NOT-SO-CHEAP THRILLS

When one of the most experienced Wine Masters in the world is teaching you the finer nuances of tasting wine, you do tend to listen. Over time, with enough listening, you even begin to learn a thing or two.

Something a lot of us struggle with is “how do you teach someone to taste??” I mean, we were all born with a tongue and a nose – we can smell, we can taste. What else is there?

What we’re learning in fact is not tasting or smelling; but differentiating! I have tasted my fair share of wine in the past, and in all that time I have enjoyed it without any problems. Going through all these systematic tastings however, I am suddenly learning to single out unique smells and tastes from the obvious “wine” flavor that I so love.

It’s a lot like looking at a work of art. You have the option of looking at something, appreciating it, and moving on; or you can step a little closer and take a look at the individual streaks of paint and the impressions made my the tiny hairs of the paintbrush as the artist once caressed his vision to life.

You could of course decide that you couldn’t really care for such details, but at this stage of my wine naissance, just the thrill of discovering that hint of pineapple or the massive slap of oak propels me further along this adventure.

A small part of me is worried though about losing my wine-innocence. I like being able to enjoy wine for what it is without really thinking about it much. I hope I can still continue to do so since fine wine is a pleasure I most certainly can’t afford as often as I like to drink.

Learning to taste is brilliant no doubt, but I only wish to still be able to appreciate the stroke-less beauty of the cheap prints that adorn the walls of my own room at the end of the day.