Dave's Tasting Tips

David Ferrie

A customer came into the wine shop the other day. As I always do, I went over to her and asked if I could help her pick out a good wine. She said, “No, I’m just looking.” About 10 minutes later, she came to the register with a bottle of Pinot Grigio. I jokingly said to her, “So, you lied to me. You weren’t just looking.” After a bit of banter, the customer revealed, sheepishly, that she didn’t have much experience with wine and was embarrassed to ask for help because she didn’t even know where to begin. With that we went back to the racks. After asking a series of questions, we selected an opulent Pinot Blanc that the customer later reported she loved.

 What this customer lacked was not the ability to taste good wines. She had, as it turns out, a very sensitive palate. What she lacked was the ability to describe in words the flavors and textures her taste buds were experiencing. Lots of people have the same difficulty. I think that if people could describe the types of flavors they like and dislike, a good wine consultant would be able to match them with a wine they will enjoy. It’s worth it to spend a little time developing your taste/word vocabulary. If you doubt me, think of all the wines that disappointed you that you may have selected based on how nice the label looked.

Taste the Aromas

Kimberly Grasso 

One of my favorite things about being a wine consultant at Kafevino is being able to use my Aromatherapy background to taste the smells of all the wonderful wines we have available! So what is actually happening here? In the back of your mouth there is a passage called the retronasal passage. As you are tasting a wine you also inhale it up into this interior nasal passage.  As you draw in air across the wine and into your mouth you are vaporizing the aromas just as you did when you swirled the wine in your glass before tasting it! Pretty neat huh?

On a recent aroma adventure I got my nose into the Kings Ridge Pinot Noir. This Pinot had the classic cranberry, raspberry and currant on the nose and palate. With subtle hints of herbs and earth this was much different than any other Pinot Noir I had tried. The delight, to my surprise, was that it opened up with each glass and went well with my lobster bisque, bon appetite! Stop in at Kafevino and smell the wine, it’s always in season!

Dave's Tasting Tips

David Ferrie

My first rule is…throw out all the rules! Drinking wine is suppose to be fun; not pressure and intimidation, Drink what you like!  If you like Chardonnay, drink Chardonnay. Most of the time, I drink as big a red as I can get my hands on – even if I’m eating fish. If you feel as though you want to expand your sphere of the wines you like to drink, you need to do much more tasting. Always ask if the wine guy at your shop has anything open and then ask to taste it – even if you think you won’t like it. Any wine has the potential to surprise you.Go ahead and ask to try one or two wines at the restaurant before you order. It really is the only way you’ll know for sure if you like a wine. I’m not embarrased to ask friends at my table if I can taste their wines. In fact, on occasion, you’ll see evrybody at my table passing their wine glasses around. (Incidentally, we all have great immune systems.) Finally, go to wine tastings. It’s a great way to taste professionally selected wines and get an idea of what it is your taste buds are sensing. Now some wine bars offer tastes you can buy, so if the wine bar has 30 or so wines that they pour, you could buy 30 tastes. Just be sure someone is driving you home that night.