to having my own mantra when it comes to how to share wine with others. It may seem simple, you think "Of course I know what I like", and guess what? I believe you. But like most people out there.... you have a hard time telling me exactly what that is. I used to feel like I was rolling the dice with my hard earned money when at a restaurant or a wine shop.
I remember the first time I let a waiter help me pick out a bottle of wine. I was just 21 and already had a deep interest in learning about wine but to be honest my expertise focused more on natty light than on wine. But I was ready! A buddy of mine and I went to the nicest italian restaurant in town. We "ordered well" when it came to food and liked our server, so we figured why not let her guide our wine experience. She began to talk quickly about what some of her favorites were and I began to feel like I was in a Peanut's cartoon with the teacher talking... "This wine, one of my favorites, is made of wawa waw waw waa wa...", she said. I poised my face as to give her the impression that I completely understood and nodded with agreement. "Yes that sounds like exactly what we are looking for."
The server came and presented the wine, opened it, and poured it for me to taste. As I had seen in the movies I tried to swirl it in the glass, (though failed miserably) and tasted it. ...
I tried to smile but I'm sure my eyes showed my dissapointment. It was an awkward moment. "Please, pour it." I said, trying to reassure her that I would not make her pay for my inexperience. There we sat quietly disillusioned eating our broccoli rabe drinking an $80.00 bottle of wine that neither of us understood nor really cared to. It would be more than a few years before I listened to a server or a clerk at a wine shop again. Instead, I preferred to grab blindly in the dark and make up my own mind.
Years later as I thought back on this I realized there were two problems with that experience. Problem one; my server didn't ask me what
I like in a wine but instead told me what
SHE liked. Was
SHE the one who was going to drink the wine? Hell no! I was! Problem two; even if she HAD asked me what I liked, I don't think I would have been able to tell her. I had learned the value of wine vocabulary.
Now does this mean you need to pontificate over every sip of wine you drink, constantly trying to extract descriptive words through osmosis? No... but next time you taste a wine and like it, try and ask yourself,
what do I like about it?
That night I had nearly two hours to sit and stare at that purple juice and ask myself why I
didn't like it.
It was so hard to swallow.
It wasn't smooth.
It made my mouth pucker (and not in a way that I enjoyed).
It tasted like dirt and leather.
Knowing what you
don't like is just as valuable as knowing what you
do like. One of the most important things to remember when trying to vocalize what's in the glass, is that there are almost no wrong answers. Just relax and think about what the wine reminds you of...
Does it remind you of All Berry Juicy Juice, burning rubber or caramel?
Just keep it simple and have fun.
To the right you will find the beginning of my vocabulary selection, hopefully that can get you started.
