About two years ago, we joined the Sussargues wine club that meets at the cave cooperative about once a month on a Saturday morning. We have learned to try to taste -- as opposed to drinking -- the wines so that we can still function for the rest of the day. In the beginning I had an extremely hard time tasting so by noon I would have about 5 to 10 nice small glasses of wine in my system! Now I only drink those that are just too yummy to crache/spit!
We are still trying to improve our noses. The French are pretty darned amazing at identifying and naming the subtle flavors and smells in the wine. Georges -- our fearless leader -- says that you must take time in your life to notice a smell and register it in your brain. Same for the tastes. I must say that it is getting more evident and we have built up a better library of tastes and smells that we can pull out when tasting. I find that I am able to best identify those smells of past memories...Cinnamon and vanilla from my baking, reglisse from those yucky black jelly beans that I tried to like, café from the early morning fragrant cup, minerale et champignon from the foggy hikes in the Santa Cruz mountains.
Next time you are enjoying a glass of wine, smell before you taste. Try to pull out the layers of fragrances and put a name to them. Swirl and sip and close your eyes as the flavors build on your taste buds. Try to picture them in your head. It definitely makes the drinking of wine an even more pleasurable experience.
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| Tasting Notes from today |
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