“Tell us what we should be tasting,” asked a group of four on vacation from Ohio.  (The Russian River Valley, it turns out, seems to be a popular vacation destination for Ohio residents.  We get handfuls of ‘em every week.)

“Well…let me ask you this:  What do YOU taste?”  While I am genuinely interested and curious, I also wonder - who am I to tell them what they taste?  I don’t have any clue what kinds of flavors their taste buds register.

For the next 10 minutes – this group of Ohioans engaged in a somewhat spirited debate about the wine.

The group was divided by gender with the husbands (who were brothers in-law) thinking the wine was rich with Oak and their wives (the sisters) describing more subtle flavors from their sips and sups.  It wasn’t unlike those old Miller Lite commercials, only:

“Taste Great!”
“Less Filling!”

was replaced by:

“Smokey Oakey!”
“Rich Cherries!”

Of course, they are both right (at least in the wine-version of this story…not so sure about the beer version).  If they had said mushrooms, cat hair, pencil shavings and hay, they also would have been right.  (Though, I might have to dig a little deeper to find out how and why they know what cat hair and pencil shavings taste like.)

I can do my tasting-room-host-turned-pop-psychologist-answering-questions-with-a-question routine 10, 20 or 100 times a day and there’s every chance that I’ll get 10, 20 or 100 separate answers.  Usually, I’ll get the more obvious answers of cherries, spices, chocolate, oak, earth, berries and so on. .  (And, there’s always the “grape guy” who is looking for the easy laugh from his date/wife/friends/escort, “Ummm…I taste grapes.”  The later in the day and more buzzed the patrons, the more likely I am to get “grape guy.”)

And, even though it’s easily the most common question that gets posed in the tasting room (with “Where’s your bathroom?” a close second), I don’t like it when I’m asked, “What should we be tasting?”  I know what the tasting notes say – and I know what I taste, but that has nothing to do with what this individual guest might taste.

The word “palate” (as defined by the Encarta World English Dictionary) means, “a personal sense of taste and flavor.”  Exactly.  A PERSONAL sense of taste and flavor.  Some people like spicy food.  Some don’t.  Some love BBQ.  Some don’t.  Some love a big, bold Pinot Noir.  Many prefer something a little lighter on the palate.  So, again, who am I to tell them what they are going to taste?  And, it’s this very reason that if someone likes our wines, but thinks they taste pencil shavings and cat hair – more power to ‘em!

So, let’s just get it out of the way right now; like art, wine is completely and totally subjective.  What you taste is a personal experience that is entirely between you and your taste buds.

I remember going to a museum with my parents when I was a little kid.  On the wall was a black frame around a blank white canvas.  The “painting” was called, “White Square.” Even as a little kid, I was dismayed that this was “art” and could hang in such a prestigious gallery.  My mom, however, wouldn’t have it.  She was engaged in a spirited conversation with someone about the “complex subtleties and courageous, blah, blah, blah.”  I don’t think wine is any different.

So, getting back to my group from Ohio. After settling on the fact that the men liked something big and “chewy” and the women preferred a softer Pinot, they bought a case each of two different Pinot Noir. 

“Where should we go next?” is always the final question.  “That depends…what kind of wines do you like?”  And the debate continues…