From the Tasting Room - Flavors & Aromas
>> Apr 5, 2007
Flavors & Aromas
How do you get graham crackers and citrus into the bottle?
Most wineries have tasting notes to describe their wines. Professional judges may have written about “overtones of plum and black cherry with subtle hints of citrus, graham crackers and earthiness.” The average taster may read that, taste the wine, and experience none of those things. Who is right?
Every wine taster is right in what he experiences. Everyone’s palette is different. Because you don’t experience plum or cherry does not mean you are wrong. It only means your tongue is not identical to whoever wrote the notes. The most important thing is your like or dislike of the wine.
Good wine is never adulterated with fruit juices or flavorings. All the flavors are natural. As the grapes grow in the vineyard, the vines are influenced by the growing conditions—the “terroir”—of each vineyard. Soil, moisture, sunlight, elevation, aspect, cropping practices, temperature, vine age—all these things and more influence the flavors discovered in each wine. That is why Pinot Noir from the Tualatin Vineyard is so very different from Pinot Noir grown at the Estate site.
If you experience all the flavors noted in the tasting notes, it simply means your palette is similar to the person who wrote the notes. Sometimes I wonder if the writer simply had a list of descriptors and decided to select one from Column A and one from Column B!
Wine tasting is a very personal experience. There are no right or wrong answers. Every palette is different and every wine taster will have a different reaction to the wine. And every wine taster will be right!
Most wineries have tasting notes to describe their wines. Professional judges may have written about “overtones of plum and black cherry with subtle hints of citrus, graham crackers and earthiness.” The average taster may read that, taste the wine, and experience none of those things. Who is right?
Every wine taster is right in what he experiences. Everyone’s palette is different. Because you don’t experience plum or cherry does not mean you are wrong. It only means your tongue is not identical to whoever wrote the notes. The most important thing is your like or dislike of the wine.
Good wine is never adulterated with fruit juices or flavorings. All the flavors are natural. As the grapes grow in the vineyard, the vines are influenced by the growing conditions—the “terroir”—of each vineyard. Soil, moisture, sunlight, elevation, aspect, cropping practices, temperature, vine age—all these things and more influence the flavors discovered in each wine. That is why Pinot Noir from the Tualatin Vineyard is so very different from Pinot Noir grown at the Estate site.
If you experience all the flavors noted in the tasting notes, it simply means your palette is similar to the person who wrote the notes. Sometimes I wonder if the writer simply had a list of descriptors and decided to select one from Column A and one from Column B!
Wine tasting is a very personal experience. There are no right or wrong answers. Every palette is different and every wine taster will have a different reaction to the wine. And every wine taster will be right!
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