Ep 201: How to Develop Your Wine Palate

Sep 15, 2017

We received two very similar listener questions so it was time to make a podcast of it! They were....

Caryn R: I am trying to learn more about aroma and taste. How does one discern that a wine has notes of pineapple and honeysuckle, for example? Is all of that really true or just marketing? Can i learn to smell and taste with more nuance?

Ted A: I'd like you to discuss palate. Can it be enhanced? How do you improve your palate? Do some people like me just not have a great palate, and it can't be improved?

 

We address all the questions above:

• First we discuss the biology and building blocks of aroma
• We talk about a number of categories of aromas from a chemical perspective (which, actually, as I look at them, remind me of names from Game of Thrones!): Esters, Pyrazines, Terpenes, and Thiols. Lots of great info on http://winefolly.com/review/where-wine-flavors-come-from/ 
• We discuss some other broader smell categories and what they manifest as in wine: oak, botrytis, and the yeast brettanomyces too!
• Then we give you some action items: 
  • How to separate broad categories: fruit v herb v earth v other stuff 
  • How to become a student of smell and flavor by paying attention
  • The importance of slowing down to experience wine and food more fully
  • How to learn what certain structure terms mean by tasting certain things

 

And finally, non-conventional advice like: don't buy aroma kits and stop with the blind tasting, already!

 

Enjoy! 

 

Special thanks to our sponsors:

www.hellofresh.com - use the code Wine30 to get $30 your first week of meals! 

www.thegreatcoursesplus.com/wine -- don't forget to check out: The Everyday Gourmet: Rediscovering the Lost Art of Cooking for the tasting class we discuss!